Boston College Athletics
The Life of Kyle
March 18, 2003 | Men's Soccer
March 18, 2003
I know it has been a while since my last entry, but my life has been a little overwhelming the last few weeks. At first, I was ecstatic to be back from Brazil. It was a little like returning from isolation and being reintroduced to the little things about being home that mean so much to you, like being able to sit around in the morning for half an hour drinking a cup of coffee and watching SportsCenter. After a couple of days, though, the craziness began to set in.
I knew that missing three weeks of school would be a bit rough, so I did as much as possible while I was down in Brazil. But the fact of the matter is that there was no way I could bring all my work, or have access to the Internet or other things I would need to write papers and such. So, I spent the four days we had off from training when we got back busting my butt to try to catch up in my work, but I was still a bit behind.
That was only the start of it all, though. We got our schedule for the next month and found out that we had two weeks of training in Boston, and then we were off again for the first round of the Central and North American Champions Tournament in Costa Rica. And, of course, while we are in Costa Rica I am supposed to be taking the dreaded Comprehensive Exams for my master's degree, exams that if I don't pass, I will not graduate.
I spoke to my professors and worked it out so that I could take my Comps before I left for Costa Rica, a week earlier than I was supposed to take them. So, I spent all of Spring Break either in Foxboro for practice or huddled over my past year's course work studying for Comps. It seems like all I did was sleep, eat, practice and study for an entire week. The week of the test was even worse because I had to run from practice to class to work almost every day and find some time between all of that to keep studying for Comps.
Something had to give way or be sacrificed, and in my case it was soccer. All the studying had gotten me so mentally fatigued that I was having a hard time focusing at practice, and it showed in the way I was playing. It was one of those situations where you know exactly what's happening and you try to focus more, but the harder you try to focus the worse it gets.
It is what so many people don't understand when they watch college sports. It is frustrating when I am at a basketball game or a football game and I hear fans complaining about players looking like they aren't into the game. How do these fans know that the player wasn't up until three in the morning studying for a midterm that he or she had to pass in order to maintain his or her eligibility? Being a student-athlete means more than just performing on the field or on the court; it means giving it your best in the classroom as well, and sometimes that balance between athletics and academics tilts a little one way and the other side suffers. And in my case, it was clear that I needed to do whatever was necessary to pass my Comps, regardless of how it affected me on the field.
Of course, my Comps came and went with a bit of disappointment. I am pretty confident that I passed them, but that it not what upset me. I am disappointed because I feel like I have a much better understanding of the material than the test conveyed. I guess it's like that with most major tests, though. There is no way that tests like these can hit on the total depth of knowledge you have. You can only hope that this small bit is a proper reflection of how deep your knowledge really is.
Other than that, the only thing that is new is that I finally signed my contract. I have to say, reading the contract was a bit scary. The fact that they could loan me to some club or trade me somewhere without my approval is frightening when I realize this would mean picking up everything and moving to a new city at any time. But, I guess I have to get used to the idea that this is the life I have chosen as a professional soccer player, one that is full of uncertainty.
For now, I am off to Costa Rica. We finally get to play our first real games, and they are in one of the more hostile environments in the world, where getting spit on or having things thrown at you are not out of the ordinary. The one thing that is on my mind, as well as on the minds of everyone else on the team and in the country, is whether or not war is on the horizon. We could be in the middle of Costa Rica while the U.S. invades Iraq, and although it might not directly have any effect on us, the idea that we are going to be out of the country is a bit unnerving. My only hope is that we will come back to the U.S. amid a world of peace, not war.
