Faculty Appreciation Lunch

One of my student-athletes invited me to the Junior Faculty Appreciation lunch this past spring. The student-athletes were able to choose one faculty/instructor from the year to invite and one of the men's basketball players selected me. I felt so honored.

The lunch was in Neyland Stadium and it was such an amazing space!

Vol Walk

Peyton Manning

Me and Trae

I felt so thankful to be invited to this event! I always hope I can make a difference in student's lives.

National Champions!

Wow! I was not sure I would be able to utter those words in regards to Aggie sports. However, in the past few years, I have been able to say that 6 times now. We have earned a national championship in men's golf, 2 in men's track and field, 2 in women's  track and field and now 1 in women's basketball.

Kyle and I often joke about Aggie fans and how we are such pessimists. We get so excited when we do well and then we do something silly and totally screw up. We have been cautiously optimistic the past week or so as we watched the women progress through the tournament. Before we knew it, we were in the final four and then the championship game.

In case you didn't know, I was a learning assistant for about 7 years before I started my current position. Over the years I worked with all sports, but besides football, none of the student athletes I worked with over the years made as much of an impact on me as a person as the women's basketball players. And some of those girls were on the court and bench last night. I have never been so proud of those girls and their play on the court and in this tournament. I was overjoyed last night and completely filled with emotion and I will admit, I cried tears of joy last night.

The Aggie Family comes together in good times and bad and they never cease to amaze me in their support for each other, their school and their teams.

So Congratulations Ladies! You have earned it and I am so proud. Thank you for bringing a National Championship trophy back to Aggieland!

You can read about the game here.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Basketball

Last night, after dinner, Taryne decided she needed to get snacks to watch the Aggie men play Kansas. She decided that the Gerber cheese poofs were an appropriate game time snack.

She had so much fun watching and cheering during the game. We had to get her settled down...we were scared she would jump right off the couch!

Until next time...Gig'em!

March Madness

March is here. And with that comes the madness known as the NCAA tournament. While basketball is not our number one favorite sport in the Rode household, it is definitely watched, especially in March. Both men and women. And most definitely as long as the Aggies are still in the tournament.

March (well, technically February) also brings baseball and softball. Yay! We have already attended a softball game and I think that is Taryne's new favorite sport...next to football of course.

So, do you fill out a bracket for the tournament? For fun or for an office pool? I have never filled out a bracket ahead of time. Why you ask? I have worked in athletics so long and know that it is against NCAA rules for any athletic employee (even part time) to participate in any sort of sports betting, whether at the college or professional level. I don't even fill out a bracket before the tournament starts for fun. I fill mine is as the games are decided. I love athletics and working with athletes so much I would never want to jeopordize a chance for a full time job in athletics.

I can't wait for Selection Sunday for the men and Selection Monday for the women. The tournament this year will be great! We have 2 of the top 5 women's teams in our conference and I know A&M is really working hard to get a number one seed in the tournament. Bracketology is a fun and addicting thing.

Until next time...Gig'em!