Ryan Clark’s Peach Bowl Diary
On the day after Christmas we received a wake-up call at 8 a.m. and everyone got up and brushed their face and washed their teeth (well, you know what I mean). Although it was very early, it was truly a treat to see the homemade omelets at breakfast. The meal was great once again.
After breakfast, it was on to a team meeting. After the team meeting the countdown begins for the ESPN Zone party for the players. But before the party, it’s time for practice. Practice turned out to be a little harder than I expected. It was probably because some guys had a late night.
Coach Saban says, “If you hang with the night owls, you have to fly with the eagles in the morning.” Practice went great though. We got a lot of good things accomplished and I feel with each practice we are getting better prepared for the game. The boys in white (the offense) executed well and the purple (the defense) was all over the field.
After practice Louis Williams and Trev Faulk joined Coach Saban at a press conference at the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and after that we all returned to the hotel. Everyone was excited about the players’ party at ESPN Zone. This is going to be one of the biggest highlights of the trip, well besides winning the game on Friday.
We had a blast at ESPN Zone. It without a doubt one of the best places on Earth with all of the interactive games. All the players left sweaty and tired. We had a blast playing basketball. Terrence O’Bryant stayed on the court the whole time. He went undefeated. He beat me by one point twice. I was also beat by a 5-year old on the jet ski game. Everyone had a lot of fun.
It was nice to be able to be a kid again. This is the last thing planned that will bring out the kids in us while we’re in Atlanta. I say a big thank you to the Peach Bowl for the fun that we’ve had to this point.
It truly is nice to be playing in December again. Sometimes practice gets to be a grind, but it’s well worth it.
It’s now Tuesday night and the players have the option of going to the Thrashers (NHL Hockey) or going to the mall. At the hockey game Coach Saban dropped the ceremonial puck, along with Georgia Tech’s coach and Josh Booty and Georgia Tech quarterback George Godsey threw footballs to the crowd at the first intermission.
Well it’s been another great day at the Peach Bowl. Tomorrow, we’ll have another practice, we’ll meet with the media for the last time and we have a banquet. I better get some sleep now before my roommate starts snoring.