University of Georgia Athletics
Suzanne's Sentiments
March 26, 2002 | Gymnastics
March 26, 2002
It started when we pulled into the parking lot at the Wynfrey hotel. Karlene Lawrence and Lisa Mobley will standing in front of the hotel with a huge banner saying "FLIP TO ANOTHER SEC CHAMPIONSHIP".
The team was really pumped up. Then we got to our rooms and the laughter started. Karlene and Lisa (soon to be named by Wayne Dill as Thelma and Louise) had decorated every one of the gymnasts and coaches rooms. They were hysterical. I want everyone to know that the entire Gymdog team knew that we had arrived at a championship meet.
The tone changed almost instantly. We wanted to win and were reminded that we had won most of the SEC titles in the last ten years and that it was expected of us again. Every team and every coach has a different approach in terms of their preparation and where the emphasis is placed. I have always believed that winning is a mindset and we always focus on what we need to do to BEAT the opponent.
In contrast, for example, Valerie Kondos made some pre meet statements before going to Alabama that they didn't put emphasis on winning at Alabama. Their goal was to stay healthy and come out with a nice high score to move up in the rankings. Most teams are not good enough to WIN without being inspired and since winning is important to me, you would never hear me saying that. We could have cared less about our ranking once we arrived in Birmingham. All we could think about was what it would take to win another SEC Title. That is a difference in approach. Valerie certainly knows how to win at the NCAA's and obviously has the best team this year in position to do just that. But for the GYMDOGS, the season and the process is fun mainly because we win a lot more than we lose. So with that, I can only say that we were in a mindset to win the SEC Championship. We had a great work out on Friday and as all of you know by now, we had an awesome draw.
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