University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Daniel Nichols
May 04, 2016 | Baseball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
The first time Daniel Nichols and I sat down for a quick chat, in the home dugout at Foley Field, was last Wednesday, about 17 hours after the Georgia baseball team had walloped Georgia Tech 13-5. It was a very good chat, with the senior first baseman and designated hitter offering up a lot of interesting insights into life in the dugout, life on the road and much more.
So why haven't you read that Q&A? Because either I or my iPhone did something stupid (I know what my money's on) and the 10-minute interview disappeared -- or was never even there. Not good.
On Tuesday, Nichols, from tiny Leesburg, Ga., near Albany, was nice enough to sit down with me again, this time along the wall by the first-base line. I thought about hiring a stenographer this time but it seemed cost prohibitive. Despite the good and thoughtful answers Nichols provided last time, I wasn't going to put him through the same round of questions again. This is a completely different interview, and hopefully a better one:
Frierson: Why does the sport of baseball lend itself to better movies than any other sport? Most of us can probably name five good baseball movies for every one good football or basketball movie.
Nichols: I guess it's just because of it's history, I mean everybody loves baseball. I know sometimes people say that it's a tough sport to watch sometimes, but it is "America's pastime" and has been known as that for a long time. There's that saying, it's the greatest show on dirt. I do know a lot more baseball movies than I do football movies.
Frierson: What's your favorite baseball movie?
Nichols: It's probably "Rookie of the Year." It's a good movie, pretty funny and so unrealistic, but it's a good watch.
Frierson: One area in which baseball is vastly superior to every other sport, and nearly every other area of life, is the walk-up music. We should all have this in our lives at some point. How do you go about selecting a song?
Nichols: I feel like the walk-up music you is just pretty much just based on your personality. Usually guys that are kind of jokesters and no very serious people or individuals pick something that's kind of funny or upbeat. Guys that are more religious may pick something more like a Christian song, but basically it's just what your personality-type is.
Frierson: So what is your walk-up music?
Nichols: I've got some country music. I like country, I grew up listening to country music and I'm from the South; I like rap, too, but I'm just kind of a country guy.
Frierson: If you could have played with or against anyone in history, who would it be?
Nichols: I would have liked to have played with Derek Jeter. He was a good role model to have growing up and everybody wanted to play shortstop at that age. He was just the guy that had all the nice gear. My brother had Jeter's same glove when he was little and he passed it on to me when I got old.
He was just the role model that everybody had and it was really exciting to watch him play and he had a great approach at the plate. Growing up watching him play, you'd look at him and think, that's the way it's supposed to be done. It was real encouraging to watch growing up.
Frierson: According to Google, your hometown of Leesburg had a population of 2,896 during the 2010 census. So what's happening in Leesburg on a Saturday night?
Nichols: On a Saturday night in Leesburg we're probably either riding dirt roads or hanging out in the Winn-Dixie parking lot. That's about it. If not that, then somebody's having a gig at their house, or we're trying to get into something. There's not a lot going on there.
It is growing, though. We're actually a [Class] 6A school now and when I was there we were 4A. They're 6A now, they're growing and talent-wise they're getting better. The baseball team's actually in the second round of the playoffs right now and facing Walton High School. I bet there's a lot more going on now than there was when I was in high school.
Frierson: In a town that small everybody knows who you are and there are no secrets. If you're out messing around, you're probably not going to get away with it.
Nichols: Most of the time I tried to stay out of trouble. I knew what I had in front of me and I was somewhat of a good kid in high school and had a good head on my shoulders. ... I knew in high school that I wanted to be a college athlete and being a college athlete took some commitment and some responsibility and discipline, and that's what I had.
Frierson: You're graduating in December and this is your last season, so you've probably starting to think about this chapter of your life winding down. What about your time at Georgia stands out more than anything else?
Nichols: The past couple of weeks I've just been reflecting on my career here at Georgia and it's been somewhat emotional. I can still remember like it was yesterday when I walked on campus as a freshman. Now I'm a senior and we only have three SEC weekends left in the season [starting Friday against Ole Miss at Foley Field].
It's bittersweet. I'm looking forward to next three weeks because I've never been to [an NCAA] Regional and we have a chance to make a Regional, if we can put some games together and play as a team.
I'm just glad to be a part of the University of Georgia. It's been a great experience for me, just the faculty and staff and our coaching staff. You couldn't ask for a better university to go to. Even though we haven't had that much success since I've been here, it's been awesome being here and I'm really going to miss it.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
