Bearcats get all fired up . . . by ping-pong

[bullwark]

WEST HARRISON, Ind. -- It's a far from uncommon scene at college football training camps.

There was the senior, the big man of the team, unchallenged at his position for the past two years. Confident in his abilities, he'd still heard of the freshman and his prodigious skills.

In early play, though, the freshman got the better of the veteran, surprising him even with his play.

But then, with the entire team watching the one-on-one battle, the senior, showing his experience and poise, came out victorious.

Oh, except this was ping-pong.

University of Cincinnati senior quarterback Collin Carey defended his title against the freshman, Tony Pike, in front of all his teammates at the Higher Ground Retreat and Conference Center, where the Bearcats spend 10 days for their preseason football camp.

With senior linebacker Jermaine Wilson serving as the match's announcer, the quarterbacks did battle in the team meeting room.

Carey, a graduate of Elder High School, and Pike, a Reading graduate, kept the team entertained with a now-legendary 25-23 match. Carey retained his title as the Bearcats best ping-pong player, but Pike served notice that he's the heir to the throne.

"The wins and losses are going to fade away, but the memories are going to stay," UC coach Mark Dantonio said. "That's the reason you coach. I'll remember that (match) all my life."

This is the sixth year the Bearcats have gone to Higher Ground for preseason camp.

Rick Minter started going to the Church of the Nazarene retreat in 1999 because there was more open space to practice there, and it was also a way to get the players away from campus to concentrate on football.

The camp, just across the Indiana-Ohio border off I-74 just 26 miles from campus features a main lodge, cabins, a gym and a dining hall. The graduate assistants have taken fishing poles and caught fish out of a pond on the grounds.

As the Bearcat football teams files out of the dining hall, it looks as if they could be headed to an arts and crafts session almost as easily as a position meeting.

But there's also a weight room, with the school's equipment brought in, and a regulation-sized FieldTurf playing field, installed this summer.

Because UC is on quarters, school doesn't start until later, giving the Bearcats the chance to go to the camp without it interfering with classes.

"It gets us away from all the distractions, there's no parties going on, nobody can go to the club," said quarterback Gino Guidugli. "You've got to get up, eat and get ready for practice."

When Dantonio took the job he agreed to return.

"I thought it was a good idea," Dantonio said. "Our athletic director thought it helped in the past. I'd heard a lot of positive things about it from coaches and some negative things from players. We're trying to make it better."

The key to making it better was to make it a better experience for the players.

In the past, the philosophy for the camp was one of a boot camp -- all football, no distractions.

This year it's a little different. There's still as much practice as NCAA rules allow and plenty of meetings and workouts. Still, though, it's not just football.

Players were allowed to bring cell phones, TVs and CD players.

"Some of the guys couldn't believe it when they told us we could bring them," said senior running back Richard Hall, a veteran of several of the Spartan camp experiences of the past.

It's still not exactly a vacation. Guidugli said the Bearcats have worked out more in full pads this season than they did in the previous camps.

"There's a bunch of hard days out there," Guidugli said. "You've got to do some things to relax your mind."

For Guidugli, that's watching the Olympics or playing video games -- Madden 2005 or NCAA 2005, so it's still football.

"You've got to be able to have fun, too," Dantonio said. "You want them to enjoy themselves and enjoy being with other people. Some people need to get their minds off football every now and then."

The camp has also allow Dantonio and his new assistants to learn more about their players, and bond with them.

"This is a transition for everybody -- it's a transition for the coaches that are here, myself included, and we're new to the players," Dantonio said.

"So just the time being spent with each other, I think is critical to our development. It gives us a chance to be a team."

[smazza]

good idea