The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Manager's minute: Michael Bohme
11.27.2009 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2009
My name is Michael Bohme. I will graduate in May with a degree in sport management and a minor in business from The University of Texas, and also with a wealth of knowledge, memories, experiences, new relationships, and just about any other cliché you could put in there.
This is my third and final year working with the Women's Basketball team. I am writing this blog to give people an insight into the mind and life of a student manager. Coaches coach, players play and managers, uh, manage? I'll let you ride shotgun as I take you into what a student manager really does.
(Just a forewarning: I'm well aware of my grammatical and logical disarray when I write. However, I would like to think of this more as me talking to you, rather than me writing a piece for you to read. With those conditions, I type as if I am talking, with words leaving my brain and directly to the fingers.)
So let's just dive in. I am in St. Thomas of the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam Tournament, and I agreed (i.e., was tricked) to start this blog. Being my first time in the Virgin Islands, let alone anywhere in the Caribbean, paradise is nice. But this is no vacation. The team came here to win three games and the tournament, yet we're still trying to mix business with a little sun and fun.
Thursday was all business against Mississippi State. The last time we played Mississippi State was in the NCAA Tournament First Round in Columbus, Ohio. I bring up the specifics because I am from Columbus, and the last time we played Mississippi State I was home. Ohio is quite different from this tropical locale, and so was the outcome. The team played well, but you can read about that in the game recap. I am letting you inside the world of a student manager.
The first thing worth mentioning is the subject of home field advantage. While it may or may not be important for players, it cannot be stressed enough how important it is as a manager. Being at UT and then traveling to other schools really lets me realize how fortunate I am to be a Longhorn with all of the amenities that Texas provides. Plenty of towels, ample wiggle room to walk behind the bench, elevators that transport all of our video equipment into position. The list of things that "home field" provides that we (managers) don't get on the road is extensive. It's difficult to tell you about it, and it's almost like that joke you told your friend but she didn't laugh. After an almost unbearable amount of time elapses, you break the awkward silence by saying "I guess you had to be there." Well, most of what I do as a manager is "I guess you had to be there" kinds of things, and since this is the first post, I'll ease you in with an example of a 30-second timeout that happened last night.
While trying to keep stats for the coaches, a player asked for her jacket. I was digging through the pile of jackets when I heard someone say "30 second timeout", which is my cue to grab the towels from behind the chairs in front of me and rush onto the court. I grabbed all four towels that were near me. All four? I frantically scanned the area to see where the one missing towel had disappeared to. The Houdini-of-a-towel was stuck between two chairs, and I assume it tried to make its escape when everyone stood up as the timeout was called. As usual, Coach G never stops coaching, so whether I was Usain Bolt or not, I was too late.
The players that are currently in the game during a timeout are in the interior of the circle, and the players not in the game at the time form an exterior wall that blocks me from my task at hand - getting the players their towel and helping distribute Gatorade and water as needed.
When you're on the outside of the exterior wall and trying to break through, an awkward dance follows. Trying to navigate between bodies and during Coach G's timeout talk, I have to avoid taking away anyone's attention from the instruction in the timeout, yet still get the players their towels. After the team breaks, I have to get all the towels from them and be back behind the bench. All of this happens in just 30 seconds.
There's just a small piece of what the game is like from a manager's point of view. I will include a part of the game from the eyes of a manager in every post. At least that is the plan, but plans change - just like an unexpected 30-second timeout.
Until next time, remember that's we're playing our second game of the Paradise Jam tonight at 7 p.m. CT against Southern Cal.
Hook'em Horns!
Michael Bohme
