Lee Weld Bog - Entry No. 3 - Southern Illinois University Athletics

Feb. 18, 2011

Hello Saluki Baseball fans,

I'm back with update to fill you in on how my rehabilitation has been going and a look inside what it is like to be a Saluki baseball player during weekend series.

I have just started week five of my first phase in rehab, which has added a few more exercises to my regimen. Some of the exercises require my trainer to stretch my shoulder a little bit further than what it has been used to, which causes me a little excitement in the pain department.

There have been many times where I've squeezed the training table with my other hand to try to dull the pain. This and next week of the phase will be a slight strengthening of the little muscles inside of my shoulder.

The next two weeks will lead me to my second follow-up appointment on March 3, which should indicate how well my rehab is progressing. After that appointment I will start my next stage, which will be more range of motion and strengthening. I'm excited to begin that part of my road to recovery.

As far as being a Saluki baseball player, we've been practicing outside for the better part of the last week and are going to be traveling to Ruston, La to play in a four-team tournament. Our designated travel day is Thursday, which begins with a bus ride.

We will board the bus at 2 p.m. and get something to eat around 6:30 or 7:30 p.m. After that, they might let us stop to get out and stretch our legs at a gas station where some guys will go in and grab something for a snack.

A lot of guys study or do homework on the bus, while others will watch whatever movie we have on. When you're on a bus for nine out of fourteen weekends, you end up seeing a lot of movies that you never thought you would. I'm excited to see some good ones this year and probably some that we got see last year.

When we get to our hotel, we will grab all of our stuff off of the bus and head into the lobby where we get our room assignments. There are two guys to a room, with usually one upperclassman and one underclassman. Pitchers and position players usually room together as well since during practice we spend a lot of time apart working on different things with our specific coaches.

This weekend I will be sharing my room with two younger guys because we have an odd number. The coaches do this to have the younger guys learn from the upperclassmen how to get everything set up and how we do things on the road.

When we leave our hotel room after the weekend, we have a certain way that we leave it. That is room key and remote on top of the TV, towels in the bathtub and trash in the garbage cans. It's extremely important that we act like gentleman and leave our rooms properly.

On gameday mornings, we wake up and eat breakfast in the hotel or around it. After breakfast we have a study table for an hour or two so guys can take care of their school work. After the study table, we have an hour or so to get ready and head to the ballpark to play.

On Sunday, we check out of our rooms before the game and load up the bus with everything. After the game is over, we shower at the home team's locker room and board the bus to head back to Carbondale.

This is a basic travel weekend for a Saluki baseball player. I'm looking forward to a good weekend and some good baseball.

Thanks for reading and Go Dawgs!

Lee Weld #29