BLOGGER: Countdown to Game Time

By Connect Mason Soccer Blogger Mike Foss

The men's soccer team played our first game of the spring season on Saturday at 2 p.m. Up to this point, the focus of training has been to improve us physically as athletes and technically as soccer players. Our coaches have done such a meticulous job ensuring we keep our focus that it has almost come as a surprise to find myself preparing for our first game.

It is a welcome change to feel pre-game jitters and butterflies. It's impossible to replicate the buzz you get in the day and hours leading up to kickoff. I can only describe it as one part excitement, one part anxious anticipation and one part butterscotch ripple. Yes, I quote Willy Wonka.

While the excitement is great, it is important to not get so caught up in the build up. Once the game starts the intensity level plummets. Different athletes have different methods to keep their intensity. Mine is always the same.

In the morning before a game I go to the field house and kick the soccer ball around. I did that this morning with our right back Hugh Fike, who is widely mistaken as my older brother. Hugh has never received such a high compliment.

After knocking the ball I begin to drink… water. On average, a soccer player sweats five liters of water during a game. So it is essential to make sure you are replacing what you're releasing.

Water bottle in hand, I position myself in front of a TV and veg out. I'm watching March Madness. Western Kentucky and Drake are playing right now. I can't think of a more uninspiring game. Apparently neither could CBS because they've switched over to Tennessee.

In the last hours before kickoff things begin to heat up. The locker room will be blaring music and everyone will be in his own world preparing. I clean my cleats and fold my uniform – usually twice. Then I close my eyes and relax, taking in my surroundings. Things begin to slow and build toward kickoff. The calm before the storm.

Game time.