1. BREAKDOWN
There are two known causes of rhabdomyolosis, or severe breakdown of muscle fiber. The first is elevated levels of cholesterol-fighting statins such as Crestor. The second is six consecutive days of Brown Soccer preseason.
Day 6 saw a superlative performance at the track, including Nick Elenz-Martin's sub-eleven-minute two-mile, T.J. Thompson's sub-five-minute mile, and Iain Eldredge's completion of a lap. Not to be outdone, assistant coach Ryan Levesque finished two miles in 11:30, beating several of the players and giving the rest of the coaching staff a feeling of fitness by association. After all the running wrapped up, the players jogged back up to the OMAC, where several appeared to be straddling invisible pommel horses. You gotta love preseason.
2. TAKEDOWN
When legs get heavy, tackles get late. And the training session later that afternoon saw some hearty takedowns, the kind that that would make a Scottish Third Division professional coach proud.
3. SHAKEDOWN
But the true highlight of Day 6 came after practice, when Thomas Thunnel '10 did his best Eddie Murphy (as Detective Axel Foley) impersonation and shook down a kid who had stolen two soccer balls from Stevenson. After Steve Sawyer '09 and Chris Roland '10 had spotted the offender, Thunnel took off like a bloodhound and eventually spotted the boy strolling across the road near Moses Brown. He approached the young bandit from behind and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. The boy, estimated at 13 years old, turned to see Thunnel's 6'4" frame towering over him, and as if doing Thunnel a favor, remarked, "Oh, I got your soccer balls for you." He then tossed them to Thunnel and ran for the hills.
While the rewards of this achievement include lifelong praise from Assistant Coach Ken Murphy for saving the program at least $30, the drawbacks include grandiose expectations whenever future soccer balls disappear. Fortunately, we think "T Time," as he is known, will be up to the task.
"You can shake me for a while, Live it up in style, No matter what you do, I'm comin' after you."
-Bob Seger, and Thomas Thunnel '10
