Softball bats a thousand among students

Perhaps the most popular weekend of the year at St. Bonaventure University is the last weekend of the spring semester - Spring Weekend. Each year, dining services sponsors a cookout, and other clubs sponsor an outdoor concert. But the weekend's biggest event is the Rick Farina Softball Tournament. Two Sundays before the tournament, team representatives must register their teams. Every team that registers is guaranteed one game, but the first 32 to sign up get a free game on the Thursday prior to the weekend. To be one of those top teams, captains wait in line hours before the noon registration time, attempting to ensure two games.

"After a fifth year being here (the tournament is) still fun, and it never gets old," Ryan Steele, a graduate student, said. "Aside from that, the whole draft process is incredible. I don't think there's any school out there who has students line up starting at dawn to register."

Steele, who attended undergraduate school at the university, will have one more opportunity to compete with his friends.

"Last year we figured it would be our last time together, but then we got another chance this year," he said. "The fun level has stayed the same. This year is definitely the last time we're doing it. We're going to try to have a blast since it's the last time around."

Although forming a team with friends and competing in the tournament is important, it's only one aspect of the weekend. Being the last weekend before finals, many look at this as their last chance to drink with their friends before heading home for summer break.

"We're all seniors this year," Kelly Jackson, a journalism and mass communication major, said. "On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most important, fun will be the most important. Drinking will be 9.99."

Jackson said she put together a team of anyone and everyone who didn't want to be on a team that took the tournament seriously.

"We don't really have a game plan; we don't even have positions yet," she said. "I do know everyone is really excited to be on our team, and everyone is ready to support everyone else."

Even though Jackson said fun is the main priority, she admitted winning would be something special.

"What would be nice is if we had a little surprise like we had in the (winter) dodgeball tournament where we made it to the championship," she said. "It's not the same players, but we're still a team of misfits."

Although Jackson and Steele said having fun is more important than winning, others have a different mentality.

Senior Alex Bauer, a journalism and mass communication major, is a member of the championship team from last year's tournament.

"Winning is really cool, but it's also about having fun," Bauer said. "We always said, 'We can win this year,' but never really thought it could happen. Last year when we won three games on Saturday and made it to Sunday, we thought, 'Wow, we really can win this.'"

He said the team kept the same mentality through the early rounds. He said everyone was drinking and having fun, but when his team made it to the final game, their mentality changed.

"By the championship, it got serious," he said. "We thought we really should win. When we did, it was like the World Series. It was the most fun by far."

Despite being defending champions, Bauer said his mentality this year is to just have fun.

"It would be nice to win again," he said. "It's a fun weekend."

Steele said having a good time is what students are looking for out of the weekend.

"Even if there wasn't any drinking, it's fun being able to play with the same group," he said. "You have your teams that go out there and be drunks out there and others who want to win the whole thing. Having fun is the ultimate prize. I mean if you want to go out there and win the whole thing, more power to you. And if you want to go out there and get drunk the whole time more power to you, too.