Let's blog away, let's blog, let's blog away

Let's take a look at two different blogs from rival schools, Arizona State and Arizona. Since the Sun Devils beat the Wildcats 3-0, there should be an interesting contrast between the two.

First, Ali Lund has an entry for the Sun Devils, where she tell us how they prepared for the Wildcats.

"University of Arizona is our biggest in-state rival!"

WHAT?! More of a rival than Mesa Community College? More than the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences?

So, OK, the team was preparing for their "biggest in-state rival." And the preparation? "We watched video of the Wildcats playing and for fun we had a paper airplane contest."

OK...

"On Friday we cracked a piñata...made by our lovely Assistant Coach Giovanna Melo."

There you have it. The best way to prepare for your rival? Paper airplanes and piñatas. Saindon is a GENIUS, and apparently Melo is some kind of papier-mache wunderkind.

So ASU won the match 3-0, and Lund says that the crowd was outstanding: "it's always so refreshing to look out into the stands and see a sea of maroon and gold with signs to cheer you on."

Was this match at Florida State?

Very peppy! Good stuff!

"WOW! What a week it has been for ASU Volleyball!!"

Now let's compare this to Arizona's player blog, written by Brooke Buringrud:

"It seems like each week these blogs get harder and harder to write."

Uh-oh...

"College volleyball is a lot different than what high school or club was like. Here, you lose a game and you can’t escape it…it’s on television, it’s in the papers, you go and get your car washed and they want to know who you played and if you won."

Well, it can't be all that bad, right? I mean, there's still the boundless joy of a toasted bagel in the morning, right?

"Even my morning bagel comes with a comment on Friday’s game."

Oh...sorry.

But Brooke rallies at the end, letting us know that "we are keeping our heads up" and she's sure that Arizona is "capable of being a top team."

"We’re still looking for that checkered flag, but when we find it, you will definitely know."

After all, tomorrow is, another day!

Arizona State gets Canucky

Arizona State Sun Devils have gone north of the border for their latest recruit. Her name is Sofie Schagintweit from British Columbia, Canada.

Schagintweit -- which comes from the German meaning "maple leaf" -- became known to college coaches after her club team played in the Festival last year, and the recruiting flood gates opened. They closed when she picked ASU.

“I couldn’t find anything bad about the place,” she said.

Really? I'm not sure you're trying hard enough.

Let's start with the climate. What's with all that, you know...warm weather? Do you really need sunshine 360 days a year? That's gonna get old for someone from Canada. Schagintweit's likely to wither under that kind of solar onslaught.