Fresno State Athletics
2/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Ren's Court Report
| Lauren Selmon | ||
Position: Forward Height: 5-11 Hometown: Norman, Okla./ High School: Norman HS Last College: Baylor Univ. Complete Bio |
Court Report 6
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
It's no secret that we're now 1-8 in conference play. I'd like to dress that fact up a little, try to give it an ultimate "makeover" somehow. But there's really no way around it. We're having a tough season.
I'd also like to say that it's easy to keep smiling through a losing season, easy to make lemonade out of lemons so the saying goes. But to be totally honest, it's not easy. In fact, it can be brutal.
If you've ever been on a losing team before or in a troubled situation at home or work, you know that it can be frustrating, everyone searching for answers and trying to identify what is going wrong. On the worst days you may even want to throw in the towel.
But on days like that, especially after hard losses, I know this team will never give up. My family always taught me that giving up was not an option. My dad was raised in a home with no running water or electricity. He owned two pairs of pants and one pair of shoes. He and his eight siblings sometimes ate squirrel or blackbird for dinner. He could have given up. Instead, he played on two national championship teams at Oklahoma University then went on to play in the NFL.
My sister Shannon, who played basketball at Oklahoma, endured massive ankle surgery and an acute thyroid problem. She could have quit right then. She ended up playing in the Final Four against Connecticut her last game.
My other sister, Megan, didn't get a Division 1 scholarship like she always dreamed of. She could have been too prideful to play in a lower division. But, she helped lead Trinity University to win the NCAA Division III basketball championship last year.
People always ask my little brother Zac if he is going to be as good as my dad was. He could have backed down, fearful that he couldn't live up to the high expectations set for him. Instead, he is about to compete in his first collegiate football season at Wake Forest.
My family always made the best of what the world put on their plate.
And when I look at what is on our Fresno State plate now, despite a less-than-perfect season, I realize how fortunate we are. We are getting a college education in one of the most beautiful states in the US. We are seeing the world and meeting new people. We have loyal fans that cheer us on at every game. We have coaches that really look out for us. And we have teammates that are as close as sisters.
When I think of my true-life family and my basketball family here at Fresno State, I know that not one of us will ever give up. No way will we ever stop trying to do better than the last time. We expect to win our next game. We will work hard in practice. We trust that just like a rainbow comes after a storm, joy will come in the morning!
I don't know the day and I don't know the hour, but we WILL turn the corner. Seeds have been planted. Some days will be sunny, some days will be foggy, some days the rain will pour. But the harvest will come.
IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE! IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE A BULLDOG!
-'Ren
