All jokes aside, I am very sorry for the slack effort on this blog.  It has definitely taking the back seat to other endeavors in my life, and I will continue to do a better job in the future.  To make up for my poor effort, I have decided to let this blog be a "Guests of Honor" blog.  I will be allowing some of my fellow teammates to post comments below.  Due in part for my lack of blogs, and to the fact that we have a 2 hour lay over in Orlando.  I must also tell Matthew Dotson congratulations on his accomplishment of 1,000 pts.  We were kidding before the Kennesaw State game that he needed a new career high to get it, 23.  I told him to shoot it every time he touched it, Dotson has a hard time looking for his shot sometimes...umm.  Just kidding Bro.  After the Mercer game on monday, Mr. Dotson invited me to eat at IHOP in Deland after the Stetson game, a ritual we have.  I am looking forward for a tall stack of cakes after a (hopeful) good win in the Edmunds Center.  By the way, we had a good week of practice and was challenged by coach Byrd about our toughness and passion.  We (seniors) only have 10 games left in our careers here at Belmont, and we better not waste a second of it.  thanks for reading the blog and following the Bruins.  May God bless you and as always Go Bruins! hope you enjoy the following guest blogs.  -andy

When Andy asked me to write something on his blog I decided that I wanted to do it a little bit different.  So instead of just telling you what's been going on in my life I wanted to write what goes on during a typical "travel day" as a college athlete.  

January 30, 2009

8:15 am  The day starts for me as we get ready to practice in an hour.  After practice we are flying to Ft. Myers, Florida to play Florida Gulf Coast tomorrow afternoon.  On Monday we will play Stetson in Deland.  The day inbetween is Super Bowl Sunday!  Oddly enough we will only be an hour or two away from Tampa as the underdog Arizona Cardinals will play the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I am kind of rooting for Arizona to win because I grew up a Bengals fan and the Steelers are in the same division, so I can't root for the rival.  Our trainer, Paul Malloy is a diehard Pittsburgh fan and we keep telling him that we're not gonna watch the game on Sunday.  He always frowns.

8:32 am  As I walk from my apartment to the locker room I eat 2 granola bars and drink a fruit punch Capri-Sun.  This is what I call a breakfast of champions.

8:47 am  Before I get dressed for practice I go upstairs to the academic center to borrow a laptop from our academic advisor, Renee Schultz.  Any time a student-athlete needs a computer to do homework on road trips, Renee is the person to see.  As I leave her office she tells me, "Good luck this weekend."  

9:15 am  Practice begins in the rec-gym today because the Curb Event Center is closed due to a music showcase this weekend.  We usual start practice with a warm-up drill.  Today's warm up drill was 2 ball full-court ball handling.  I am not the best ball handler in the world, let alone with 2 balls, but I was trying as hard as I could to beat Alex "The Blur" Renfroe.  And even though I have blazing speed, I lost.

10:45 am  Practice ends a little bit early today due to our flight leaving Nashville.  It was a typical "day before game" practice as we prepared for the Eagles of FGCU.  Coach Byrd tells us that we have 20 minutes until the bus rolls out.  We all head to the locker room to put on our "airport" clothes.  (Dress clothes are mandatory when we fly)

11:17 am  As I walk up to the counter to get my bags checked the concierge assumes that we are a basketball team because of our height.  She says, "Basketball team?" I said, "Yes ma'am." She says, "What position do you play?" "Forward, and he's our point guard." I said as I point to our team manager, Jeremy Quarles.  She then says, "Wow, I bet you can just stand there and lay the ball in the basket?"  I said, " Yes, I can dunk without jumping."  She smiled.

1:15 pm  Our flight departs from Nashville to Orlando.  I sit in the very back row with Jon House, Matthew Dotson and Jeremy Quarles.  We are talking about the dvd that Dotson and I watched last night.  It was Best of Saturday Night Live: Will Ferrell.  We kept imitating the skits that we thought were funny specifically "The old prospector Gus Chiggins."  We all then decided to nap during the remainder of the flight.

3:45 pm  As we are in Orlando's airport waiting on our plane to Ft. Myers to arrive Andy Wicke, Mick Hedgepeth and I head to grab a smoothie at Freshen's Smoothies.  On the walk there Andy and I keep asking Mick questions about his date the other night.  He gives short answers.

5:55 pm We depart from Orlando and head to Ft. Myers.  I sit by Matthew Dotson and our SID Greg Sage.  We talk about how Dotson is going to teach, preach and coach in Hickman County next year.  As usual, Dotson tries to convince me to come and be his assistant coach when I get out of school.  I sigh and say, "You never know."

7:58 pm  Once we get back to the hotel and get our room keys we head over to Applebee's to  get some food.  We wanted to watch the ETSU-Jacksonville game, but couldn't get it so we watched the Celtics-Pistons game instead.  At dinner Drew Hanlen asks me if I would rather play 18 holes of golf with Tiger Woods or play Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one.  I said golf because Tiger is in his prime and it would last longer.

10:03 pm  We get back to hotel and find out that breakfast is at 9:45 in the morning with shootaround to follow.  This trip I am rooming with Jeremy Quarles and we are watching the NBA games and Happy Gilmore.  

Gotta get some rest though...Big game tomorrow. 

I also want to thank Andy for letting me write this way.

This is Big Mike. German national. Currently hurt with an ankle sprain.

I am going to give out a few awards for this trip here:

Best Dressed is going out for Jonny Rice this time, as he was wearing a very classy striped long sleeve button down shirt and traditional white stockings. Only some cuff links and a nice watch could've topped this outfit off.

A close second for this award goes to Alex Renfroe with his crimson colored Arby's polo shirt.

The Road Trip Competition Championship is going out to myself, as I won a Chess match against Canadian national Jon House in only 15 minutes, along with superior performances in multiple "Who want to be a Millionaire" games.

Those were the two Awards for the trip.

Alles Gute. Und Gute Nacht aus Ft. Myers Florida!!

-The GERMAN

I cannot begin to express what an honor and privilege it is to write on the blog of ANDY WICKE.  He is a true champion.  To give you just a little info on me, I'm getting married on May 30 to the love of my life, Cecily Potts of Totty's Bend, TN.  We found out yesterday that we will be moving into a duplex back home (Centerville, TN) in the coming months.  Also, I was recently blessed to have my grandmother attend the game in which I scored my 1,000th point.  It was the first game she has attended in over a year due to my grandfather's passing in August of 2008 and a recent battle with lung cancer.  Fortunately, she is completely clear and looking forward to a big wedding in May and future great-grandchildren.  GOD IS GREAT! My parents come to every game--no matter where it is.  They have been an incredible beacon of support throughout my life and I know they always will be.

I will leave you with this quote from Longfellow's "The Ladder of St. Augustine":

"The heights of great men obtained and kept;

were not attained in sudden flight.

But they while their companions slept;

tolied upward in the night."

Keep burning the midnight oil.  Love you Ciss.---DOT

This is Andy again, and I hope this sufficed.  I know it doesn't compare to Club Trillion, Scott.  But I hope you liked it and check out this video of Alex Renfroe and my friend Rudy Kalis.