As I write this journal entry, we are on the home stretch of our Aiming for Athens Tour, and are one month away from Opening Ceremonies at the Athens Olympic Games. Needless to say, we are all getting very excited and anxious to get the Games underway, but know that we have one month of time left to continue preparing to compete at the highest level. It may sound like a significant amount of time, but when you realize that in essence we have been training for the Games for the last four years, one month really isn’t much. Nonetheless, we (and I) plan to make the most of our last 30 days, both in a physical and mental sense.

This past week we had our first real test of the summer in a double-header against the All-Stars from the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league. We got behind and had to fight back to win game two of the series, which was against the West All-Stars. I ended up hitting a walk-off home run to end the game, but much more than that, I thought it was an awesome example to our team of what we can do when we have our backs against the wall. We showed tremendous fight, yet also tremendous patience in just keeping on task and not panicking when we looked at the scoreboard and saw that we were down by three runs.

If I took anything away from the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, it was that mental and emotional toughness are truly the difference. At this level, every team and every athlete have physical talent and ability. Every athlete I will compete against has worked extremely hard to be ready to vie for a gold medal. And so have I. But the difference between those who will simply compete at the Athens Games and those who will win at the Athens Games is who will be better able to compensate, adjust, and keep the game simple.

True, the Olympics are the largest athletic stage in the world, but no athlete can perform if they think of it in that way. As my former college coach, Sue Enquist, would put it: "This game is as simple as 60 feet and turn left." If I and my teammates can remember that fastpitch softball in the Olympic Games is the same as the fastpitch softball we have played thousands of times, we will be better able to perform to our best ability.

So as the tour winds down, I find myself getting a bit more pensive about this experience. As my second time around, I feel my perspective on the experience is somewhat different, but I do appreciate this opportunity now as I did four years ago. I feel I am and will be better prepared for the competition, as I have been through it before and know (at least to a certain degree) what to expect. I have the utmost confidence in my teammates, and trust our preparation up to this point, and know we have worked our tails off to be the best we can be.

Something interesting happened today at practice: there was a Japanese news crew that had come out to watch us practice and get some shots of us. I believe they did a few interviews with the coaches and a couple of players.
But what struck me was that as we tour around the country, playing games and training hard, sometimes it feels as if we are on an island of sorts, and are the only athletes in the world getting geared up for the Games. But as I looked at that news crew from Japan, here in the United States to get footage of the USA Softball team, it made me realize that we are not at all alone in our tremendous efforts and excitement. The rest of the world is doing the same, working and getting geared up for the Athens Games.

With that, I thank you all for your well-wishing, messages of good luck, and support. And in advance, I thank you for your prayers and good karma to be sent to us while we quest for another Gold in Athens. Stay tuned to NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC to watch all of the action, and keep your fingers crossed. It will not be easy, but believe me when I say we will give everything we have to bring home another GOLD!