University of North Carolina Athletics
Mangum's Musings: September 13
September 13, 2004 | Baseball
Sept. 13, 2004
By Greg Mangum
CHAPEL HILL - Three weeks of the fall semester have gone by, and the team is settling into the weekly routine and adjusting to the daily grind of baseball in the fall. Normally it takes the freshmen a little while to adapt to the demands of the fall, but this year's class has a lot of maturity and appears to be making a smooth transition from high school to college.
Every year we have a "test" day, which takes place within the first week of school, and every year you see a handful of newcomers nervously pace the locker room before the long-anticipated run. After the test, which consists of numerous sprints and shuttle runs, you're ready to begin the journey of baseball in the fall.
Team practice in the fall lasts from mid-September to mid-October. Outside of that our regular schedule includes three days of weightlifting and conditioning (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) as well as some type of agility program on Wednesdays. We also have four-player workouts where each player is allotted two hours a week to practice within a four-man group under the coaches' supervision.
We have all kinds of different people on the team, and outside of baseball and academics you can find players doing everything from golfing, fishing and hunting to watching movies and playing NCAA football video games.
The one thing everybody has in common is the desire and passion to reach the College World Series. We're excited to get things underway and hope that the little things in the fall can produce big things in the spring.
Greg Mangum is a senior second baseman from Charlotte. A starter in the infield in each of the last two seasons, he batted .308 a year ago and was one of three Tar Heels to start all 64 games. After spending the summer with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League, Mangum is expected to one of the leaders of the 2005 Tar Heel team. Check back each week at TarHeelBlue.com as Mangum and his teammates offer their thoughts and insight on fall practice in Chapel Hill.
