Feb. 4, 2008

FRESNO, Calif. - While traveling the world with the Canadian National Team to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, junior All-American pitcher Robin Mackin is redshirting this season and will return to the Bulldog lineup in 2009. Though she won't don a Fresno State uniform this season, Mackin wanted a way to keep in touch with her teammates and the Bulldog faithful.

Every Monday, Mackin will post a new blog at www.gobulldogs.com. She will tell stories of her previous week on the road with the Canadian National Team, the places she has been, people she has met, and things she has learned along the way. Below is Mackin's first entry.

Mackin's blog will also be carried by the NCAA official blog site, Double-a Zone. Fans can view Mackin's blog along with other NCAA Student-Athletes blogs and post comments at: http://www.doubleazone.com/2008/02/gearing_up_for_the_olympics.html.  

Robin Mackin Blog Entry No. 1

Feb 2, 2008

Hello Everyone! First, I want to thank everyone for their interest in my road to Beijing. The support is greatly appreciated.

We have officially wrapped up the first week of team training. Although the days were quite long and exhausting, I am so thankful to finally be back in a team atmosphere. We arrived in Vegas, although barely, on Monday. I say barely because I had a rather interesting plane ride...a couple of oxygen masks fell down as we were about to take off, and we experienced a `missed approach' on our landing which resulted in screaming men and woman. Now that I have arrived safely, I am living in a 6 bedroom house with 5 other teammates, and enjoying every minute of it.

The Vegas weather is still a bit cool and quite windy at times, but it beats the winter weather back at home! I was training at home for the month of January, and being back at home made training a lot more challenging. Fortunately for me, I was able to find a very accommodating baseball catcher, as well as a great indoor facility. Along with training, the month of January was also comprised of several volunteer clinics for different programs throughout Ontario. I was able to meet some very supportive and great people, as well as give back to the game of softball.

I am so excited to be able to keep in touch with the Fresno community. I am getting excited to start following the Fresno State softball games...from what I saw while I was there, it looks to be a very promising season!

"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Fresno State softball team opens the 2008 home season at Bulldog Diamond with a double header against Pacific Saturday, February 9 beginning at 1 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (559) 485-TIX, in person at the Bulldog box office or at Bulldog Diamond on game day.