Senior Roger Gubser presents his latest installment of "Mister Roger's Neighborhood" as the Texas men's tennis team prepares for its season opener this Saturday, Jan. 28 at Minnesota. Roger discusses his outlook for the 2006 season as well as the team's recent trip to Miami. He also welcomes back senior Callum Beale and introduces us to the newest Longhorn, Miguel Reyes Varela.
Hello and welcome back to Mr. Roger's new and improved 2006 series. I am pleased that you have tuned in to see the latest update on the men's tennis team.
I want to begin by giving our football team a tremendous applause for delivering the most exciting and thrilling collegiate football game that any of us will probably experience during our lifetime. Vince Young is truly a tremendous athlete and, above all, a proven leader. Our Athletics Department has set a new standard of excellence and separated itself from every other institution in the country. The TEXAS swagger of winning national championships is spreading around the department like a crazed wildfire, with every team wanting to be the next one to light the UT Tower.
This is an extremely exciting time to be affiliated with Texas athletics, either as an athlete, coach or a rabid, loyal fan. I am truly honored and privileged to be a student-athlete at Texas. The most incredible thing is that Texas has been and will remain the most dominant powerhouse in both athletics and academics.
Well, our standards have taken stage before us and this is the year we will return the Men's Tennis team to the national spotlight. Texas Tennis is the winningest Division I men's tennis program in the country, and this team is determined to prove to itself that it will compete to win a national title. Our season lies ahead of us now...
Our most recent excursion took us to the magical city of Miami where our team posted three consecutive match wins. We played three hidden dual matches against Miami (Fla.), Duke and Michigan. The team showed extreme poise and determination as we recorded 5-2, 5-2, and 7-0 match scores respectively. I felt that our team played like a group of veterans even with two new freshmen in the lineup. Michael Venus and Miguel Reyes Varela proved that they are ready to contribute to the team. Our stay in Miami was very laid back and it did not hurt that we stayed at an incredibly nice hotel. We shared numerous of laughing moments and created great memories.
We are now back in Austin preparing to play our first official dual match next Saturday in Minnesota. This is an extremely exciting time for us because we are very excited and eager to get the show on the road.
I would like to welcome Callum Beale back to the team as well as welcome Miguel Reyes Varela to the team. You might have already spotted Callum and may have been blinded by his hair, which can only be described as a cross between Goldilocks and a porcupine. I am somewhat confused by Australia's sense of fashion and style, but then again, they do live with kangaroos and use boomerangs.
I am having a difficult time communicating with Callum again because I simply don't speak Australian. With sentences such as, "Hey cuzzy ray, you want to go tweak this or that or grab some juggas or dingers mate?", how could one possibly understand him? He also is greatly infatuated with the Wiggles and Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" and actually has a pajama shirt of all four wiggles.
Miguel Reyes Varela is our newcomer from Mexico. He is extremely talented and willing to put in the hard work to make this team successful. When I saw him two weeks ago, I asked him what happened to his hair, which used to be long, and all he could say was "Mi abuelita, mi abuelita." I guess he was trying to tell me that his grandmother gave him a trim.
(Student manager) Donny Maid has already given him the nickname of Julio Iglesias, which is extremely fitting because he can sing, although not greatly, every romantic Latin song created. In Miami, while tuning the radio he would continually say "OOOOOOO,OOOOO" and tell us to stop when he caught a small sound of a Spanish song in which he ensued by singing it.
I am very excited to lead the team this upcoming season and I truly believe that we will accomplish something special
Well, thanks again for tuning in, and I look forward to bringing you another episode soon.
Hook 'em!
Roger
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