Friday Foto- 1996 “Tough Guys”

Wood, Bulkeley, Watson, Pendry

I found this picture and showed it to my wife. I said to her, “Look at this, they are trying to be tough guys.” 

My wife without hesitation replied, “Well, they were tough guys.”

Sara Wood, Jennifer Bulkeley, Molly Watson, and Ami Pendry had all been starters or the first off the bench on the 1995 team that advanced to the Super-Sectional. They became the heart of the 1996 team that finished third in State. Indeed, they were “tough guys.” They were talented and competed in everything they did. 

All four had great college basketball careers- Wood (Kirkwood and Kansas Benedictine), Bulkeley (U. Of the South), Watson (DePaul), and Pendry (CSC, Wayne State). Wood and Pendry’s Juco teams placed in the National tourney. 

Bulkeley competed at the highest level academically, earning an advanced degree from an Ivy League school. And Wood made a career in the Marines. 

People like these four have a different mindset than most of the world. They have a vision of what is possible and they have confidence in both their willingness to work and their abilities. 

An interaction I had with Jennifer Bulkeley gives some insight into the mind of champions. 

GHS puts up banners for boys and girls basketball teams if they advance to the Sweet Sixteen or farther. The day after we beat Moline to win the Sectional and advance to the Sweet Sixteen, we were getting ready to start practice. There were just 3-4 players out on the floor, starting to stretch. 

I said to the group, “We can put a banner up now.”

Bulkeley without hesitation said, “No, we haven’t decided what this one is going to say.”

I was focused and excited about what we had done yesterday, whereas Jennifer was excited and focused about what we could do tomorrow. 

This Sunday’s Streaks Scrapbook will look at the 1996 Third in State team.