Notre Dame linebacker inspires many

We’ve all had bad weeks. Most of us cope by shutting down and being sad for a few days. Especially when loved ones  die.

It’s hard to recover from that. It’s hard to resume normal operations when one of our loved ones dies, but what about when two people you love die?

That’s what Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o went through last week.

Te’o, the senior linebacker who has played in every game of his Notre Dame career, lost his grandmother on Tuesday. To make matters worse, his girlfriend lost her battle with Leukemia the next morning. Two of the closest people to Te’o were gone in a matter of 24 hours.

You’re probably thinking, “There is no way he played Saturday against 10th ranked Michigan State.” Wrong. He played like Brett Favre when his dad died. He led the team with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery.

He’s an inspiration. Not many people can do what he did, let alone in his circumstances.

Professionals will sit out when their pinkies hurt, but this shows how dedicated college athletes are and how much they love the game.

Manti Te’o changed my view about him and his dedication to the game of football.  I now will be forever a Te’o fan and will support him throughout his career. 

Now to move on…

In cased you missed it, FGCU men’s soccer had to cancel their match against No. 21 Furman on Sunday due to lightning. Officials waited out the 90-minute waiting period but the storm did not pass.

So in their only game of the weekend, men’s soccer fell to Virginia Commonwealth University snapping a three game win streak. They also gave up more than one goal for the first time since Aug. 24 when they lost to No. 2 Akron 4-0.

Women’s soccer lost their first game since Aug. 19 when they fell to University of Nevada Las Vegas 2-1 at the Northern Arizona University Tournament.

Props to freshman Shea Rhoney who was nominated for A-Sun player of the week after she tallied a goal in the 1-1 tie against Northern Arizona.  She now leads the team with four goals.

FGCU men and women’s cross country both finished fifth at the Mt. Dew Invitational for the best finishes in the programs history.

Junior Dean Tsamas and sophomore Jordi Vives represented the FGCU men’s tennis team in the Round of 16 on Saturday at the 2012 Bedford Cup hosted by the University of Florida. FGCU’s five singles wins on Friday were the second-most in the field that featured all 11 NCAA Division I men’s tennis programs in the state of Florida.

Led by freshmen Edward Figueroa and Jake Sherwin, who were making their collegiate debuts, the FGCU men’s golf team completed its first round of the 2012 fall season in a tie for 10th place at the Golfweek Conference Challenge at Spirit Hollow Golf Course hosted in Iowa.

Last but not least, FGCU volleyball hits the road yet again to face off against in-state rival USF.  FGCU leads the all-time series 3-1 including wins in 2010 and 2011.  Friday they will hit the road to start conference play against Kennesaw State and Mercer.