April 24, 2000
April 24 2000

The past week lived up to its anticipated intensity. Monday is the day that stands out the most. We took it to each other during the scrimmage sessions. My focus was mainly on the overtime situations. I wanted to maintain my calm and go for the finish when I sensed blood. Things worked out really well. I like a practice room where you go in everyday, knowing that you will be bruised and battered after the day is over. That you will at least get a good nights sleep. It is a unique situation we have here.

I can see that the coaches are in high spirits too. The intensity in the room is spilling over to Dave as well, the speeches have shortened and are more precise and direct. Mike sits by the side of the mat and yells out his observations as usual. Everybody has a role in this room.

I watched a lot of tapes last week. I watched my memorable matches with Steiner from 96 and 97 as well as some of my college matches. Watching these matches made me think about my past and how far I've had to come. I thought about all the matches that I lost before I even stepped on the mat. I thought about how I used to get intimidated by the way people warmed up. One thing is clear, I've come a long way since 1994.

Thinking about my past got me thinking about my adopted mum. I wonder whether I let her down when I broke down at the Athlete of the Year Awards. It's difficult to accurately describe your emotions when you care about someone so much. She made me promise her that I wouldn't cry at her funeral. I did. During my acceptance speech at the awards banquet I broke down again when I remembered how proud she would have been of me. I wonder if that breaks the promise. The solace though, is that she promised to be in Sydney. I do not have any reason to doubt that she will. She has never broke a promise before and this is not going to be the first.

Keep sweating... Daniel (Dynamite) Igali.