The Observer, April 25, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 26
spartan spotlight: Lauren Seeds
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Lauren Seeds is a senior softball player from Pickerington, Ohio. She is a three-time captain for the Spartans and is currently majoring in cognitive science and psychology.
Greg Meyer: How long have you been playing softball?
Lauren Seeds: 14 years.
GM: That's quite a while. What was it that inspired you to start playing?
LS: Ballpark hotdogs… they have always been the first reason for me to show up at a game.
GM: I hear ya. It ain't summer till you've had your ballpark, according to Michael Jordan. Who is your favorite athlete?
LS: I'm one of Grady's ladies. He plays the best/most highly-skilled position, and have you seen him in those baseball pants? Wow.
GM: What is with the softball girls and Grady? And yes, I have seen his pants. They are gray, I don't understand what the fuss is about. What is your best sports memory?
LS: Hitting a home run that got stuck in the gutter of Otterbein's athletic center.
GM: That might be the first gutter-ball in history that was a good thing. Congratulations. Would you rather have the strength of 1000 men, be able to fly, or be invisible?
LS: Strength of 1000 men because then I would never have to run. I could just hit home runs and walk around the bases.
GM: Just as long as your head size doesn't get an inch or two bigger and your voice doesn't get real deep. What would we find in your locker right now that might surprise us?
LS: Circus peanuts… I love them.
GM: I am a Planters man myself. That dude on the front with the top hat and cane is just so classy. Finish this sentence: Softball is like a guy…
LS: …because all you do is stand around and expect things to just come to you.
GM: When you look this good, things do just come to you. If you could be a guy for a day, what would you do?
LS: Well for starters…I would cut my hair so that I wouldn't have to worry about the 10 minutes of re-styling every time I take my helmet off.
GM: Hey -- you gotta look good to play good. It's the first rule of sports. I wear a skull cap; it eliminates hair problems. Might look sort of weird in softball, but you could start a trend. If you could participate in any other sport, which would you pick any why?
LS: Surfing, because then I wouldn't have to worry about awkward tan lines.
GM: OK. I don't know how they run things in Ohio, but when we surf in Florida we still wear clothes. Any tan line is an awkward tan line, but it is not worth a pound of sand in your crack. What makes softball stand out from other sports?
LS: It's really the only sport where you can fail seven times out of 10 and still be considered an awesome athlete.
GM: So what you are saying is, you can be a loser and still play softball? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
LS: Teaching kids how to surf in Hawaii while living in a hammock on the beach.
GM: Good thing I told you about the whole surfing with clothes on thing, otherwise you could have been up against some criminal charges. What are some of your hobbies?
LS: Napping and sarcasm.
GM: Lauren, I was just kidding with the loser comment. Now I'm having second thoughts. You want to be a surfer in 10 years, your favorite thing to do is nap, and you want to live in a hammock. What is the high point in the softball season?
LS: Anytime Coach takes us to Cold Stone. Birthday-cake remix is the love of my life.
GM: Do you guys get juice boxes after the game and have a pizza party at the end of the year too? If they made a movie about your life, who would you want to play you?
LS: Jennifer Aniston. She cracks me up.
GM: Yeah, she is pretty funny. Plus have you seen her in any pair of pants? Wow. What goes through your mind during a game?
LS: How many seconds can I afford to look for four-leaf clovers in between each pitch?
GM: That bored huh? Whatever gets you by I guess. What is your favorite quote?
LS: "…but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."
GM: That's deep. It kind of puts going to Case into perspective. Thanks Lauren.
