Guest Columnist Linda Frohlich: It’s time to pack up and head for Phoenix

Thursday, May 6, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

Linda Frohlich, a former UNLV All-American and a member of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, writes a column exclusively for the Las Vegas Sun.

ROVERETO, Italy -- And another month is gone. Can you believe it? Time is flying. I am sitting here in my now-empty apartment, and I am looking at my halfway packed bags ... reminiscing about all the nice days that I've had here in Rovereto for the past couple of months.

The past two weeks had been a horror for someone as emotional as me: I had to say waaaaay too many goodbyes. For Easter break my brother and sisters visited me for a while and then left together with my lovely grandmother and her cat.

Ever since then it has been very sad for me to come home to an empty house ... with no grandma waiting for me with a cooked meal and a big smile. It has taken me a couple of days to adjust to taking care of myself again: cooking, washing, grocery shopping, etc.

Here in Italy things are going well for my team. We've been on a little roll. We have won four of our last five games, so that is good. We now control our own destiny: If we win the next two games, we will be going back to the FIBA Cup Competition next year.

I have been playing pretty well ... thank God! It was crazy. After our last game a woman came up to me and asked me: "What have you been doing that has gotten you so much more athletic?" Did you read that? "ATHLETIC." That was the first time I have ever heard my name and the word "athletic" in the same sentence.

After we finished our conversation I picked up my jaw from the gym floor and proceeded to my strength coach and thanked her. She has done a tremendous job of working with each player this season, and focused on our individual strengths and weaknesses. Now she is heading to Sydney to try to qualify for the Olympics in Athens this summer. I am just very happy that all of the hard work is paying off.

I am so eager to get to Phoenix ... less than a week to go here in Rovereto. It has been extremely tough for me to watch training camp start from over here and not to be a part of it.

I've been reading up on the Internet and things look great over there ... it is just something that seems to be in the atmosphere. I really believe that we have an opportunity to build something really special. I am just grateful that I get to be a part of it. Now I just need to get over there ... but before you know it, I will be shooting (and making) baskets in the America West Arena.

A while ago I was reading a basketball magazine and I came across a sentence that I found to be very profound, something that I'd like to identify with. It was a subtitle in an article about LeBron James, and it said, "Lebron lived up to the hype, but the hype did not live up to him." I pray every night that I can exceed all expectations in Phoenix. I hope to see everyone soon when I get back to the States.

To all of my young friends who want to improve their game, I want to tell you of a basketball camp in Las Vegas, June 21-25 at Christ the King Catholic Church. Go to my Web site, www.LindaFrohlich.com, to get all the info.

Until next time and arrivederci.