Sept. 2, 2008

USF head baseball coach Nino Giarratano spent the summer traveling the world with Team USA's Collegiate National Team. He spoke with USFDons.com about his experiences.

We have all seen medal ceremonies where the national anthem is played. What thoughts were going through your head when you heard the National Anthem playing?

Giarratano - "You give it a lot of thought sometimes but you never really hear the words of the Star Spangled banner and the message. When you have USA across your chest and your representing your Country, as the summer goes on, you really start to understand what that means. Everytime you hear it, it gets a little bit better, has a deeper message as to how proud you are to be an American, and to have the opportunity that you're given to represent the country. So on the day when we won the gold medal and when the medal was around our neck, it was just such a special feeling of being a baseball coach and seeing the players overcome what they needed to overcome, and more importantly, just being proud to wear USA on your chest."

Baseball players are famous for their superstitions and rituals. As Team USA's winning streak surpassed 20, what were some of the things the team did?

Giarratano - I think when we got to 20, it wasn't such a big deal, but when we got down to the last two or three games where we knew we had a chance to set history and be the only undefeated team in international play and be a team that had beaten Cuba twice in the last 25 years, it really started to be something where it wasn't so much a ritual, but each day we would count it down, two to go to make history, one to go to make history. It just became more of we started chasing down the days when it got closer to the end."

What were your first thoughts when you put on the Team USA Gear for the first time?

Giarratano - "I think more importantly, when you get it you're really proud to be wearing the uniform, but then you're really happy because of what it means to all the people around you. All the people that coached you or mentored you, and your really proud for your family because of the things they get to experience when you're representing the USA. It really just gets down to the moment where you look at it and you just thank everybody for getting you to that point in time where your one of an elite few wearing that uniform and representing your country. Once you look down at it, you look at where you began as a player when you were five or six and just starting to learn the game and you really appreciate all the things that were given to you at that time."

Giarratano - "It was wonderful, the way that it worked to get Ryan on the team. This started back six months ago when we were picking the team, Ryan's name was always on the board, but I never pushed too hard because I didn't want it to seem like there was too much favoritism. We went to the trials and found out that Ryan was just as good a player as the others, and when we got out of trials, we were really looking for that player with a special attitude, that person that could really push us over the top and fill the role of being the backup catcher on Team USA. I didn't hesitate at that point in time. With the door opened, I mentioned Ryan's name. I think, more importantly, it was great to share the experience with Ryan, but I was so proud of Ryan being able to take the words that I used with the group and become more than what I said he was. I think that was probably my proudest moment, seeing Ryan step into the shoes and fill his role and really make everyone around him better."

"I think Ryan is unique, his personality is unique and what he does is unique. He's able to not take himself so series, or not to take the game so serious. He loves the game and respects it, but he's got a different way of handling failure and stress, and I think that's contagious among the team. We had so many great players and all they've known is success, where in Ryan's situation, he's understood many things from injuries to having to over achieve. It was just remarkable to see Ryan be able to mesh with that group of players and develop relationships on the field, and push them on the field, and be relaxed enough to be able to handle the pressure of the winning streak and wearing the uniform and having to win a gold medal."

Which place had the most diehard baseball fans?

Giarratano - "I think Amsterdam had the greatest fan base that I've ever witnessed in baseball. I say that because they had to overcome so many things. They had to overcome the weather and they had to overcome so many different things to get there to watch baseball They had this wonderful tournament there and they supported and cheered for you whether you were doing good or doing bad. They really understood how to help both teams through it and they just loved the art of sport. But I think there was probably another stop along the way that was special, and that was when we were in Regensburg, Germany. We had driven from Amsterdam to Regensburg to play an exhibition game against the German national team and there is an air force base there in Regensburg with American troops. Probably five to six hundred American troops came out, painted their faces red white and blue. I'm sure they had a few beverages to help them along the way and just kind of enjoy it. Just to see them to enjoy the game and ask `how's America?' and to see how excited they were to have something in common with us and for them to root us on. After the game, we took pictures with their kids and uplifted them to the point where, they are representing our Country, and so are we and it really made you understand that this is a special time for us."

What was the best chant you heard during the tour?

Giarratano - "They really didn't understand the youth of our team, being 19-20 years old. They thought we were the every day players that they saw on TV, the veterans of Major League Baseball. Although the talent of our players was like that, the psyche was not and I think sometimes they felt like we were the pampered rich Americans. That was not a theme, you just kind of felt like that. Once they got to know the personality of our players and saw how hard our kids played, it really kind of won over the crowd. I saw that in Amsterdam more than anything and as the tournament went on, we started to win the crowd over more with our personality and our genuine attitudes. We were thankful they were there and rooting for us and watching us and it just became kind of a magical experience for us."

During your 10 days of rain in Holland, how did Team USA stay focused?

Giarratano - "It was a pretty amazing group of players. We had rain everyday, we had rain in the states early and it kind of helped prepare us a little bit. The players just stayed with it. The fields were wet, they didn't have tarps, they didn't have diamond dry, and games didn't get canceled when the mound wasn't in good condition. We kind of conditioned our players towards that in the trials when we went to the New England Collegiate league and there weren't any clay mounds and there were big bumps, sprinklers in the outfield. We did a great job as far as USA baseball to prepare the players to face that adversity. I think more importantly, we just had fun with it. We never really let it get us to a point where we thought the conditions were going to be great; we knew they were going to be tough being on foreign soil. I think the key moment in time for the rain was in the Amsterdam Tournament around day four, and it was raining and the crowd was there and we weren't sure we were going to play and they put plastic over the mound and home plate. Lipkin started to line dance with the players during the rain delay and got a standing ovation from about 5000 or 6000 people and ever since that point, we kind of won the crowd over and we just dealt with the weather. We just expected it to be rainy everyday from that point on and we were kind of looking forward to the rain and the sun was just there when it was there."

What was your best baseball moment on the trip?

Giarratano - "Scoring the run against Japan for the gold medal, to be able to know that we were undefeated in International play was just a special moment. Watching Ryan hit is homerun in Durham, in that stadium was an extremely proud moment. Watching my son interact with the team and take batting practice everyday. Moment by moment, day by day, it just got better as time went by. I think now that we're back home and it all sinks in, the wins over Cuba, we never really understood how big those were. It's hard to narrow it down to one of those moments. I think the very first moment of putting on the uniform and listening to the National Anthem also sticks out in my mind. But there are so many moments and so many treats as a baseball coach that it's hard to narrow it down to one."

What kind of pride and satisfaction do you take in the college team taking two wins against Team Cuba, while the Olympic Team fell to the Cubans?

Giarratano - "I said it in the blog and I thought we were going in as young men and coming out as men. I think we solidified the beginning of the 19-20 year old kids moving into adulthood and really believing in their abilities. The satisfaction that I'll take away is the pride of looking at the kids over the next ten years of their career path, whether it be in baseball or in life, and knowing that that moment in time will be something that will be etched in their memories and will be something that will help them through many struggles and many great moments for them. I think I'm really excited because everyone has always said that the national team could not compete with the Olympic caliber teams of Cuba and Japan and I think that we were able to prove that baseball in America is alive and well and the youth is every bit as good as we need to give them credit for."

Where did you have the best food on the trip?

Giarratano - "The best food on the trip was probably Amsterdam. We were fed by the baseball federation most of the time, so I'm not sure we had a lot of local cuisine, we had more of just American type food. Amsterdam was probably our finest dining experience though."

How special was it to have your entire family with you during the majority of the trip?

Giarratano - "I never really realized in the beginning how much I wanted my family there, but having someone to share it with and being able to see my wife and my daughter in the stands and be able to see my son in the dugout was so special. Being able to share all those moments of success, and being able to represent them, because you know when the name on the jersey is the same for me as it is for them, it was probably the greatest part of the trip. I didn't realize that and I really want to thank USA Baseball for allowing me to bring my family. As a coach, it was really great to have my family there to watch me do my life's work."

Did you have any Griswold Family moments?

Giarratano - "We always have plenty of those when you're together that long. The team was so great; my family was able to travel on the team bus. There are always some tense moments when you're on a six or seven hour bus ride and there are mostly guys and only a few girls. From a family standpoint, there were some unique moments that we made it through as far as living arrangements and getting tickets and making sure everybody was taken care of. Griswold family moments...well, the bus stayed on the road, but there were times when the tires were a little low on air!"

Once and for all: Who really snores the loudest?

Giarratano - "Me, no question about it. I don't think my wife has snored a day in her life and I know Nico does not, so it's me."