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The Daily OrangeWSOC | Syracuse gladly takes in Hamm's Hall of Fame induction
By George Williams
Posted: 8/30/07, 11:55 PM EST Section: Sports
"When I was younger, (Hamm) was always a role model to me," senior captain Jen Taormina said. "I wasn't a forward like she was, but her dedication and absolute hunger for the ball was pretty incredible. To see her about a foot away from us was just incredible, something I'll probably never see again in my lifetime."
Dorrance, who coached Hamm for four years at North Carolina, was one of a number of speakers. In his speech, Dorrance discussed what separated Hamm from others. One such memory hit home with Taormina.
Once when Anson was driving, he came across Hamm practicing a drill alone outside. The exercise, Taormina said, was similar to a fitness test that she and her teammates run quite frequently.
"To know that Mia Hamm was actually doing one day what we do was kind of cool," Taormina said.
Hamm has always been recognized as one of soccer's least selfish players. Foudy, Hamm's former teammate, spoke about this in her acceptance speech, noting Hamm's inclination to always put her teammates ahead of herself.
Farmer found all the speeches held a central theme.
"They talked about their teammates, and all the things they remembered were silly things that happened amongst their team," Farmer said. "They could have really easily talked about how cool it is to win the World Cup and go to the Olympics and 100 percent of the people there will never get that opportunity, but everybody's on a team."
One of the main things last year's squad lacked was the "giddiness" to get through an entire season, Farmer said. SU lost three overtime contests last season, and Farmer admits these losses took a toll on the morale of the team. Syracuse was just one overtime goal away from hosting a first-round Big East tournament game last year. Instead, they failed to qualify.
Farmer believes last weekend's experience at the Hall of Fame will give his players an extra edge when it comes to the playing field this weekend.
"I'm expecting us to be competitive and eager to get going in the box, little bit better attacking attitude," Farmer said. "They're playing harder. They're sort of fed up with two years of not winning games."
Dorrance, who coached Hamm for four years at North Carolina, was one of a number of speakers. In his speech, Dorrance discussed what separated Hamm from others. One such memory hit home with Taormina.
Once when Anson was driving, he came across Hamm practicing a drill alone outside. The exercise, Taormina said, was similar to a fitness test that she and her teammates run quite frequently.
"To know that Mia Hamm was actually doing one day what we do was kind of cool," Taormina said.
Hamm has always been recognized as one of soccer's least selfish players. Foudy, Hamm's former teammate, spoke about this in her acceptance speech, noting Hamm's inclination to always put her teammates ahead of herself.
Farmer found all the speeches held a central theme.
"They talked about their teammates, and all the things they remembered were silly things that happened amongst their team," Farmer said. "They could have really easily talked about how cool it is to win the World Cup and go to the Olympics and 100 percent of the people there will never get that opportunity, but everybody's on a team."
One of the main things last year's squad lacked was the "giddiness" to get through an entire season, Farmer said. SU lost three overtime contests last season, and Farmer admits these losses took a toll on the morale of the team. Syracuse was just one overtime goal away from hosting a first-round Big East tournament game last year. Instead, they failed to qualify.
Farmer believes last weekend's experience at the Hall of Fame will give his players an extra edge when it comes to the playing field this weekend.
"I'm expecting us to be competitive and eager to get going in the box, little bit better attacking attitude," Farmer said. "They're playing harder. They're sort of fed up with two years of not winning games."
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