11:24 a.m. Sounds begin to drift from the gym into the hallways. "Testing. Testing." The twang of some country
song. "Check. Check."
11 :25 a.m. "It's more like being a tour guide," says Angela Gergley, a sophomore early childhood education major.
She stands at a table at the entrance to the M.A.C.C. Before her loom 150 stuffed, straightened and stacked
information packets touting the benefits of a Kent State education.
And a place on the football team.
Gergley and about nine other volunteers like her are helping the football department today, as they often do
throughout the week. Today 150 high school juniors — and potential Kent State football players — are here to see the
university. And the Kent-Akron game, which they get in to for free.
11 :29 a.m. Al Tielemans shoots for Sports Illustrated. Today he will take about 400 photos for a five-page story on
the Mid-American Conference. Of those, maybe one will be used. It's up to the editors — Tielemans just takes the
pictures.
And it has been a busy week for Tielemans as he has traveled throughout the MAC. Tielemans says he hasn't
slept nearly enough this week, but he nonchalantly rattles his hectic schedule off like it's nothing he can't handle. The
Nike running shoes he wears have definitely proven their worth.
It's hectic, but this week's work is a special opportunity.
"Normally I just show up, walk in on Saturday morning, shoot the game and leave," Tielemans says. "To me this is a
choice assignment. It's not just shooting the games. You're trying to tell a story about what it's like to play in this league."
12:02 p.m. The junior football recruits are herded into a section of bleachers at the end of the gym. "Kent
Athletics" flashes on the scoreboard.
12:05 p.m. Cheerleader Anthony McAfee, a senior criminal justice major, stands calmly in his workout pants and
Kent Cheerleading shirt. But there's a built-up energy about him, as though any minute he is liable to break out into a
front handspring.
"A crowd gets me psyched up big time," he says. "When the players are out there doing their best, I get really
pumped. That is like the ultimate rush — adrenaline. I have a ball in front of the crowd."
12:15 p.m. Heather Walsh, a senior elementary education major, is busy hanging up clothes in the Kent Shop.
She proudly displays her "Flush Akron" shirt, which has a picture of Flash flushing a Zip down a toilet. She thinks
these will be hot sellers today — and for just $10.
12:28 p.m. On the court, the folding chairs that will serve as each team's bench are being set up.
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