University of Minnesota Athletics
Woodrow's Never Ending Potential
3/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Woodrow's determination and motivation started at Maple Grove High School. This is where he excelled in academics and as an athlete. His hard work earned himself a spot in the top one percent of his class, the David Weiner Endowed Scholarship and eight letters in baseball, football and basketball. The list of achievements is never ending and Woodrow carried this work ethic into the University of Minnesota.
"A person's success is all about time management and organizing your priorities," he explained. Minnesota was not only a special place to his family because his parents are alumni and his sister currently attends the Vet school, but was a place that had given him the opportunity to play Division I baseball. Minnesota gave him the chance to play the game he loved while earning a valuable education. Over the last four years, Woodrow learned how to balance his academics with his life as an athlete.
Upon entering college, he was given some advice that he considers to have been very beneficial. He was told that that there are three areas of a student-athlete's life. There are academic, social, and athletic areas. He was told that he could be mediocre at all three or he could do very well at two. He had a decision to make.
"I chose my academics and my life as an athlete," C.J. responded. "I figured that these two areas of my life are most important, and the social aspect would just come naturally. It makes the time I spend with my friends mean a lot more."
Woodrow's concentration on baseball has led to great success. He has developed into an experienced starting pitcher with a variety of accomplishments. At the end of the 2002 season he achieved the following: the first Golden Gopher to be named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2002; the second most Big Ten wins in a single season (7-1 with a 2.55 ERA), best Big Ten ERA record among Golden Gopher starters at 3.71; a 6.2:1 strikeout to walk ratio for his career; All-Big Ten (first team); and the list goes on. He is the guy on the team that is there to do whatever he can to help the team succeed. Whether it is starting, helping out in the bullpen or just being an overall leader. He has that inner drive that pushes him to be better everyday and that is exactly why he loves the sport of baseball.
"As Nolan Ryan once said the best thing about baseball and pitching is that there are so many games within a game," Woodrow stated. "In baseball, there is always something new, and it is such a humbling game because you can never perfect it. Even if you can, it is never for sure that you can do it again. It is one of the games you can never fully master. It is like golf. It is something that drives you to be better and you always want to find out how good you can be. That is what makes it so complex and so interesting."
"What I love most about being a pitcher is being able to control the flow of the game and understanding the momentum and dictate what happens out on the field. I like how you have immediate results and feedback that most sports don't give you," Woodrow added.
Woodrow is looking forward to his final season with the Minnesota baseball team. He is confident that they will have great success because they know how to have fun together, but get their work done in the process. In addition, they only lost five players to graduation from a Big Ten title team a year ago, which results in great team chemistry.
When Woodrow is not concentrating on baseball he is most likely doing school work. He is enrolled in the Carlson School of Management and majoring in finance. However, it took him a while to end up where he is now. He started in CLA honors and wanted to be an eye doctor, then he wanted to go pre-law, and later he changed his major to economics. However, he decided that Carlson was the best place for him. Carlson lined him up with a job as a financial analyst at General Mills after he graduates, but all is contingent on baseball.
C.J's life could go in two different directions. First, he knows that he wants to enter the Major League Baseball draft. Therefore, he will graduate in May, enter the draft in June, and if he is drafted then he will go play for a team over the summer. In August he will decide if he wants to play baseball or go work for General Mills.
"There is nothing better than playing a game for life," he commented. "I have to at least try it. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I owe it to myself. My parents have supported every decision I have made and they are supporting me in this as well."
"I only can control what I can control," Woodrow explained. "I can't control the scouts, or the teams. I can just do whatever it takes to get better everyday. And if I don't play baseball after May, then I will reflect on my baseball career, be glad to have the memories, and start the second part of my life."
C.J. believes that the most important thing he has learned while being a college student is that everyone needs to understand themselves, and just be themselves. There is no need to try and be someone your not. The only constant is change. You need to learn how to change with change and understand your strengths and weaknesses.
"I have always believed in human potential," he said. "Everyone can achieve a lot of great things, but no one can unless they want to." C.J. Woodrow is not your average student. He is a humble, smart, well-rounded, athletic busy body, who has never been able to sit around or make fun of anyone. He takes pride in his abilities, but does not let anyone know it. He enjoys learning and understands that the only path to success is hard work. And most of all he loves any thing that involves throwing, especially the game of baseball.
Woodrow's determination and motivation started at Maple Grove High School. This is where he excelled in academics and as an athlete. His hard work earned himself a spot in the top one percent of his class, the David Weiner Endowed Scholarship and eight letters in baseball, football and basketball. The list of achievements is never ending and Woodrow carried this work ethic into the University of Minnesota.
"A person's success is all about time management and organizing your priorities," he explained. Minnesota was not only a special place to his family because his parents are alumni and his sister currently attends the Vet school, but was a place that had given him the opportunity to play Division I baseball. Minnesota gave him the chance to play the game he loved while earning a valuable education. Over the last four years, Woodrow learned how to balance his academics with his life as an athlete.
Upon entering college, he was given some advice that he considers to have been very beneficial. He was told that that there are three areas of a student-athlete's life. There are academic, social, and athletic areas. He was told that he could be mediocre at all three or he could do very well at two. He had a decision to make.
"I chose my academics and my life as an athlete," C.J. responded. "I figured that these two areas of my life are most important, and the social aspect would just come naturally. It makes the time I spend with my friends mean a lot more."
Woodrow's concentration on baseball has led to great success. He has developed into an experienced starting pitcher with a variety of accomplishments. At the end of the 2002 season he achieved the following: the first Golden Gopher to be named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2002; the second most Big Ten wins in a single season (7-1 with a 2.55 ERA), best Big Ten ERA record among Golden Gopher starters at 3.71; a 6.2:1 strikeout to walk ratio for his career; All-Big Ten (first team); and the list goes on. He is the guy on the team that is there to do whatever he can to help the team succeed. Whether it is starting, helping out in the bullpen or just being an overall leader. He has that inner drive that pushes him to be better everyday and that is exactly why he loves the sport of baseball.
"As Nolan Ryan once said the best thing about baseball and pitching is that there are so many games within a game," Woodrow stated. "In baseball, there is always something new, and it is such a humbling game because you can never perfect it. Even if you can, it is never for sure that you can do it again. It is one of the games you can never fully master. It is like golf. It is something that drives you to be better and you always want to find out how good you can be. That is what makes it so complex and so interesting."
"What I love most about being a pitcher is being able to control the flow of the game and understanding the momentum and dictate what happens out on the field. I like how you have immediate results and feedback that most sports don't give you," Woodrow added.
Woodrow is looking forward to his final season with the Minnesota baseball team. He is confident that they will have great success because they know how to have fun together, but get their work done in the process. In addition, they only lost five players to graduation from a Big Ten title team a year ago, which results in great team chemistry.
When Woodrow is not concentrating on baseball he is most likely doing school work. He is enrolled in the Carlson School of Management and majoring in finance. However, it took him a while to end up where he is now. He started in CLA honors and wanted to be an eye doctor, then he wanted to go pre-law, and later he changed his major to economics. However, he decided that Carlson was the best place for him. Carlson lined him up with a job as a financial analyst at General Mills after he graduates, but all is contingent on baseball.
C.J's life could go in two different directions. First, he knows that he wants to enter the Major League Baseball draft. Therefore, he will graduate in May, enter the draft in June, and if he is drafted then he will go play for a team over the summer. In August he will decide if he wants to play baseball or go work for General Mills.
"There is nothing better than playing a game for life," he commented. "I have to at least try it. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I owe it to myself. My parents have supported every decision I have made and they are supporting me in this as well."
"I only can control what I can control," Woodrow explained. "I can't control the scouts, or the teams. I can just do whatever it takes to get better everyday. And if I don't play baseball after May, then I will reflect on my baseball career, be glad to have the memories, and start the second part of my life."
C.J. believes that the most important thing he has learned while being a college student is that everyone needs to understand themselves, and just be themselves. There is no need to try and be someone your not. The only constant is change. You need to learn how to change with change and understand your strengths and weaknesses.
"I have always believed in human potential," he said. "Everyone can achieve a lot of great things, but no one can unless they want to."
