Junior guard Brittany McCoy and I covered a lot of ground in a short period of time, and as it turns out, she, like volleyball’s Jessica Granquist earlier this week, had plenty of good things to say! So let’s just get right down to the interview, immediately following the bio:
Name: Brittany McCoy
Year: Junior
Position: Guard
Number: 12
Full Bio: Gophersports bio
Mark Heise: Brittany, teammate Zoe Harper picked you for this Off Topic, and the question she wanted to ask you was, what is the best part of living with her?
Brittany McCoy: We’re just goofs sometimes in our room. We’ll just do goofy stuff like put on fashion shows for each other and, dumb stuff that people don’t know about. But it’s kind of fun, it takes our mind off of basketball, and gives us some roommate bonding time.
MH: Since that question was so biased, we’ll go the other way with it. What’s the worst part?
BM: Not gonna lie, she’s not too big on cleaning. You would think she’s allergic to washing dishes, so we’ve had some heart-to-hearts about the cleaning situation in the room. But she’s getting better. But she’s not big on cleaning so I find that’s my responsibility a lot of the time.
MH: We actually did talk about cleaning. She told me, if she’s going to clean, everything needs to be perfect or there’s no point.
BM: I’d agree, I like stuff clean. It’s very important for me to have my room in order, especially because that’s just like my personal space. Living room, bathroom, whatever, it is what it is, but I struggle when things aren’t neat so I like to come back to a clean bedroom. I’d like to come back to a clean apartment, but that doesn’t always happen, as busy as we are.
MH: I think I’m about the opposite. I need the kitchen, living room and bathroom clean, especially for visitors, but then when it comes to my room…
BM: You don’t care.
MH: Right. I do not care about the mess too much.
BM: I feel like if we’re going to have company over, we’ll try to clean, but I think that’s how Zoe is. Her room is like a tornado hit it. She doesn’t care though, she’ll just close the door when we have people over.
MH: New question this week. What is the weirdest thing you were forced to do in elementary gym class?
BM: I never had elementary gym, I was home schooled until high school. So my gym class consisted of my mom kicking me out of the house and telling me to go run around the block a few times. So we didn’t have any quirky things, but that is a good question.
MH: Did you have a home school group, like other home school families, where you could get together and do things? My sister was home-schooled through high school.
BM: Sometimes. We had a home-school Bible study that we did for home-school families, and that got us around other kids our age. We went to enrichment classes for a few years, that was done through a home-school group. So there were things we could connect to other home-school families through.
MH: And when did you decide to switch over?
BM: Well it’s kind of a funny story, it was my mom’s idea to home-school us. I’m the oldest of six kids, and my mom got her teaching degree in school, so she wanted to home-school me, and my dad kind of was unsure…
MH: So you were kind of a guinea pig?
BM: Exactly. So my dad said she could home-school me for first grade, but I had to go to school for second grade. Second grade rolls around, and my mom asks again, and he says, ‘ok, but she has to go for fifth grade’ so it kept getting pushed back. But finally he put his foot down when it came to high school, and the general rule was for all of us, you try high school for a year, and if you don’t like it you can come back. But you have to at least try and give it a shot. I liked it, and stayed. The main reason I stayed was for sports, because in Illinois you can’t be home-schooled and play a sport at a high-school. Home-schooling and high school both have their pros and cons, but I definitely enjoyed being home for those eight years.
MH: You’re from Illinois, are you near Chicago?
BM: Yep.
MH: Ok. I’ve been to Chicago a few times, and I’ve had a chance to go downtown and get lost for a few hours, but obviously I must have missed plenty. What’s the most important thing that I probably missed?
BM: Well a couple big spots to hit is Navy Pier, it’s a big Pier in Lake Michigan that has a children’s museum, a bunch of restaurants, an I-max theater, a huge ferris wheel that it’s known for, so that’s a fun area to hit. There’s Millennium Park, right in the middle of the city, with "The Bean," as they call it, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it…
MH: I’ve heard of it. I’ve got a long story about the Bean but I’m not going to bother you with it.
BM: Maybe after. So that’s the big thing. There’s a huge outdoor theater there, they have botanical gardens… There’s Michigan avenue, which I’m sure you’ve heard of. It’s just a mile-long strip of stores, and especially in the winter, they do a nice job of decorating that and getting it ready for Christmas. You’ll definitely have to make a trip back and hit the hot spots.
MH: I’ll have to try it. I was watching Monk yesterday, my new favorite TV show. Have you seen Monk?
BM: I haven’t seen it.
MH: Ok well he’s an obsessive compulsive detective, and he just freaks out about everything, and on this episode, there was a blackout and he was not happy about it. So the question for you is, what’s the worst part about blackouts?
BM: I think it was last year, there was a big thunderstorm in Chicago, when I happened to be home in August. And I’m assuming you mean blackout like the electricity is going out.
MH: Yup, electricity.
BM: Pretty much for two days straight, the electricity was out in my house. That was an adventure. It was convenient because I was home.
MH: Of course.
BM: But I had also brought two friends from school home with me. I felt so bad because our air conditioning didn’t work, in the middle of August, our basement had flooded from the storm, so the basement smelled, and pretty much we lived like animals in the fact that when the sun rose, we woke up and when the sun set, we went to bed. All we had were candles so that was kind of hard, trying to walk around with candles and no electricity.
MH: So lights would be the worst?
BM: Probably.
MH: Ok. Have you ever ridden in an emergency vehicle?
BM: Um… no, I don’t think I have.
MH: Not even like a fire truck ride?
BM: I know I’ve been in a fire truck but I haven’t ridden in one. I know we used to visit the fire station and I crawled in it, but I never got a ride.
MH: Ok. Are you a cat person or a dog person?
BM: I’m not an animal person, I’ll put it that way. Never had pets growing up, I think the coolest, in quotes, "pets" growing up, we had a guinea pig, I had that when I was little, and my brothers have had turtles and fish growing up but it’s not really my thing. If I had to pick, I’d probably say dogs though.
MH: Ok. Christmas is coming up, and we’re hearing the music. When is it "OK" to play Christmas music?
BM: I love Christmas music… I’d say it’s ok to play it after Thanksgiving, but I prefer to start listening to it occasionally a couple of weeks before Christmas. I don’t think I can listen to a radio station that plays Christmas music 24 hours a day, but an occasional song here or there leading up to Christmas works for me.
MH: Is there a time when you stop listening?
BM: The day after.
MH: Wow, so you cut it off quick.
BM: Yup, Christmas is over.
MH: I know you were on the road this Black Friday, but have you ever gone Black Friday shopping?
BM: I have not. We have neighbors at home that do, it’s an elderly woman and her daughter. It’s just funny how they go every single year. But I’ve heard horror stories about it. I read an article online about this past Black Friday where some employee at a store was trampled as soon as the doors opened. Stuff like that makes me want to stay away.
MH: That makes sense. One of the questions I gave Zoe last week was about the raised floor here at Williams. She said she’s only fallen off once, and that was when Emily Fox pushed her off. So has Emily Fox every knocked you off the raised floor?
BM: Emily Fox hasn’t, no. I fell of the floor for the first time in a game last year. I was going for a breakaway layup and I got tripped up, fouled, and I pretty much slid on my stomach probably from about the free throw line, and I landed on a man’s lap who was sitting courtside. It wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be, but I was fortunate enough that it was my only experience.
MH: Do you think it’s intimidating for visitors?
BM: I think so. I know the first time I played on this floor was when I came to a summer camp here. I was nervous going up for layups because I was afraid I would keep running and fall off the floor. I’ve gotten used to it but if I was a visitor, I’d be intimidated.
MH: Ok. Elevators. You get in by yourself, doors close. What do you do?
BM: I’m worried about doing stuff because some elevators have security cameras in them, and I never want to do something embarrassing and not realize there’s a camera right there. So I imagine that there is one, and behave until I get out.
MH: So you’ve never done ANYTHING?
BM: I don’t think so.
MH: Fine… Most recent movie you watched?
BM: Me and about half the team went to see High School Musical 3 when it came out in October, I think it was October. That was the last movie I’ve seen in theaters. The last movie movie, I watched "Over Her Dead Body," it’s an Eva Longoria-Parker movie, on our way back from Colorado.
MH: Haven’t heard of the one, and haven’t seen any of the High School Musicals, so there are no follow-up questions. Can you play any instruments?
BM: I played the piano for about 7 years… I stopped my freshman or sophomore year in high school, I don’t remember. I miss playing that, and I think I’m going to try taking a guitar class this summer because I’ve kind of always wanted to play it, and summer’s the perfect time to try with my schedule. we’ll see how it goes.
MH: Be sure and let us know. Question of the Year: Travis Busch and Zach Eisendrath have an online TV blog calledThe What Else? Show, where they sit down and do a talk show, discussing anything they really feel like talking about that day. If you had an online TV blog, what would it be and what would you call it?
BM: That’s a tough question
MH: Everyone says that.
BM: I would definitely make it not about sports, so just life in general… I think it would be a talk show… I would do like a Saturday Night Live knock-off, or like a Wild ‘n Out. I’d have people come on and imitate people, or you give them a topic and role that they have to play.
MH: Would you be participating, or hosting?
BM: I would be hosting, because I don’t think I’d be a very good participant. But I think it’d be fun to watch.
MH: Do you have a name for it?
BM: Um, no… Let me think… I can’t come up with one
MH: Who would be the first guest?
BM: It would be my friend and one of our managers, Emily Oberlander. She’s one of the funniest people I met and she’s good with impersonations. She’d be great for the show, and our ratings would sky-rocket after one episode.
MH: Ok. When’s the last time you had a juice box?
BM: Does Capri Sun count?
MH: I don’t think so.
BM: Juice box… before high school for sure.
MH: Why did you stop with the juice boxes?
BM: I don’t even know. I don’t remember the last time I had one, i just know i didn’t have one in high school They’re so little. I’d need like 6 to quench my thirst.
MH: So if they had a 20 ounce juice box, you’d buy that?
BM: For sure. You know those goofy little half-cans of soda that they have? I feel like a juice box is like that. It doesn’t do much at all.
MH: Couple of last questions. Some guys are wearing scarves now, what’s your opinion on that?
BM: Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen a guy wearing a scarf yet… but for me I think it’s a little more acceptable than, I’ve seen a couple of boys in my classes wear capri pants. Yeah… I’m not to big on that. But if you need a scarf, you need a scarf to keep your neck warm. Especially in a state like this, I don’t think I can hate on anybody for staying warm.
MH: I saw three different volleyball players on my walk to Mariucci and back today. None of them were wearing hats.
BM: I think people try to hard to look cute in the winter, I don’t think you can look cute in the winter in this state.
MH: Last question. Who would you like to nominate for this next week, and what would you like to ask them?
BM: I would say, Kiara Buford, and ask her what the hardest thing was about her first summer at the University of Minnesota.
Thanks Brittany, and thanks everyone for reading. Come back next week for Ariana Filho and Kiara Buford, as OFF TOPIC begins to wind down, heading into finals week