Ten Questions Columnist Katie Schubauer caught up with senior Spenser Souza to chat about food, friends and favorite Christmas sweatshirts.
1. Spenser, you are a senior on the Cornell baseball team. What has baseball meant to you over the course of your college career?Baseball has been a huge part of my college career. I started out here as a football player and I actually walked on to the baseball team. I felt like moving over to the baseball team was definitely the right decision for me. I immediately met a bunch of guys that instantly became my best friends. It’s been a huge stress relief for me. It’s always my go-to activity. I like to play a little baseball every day to relax a little bit and relieve stress. Did you play both football and baseball in high school?Yeah, I played both in high school and I still couldn’t decide after my senior year. I got recruited here to play football so I thought that was going to be my decision. But I still ended up jumping ship and switching over to baseball. 2. Who is your favorite teammate?It’s hard for me to pick a favorite teammate. I definitely have a group of guys that I like to spend a lot of time with — most of the guys over at 401 Dryden. The fifth roommate downstairs over at 401 Dryden is [senior teammate] Houston Hawley. 3. What is ‘Hobo Jim and the Boys’?(Laughing) Hobo Jim and the Boys is something that we came up with over fall break this year. [Junior teammate] Ryan Plantier came with a group of seniors down to Atlantic City and he lost all of his money —his entire life savings. So we actually decided that he was a hobo because he had no money. We bought him a bag of Doritos on the way home and rationed him food the whole way home. Oh dear. I hope he is doing better now.He is, he is. He has recovered financially. 4. Some of your friends have commented on the fact that you have no soul. Do you know what that might be referring to?(Laughing) Yeah, that’s probably referring to my red hair. It’s a South Park reference.How would you respond to that?I really don’t have a response. I think that I have a soul. But, I guess my friends think otherwise. 5. Your name is spelled Spenser with an ‘s’ but your friends say they call you Spencer with a ‘c’ when you are being “cool.” Is that a rare occurrence?(Laughing) They like to think that it’s a rare occurrence. They like to call me Spencer with a ‘c’ when I hang out with them. I’ve been spending a little bit of time lately with my girlfriend, and they’re not too happy about it. 6. What about the nickname ‘Spensebro’?I actually get that one a lot. When I came out here from California as a freshman, they thought it was hilarious to call me ‘Spensebro.’ I don’t know why. I actually don’t even say the word ‘bro’ very often. But that name kind of stuck. I guess because I’m from LA. 7. Can you tell us about your obsession with ‘e-Baying’?That actually started this winter break. I had a lot of extra stuff lying around the house and I decided I wanted to make a little money so I started selling stuff on e-Bay. Right now I’m actually deciding whether I want to go to Med School or become a professional e-Bay salesman.Can you describe some of your recent e-Bay activity?I haven’t made too many purchases lately, but I have been selling some baseball memorabilia. I also bought a bunch of watches in bulk online and I’ve been trying to sell them. I’m currently sitting on a bunch of inventory so if anyone wants to buy a watch, look me up on e-Bay.What about the ‘Wal-Mart’ TV plan?(Laughing) There was a TV on sale at Wal-Mart and I asked how long the sale was going to last. So I listed the item on e-Bay without purchasing it and if it sold I was going to go buy the TV and sell it. It didn’t work out for me though.
8. You are in a bowling league, correct?Yes.Would you consider yourself a good bowler?I already know where this question is going. I think that I am a pretty good bowler. Everyone has their off game.Can you explain the concept of ‘bowling below replacement’?(Laughing) So in the bowling league that we’re in, it’s four-man teams. And if you have a bowler that doesn’t show up, you score him 100. That’s our team motto — “just bowl above replacement.” I did have an off game one night and bowled a little below replacement.So essentially it would have been better if you just hadn’t shown up?If I hadn’t shown up for that third game my team would have been better off, yes. For the record, I did still average a 160 that night so … 9. Can you tell us about your chauffeur job?So, Houston and I lived at Sig Nu and last year we kind of developed a system where when he was gone on the weekends, I would take the car and make sure it didn’t get a ticket wherever it was parked. And it kind of developed into me just driving Houston around all the time. When we’re together, I just drive Houston’s car instead of him. It’s kind of like that show Workaholics where everyone has their spot. As soon as we go to the car, I go to the driver’s seat, Houston goes to the front seat and Ryan goes to the back seat. 10. Which other Cornell team do you like to hang out with the most?I would say I spend the majority of my time hanging out with the women’s lacrosse team. They’re always a good time, really easy going and a lot of fun to hang out with.
Original Author: Katie Schubauer