Athlete of the Week: Becca Diede & Anna Bertrand

Daily Vanguard: Why did you both come to Portland State?
Anna Bertrand: I came to Portland State because I really like the city and I wanted the opportunity to play Division I softball.

Becca Diede: I came to Portland State because I wanted to continue playing softball and there was an opportunity for me out here to do so. I’m from Colorado, but I knew I wanted to move somewhere on the West Coast and this was my opportunity to do it.

DV: If you could change one of your sport’s rules, what would it be?
AB: I think that we should make cheering against the rules—complete silence.
BD: I don’t know about complete silence, but I definitely would veto the cheering. I’d still clap.
AB: Me too, I’m into clapping.
BD: And another thing is that I’d also like to charge the pitchers when they hit me in the box.
AB: As long as we can charge back.
BD: I’d like to charge Anna [laughing].
AB: No bats though—they can charge without the bats [laughing].

  
DV: What is your greatest strength?
BD: I think Anna’s is pitching.
AB: Thanks. I think Becca’s is…umm, Becca is really consistent, very dependable—which is always a good thing to have behind you.
BD: And I think that we’re both very quiet. But it’s a good thing because no one ever knows what we’re thinking. We’re pretty intimidating, I think—and you have a really good change-up.
AB: Thanks.
BD: You’re welcome.
AB: And you hit that change up.

DV: Where is your favorite place to eat around campus?
AB: I like Hot Lips.
BD: I like Big Town Hero.

DV: What is your favorite thing to do around Portland?
AB: This is going to sound really nerdy, but I go to Powell’s all the time—just to go and look around.
BD: Really?
AB: Oh, and I like going for walks when I’m bored. Especially when the weather is nice, there’s a lot to look at.
BD: I like to go to the Safeway parking lot in downtown. It’s never hot or cold, it’s like the perfect temperature.
DV: What do you do there?
BD: You park and walk into Safeway. But it’s my favorite part of Portland because it’s quiet [laughing].

DV: What is the first item you would buy if you won the lottery?
AB: I would probably buy a car and pay for parking here—because I would need to win the lottery to pay for the parking here.
BD: I’d probably get the mall-cop thing. What are they called?
AB: Umm…Segways?
BD: Segways, yeah. I would get a Segway.

DV: What was your most embarrassing moment on the field?
AB:  Well, a couple of weeks ago…
BD: Really?
AB: Yeah, remember when I faked that throw?
BD: Oh yeah.
AB: That was embarrassing.
BD: Yeah, that was embarrassing, I was embarrassed for you.
AB: Thanks! I was supposed to fake a throw in a certain situation, and when that situation happened, I got into it and I really faked the throw. Except I let go of the ball and it went out into leftfield and the runner scored.
BD: It wasn’t a fake.
AB: I over tried—it was really funny.
BD: So, we’re wearing metal cleats, and now I tie my shoelaces so that they sit on the left side of my shoe. But last year my shoelaces would sit on the right side of my shoe, so when I was running my cleat would clip my shoelace and I would fall. That happened like five times last year.

DV: Do you have any hidden talents?
AB: No!
BD: Come on.
AB: Come on? Do you? I have to think about it.
BD: Can you fold your tongue?
AB: I can moonwalk [laughing].
BD: So can I!
AB: Really, that’s so funny. That is a hidden talent.
BD: I can move my ears, but not like Alfalfa.

DV: Do you have any nicknames?
AB: Anna Banana.
BD: Nope, Becca Diede.

DV: What is the last thing you cooked?
AB: I heated up some chili and rice.
BD: I made cereal.

DV: If you could attend one concert or sporting event anywhere, what would it be?
AB: I would go to the Olympics, I think. And just have a pass for everything.
BD: The Summer or the Winter Olympics?
AB: The Summer Olympics. But the Winter Olympics are also really cool, so it doesn’t really matter.
BD: You like gymnastics huh?
AB: I like gymnastics, and ice skating.
BD: Gymnastics are my favorite.
AB: But I feel like the Summer Olympics would be warmer. They’re in the summer so that’s a plus—but the Winter Olympics has cool stuff like ski jumping. Any Olympics, it doesn’t matter. I just want to go to the Olympics.
BD: Oh, my turn? Probably the Super Bowl.

DV: What has been your favorite class at Portland State?
AB: I took an intro to Native American Studies last term and I really enjoyed it because…
BD: Oh, you like this question huh?
AB: I do.
BD: She’s really smart.
AB: [laughing] I enjoyed it because it focused on things you don’t really learn in regular classes. The professor was really good and the people in the class made it fun.
BD: I really don’t have a favorite class. I don’t even remember what I took last year, or last term. I guess I really liked my psychology class last year. It was the teacher that made it so much fun.
AB: Teachers make the class. It doesn’t matter what it’s about.

DV: What’s on your iPod right now?
AB: I think the last thing I listened to was Lady Antebellum—I have a boring iPod. I’m not really that much of a music person. Becca on the other hand…
BD: Yeah, I like music. I think Atmosphere and the Grateful Dead are the last two things I listened to.

DV: If you could have dinner with three people—alive, dead or fictional—who would they be?
AB: Dr. House, Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mocking Bird, and Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls.
 BD: Louis from Even Stevens, probably Rob from Rob and Big, and the tennis player that gets in trouble all the time for being so mean. He’s on Mr. Deeds…McEnroe, John McEnroe.

DV: Do you read the Vanguard?
AB: No, I don’t.
BD: What is the Vanguard [laughing]?

DV: What has been your best moment on the field?
AB: For me, I think it’s been this year. Just being able to—for one—play a college softball game, because it’s been something I’ve wanted to do since I was little. It’s also been really cool to play schools like Arizona State and UCLA, because they’re the best, and it’s really awesome that we have the opportunity to play teams like them.
BD: My best moment on the field can come at any point of any game. I think it’s really just that turning point of each game—where that one hit that needed to be linked together happens, or the one diving play, or the one double play happens. That one big play, whether you’re on offense or defense, that happens to change the game, and you’re either winning or losing, and it makes everything more exciting.
I think that’s when you know that you’re really in it, and that’s my favorite part of the game.

*This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.