Ask most Stanford players about their team's recently completed winter conditioning session -- chock full of 6 a.m. anaerobic training and the resulting nauseous feeling that accompanies early morning physical exhaustion -- and you'll typically see a cringe in response. Or the familiar "thank goodness that's over" look.
But defensive lineman Solomon Thomas doesn't supply the prototypical reaction. Instead, he delivers a blunt, flinch-free answer.
"It was fun," Thomas says.
Wait, what?
Of all the adjectives he could have chosen to describe the unforgiving grind of winter conditioning (torturous, muscle-searing, bitter, traumatic, vomit-inducing), Thomas picks.