This is the first in a three-part series on relationships. Part one features dating between athletes and non-athletes. Part two emphasizes dating between a cappella singers and non-a-capella singers. Part three spotlights athletes who date each other and a cappella singers who date each other.
Strolling hand in hand past the display cases filled with jewelry, window shopping at Victoria's Secret or sharing a sundae at Kohr Brothers could be any young, starry-eyed couple's date to the mall.
For fourth-year College student Emily Mollick and her boyfriend, fifth-year Graduate student and quarterback Matt Schaub, however, a visit to Fashion Square Mall is a little different.
When the couple wanders into Legends to browse through the newest sportswear, the quarterback awes his youngest fans. Since they sell Schaub's jersey at the store, many children recognize Schaub and jump at the chance to get an autograph. At other times, they approach the football star with caution.
"I think it's really cute when they are little kids," Mollick said. "They will just come and stand like six inches from him and not say anything. Then he will bend down and say 'Hi, how are you doing?'"
Schaub said it was weird at first to have children asking for his autograph, but it's something that comes along with the success of the team.
"It's [also] nice to be recognized by the kids in the community and to give back to them," Schaub said.
Small children, however, are not the only ones who want Schaub's autograph.
"It's kind of embarrassing but I have the football poster on my wall," Mollick said. "He signed it with a message."
Schaub may spend much of his time at football practice, but Scott Stadium is not exactly the ideal spot for meeting women. Filling the position of celebrity judge at Sigma Kappa's lip sync contest, on the other hand, provided a more conducive setting. Mollick also participated on the judging panel at the event last February, and she said the two of them hit it off right away.
"We talked a lot that evening and had a really good time so that's how she stood out to me," Schaub said.
Mollick and Schaub have been dating for eight months now and have had a chance to discover how much they have in common.
"We go to Outback all the time," Mollick said. "We really like the Outback special. We like steak."
Although there are often team meals, Mollick said Schaub will always eat twice. Sometimes he will watch what he eats and get a salad -- but never without meat on it, Mollick added.
Due to conflicting schedules, dates to Outback are limited to the weekends.
"It is hard to find a lot of time to spend together because of our commitments to other things," Schaub said. "So dinnertime is a good time to be together."
Mollick said Schaub has about five hours of football commitments per day and even more if he watches film before a game. He finishes up around dinnertime, which is when Mollick must go to a cappella practice. As the president of the Sillhooettes, Mollick often is busy until 10 or 11 p.m. about three days a week.
While their schedules are not ideal, Mollick said that luckily her sorority's functions happen to be on dates that are not conflicting with the football schedule. She brought him to her sorority's formal last year and enjoyed herself despite a minor problem.
"It's kind of awkward dancing because he's 6-foot-6 and I'm 5-foot-2, but, yeah, he's a good dancer," Mollick said.
Schaub may be a solid dancer, but he is more renowned for his moves on the football field. In fact, Mollick is so concerned with jinxing his performance that she won't say good luck to him before a game.
"It doesn't bother me that she won't say 'good luck,'" Schaub said. "I am very superstitious as well so I understand."
Mollick, however, shows her support and encouragement in other ways. When Schaub was hurt earlier in the season, Mollick and her friends made him cards and cookies since they understood how hard it must be to watch from the sidelines. Mollick also said she goes to all of the home games and to the away games that aren't too far away.
"I appreciate everything she does for me. She was always there to comfort me or get me food when I was frustrated by my shoulder injury," Schaub said. "And she always has encouraged me to do well."
Although she was a football fan before she met Schaub, Mollick's passion for and knowledge of the game have grown in the past eight months.
"I know the rules of football pretty well, but he will quiz me on obscure football facts -- like how many pounds of pressure are there in a football? There are 13 pounds of pressure in a football," Mollick said. "I love guessing. I love it when I guess right, and I like to know these little things."
While Mollick attends many of Schaub's football games and is eager to learn about the sport, not everyone is a sports fan.
Fourth-year College student David Straus said he chooses not to become very involved in his girlfriend's swimming career.
Fourth-year college student Cynthia Roller swims butterfly and freestyle for the varsity swim team and was the 2002 ACC champion in the 100-yard butterfly. Straus, however, has rarely seen his girlfriend compete.
"I have never gotten into it so it has never been terribly exciting for me," Straus said.
Roller said her boyfriend thinks swimming is simply people moving back and forth across the water.
"But he supports me," Roller said. "He listens to me and humors me by pretending to understand the swimming lingo."
In addition, Roller said she would prefer not to have her boyfriend come to her meets.
"I know I would freak out before my event if I saw him," she said.
Not only does Straus stay away from the pool, he also prefers to be with Roller when she is not hanging out with her swimming friends. So it is no wonder the other swimmers question whether Roller's boyfriend is real -- even though they have been dating for two-and-a-half years.
"All my friends think he doesn't exist," Roller said half-jokingly. "They all take it personally when he doesn't come to hang out."
To his defense, Straus said he isn't a fan of the big party scene, and partying is usually what the swimmers are doing when he is invited to join them.
Straus and Roller, however, find time to spend with each other on the weekends and after 6 p.m. during the week. Straus is a volunteer firefighter for Seminole Trail Volunteer Fire Department, so Roller will visit him when he is on duty.
"I am friends with all the firefighters," Roller said. "I sit around, talk to people, eat their food and try to convince them to go to restaurants."
Because of Roller's swimming schedule, the couple cannot go on many weekend excursions, but they did have the chance to take a trip over the summer. They went camping in western Virginia and discovered a waterfall near Hot Springs.
"We found this waterfall, and [David] fell in love with it," Roller said.
While they have to work around Roller's schedule, she said that being a varsity swimmer is not something that detracts from their relationship.
"Him being a student and me being [a student] athlete is like having our own separate worlds that don't intertwine," Roller said.
Although there is some dating between the men's and women's teams, Roller said she would not consider dating a fellow swimmer.
"I would never be able to date a guy on my team," Roller said. "They are like my brothers."
Straus agreed that dating a varsity athlete does not impinge on their relationship -- except for a few things he could live without.
"She always has tissues everywhere," Straus said. "She just throws them and fails to pick them up. It's slightly annoying."
Roller said chlorine affects her sinuses so she always has a really runny nose. She did, however, admit that sometimes she misses the trashcan and does not pick up the tissues from her floor.
For Schaub and Mollick, as well as Roller and Straus, dating an athlete or dating as an athlete takes some compromise and adjustment, but is not a big issue.
"Our relationship is basically like everyone else's," Mollick said. "Everyone thinks it will be this big issue but it doesn't weigh on my mind. Every once in a while I will be driving and see a poster on a wall that catches my eye [but] we are just going about our lives."
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