Deep Shades of Blue

During the year you are playing six away games, which means six different hotels, plane rides and stadiums.  I was thinking back on those experiences and wanted to post the good, the bad and the ugly about games on the road.

GOOD- The team normally leaves on Friday at around eleven, which means no school on Friday.  I know, you are supposed to be a “student athlete”, but let’s face it; most players are “athlete students”.  Bronco’s goal for academics is much higher than other programs. (a 3.0 average for the team),  he also provides incentives for players to maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout the semester.  Incentives include Ogio school bags, Nike apparel, and a dinner at the end of the year for the players that achieved the needed grade point average.  I have been on one team that achieved the goal.  The other times were normally in the 2.95 area, which is always #1 in the country.

The food, is always good.  Provided for us on every away game is a to-go order from L&L Hawaiian Barbecue.  This meal is sucked down prior to take off, which sometimes results in a head ache, heart burn, indigestion, upset stomach…Diarrhea (if you sing it like the Pepto Bismol commercials it sounds better).  When the team arrives at the hotel, they normally have a few minutes before another meal and then its off to a fireside. After the fireside, its back to the hotel for a walk-through and another meal. If a player doesn’t watch out he’ll end up looking like an um-pa lum-pa by the end of the season.

The plane ride home after a victory is great.  You go straight from the game to the nearest airport, load up and fly back to Provo.  This is done within an hour of the final horn, and is great after a win.  Players are joking and having a good time, and the bumps and bruises seem to go away until Sunday.  A loss is another story.

A few of the hotels are awesome, most notably: the San Diego hotel is right in the harbor on the ocean. Beautiful views, sea air, California, it just doesn’t get much better.  The Hotel in Colorado Springs is a resort hotel up in the mountains.  The TCU hotel outside of Fort Worth is overlooking a golf course, and the people in Texas are the most hospitable folks in the world.  The crown jewel of the road schedule is the J.W. Marriott in Las Vegas.  It’s a resort and spa, and the rooms are top notch. Jet bath tubs, walk-in everything, and a comfort level that is unmatched by any other hotel, during the season.  Especially the beds, you just get in your room, crank the A/C and nestle down under the down comforter, until you have to bolt to the next meeting or walk-through.

BAD- Again the plane ride home after a loss.  Everything hurts, just a little more, and the plane is pin drop quiet.  Except for Terrance Hooks, who’s always snoring like a water buffalo.  The team is required to follow a strict schedule while at the hotel.  The stay at the hotel is not as relaxing as I made it sound. It is filled with film study meetings, walk-throughs, and of course a strict eating regimen.  Having all the meetings and such, you are always watching the clock, and being on the defense means that Bronco is at every dang thing.  Come in late, and you could find yourself on an early flight back to Provo with the impression of foot on your rear.

UGLY- Laramie, need I say more.  The hotel is like the local Motel Six on the crappiest corner of the worst part of town.  There were a few other dumps that we stayed in throughout my career.  A close second to the Wyoming road trip was the Notre Dame game.  Every hotel close to the stadium is booked full for about 3 years in advance, so you have to stay in some field about an hour and thirty minutes from the stadium.  This hotel was not the J.W. Resort.  Like Laramie, this hotel could be found in any mid-western podunk town.  It had an indoor pool, which gave the whole hotel a stale stench of musty water, and chlorine.  The room reeked like smoke, and the sheets and blankets were like card board. The only good thing about that trip was, well, leaving

September 3, 2008 | Filed under: Current Cougars, On the Road, The Daily Grind by Quinn Gooch