Back On The Bus!
I'm working out of my Indiana office today.
It seems I've spent more time in Ohio (ok, and a few days in Florida) than I have on campus at Wabash over the past month. Since I'm a bit of a stat geek, I'll throw the figures out there... It's February 22. There have been 16 working days (Monday through Friday) I could have been in the office. I've actually been in the office for exactly eight of those days. The rest of the time has been spent in Canton and Miami and Meadville, Pennsylvania, and traveling on a bus through Ohio.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
If I hadn't made those trips, I would have missed a phenomenal effort by the Wabash swimming and diving team at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship Meet in Canton. And if I hadn't gone with the basketball team to Allegheny, I would have missed watching this team take another major step toward becoming what we all think they really can be.
Think about it. The Little Giants were up 16 points to start the second half when juniors Andrew Zimmer and Earl Rooks both left Tuesday's game with foul trouble. That left senior Ryan Stephens, sophomore Andy Root and freshmen Chase Haltom, Aaron Brock, Evan Arnold, Kyle Schroering, and Rich Kavalauskas to carry the team through most of the rest of the game. These young players could have folded up their tents and let a more experienced Allegheny team and a very loud and raucous Gator fan base take Wabash out of the game (side note --- hat's off to the Gator fans. They were as close to Chadwick Crazies as I've seen in my travels around the league. And they were very nice to chat with after the game and wished us luck throughout the rest of the tournament).
All this group did is buckle up, survive an Allegheny run and hit shot after shot to keep the game close. Every basket was important and every time the Gators would try and take the momentum in the final 10 minutes, someone stepped up and made a big play (take Brian Maloney's offensive rebound at one end of the floor and a blocked shot at the other in the span of about 30 seconds, or Haltom running back on an Allegheny fast break to keep the Gators from scoring when he could have just let the layup go and get ready to set up on offense after the basket).
All of this took place after weather forced the Little Giants to play at Wittenberg on Thursday, practice Friday, play at home against Kenyon Saturday, getting on a bus Monday after practice to head to eastern Ohio, then get back on the bus Tuesday to travel to Meadville for the game. That's three games in the span of six days with about 17 hours of bus time thrown in for good measure. How's that for a team growing up in a hurry!
And it doesn't get any easier. Today we leave for Wooster after practice to get ready to play the top-seeded Scots on their home floor. We'll spend another five hours together as a group, laughing, joking, studying, sleeping, and testing each other with trivia (Aaron Brock still cant' believe I knew who the lead singer for Kajagoogoo was!).
It's always fun to get to know these guys on this trip. But this team has been a special one. They enjoy spending time together, they act more like a group of brothers than teammates. They really seem to enjoy playing together as a team.
I think it will be something for all of us to enjoy in the upcoming seasons. And hopefully for a few more weeks this year, as well!
Photo - The basketball team takes a lunch break on the way back from Allegheny Wednesday afternoon.
I've been fortunate to serve as a statistician for the Indianapolis Colts for the past few seasons. When the Colts made the Super Bowl, I was given the opportunity to purchase a ticket to the Super Bowl. So Sunday morning I headed to Indianapolis, headed to the championship game.
I arrived in Atlanta 20 minutes early since all of the Colts fans making the trip had packed the plane in Indy well before our planned departure. Heading to the gate for my final plane to Miami, I boarded and prepared to sneak a quick nap during the quick flight. Before I could enjoy my quick rest, the pilot informed us that weather conditions and "a heavy amount of air traffic at Miami International Airport" had shut down the airport. We were stuck at the jetway for over an hour before finally getting airborne.
The game was incredible. I'm still drying out clothes (try riding a bus and the Tri-Rail at 12:30 a.m. with 200 other soaked Colts and Bears fans), and I'm headed for another nap after getting home at 2 a.m. (and that's without a single celebratory moment --- just straight to the bus, the train, and the car!).