HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The
Pioneers are back in Arkansas for the fourth time in the past five weeks, and
not a single person is complaining about it. It’s Sun Belt Conference
Tournament time down here, and there is an excitement as teams and fans walk through
town.
The team arrived in Little Rock late on Friday night and
stayed there because practice time was easier to come by at UALR than it would
have been in Hot Springs, where there were four women’s games at Summit Arena
yesterday. After practice, the players loaded back on the bus, headed about 60
minutes to Hot Springs and checked into the Arlington Hotel, an old place that
has a bit of resemblance to the Stanley in Estes Park, Colo. Needless to say,
the term “Redrum” has been utter more than a couple times (among other
references to The Shining).
It seemed a little strange yesterday being on the road but
not having a game. Most of the players took a walk through downtown, and of
course several of them could be founding studying in the hotel lobby, since
finals are coming up next week.
After dinner last night, the team headed over to Summit
Arena to watch the first half of the DU women’s game, but with the late game
time and an early wakeup call summoning, the players headed back to the hotel
to catch some sleep. On top of losing an hour with last night’s time change,
DU’s shootaround time was 8:40 a.m. That may not seem especially early, but
when considering the game is not until prime time, most teams prefer to sleep
in longer and make sure they are rested.
With eight teams competing today, each school gets only 20
minutes on the court to get used to the baskets, as opposed to the usual hour. In
order to get more preparation, the team headed immediately to Lakeside High
School’s Ram Arena. The intimate gym feels like a full circle to the first
practice of the year.
After this, the team will eat breakfast and then try to pass
some time until the tip at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, when the Pioneers will take
on Arkansas-Little Rock.
Bag Update: There
were a record number of comments sent in after the last blog about the team’s
bags not arriving in Monroe. To answer the most common question, the team
fortunately did receive everything on the first flight of the day, although
that plane did not arrive until 1:40 – long after the original shootaround
time. Everyone grabbed his duffle from the baggage claim, took out practice
gear and changed on the bus on the way to campus. Since we missed the time set
aside to practice, the court was unavailable, but ULM arranged time for us to
go through an abbreviated session in the student rec center. Based on the
results, it worked out OK.
However, it is only right to offer the top responses when we
asked for backup suggestions in case the uniforms did not arrive:
1.
Tank tops with Sharpied numbers
2.
Snuggie, which was offering a 2-for-1 deal
3.
ULM’s leftover women’s uniforms from their Think
Pink event a few weeks prior
About Hot Springs:
The boyhood home of Bill Clinton is surrounded on three sides by the Hot Springs
National Park. The hotels are all within walking distance of the Arena, and the
downtown section is lined with restaurants and other establishments.
And, of course, there are taps in the middle of town, where
people bring bottles to fill up with natural spring water. Even though it’s
only an hour from Arkansas-Little Rock, Hot Springs really has the feel of a
neutral site – a place where fans from every team can gather and cheer for
their teams. Based on the number of team shirts, there are plenty of fans for
every team.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights – 24
Total Mileage Flown
– 23,178
Total Bus Miles –
2,004
Total Number of Hotels – 19
Total Number of
Different Airports – 15
Total Number of
Airline Delays – 1
Total Number of
Cancelled Flights – 1
Total Number of Bags
Lost This Year – 28
Total Number of the Trips
Involving the Little Rock Airport in the Past Five Weeks – 4 (at UALR,
refueling on the way back to Denver from Florida Atlantic, at Arkansas State
and the Sun Belt Conference Tournament)
