The team was dragging a little early on Thursday morning until Santa Claus himself made an appearance.
The players and coaches were waiting for their plane at the Oakland Airport. Near the gate, Santa sat posing for photos with travelers of all ages, and a few of the players made jokes about going up and posing with him.
About 15 minutes later, as everyone was still waiting for the flight, Santa approached and insisted that the team join him for a picture. It took a little prodding from some of the guys, but not a whole lot. Even head coach Joe Scott got a smile on his face when Santa asked where the coach was. Scott shrugged and took his place on a stool in front.
Leave it to Santa to make everyone's day just a little brighter.
About Portland: The Pioneers take on another West Coast Conference team on Saturday, when the Portland Pilots come to town. The team is led by Preseason All-WCC selection Jared Stohl, who has 14.7 points per game. The Pilots also are getting a double-double out of Luke Sikma, who father Jack was a seven-time NBA All-Star with the Seattle SuperSonics and Milwaukee Bucks.
UP is ranked No. 13 on the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, and the Pilots are 7-3 with losses to Kentucky, Washington State and Washington, two of which are ranked and the other is getting votes in the polls.
Portland has produced a fair number of professional soccer players, notably Kasey Keller and Conor Casey, who was named MLS Cup Most Valuable Player after scoring the game-tying goal for the Colorado Rapids in the championship game.
Other alumni of UP include former Major League journeyman catcher Tom Lampkin, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Nunal Nayyar from "The Big Bang Theory."
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights, regular season only - 6
Total Mileage by Air, regular season only - 5,166
Total Mileage by Air, including Spain - 15,409
Total Mileage by Bus, regular season only - 413
Total Mileage by Bus, including Spain - 2,163
Total Number of Hotels - 3
Total Number of Different Airports - 4
Total Number of Airline Delays - 0
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost This Year - 1
Total Number of Team Pictures with Santa - 1
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