Saturday, January 8, 2011

Louisiana-Monroe - 1/8/11

MONROE, La. - Thursday night's game was fun. All wins are good, but when you beat the team that's historically the best in the conference, especially in their gym, it feels just a little bit better than usual.

That was the first time the Pioneers have ever beaten Western Kentucky at E.A. Diddle Arena, although the team did have two victories in the venue during the 2002-03 Sun Belt Tournament against Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette.

This win came at the right time. Because the Hilltoppers are expected to travel Denver next year in DU's final season in the Sun Belt, there's a pretty good likelihood that was the last time the Pioneers will play in Bowling Green, Ky.

Spirits were high right after the game, although everyone had to hustle and get out of the arena because we had a flight to catch. The team dined on sandwiches, chips and cookies on the bus from the arena to the Bowling Green Regional Airport.

Normally, the Pioneers travel on commercial airlines, but because there was only one day between games and it's pretty difficult to get from Southern Kentucky to Northern Louisiana, the team loaded onto a prop jet for a 90 minute flight south.

After a short ride from the Monroe Regional Airport, the team arrived at the hotel around midnight, and everyone headed to bed.

Louisiana-Monroe has been in the Sun Belt Conference since 2006-07, so the team has traveled here six times. The first year, we stayed near the local mall, but when we returned the next week for the first round of the SBC Tournament, we moved to a hotel in West Monroe. We've stayed at this hotel ever since.

There's not a whole lot around the hotel, except an agricultural convention center, a John Deere dealership, and what looks to be a nice miniature golf course. That golf course has been an on-going joke, because during all four previous trips, it's been closed. I was prepared to make a joke about it here, but when I ran by yesterday, the sign was flashing "Open." Not that there were any cars parked in front. Or that we'll be going there anywhere.

Yesterday was pretty standard for an off-day on the road. The team slept in a bit before heading to the lobby for breakfast. At 1 p.m., everyone loaded on the bus and went to the ULM Rec Center for a 2.5 hour practice after which sandwiches were available. At 7 p.m., everyone headed to dinner.

It's a 1 p.m. tip time today, so shoot around is much earlier than usual - 8 a.m. The guys were knocking some cobwebs off as they headed to the bus, but Chase Hallam said he preferred afternoon games, and Trevor Noonan added, "I just like getting home right after the game."

The Pioneers are expected to land sometime this evening.

Television: Don't forget that this afternoon's game will be shown live on the Sun Belt Network, which is available on ESPN3 and ESPN's Full Court Package.

About Louisiana-Monroe: There are eight schools in the University of Louisiana System, including ULM and Louisiana-Lafayette, which are both in the Sun Belt Conference.

Formerly named Northeast Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe has just over 9,000 students. Unfortunately, ULM doesn't have an exhaustive list of famous alumni, although I recently discovered former San Diego Charger Stan Humphries and former Denver Bronco Bubby Brister attended when it was Northeast Louisiana, so here's a repeat from a blog two years ago:

Recently Monroe, La., has found a name for itself on the HBO show "True Blood." While we have not run across any vampires, we can tell you that ULM is the alma mater of country singer Tim McGraw, baseball All-Stars Ben Sheets and Chuck Finley, and Breaux Greer. Who is Breaux Greer, you ask? That would be Hurricane from American Gladiators. According to the NBC website, "Run for cover as fast as you can whenever Hurricane blows into Gladiator Arena. Appearing without warning and striking with enough energy to blow down a mountain, those contenders unlucky enough to cross his path will experience a truly perfect storm of sheer athletic prowess and destructive Gladiator instinct." With the potential for a storm like that, the risk of vampires appears considerably less fearsome. (Thanks to former ULM sports information director Jeff Hendrix for providing that vital piece of information.)  

Yearly travel totals:       
Total Flights, regular season only - 8

Total Mileage by Air, regular season only - 6,719

Total Mileage by Air, including Spain - 16,962

Total Mileage by Bus, regular season only - 872

Total Mileage by Bus, including Spain - 2,432

Total Number of Hotels - 6

Total Number of Different Airports - 7

Total Number of Airline Delays - 0

Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0

Total Number of Bags Lost This Year - 1

Total Number of Times the Miniature Golf Course has been open in DU's Five Trips to Monroe- 1


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