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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