Saturday, January 22, 2011

Middle Tennessee - 1/22/11

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - It's been a fun couple of weeks for the Pioneers. The guys are in good spirits as they shoot around at the Murphy Center, getting ready for tonight's game against Middle Tennessee.

There was a confidence and looseness in the players that we saw in Spain last summer, and it's made a welcome return.

The team practiced at DU yesterday morning, had some lunch and then loaded onto a bus for the airport. We always try to arrive early enough to make sure we don't run into any problems, which leaves some time at the gate for the players to hang out and make each other laugh.

When Chase Hallam was asked if he wanted to do a phone interview with a reporter so that he could get it out of the way, he said, "Let's do it later. I'm playing Family Feud here, and I'm in a zone." Sure enough, his computer screen showed a battle being waged."

Always looking to take a quality photo, Andrew Hooper roamed the area looking for unsuspecting teammates that might be napping.

The flight to Nashville was uneventful (even if it was a tad delayed), and after checking into the hotel around 8 p.m., everyone walked to a restaurant next door for a good dinner.

This is a fairly familiar arena for most of the players. In fact, Kyle Lewis is playing here for the third time in his four years. He's hoping for more favorable results tonight.

About Middle Tennessee: Murfreesboro is a town of 101,753 people about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. As the name of the university might suggest, Murfreesboro is smack dab in the middle of Tennessee.

During the Civil War, the Battle of Stone River was fought between the team hotel and campus. There is a nice greenbelt running through a couple of the battlegrounds. Oddly, a full dog team was pulling a man on a sled with wheels along the greenbelt, mushing the dogs along the way.

Middle Tennessee (or Middle Tennessee State, as the sign outside still says) has a fairly rich basketball tradition. The men's team has six NCAA Tournament banners hanging from the rafters, and the women's team has 13, including six this decade.

We always try to come up with a few notable alumni from each school we visit. For some reason, the list from MTSU always seems shorter than expected.

Albert Gore Sr., the former senator and father of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, went here. Longtime NFL quarterback Kelly Holcomb played for the Blue Raiders. And, of course, Music Row is just up the road, so there are a few country music stars. Both Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott and Nashville Star winner Chris Young went to Middle.

If any of our loyal blog readers know any more MTSU alums, please send them our way.

Yearly travel totals:       

Total Flights, regular season only - 10

Total Mileage by Air, regular season only - 8, 634

Total Mileage by Air, including Spain - 18,912

Total Mileage by Bus, regular season only - 968

Total Mileage by Bus, including Spain - 2,528

Total Number of Hotels - 7

Total Number of Different Airports - 7

Total Number of Airline Delays - 1

Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0

Total Number of Bags Lost This Year - 1


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