Thursday, February 3, 2011

Arkansas-Little Rock - 2/3/11

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Winter storms are covering most of the country. Denver, which reached 70 degrees last Friday, saw temperatures drop well below zero.

It's a little chilly in Little Rock, but the team made it without too many problems, unless you count a lost bag for a certain blog writer.

In fact, as the team exited the plane onto the runway, more than one person commented that the temperature was quite nice. It was 29 degrees. I guess it's a matter of what you've been used to.

Life on the road can be funny. While everybody tries to make everything run as smoothly as possible, so that the team can prepare and play without added hurdles, sometimes things like weather prevent that ease.

Last week the day before their game with Denver, the North Texas team sat on an airplane at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport - less than 30 miles from their campus - for nearly four hours. Their plan was to check into the hotel, practice at Magness Arena and then have some dinner. After the delay, they arrived after midnight. They may have grabbed some dinner, but they definitely lost that day's practice.

The Pioneers' coaching staff decided a few years ago that it was better to avoid such risks. That's why the team practices at home and then flies out later in the afternoon.

Yesterday was a typical example. The team practiced from about 7:30-9:30 a.m., and then the players went to their classes. At 1:30 p.m., everyone grabbed box lunches and jumped on the bus for DIA. The flight landed around 7 p.m., we checked into the hotel, and we were eating dinner by 8:15 p.m.

That's pretty much life on the road.

Treasure Hunters Unite: The Pioneers are sharing a hotel with Treasure Hunters Roadshow. Based on their website, these appear to be the same people who offer to buy gold on late night television.

Since we arrived, hundreds of people have stood in line, holding stuff that they hope is worth a lot of money. According to their website, people are encouraged to bring things like silver, gold, paper money, guitars, trains and sport memorabilia.

I'm not going to try to understand whether paper money may be worth more than the amount listed on it, or how anyone might bring a train to a hotel. But it seems a lot of people are excited about the show, and sometimes the organizers buy the stuff on the spot.

We thought maybe this was a television show, like Antique Roadshow (which radio voice Mitch Hyder can't get enough of), but there is no sign on truth behind that on their website.

About Arkansas-Little Rock: The Trojans have won a handful of championships with the banners hanging in the Jack Stephens Center as proof. There's also a lone jersey hanging from the rafters.

That one is Derek Fisher, who starred for UALR from 1992-96, winning a Sun Belt championship as a senior. Since then, Fisher has been better known for winning NBA championships alongside Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles.

If any of our loyal blog readers know of other notable alumni from UALR, please send them our way. According to the good folks who work here, they really don't have any other than Fisher.

Yearly travel totals:       
Total Flights, regular season only - 12

Total Mileage by Air, regular season only - 10,417

Total Mileage by Air, including Spain - 20,695

Total Mileage by Bus, regular season only - 1,087

Total Mileage by Bus, including Spain - 2,652

Total Number of Hotels - 8

Total Number of Different Airports - 8

Total Number of Airline Delays - 1

Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0

Total Number of Bags Lost This Year - 2


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