LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A
lot of people ask about the challenges of traveling in the Sun Belt
Conference and how the team gets from Denver to places like Monroe, La.,
and Troy, Ala.
The truth is that most
of the places DU travels are not terribly difficult to get to. The
flights are a little longer than they will be next year in the WAC, but
many of the Sun Belt trips require just a direct flight and short bus
ride.
Sometimes, however, things don't go as planned. Like yesterday.
The team practiced at
the Ritchie Center yesterday morning, grabbed some lunch and then jumped
on a bus to DIA. We would be connecting through Dallas, but nobody
anticipated a problem.
Everything was going
smoothly, and everyone was settled into his seat in the plane. That's
when we heard the crackle of the pilot's voice over the intercom.
"Folks, everything was
working fine on our flight in, but the directional gyro is no longer
working," he said. "We need to get it fixed, and then we'll be out of
here as quickly as possible."
The first attempt at
repair failed, the pilot announced 20 minutes later. The second attempt
failed, too, another 30 minutes later. The third and final attempt
should work, the pilot said, but if it didn't the plane was not taking
off until morning.
We sat and waited a
little longer. Meanwhile, the flight attendants were calling names of
people who were not going to make their connections, asking them to take
their belongings and head to the counter to rebook their trips.
Knowing we were a rather
large group, the flight attendant made a point of coming back to inform
us that we were already booked on the late flight out of Dallas to
Little Rock. More than a few people in the travel party were on their
smart phones identifying alternatives, just in case.
Fortunately, the third
repair fixed the problem, and we were off. It was 90 minutes after the
scheduled departure, but at least we were on our way.
With a slightly extended
stay at DFW, everyone in the travel party went in search of some food.
The original plan was to have chicken sandwiches at the hotel, and that
would still happen but not until about 10 p.m.
Everything worked fine
after that, including some purchases at an old school candy shop by
members of the coaching and support staff, and the team arrived safely
in Little Rock.
About Arkansas-Little Rock - The
players and coaches know the situation. Denver has never won in 10
previous trips to Little Rock. The Trojans beat the Pioneers at Magness
Arena on New Year's Eve. Everybody on the team knows it, and they want
to reverse both of those trends this evening.
The Jack Stephens
Center is one of the nicest venues in the Sun Belt. It opened in 2005
and still looks brand new. Of course, according to some reports, the
best part of the facility is the elevator with the inexplicable use of
"S-M-L-E" on the buttons. There's still a debate whether they were
trying to make an allusion to "SMILE" or perhaps they were going with
"Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large" (although it seems strange that
small would be the highest floor).
UALR is roughly the same
size as DU with about 11,000 students, and its most notable alumnus is
probably Derek Fisher, who has won five NBA championships with the Los
Angeles Lakers.
Snapping a Streak, Sort of -
In the men's basketball team's past four trips to Little Rock, at least
one person's luggage was lost. It was a streak that nobody wanted to
see extended.
Fortunately, it did for the men's team.
Unfortunately, women's basketball trainer Becky Ball may have extended it by proxy, when the airline left Denver without her bag.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 20
Total Mileage by Air - 9,987
Total Mileage by Bus - 1, 299
Total Number of Hotels - 10
Total Number of Different Airports - 12
Total Number of Airline Delays - 7
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of Times Asked Whether the "Directional Gyro" is anything like a "Flux Capacitor" - ∞
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
North Texas - 1/21/12
DENTON, Texas - Friday
was a fairly easy travel day for the Pioneers. Everyone woke up and had
breakfast around 8 a.m. before loading on the bus for a 90-minute ride
to the Shreveport Regional Airport.
After a short (delay and) flight to Dallas-Fort Worth, there was a slight delay after landing. The plane missed the mark at the gate, and the worker on the ground directed him to try it again, so the plane made a 360 and pulled in again. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again, and the worker gave the disappointed look of a teacher after a student answers the same incorrect answer twice. To the amusement of most aboard, the pilot circled one more time before stopping and turning off the "fasten seat belts" sign.
The team loaded back on a bus for the 25-minute drive north to Denton, which is actually shorter than the drive from DIA to DU.
There was a spread of roast beef and turkey at the hotel for a light lunch, followed by a 90-minute practice in the North Texas volleyball facility.
Later, the team headed to dinner at a restaurant just across the parking lot from the hotel and then the players headed to their rooms to rest up for today's game.
While this blog does not delve much into what the players do during their free time, Blake Foeman has been carrying a camera with him to document this road trip, and the highlights should appear on an upcoming segment during a DU basketball game on ROOT SPORTS.
About North Texas - The University of North Texas may conjure up images of a former player that shares a nickname with the teams (Mean Joe Greene) or perhaps albino squirrels, but there is a connection between this campus and Denver basketball.
Actors swarmed to the campus here in Denton in 1991 to film the movie "Necessary Roughness." Among those actors was former DU basketball player David Atkins, known more commonly these days as Sinbad.
According to the always reliable Wikipedia, which thankfully is back online after a day-long hiatus, Necessary Roughness was about a fictitious football team at Texas State University, which did not exist at the time.
Twelve years after the movie was made, however, Southwest Texas State changed its name to Texas State, and Denver fans can look forward to welcoming that team as part of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) next season. Strangely, Southwest Texas State was also the first team that Sinbad and company faced in the movie.
Denver South - With Travis Hallam, Chase Hallam, Royce O'Neale,Chris Udofia and Cam Griffin all hailing from the Lone Star State (or Whataburger State, according to Chase), the Pioneers are expecting quite a bit of support this evening.
The team's ticket list has long been maxed out, and rumor has it that buses and caravans are heading this way from Killeen, Mesquite and Irving. And the Pioneers are looking forward to having the support of those cheering sections.
Tonight also likely marks Travis Hallam's final basketball game in the state of Texas. Travis will be playing in his 111th career game tonight and is on pace to finish just behind Brian Stafford for the most and second most games anyone has played during his Denver career.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 16
Total Mileage by Air - 8,395
Total Mileage by Bus - 1, 161
Total Number of Hotels - 9
Total Number of Different Airports - 12
Total Number of Airline Delays - 6
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of Attempts at Parking the Plane at the Gate - 3
After a short (delay and) flight to Dallas-Fort Worth, there was a slight delay after landing. The plane missed the mark at the gate, and the worker on the ground directed him to try it again, so the plane made a 360 and pulled in again. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again, and the worker gave the disappointed look of a teacher after a student answers the same incorrect answer twice. To the amusement of most aboard, the pilot circled one more time before stopping and turning off the "fasten seat belts" sign.
The team loaded back on a bus for the 25-minute drive north to Denton, which is actually shorter than the drive from DIA to DU.
There was a spread of roast beef and turkey at the hotel for a light lunch, followed by a 90-minute practice in the North Texas volleyball facility.
Later, the team headed to dinner at a restaurant just across the parking lot from the hotel and then the players headed to their rooms to rest up for today's game.
While this blog does not delve much into what the players do during their free time, Blake Foeman has been carrying a camera with him to document this road trip, and the highlights should appear on an upcoming segment during a DU basketball game on ROOT SPORTS.
About North Texas - The University of North Texas may conjure up images of a former player that shares a nickname with the teams (Mean Joe Greene) or perhaps albino squirrels, but there is a connection between this campus and Denver basketball.
Actors swarmed to the campus here in Denton in 1991 to film the movie "Necessary Roughness." Among those actors was former DU basketball player David Atkins, known more commonly these days as Sinbad.
According to the always reliable Wikipedia, which thankfully is back online after a day-long hiatus, Necessary Roughness was about a fictitious football team at Texas State University, which did not exist at the time.
Twelve years after the movie was made, however, Southwest Texas State changed its name to Texas State, and Denver fans can look forward to welcoming that team as part of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) next season. Strangely, Southwest Texas State was also the first team that Sinbad and company faced in the movie.
Denver South - With Travis Hallam, Chase Hallam, Royce O'Neale,Chris Udofia and Cam Griffin all hailing from the Lone Star State (or Whataburger State, according to Chase), the Pioneers are expecting quite a bit of support this evening.
The team's ticket list has long been maxed out, and rumor has it that buses and caravans are heading this way from Killeen, Mesquite and Irving. And the Pioneers are looking forward to having the support of those cheering sections.
Tonight also likely marks Travis Hallam's final basketball game in the state of Texas. Travis will be playing in his 111th career game tonight and is on pace to finish just behind Brian Stafford for the most and second most games anyone has played during his Denver career.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 16
Total Mileage by Air - 8,395
Total Mileage by Bus - 1, 161
Total Number of Hotels - 9
Total Number of Different Airports - 12
Total Number of Airline Delays - 6
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of Attempts at Parking the Plane at the Gate - 3
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Louisiana-Monroe - 1/19/12
MONROE, La. - The more experienced members of the travel
squad had some flashbacks yesterday when we arrived at the Monroe Regional
Airport.
Three years ago, the Pioneers landed, went to baggage claim and stood idly while two suitcases circled the conveyer belt. Nobody in the DU travel party got their luggage until the next afternoon (see blog from 2009).
Last night, the team landed about 9 p.m. after a stop in Dallas, and half the team - including four starters - stood at baggage claim with anxious looks and no bags in sight.
It was a strange scene, too, because Monroe just built a brand new terminal with every tile sparkling. However, they have not gotten around to building a baggage claim yet, so there's a roped off area in a corner with a sign, and the baggage handlers drive a cart up and carry each bag in.
The airline representative indicated that there were no more bags on the plane. She made a short call on her radio and discovered that there were indeed a few more in the cargo hold, so 15 minutes later, everyone was happily wheeling their belongings to the team bus.
Monroe is without a doubt one of the more difficult places in the Sun Belt Conference to reach from Denver. It involves a flight to either Dallas or Houston, followed by a regional jet to Monroe.
Actually, regional jet was not the correct descriptor yesterday. After the team piled onto the small plane, the propellers started.
Freshman Jake Logan leaned forward and asked senior Travis Hallam, "It's not going to be this loud the entire flight, is it?"
Hallam smiled and replied, "It will stop in an hour or so." He didn't mention that the flight was only 40 minutes.
As we make this final tour of the Sun Belt, there's somewhat of a mental checklist of towns to which DU likely will not return.
Monroe, however, might be in the travel plans in the future. Future WAC opponent Louisiana Tech is in Ruston, La., which is roughly 35 miles west of Monroe. The next closest airport is Shreveport, about an hour farther than Monroe.
In other words, the Pioneers may enjoy the amenities of the Monroe Regional Airport, including its old school baggage claim, for years to come.
As mentioned in previous blogs, the team generally stays in West Monroe at a nice, well-maintained hotel across Mane Street (yes, that's spelled correctly) from the Ag Expo.
Aside from a John Deere dealer and miniature golf course, which has been closed all but once in our many visits, there's not much around the hotel.
Sophomore Chris Udofia said that he went looking for a gas station to buy some snacks last night. He took two steps outside the hotel exit, did a complete 360 and then walked back inside after he realized he could see miles of emptiness.
Celebrity Among Us? - While walking through TSA, the agent took the driver's license from "The Voice" Mitch Hyder and checked the information. As he handed it back, he said almost under his breath, "I enjoy listening to you on the radio." Then he quickly took the ID from the next person in line.
About Louisiana-Monroe - On Joe Scott and his coaching staff's first trip to Monroe, La., five years ago, Scott turned around on the bus and asked Hyder and trainer Pat Hoxsey how to get to Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"Take a right at the turquois and pink, drive-thru daiquiri stand," the both said in unison.
They weren't kidding. That's the landmark, which is easy to spot even though nobody in the group has ever actually been there.
About a mile later, you take a left over a bridge on a part of a tributary that the ULM club water skiing team uses for practice. One year, we noticed a fairly gigantic water moccasin sunbathing on the ski ramp.
Needless to say, this place is a little different than Denver. However, like every place we travel, the people of Monroe are exceptionally friendly.
And a few alumni from ULM have gone on to pretty big things.
Ben Sheets pitched here before winning an Olympic gold medal and advancing to a career in Major League Baseball. Tim Brando earned his undergraduate degree here before heading to CBS Sports. Tim McGraw was here before moving on to country superstardom and marrying Faith Hill. (And, as the blog pointed out last year, Hurricane from American Gladiators went to Louisiana-Monroe.)
More recently, as the electronic message board outside Fant-Ewing Coliseum excitedly lets everyone know, Miss Louisiana Hope Anderson finished in the top 15 at Miss America last week. In fact, the last three Miss Louisianas are ULM alumnae.
As for ULM basketball, they have struggled this season and are hoping to break a 15-game home losing streak against the Pioneers tonight.
The team that started that streak? You guessed it. The Denver Pioneers, who hope to stretch it to 16 games this evening.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 15
Total Mileage by Air - 8,205
Total Mileage by Bus - 994
Total Number of Hotels - 8
Total Number of Different Airports - 11
Total Number of Airline Delays - 5
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of Bags Almost Lost - 11
Three years ago, the Pioneers landed, went to baggage claim and stood idly while two suitcases circled the conveyer belt. Nobody in the DU travel party got their luggage until the next afternoon (see blog from 2009).
Last night, the team landed about 9 p.m. after a stop in Dallas, and half the team - including four starters - stood at baggage claim with anxious looks and no bags in sight.
It was a strange scene, too, because Monroe just built a brand new terminal with every tile sparkling. However, they have not gotten around to building a baggage claim yet, so there's a roped off area in a corner with a sign, and the baggage handlers drive a cart up and carry each bag in.
The airline representative indicated that there were no more bags on the plane. She made a short call on her radio and discovered that there were indeed a few more in the cargo hold, so 15 minutes later, everyone was happily wheeling their belongings to the team bus.
Monroe is without a doubt one of the more difficult places in the Sun Belt Conference to reach from Denver. It involves a flight to either Dallas or Houston, followed by a regional jet to Monroe.
Actually, regional jet was not the correct descriptor yesterday. After the team piled onto the small plane, the propellers started.
Freshman Jake Logan leaned forward and asked senior Travis Hallam, "It's not going to be this loud the entire flight, is it?"
Hallam smiled and replied, "It will stop in an hour or so." He didn't mention that the flight was only 40 minutes.
As we make this final tour of the Sun Belt, there's somewhat of a mental checklist of towns to which DU likely will not return.
Monroe, however, might be in the travel plans in the future. Future WAC opponent Louisiana Tech is in Ruston, La., which is roughly 35 miles west of Monroe. The next closest airport is Shreveport, about an hour farther than Monroe.
In other words, the Pioneers may enjoy the amenities of the Monroe Regional Airport, including its old school baggage claim, for years to come.
As mentioned in previous blogs, the team generally stays in West Monroe at a nice, well-maintained hotel across Mane Street (yes, that's spelled correctly) from the Ag Expo.
Aside from a John Deere dealer and miniature golf course, which has been closed all but once in our many visits, there's not much around the hotel.
Sophomore Chris Udofia said that he went looking for a gas station to buy some snacks last night. He took two steps outside the hotel exit, did a complete 360 and then walked back inside after he realized he could see miles of emptiness.
Celebrity Among Us? - While walking through TSA, the agent took the driver's license from "The Voice" Mitch Hyder and checked the information. As he handed it back, he said almost under his breath, "I enjoy listening to you on the radio." Then he quickly took the ID from the next person in line.
About Louisiana-Monroe - On Joe Scott and his coaching staff's first trip to Monroe, La., five years ago, Scott turned around on the bus and asked Hyder and trainer Pat Hoxsey how to get to Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"Take a right at the turquois and pink, drive-thru daiquiri stand," the both said in unison.
They weren't kidding. That's the landmark, which is easy to spot even though nobody in the group has ever actually been there.
About a mile later, you take a left over a bridge on a part of a tributary that the ULM club water skiing team uses for practice. One year, we noticed a fairly gigantic water moccasin sunbathing on the ski ramp.
Needless to say, this place is a little different than Denver. However, like every place we travel, the people of Monroe are exceptionally friendly.
And a few alumni from ULM have gone on to pretty big things.
Ben Sheets pitched here before winning an Olympic gold medal and advancing to a career in Major League Baseball. Tim Brando earned his undergraduate degree here before heading to CBS Sports. Tim McGraw was here before moving on to country superstardom and marrying Faith Hill. (And, as the blog pointed out last year, Hurricane from American Gladiators went to Louisiana-Monroe.)
More recently, as the electronic message board outside Fant-Ewing Coliseum excitedly lets everyone know, Miss Louisiana Hope Anderson finished in the top 15 at Miss America last week. In fact, the last three Miss Louisianas are ULM alumnae.
As for ULM basketball, they have struggled this season and are hoping to break a 15-game home losing streak against the Pioneers tonight.
The team that started that streak? You guessed it. The Denver Pioneers, who hope to stretch it to 16 games this evening.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 15
Total Mileage by Air - 8,205
Total Mileage by Bus - 994
Total Number of Hotels - 8
Total Number of Different Airports - 11
Total Number of Airline Delays - 5
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of Bags Almost Lost - 11
Saturday, January 7, 2012
South Alabama - 1/7/12
MOBILE, Ala. - It was a long day yesterday, as the Pioneers
flew out of Memphis and through Atlanta before arriving in Mobile around 2:30
p.m.
Of course, Thursday night's win at Arkansas State made every bit of the journey easier, and after a quick bite for lunch at the hotel, the team was ready for practice at the Mitchell Center.
The Pioneers are staying in the same hotel as the Northern Illinois football team, which is in town for tomorrow night's GoDaddy.com Bowl, and many of their fans.
More than a couple of those fans seem to have adopted Denver and said they were going to come this afternoon.
If not, like everyone else in Denver, they can watch the action live on ESPN Full Court (available at most sports bars) or on ESPN3.com.
Fatherly Dedication - Doug Hallam, the father of Chase and Travis, was in Jonesboro, Ark., on Thursday and said he would see us again today. The drive from Mesquite, Texas, to Arkansas State is eight hours. The trek from Arkansas to Mobile is about the same. And the trip home is close to 10 hours.
Needless to say, Doug Hallam has been spotted at roughly 90 percent of DU's games - home and road - since Travis started playing four years ago.
Celebrity Spotting - While waiting for the plane in Atlanta, the team spotted Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in an adjacent gate.
When an unnamed member of the travel party asked for an autograph, the former Auburn Tiger gave him the Heisman, which provided some entertainment during the two-hour layover.
It wasn't the first time the team has run into a professional athlete on the road.
Gary Payton was waiting for a plane when DU arrived at the Oakland airport in November. Of course, a few members of the travel party felt considerably older when they realized some of the players weren't old enough to remember The Glove's glory years with the Supersonics.
About Mobile - DU has not visited Mobile in two years, but that doesn't mean the older guys on the team have forgotten the last time. The Pioneers were up by 22 points on South Alabama's senior night in February 2010, but the Jaguars chipped away during the final 15 minutes and Tim Williams hit the winning shot with seven seconds on the clock.
When we got on the bus for shoot around this morning, guess which game was playing on the television monitors.
The looks on the faces of guys like Brian Stafford, Travis Hallam and Chase Hallam suggested that the reminder was unnecessary.
They remember. And they want to leave Mobile for the last time with fonder memories.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 11
Total Mileage by Air - 6,084
Total Mileage by Bus - 877
Total Number of Hotels - 7
Total Number of Different Airports - 10
Total Number of Airline Delays - 4
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of States in the past 72 hours - 5 (Colorado, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama - with a layover in Texas coming on the way home)
Of course, Thursday night's win at Arkansas State made every bit of the journey easier, and after a quick bite for lunch at the hotel, the team was ready for practice at the Mitchell Center.
The Pioneers are staying in the same hotel as the Northern Illinois football team, which is in town for tomorrow night's GoDaddy.com Bowl, and many of their fans.
More than a couple of those fans seem to have adopted Denver and said they were going to come this afternoon.
If not, like everyone else in Denver, they can watch the action live on ESPN Full Court (available at most sports bars) or on ESPN3.com.
Fatherly Dedication - Doug Hallam, the father of Chase and Travis, was in Jonesboro, Ark., on Thursday and said he would see us again today. The drive from Mesquite, Texas, to Arkansas State is eight hours. The trek from Arkansas to Mobile is about the same. And the trip home is close to 10 hours.
Needless to say, Doug Hallam has been spotted at roughly 90 percent of DU's games - home and road - since Travis started playing four years ago.
Celebrity Spotting - While waiting for the plane in Atlanta, the team spotted Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in an adjacent gate.
When an unnamed member of the travel party asked for an autograph, the former Auburn Tiger gave him the Heisman, which provided some entertainment during the two-hour layover.
It wasn't the first time the team has run into a professional athlete on the road.
Gary Payton was waiting for a plane when DU arrived at the Oakland airport in November. Of course, a few members of the travel party felt considerably older when they realized some of the players weren't old enough to remember The Glove's glory years with the Supersonics.
About Mobile - DU has not visited Mobile in two years, but that doesn't mean the older guys on the team have forgotten the last time. The Pioneers were up by 22 points on South Alabama's senior night in February 2010, but the Jaguars chipped away during the final 15 minutes and Tim Williams hit the winning shot with seven seconds on the clock.
When we got on the bus for shoot around this morning, guess which game was playing on the television monitors.
The looks on the faces of guys like Brian Stafford, Travis Hallam and Chase Hallam suggested that the reminder was unnecessary.
They remember. And they want to leave Mobile for the last time with fonder memories.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 11
Total Mileage by Air - 6,084
Total Mileage by Bus - 877
Total Number of Hotels - 7
Total Number of Different Airports - 10
Total Number of Airline Delays - 4
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of States in the past 72 hours - 5 (Colorado, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama - with a layover in Texas coming on the way home)
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Arkansas State - 1/5/12
JONESBORO, Ark. - The University of Denver's Sun Belt
Conference Farewell Tour has begun.
After practicing at DU yesterday, the team loaded a bus and started the trek to Jonesboro, Ark. It wasn't the smoothest trip to date. The flight was delayed. Two bags got stuck on a conveyer belt in the Little Rock Airport, causing an hour-long delay. And the overall process of getting here, including the two-hour bus drive from Little Rock, is not exactly easy.
However, the team arrived safely, checked into a comfortable hotel and ate some dinner before heading to their rooms for the night. It's hard to ask for much more, although a win tonight would help set the tone for the rest of the road trip.
This is one of the stranger trips in the Belt. After tonight's game, the Pioneers will load back on the bus and travel to Memphis for the night. Tomorrow morning, they catch a flight to Atlanta and onward to Mobile, Alabama.
Speaking of Mobile, a lot of people in Jonesboro may have similar travel plans as the Pioneers. The Arkansas State football team, which won the co-championship in the Sun Belt West Division, is playing in Mobile, as well, facing Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl on Sunday.
It will be a big weekend in Mobile, and DU fans can get a taste of it by watching the Pioneers vs. South Alabama on ESPN3.com or the ESPN Full Court package on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. MT.
About Jonesboro - My apologies to loyal readers for a rerun, but last year's description of Jonesboro seemed to capture the town, so here it is again:
Arkansas State is about two hours northeast of Little Rock. The bus drives through bigger sounding towns like Jacksonville, Austin and Newport, but it's not exactly like Florida, Texas or Oregon.
The town of Weiner won a state bowling championship, according to a few signs scattered around the town of 719.
Jonesboro is located in Craighead County and was founded on Feb. 19, 1859, when a farmer named Fergus Snoddy donated 15 acres of his land for what became downtown Jonesboro.
According to the town's website, "Jonesboro was named after William A. Jones for his support of the legislative act creating the county. The county, itself, received its name through a practical joke. Senator Thomas B. Craighead, who represented Crittenden and Mississippi counties, was against the formation of the county and campaigned actively against it. Senator Jones waited until a day when Craighead was absent to call for a vote on the act. Senator Craighead didn't know anything about it until he got back and found that the county had been named for him."
The first two courthouses in town burned to the ground, the second of which started during a barroom brawl in 1878, but the third is still used.
Arkansas State University was founded in 1909 as a regional agricultural school. Among the people who have walked the campus are 1984 Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner and Rodger Bumpass, whose voice can be heard in countless cartoons and movies, most notably as Squidward on SpongeBob SquarePants.
Finally, since it's been a few years since we mentioned it, and it was a favorite blog reference, here is an excerpt from the 2009 trip to Jonesboro:
Thanks to loyal reader Steve Honda, we learned this week that Jonesboro was once the home to Bartleby Clown College. Apparently from 1952-59, the clown college operated in Jonesboro, which was convenient due to its many railroad connections. According to Wikipedia, which of course is the leading resource for clown college information, "The loss of Arkansas [sic] only clown college disappointed many in the industry." There was no clarification about whether that was the clown industry or the clown teaching industry.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 9
Total Mileage by Air - 5,450
Total Mileage by Bus - 768
Total Number of Hotels - 5
Total Number of Different Airports - 7
Total Number of Airline Delays - 4
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of Bags Lost Found an Hour Later - 2
After practicing at DU yesterday, the team loaded a bus and started the trek to Jonesboro, Ark. It wasn't the smoothest trip to date. The flight was delayed. Two bags got stuck on a conveyer belt in the Little Rock Airport, causing an hour-long delay. And the overall process of getting here, including the two-hour bus drive from Little Rock, is not exactly easy.
However, the team arrived safely, checked into a comfortable hotel and ate some dinner before heading to their rooms for the night. It's hard to ask for much more, although a win tonight would help set the tone for the rest of the road trip.
This is one of the stranger trips in the Belt. After tonight's game, the Pioneers will load back on the bus and travel to Memphis for the night. Tomorrow morning, they catch a flight to Atlanta and onward to Mobile, Alabama.
Speaking of Mobile, a lot of people in Jonesboro may have similar travel plans as the Pioneers. The Arkansas State football team, which won the co-championship in the Sun Belt West Division, is playing in Mobile, as well, facing Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl on Sunday.
It will be a big weekend in Mobile, and DU fans can get a taste of it by watching the Pioneers vs. South Alabama on ESPN3.com or the ESPN Full Court package on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. MT.
About Jonesboro - My apologies to loyal readers for a rerun, but last year's description of Jonesboro seemed to capture the town, so here it is again:
Arkansas State is about two hours northeast of Little Rock. The bus drives through bigger sounding towns like Jacksonville, Austin and Newport, but it's not exactly like Florida, Texas or Oregon.
The town of Weiner won a state bowling championship, according to a few signs scattered around the town of 719.
Jonesboro is located in Craighead County and was founded on Feb. 19, 1859, when a farmer named Fergus Snoddy donated 15 acres of his land for what became downtown Jonesboro.
According to the town's website, "Jonesboro was named after William A. Jones for his support of the legislative act creating the county. The county, itself, received its name through a practical joke. Senator Thomas B. Craighead, who represented Crittenden and Mississippi counties, was against the formation of the county and campaigned actively against it. Senator Jones waited until a day when Craighead was absent to call for a vote on the act. Senator Craighead didn't know anything about it until he got back and found that the county had been named for him."
The first two courthouses in town burned to the ground, the second of which started during a barroom brawl in 1878, but the third is still used.
Arkansas State University was founded in 1909 as a regional agricultural school. Among the people who have walked the campus are 1984 Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner and Rodger Bumpass, whose voice can be heard in countless cartoons and movies, most notably as Squidward on SpongeBob SquarePants.
Finally, since it's been a few years since we mentioned it, and it was a favorite blog reference, here is an excerpt from the 2009 trip to Jonesboro:
Thanks to loyal reader Steve Honda, we learned this week that Jonesboro was once the home to Bartleby Clown College. Apparently from 1952-59, the clown college operated in Jonesboro, which was convenient due to its many railroad connections. According to Wikipedia, which of course is the leading resource for clown college information, "The loss of Arkansas [sic] only clown college disappointed many in the industry." There was no clarification about whether that was the clown industry or the clown teaching industry.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 9
Total Mileage by Air - 5,450
Total Mileage by Bus - 768
Total Number of Hotels - 5
Total Number of Different Airports - 7
Total Number of Airline Delays - 4
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost - 4
Total Number of Bags Lost Found an Hour Later - 2
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