MBB Blog: The Trip Finally Ends
November 19, 2005 | Men's Basketball
In the second installment of the MBB Blog: Carribean Style, the Badgers make it to San Juan and then to St. Thomas, squeezing in a little practice before finally making it to the Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort. It is definitely worth the wait as you can tell from the photos.
November 19, 2005
(In the interest of full disclosure, this blog was composed in my hotel room, not poolside)
When we left off yesterday, our Badgers had just left O'Hare Airport. So we resume.
Approximately 11:30 a.m. ' Our in-flight movie, 'Fantastic Four,' begins. Sorry I don't have the precise time because the flick didn't interest me too much.
12:15 p.m. ' Lunch, however, does interest me and it made it's way to the back of the plane at precisely 12:15. Our choices were pasta (with a little melted cheese and red sauce) and grilled chicken with mashed potatoes (I went pasta). Sides included a small salad, dinner roll and triple chocolate brownie. All in all, not too bad as plane food goes.
12:57 p.m. (I'm still going by Central Standard Time even though we're probably somewhere Tennessee or something) ' As I make my way to the restroom at the back of the plane, I notice a lot of headphones, some catching the end of 'Fantastic Four,' and a number of sleepers.
4:59 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time) ' Touch down in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
5:18 p.m. ' Exit plane. Pass Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsma, who are still in first class, obviously unwilling to exit (or simply waiting for everyone to get off so they can move towards the back of the plane and retrieve their bags).
We now have a little more than two hours to kill waiting for our puddle jump ' I mean plane to St. Thomas. It takes about 10 minutes to find our gate (as the announcement said, 'All American Eagle connections leave from Gate 1. ' Thanks for making it easy for us). Not much in the way of food in the airport. We pass a couple (like two) sit-down-type restaurants, a number of duty free shops (if anyone needs a bottle of rum or a carton of cigarettes for the wait) but no staples like Mickie D's or BK.
There is a small Domino's Pizza stand near our gate and Joe Krabbenhoft and Tanner Bronson are the first to venture over. They split a medium. About a half-hour later, it seems everyone in the travel party is either sharing a pizza or carrying their own personal one. And it's a good thing we took Tanner and Joe 's lead because at 6 p.m., every store in the airport closes.
For the next hour, guys wander around, Greg, Tanner and two of the managers play euchre, Alando Tucker, Ray Nixon and DeAaron Williams laugh, and some guys watch ESPN on the airport TVs.
7:28 p.m. ' We begin boarding the plane. There were some announcements that none of us seemed to understand and then assistant coach Howard Moore blurted out, 'Anyone going to St. Thomas, step on up.' We have to bus out to the plane, an American Eagle prop plane with 15 rows and two seats on each side.
7:57 p.m. ' Props start. My wife and I are seated right next to the prop on the right wing. Behind us are Clayton Hanson and manager Mike Gard. None of us is very comfortable right now.
8:03 p.m. ' Wheels up and onto St. Thomas.
8:28 p.m. ' Much quicker than imagined and a lot smoother than at first glance, we arrive in St. Thomas. Off to baggage claim.
8:41 p.m. ' We begin to load the open-air busses we will take to the gym for practice. Pretty unique experience. There is a picture of them in the photo gallery. Two head to practice, one takes the families to the hotel.
8:58 p.m. ' Arrive at the University of the Virgin Islands Sport & Fitness Center. On the way there, everyone notices we are driving on the wrong side of the road. Makes for some interesting conversation and some discomfort for the people sitting all the way to the right on the open-air busses. Some cars come just a little too close.
9:09 p.m. ' Practice starts. Like every practice on the road, it begins with all the guys with a ball, dribbling around the floor to get used to it. No shooting is allowed at this time, just dribbling. We later move onto our passing drills and then some shooting, finishing up with free throws.
Also at practice is a camera crew from SportsHD, which is producing a documentary on the Paradise Jam. They will be following us around a bit, mostly at practices and shootarounds, maybe some hotel stuff. It will probably be broadcast on a channel called InHD (you can look it up online to see which cable companies offer it ' I don't think Charter in Wisconsin is one of them).
10:15 p.m. ' Practice ends and it 's off to the hotel (finally). When we pull up and it is magnificent, even in the darkness (you can check out some of the pics here ( sport=mbb&year=0506&event=Badgers%20in%20Paradise"> --> Badger in Paradise Photo Gallery ). A long day behind us. Hopefully we can squeeze in some relaxation now.
