NY Times feature on the road trip

An indication for how wearying the road trip was, the NY Times reporter overhead Colt ask a teammate:
“Is today Tuesday? Man, I don’t even know what day it is right now.” (NY Times)


About how they need to win on the road to be a special team, JJ said:
“This road trip I really thought was going to define our team. We play very well at home. If you’re going to be an extraordinarily good team, you better win on the road.” (NY Times)

NYT Note: "During Jones’s nine seasons at Hawaii, the Warriors are 50-20 at home but only 16-20 on the road. So any effort to reduce jet lag and help adjust to time changes is important. It is equally important for Hawaii to save money.

When Jones received Hawaii’s schedule last spring and saw the back-to-back road games at Louisiana Tech and U.N.L.V., he immediately decided on making it one trip. The total cost was $277,461, according to a university document. Had the Warriors made separate trips for the two games, the cost would have been $307,670."


About their 11-day road trip, Dennis McKnight said:
“No other team would ever do this." (NYT)

NYT Note: "All 93 members of the traveling party, including 64 players, were allowed to bring one carry-on bag and a backpack. The team brought nine equipment trunks that weighed a total of 6,500 pounds, more than 1,000 pounds more than usual."


About packing for the trip, assistant equipment manager Al Ginoza said:
“It’s not difficult. It’s just bringing more stuff.” (NY Times)

NYT Note: "The third floor of the Marriott hotel in the heart of the Texas Medical Center served as team headquarters. Players ate meals, held meetings and conducted study halls there. Many milled about barefoot or in socks as if they were in their own homes. The third floor was also popular for its piano, which offensive lineman Laupepa Letuli played Wednesday afternoon as he tried to learn the song “Ordinary People” by singer-pianist John Legend."


About how the team spent their time on the 3rd floor of the Marriott, McKnight said:
“They’ll probably have to disinfect the third floor when we leave." (NYT)


About the trip, Colt said:
“It’s crazy, what we do, and it’s crazy the disrespect we get. Us coming this far to come here and play is crazy.” (NYT)

NYT Note: "As demanding as Hawaii’s journey is physically, it has been just as strenuous academically. Some players have faxed math homework to professors and others took quizzes over the Internet, said the academic adviser Trina Kudlacek, who is traveling with the Warriors. On Wednesday afternoon, offensive lineman Brysen Ginlack read a communications book while linebacker B. J. Fruean wrote a music paper on a laptop computer. Later that night, Kudlacek led a study group for a class called Biology of the Hawaiian Islands to teach some players about weather, climate and prevailing winds. The course’s mid-term is next week."


About how the players need to take their study time seriously, academic adviser Trina Kudlacek said:
“They have to take this seriously, otherwise there’s no way they’re going to make it." (NYT)


Wishing they had made 2 round trips and spent some time in Hawaii, RGM said:
“The road, it takes a toll on you. After a while, you’re like, ‘O.K. man, I wish I was back on the island.’ ” (NYT)


About how his infant daughter learned to touch her feet while he was away on this road trip, C.J. Allen-Jones said:
“I miss those days. Every day she is changing. I just can’t wait to play U.N.L.V. and get back home.” (NYT)


Understanding why they stayed on the mainland, Colt said:
“It’s the only way to do it where we have the least amount of distractions and adversities that we have to overcome." (NYT)

NYT Note: "But Brennan was less than pleased that he and his teammates ate only two meals daily for a majority of the trip and did not get a per diem. To satisfy late-night hunger, some players took extra plates of food back to their rooms and one group took an entire bucket of iced Gatorades from brunch.

Other players bought fried chicken from a Popeyes restaurant across the street from the hotel and ordered pizzas, Brennan said. Some had no money for extra food because they had yet to receive their scholarship checks for this year, he said."


About how their lack of per diem, only getting 2 meals per day, and some not getting their scholarship checks yet, Colt said:
“We’re broke at Hawaii. We’re just trying to survive like everybody else.” (NYT)