Feb. 19, 2010

February 18, 2010

We had our last preseason team get together after weights on Wednesday to go over our travel itinerary. Our itinerary consists of rules and regs on the road, our schedule for the weekend by the hour, player checklist, player and coach attire for airport trips, how to conduct ourselves at the airport, and most importantly roommates.

Ron, the bus driver, showed up today (2/18/10) at 2:30 p.m. on the dot. We actually had everything up and running pretty smooth for it being our first trip of the season. I was impressed. I was also impressed with Riegler's khaki pants and white gym shoes look. Hey, can't blame a guy for wanting to be comfortable. Another thing that caught my eye just minutes into our trip was Chad Pearson's (our strength and conditioning coach) ability to fall asleep just minutes into the ride. He was out before he we hit the viaduct on Annie Glidden.

Ben Etcheverry took full advantage of his fancy SENHEISER headphones and had them blasting at an incredible level. Troy White was sitting two seats up and heard Ben's music over his own headphones.

With everything running so smooth, we were bound to hit a bump in the road somewhere. Coach Ray checked in and laughed off to the terminal about how our flight has been delayed an hour and ten minutes. It just so happens to be one of the nicest days of the year and we have a delay. Sounds about right.

It was good to see Tony Manville is taking the trip down with his father to support us. Tony is a transfer pitcher from the University of Iowa who has to sit out due to the NCAA transfer rule. Coach Mathey's wife, Colleen, also made the trip with us.

As for the plane ride, there was this cute little baby girl sitting in front of Wes' and Reigler crying and yelling for a good portion of the flight. I couldn't figure out if she was crying because of Wes' new "fade" haircut or the flight in general. All I know is, once the mother put her on the aisle, she grabbed a hold of Reynolds' headphones and started chewing on them. She messed up Reyn's solitaire game, too. I believe he said he won 2/20 anyway. Brutal!

Side note - we had a guy on the plane doing "Spartan planks" in the aisle. This guy couldn't wait three hours to get a set of abs in. That man is dedicated.

We've got a big series ahead of us this weekend. Chuck is leading the way for us Friday night - everyone should have their GameTrackers up and running all weekend.

You stay classy DeKalb

Brian

If you have any questions, comments or concerns for Brian, please e-mail Baseball SID Zach Peters (zpeters2@niu.edu).