The Road Trip
So I’m sitting on the bus on the way home from a great road win at Laurier. It feels really good that the team played well after slipping last weekend against Windsor and Western. The whole team played very well today and the energy was high the whole game. We went up by 20 points in the first half and held on strong to win it in the end.
Road trips can be really long. When you’re at home, you get to sleep in your own bed, you eat at home or at your regular place, you get therapy in the clinic from all the trainers, the crowd isn’t screaming obscenities at you; it’s just more comfortable.
When you’re on the road, you’re tired, you’ve been sitting on the bus for hours, sleeping in hotel beds and eating food that you’re just not used to. Don’t get me wrong, it’s tons of fun to go on road trips with all the guys, but it’s pretty exhausting by the end of it. Last weekend, we drove the four hours to Windsor Thursday night, slept over, had a practice in the morning, relaxed at the hotel in one room all together, and played Friday night. Then we hit the road after our game (after, of course, stopping to eat) and drove the two hours to London. We woke up, ate, headed to Western, played, turned around and drove home to Toronto Saturday night. All in all - a pretty busy weekend.
While we’re on the bus, the guys that aren’t doing schoolwork are total goofs. We’ve learned to make up the dumbest games to amuse ourselves and pass the time. Someone will shout out a category (for example, movies starring George Clooney, players that went #2 in the NBA draft in each year, or listing all the states in the U.S. in alphabetical order) and all the guys on the team will go at it. Sometimes guys will try out their rhymes and make raps, or argue about who is more athletic – Tiger Woods or LeBron James. We talk about a lot of useless stuff, and every now and then, we’ll have an intelligent conversation. (That’s far more rare than you would think for U of T students!)
This weekend, we’re practicing in Toronto, eating in Toronto, and driving to Waterloo each day, then driving back. It’s a lot of time in the bus, but it’s great after a game to sleep in your own bed.
As Mitchell (of Woodside’s word) said, we met the other day. He’s a great guy – and he’s got an awesome accent. You should all introduce yourselves to a Varsity Blue who will be around for several years to come.
We play tomorrow night at the University of Waterloo. They’re a strong team who plays well at home – it should be a great game.
School’s really busy for everyone these days. Guys have projects, papers, presentations, final exams to study for, and everybody is feeling the pressure of both basketball and from school. It’s pretty hectic, but that’s life. As an athlete you really learn to use your time more effectively – the bus rides, time in the hotel, it all has to be used to do something.
Speaking of which, I’ve got some reading I’ve got to do. I’ll write more soon.
Go Blues
Snow
