April 10, 2012
Vanderbilt’s bowling team departed Nashville on Tuesday morning for Cleveland, Ohio, where the NCAA Championships will be held this week. The team will practice on Wednesday and qualifying will get underway on Thursday. Director of Communications Rod Williamson is with the team at the NCAA Championships and provided this timeline from the team’s travels.
Tuesday
7:59 a.m. McGugin Center: With the 12 team members and coaching staff assembled, Football Coach James Franklin bounds into the McCall Conference Room and delivers a specially prepared 25-minute power point presentation complete with action photos from last year’s national title game. Franklin’s presentation combines his personal philosophy with themes he delivers regularly to his football team. His sincerity and his energy is contagious.
8:31 a.m. As Franklin hustles back to his office, the team picks up its considerable baggage and heads for an awaiting Grayline bus for the short drive to the Nashville airport. As academic counselor Neal Clark boards the bus, team members in the back give him a shout-out, happy that he’s on the trip. Clark, a former Kentucky wide receiver, can be a taskmaster but it’s obvious he cares about each student-athlete and has always been one of the more popular staff members with this program.
9:24 a.m. The team clears a busy airport security check-in and a middle aged man approaches some members of the group and wishes “the national champions” good luck. It remains somewhat amazing that the program’s NCAA title in 2007 still gets respect, perhaps along the same lines as past presidents are forever called Mr. President. We ask Jessica Earnest if she enjoyed Coach Franklin’s presentation and she says she could listen to him all day long. Other `Dores agree.
10:30 a.m. The Commodore traveling party of 17 boards a Southwest Air jetliner for an easy 70-minute flight to Cleveland, where it is greeted upon landing by a wintry mix of precipitation and 35-degree temperatures. Welcome to Lake Erie!
1:10 p.m. (EDT) While the team plucks its baggage and gear from Carousel 6, coaches and administrators leave to pick up rental vehicles. Each team member brings a minimum of six bowling balls with them, some shipped an additional couple so that they can determine after tomorrow’s practice which ones they will weigh-in for the tournament. The balls are shipped in bags of three so Vanderbilt is very appreciative of Southwest’s baggage policy. The group checking out the vehicles are reminded that this is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction week as the lot is nearly empty. We wait 25 minutes while three large SUV’s, which we had reserved two weeks ago, are rounded up.
3:14 p.m. It’s a slow roll on a Cleveland interstate, even at this time of day. As sleet peppers the windshield and the afternoon light turns even grayer, someone wonders aloud why the NCAA Championships couldn’t be held in Hawaii. In one SUV, Lauren Rhein is kidded about her hometown of Hackensack, N.J. and her alleged Jersey ways. Much of the hijinks is made up but that didn’t stop the Jersey jokes. Just before arriving at the team hotel, the Commodore Caravan stops at a Chipotle Restaurant for a late lunch. The Mexican restaurant is a very popular stop with the team.
3:57 p.m. After a quick stop at a pharmacy, we arrive at our Wickliffe hotel, which will be our home base the next five days. The hotel is new and the rooms are nice, clean and spacious, each with handy kitchenettes. A plan is hatched to simply order pizza for dinner later on, giving the team a welcome break to study and get a good night’s sleep. It is fair to say that the majority of Vanderbilt student-athletes get their most sleep of the week (or month) while on these trips.
5:35 p.m. The team is settled in double rooms, some napping, others deep into their laptops or other e-devices. It’s a business trip and tomorrow the business begins.
