March 1, 2007
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BARCA BLOG – LIFE ON THE ROAD – DAY ONE
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SEC TOURNAMENT
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
It’s around 4 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Right before we meet up to hop on the team bus, local media catches up with senior guard Caroline Williams to get some final thoughts before the team heads to Duluth, Ga. for the 2007 Women’s Basketball SEC Tournament. Williams and her senior co-horts, Dee Davis and Carla Thomas, have played an instrumental role in Vanderbilt’s success this season. The ‘Dores earned a number three seed for the tournament, which means they get a first round bye and don’t start play until Friday night (televised at 8:30 p.m. CT on FSN South, by the way).
f If you’re lucky enough to accompany the team on a road trip, you will get your fair share of food. Right off the bat, we are treated to a tasty Chick-fil-A meal courtesy of Todd Hunley and Chick-fil-A of Rivergate (plug! plug!). ((Side note: when you’re reading this blog, please remember that I am not a professional photographer.. okay, let’s be serious, nowhere near professional. Our top guys – Neil Brake and Paul J. Levy – always provide you with some of the most outstanding shots throughout the season. So please understand that as you read this, you will have to suffer through some amateur pics like this fuzzy one.)) Okay, back to the story. Our lunch bags included a chicken sandwich and a fruit bowl. I was personally thankful that they didn’t put in the waffle fries and fudge brownies. I am a sucker for those… plus it’s not good for my wannabe diet.
Freshman Amber Norton brings her luggage to the team bus. It doesn’t seem like that long ago that a group of Commodore freshman experienced cutting down the SEC nets in Nashville. Would love to see it again. By the way, it should be a short trip to Atlanta. We have a chartered flight out of Nashville International Airport, so we should be there in no time.
Fox 17 News finds out what Coach Balcomb has to say just minutes before we board the bus to the airport. One of the cool things about traveling with the team is that you get to spend more personal time with the staff outside of work. The mood was definitely light on the first day (which I enjoyed).
Will all of our luggage fit on the plane? Stay tuned.
Oh, one other cool thing about the luggage is everyone has their initials sewn into the bag. Can anyone guess who’s bag this might be?
We arrive at the airport. Freshman Ashlee Bridge is photographed while getting off the bus. This year’s freshman class draws so many comparisons to when our current seniors were in their first year. This new class provides a lot of energy and spark 24-7. By the way, all the kids these days have ipods. Does anyone remember the days of Walkmans. I am still saving up to get one of those. Right now, I just have the cheap headphones with the foam ear muffs. Baby steps.
Yes, the luggage makes it. Was there any doubt? Just hope my seat isn’t back there.
My favorite photo of the day. Coach Balcomb is ready – Are you?
The rest of the team is right behind coach. I don’t know why, but this picture reminded me of the movie Rocky IV. Can’t get the image out of my head of Stallone getting on and off the plane to Russia before he faces Drago. Now, does this really have anything to do with this trip? Nah — can’t really draw any comparisons between Russia and Atlanta, so no, nothing… except I wanted to find a way to fit in a Rocky reference into my first blog (done!). You have probably stopped reading by now.. (ha!)
The weather was perfect on Wednesday. Nice cool breeze with a little bit of sun. I have a good feeling about this trip.
Once we landed in Atlanta, we got back on the bus. Our vehicle was equipped with several small television screens to keep everyone entertained. The bus had a satellite cable connection, so it was just like sitting in your recliner at home. In this picture, you can barely see that the driver had left the monitors on Court TV. To my surprise, Court TV was airing something other than Anna Nicole Smith and Pacman Jones. We did see bits and pieces of a few movies on cable – Bruce Almighty, 13 Going on 30, and Shallow Hal.
A picture of the Atlanta traffic as we head to dinner. As you can see, the lanes were pretty wide open. This didn’t even compare to the traffic we faced while driving to the Nashville airport in rush hour earlier in the day.
Yes, we have arrived at dinner. Tonight’s choice – Pappadeaux’s – a seafood joint. Never been here before, but have heard good things. That’s just a fun word to say — Pappa….Doughs.
Can I just say that the crabcakes were phenomenal!!! And that was only the beginning. I was stuffed before we even made it to the main course. Excellent food – I recommend it. (Do I get paid for saying that?)
One of the highlights of the trip so far. Our men’s team was playing South Carolina while around 30 of us were eating dinner. Pictured here is women’s basketball radio announcer Charlie Mattos. Well, we started to follow the game via the internet on our cell phones. Then, someone at our table had a brilliant idea. Why not call our flagship radio station, 104.5 the Zone, and ask them to put us on hold…. since they play their audio broadcast while people are waiting over the phone, we could then listen to Joe Fisher’s call in real time. So, we were able to hear the final minute of regulation plus all of overtime through Charlie’s phone. Just to give you an example of the camaraderie between our basketball programs, Coach Balcomb was following along with us during the final moments of regulation. (by the way – she is a Derrick Byars fan). The men’s team ended up picking the road win at South Carolina – to everyone’s delight.
After almost two hours at dinner, it was time to finally make it to the hotel.
Saw this sign in the lobby. Just hit me that it is one of my favorite times of year – tournament time. It’s around 10 p.m. and I am ready to call it a night. Check back every day for complete coverage during the tournament on VUcommodores.com. The agenda for tomorrow includes a morning practice plus a team activity in the early afternoon. Life on the Road – Day 1 – is complete.
Brandon Barca is the online director for VUcommodores.com. If you’d like to see something specific on the site during this tournament trip, he can be reached by email at brandon.barca@vanderbilt.edu.