Hey Sports Fans!
As you are about to know, Brandeis University is a member of the prestigious University Athletic Association UAA.
Which is undoubtedly the most travel heavy conference in NCAA Division 3 basketball.
As a team we spend a lot of time flying to and from these games.
We have the opportunity to travel to some of the most metropolitan cities in the country like:
New York City, St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Chicago, and Rochester
So I'm gonna go ahead and break down our travel schedule on a typical UAA away weekend.
Basically we fly to our first opponent Thursday afternoon, play them Friday night, leave Saturday morning and fly to our second opponent and then play early on Sunday so we have time to make it back to Beantown by Sunday night.
It's exciting, and it's always fun to travel but there are always drawbacks...
NUMBER ONE: Legroom and headrests...everyone knows the importance of legroom on a flight, but what people forget is that big people have long legs AND long torsos. While the legroom problem can be abated by taking your chances in the seductive yet dangerous aisle (see: drink cart collisions) it is almost impossible to sleep or be comfortable with ones head protruding above the supplied headrest. The number one thing anyone wants to do after a game Sunday on the late flight home is sleep. SURPRISE! you can't because your head is lacking the sweet, sweet support it craves. I'm not trying to whine...it's just a pain.
NUMBER TWO: Homework...being a college athlete can be stressful when it comes to balancing classwork and travel/practice/games. This is exacerbated by our second semester traveling schedule. Somehow we manage, it's just another part of the life.
NUMBER THREE: Airport food...not always a detractor (see: cinnabon/sbarro) but if neither Sbarro or Cinnabon is present, then god help you.
(Boom)
NUMBER FOUR: Health...a few of my teammates know exactly what I'm talking about...my freshman year we were in the thick of our Atlanta-Cleveland trip and we were approximately 40 minutes into our flight between Hotlanta and the Cleveland when suddenly the Burger King breakfast sandwich I had earlier consumed caused a problem. I don't know what would have happened had I not had an airsickness bag in the seat back in front of me. My first thought was to hit the airplane bathroom but that was not an option because one of our beloved Lady Judges had already rushed into the only bathroom...thanks Carm (she too was sick although at the time I did not know) So long story short...I puked probably 10+ times over the next 20 hour period, on the plane, on the bus, at the hotel, through the night...Awesome (I think my man Kenny may have had it worse though)...I don't blame Burger King, mostly because in total about 5 players from Brandeis were ultimately struck down by this terrible mystery virus and some of them chose not to dine with the king and so it was ruled out as a cause. The whole thing went down basically like this except with no pie involved
Well I could keep going but those are the main points I wanted to make.
All in all, travel is part of the gig here. It's something we get to enjoy and take part in and it's a great opportunity for us to see other cities and compete against other top notch institutions.
