Welcome to the Travel Blog as the Explorers move out to Massachusetts for their Saturday match-up against the Minutemen at 4:00 PM.  We will fill you in on interesting little tidbits and other off-beat info from the road as it happens. Questions and inquiries can be sent to lasallesid1@aol.com .
Go Explorers!
Kale Beers - Director of Athletic Communications/Play-by-Play Voice

Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009

9:05 PM

It’s just after 9:00 PM and we are on I-95 just outside of Westport, CT and we just stopped at a rest stop. Lot’s to report but I couldn’t get to post until now. Normally, Athletic Communications assistant Michelle Martin will split the post game duties with me from home but she had some other things to attend to so it took a while to wrap things up.

Post game includes importing the game file into stat crew, generating the season stats and then posting the box score and season stats and uploading them to the web site. Then, I will send our updated stuff to our next opponent (GW). Next, I filled out the weekly A-10 report in which Rodney Green is nominated for player of the week and sent to the A-10 office.

We called the Philadelphia Inquirer and made sure they got whatever they needed. Then, it’s on to uploading the video we shot from post-game and sending via FTP to CBS College Sorts to post to the web. Much thanks to Ray, who helped me on the air for working camera and Kathy Reynolds who was kind enough to swing by Radio Shack on the way to the game to get the DV cable I needed.

Normally, this process would take just an hour or so, but with having to do it alone, while being thrown around the bus – it took close to three.

Of course this ride is much more enjoyable after getting such a great win.

When we first got on the bus there was much discussion about what movie to watch. Vernon has been lobbying for Hellboy II but he was overridden on the trip up here. After some discussion Vernon got his way for the return. After a few minutes Coach G. yelled back and asked why Hellboy was red and has horns. We brought Vernon up to the front to explain. Harris recommended that he sit next to Coach to give him guidance on the plot. He instead just told Coach to text him at the back of the bus if he had any questions. I don’t think Coach did.

After we stopped at the rest area Hellboy was sacked before the end.

I am going to power done for a bit now but if anything else of note occurs I will post again.

3:50 PM

On the air right now in pre-game . . . One of the things that did not make it back into the gear box after the coaches' show is the digital video cable. So I won't be able to post any video right now unless I find a resolution to that.

OK, recorded interview is about over so I better get back o the air.

Fight on Explorers!

2:12 PM

I am in the lobby chit-chatting briefly with Brother Edward Sheehy and our favorite bus driver, Mr. Jim Henderson. Before his days of hauling people on motor coaches, in addition to being a Philadelphia police officer, Mr. Henderson was also and Explorer. He took classes from '78-80 while on the force.

I was joking with Brother Ed about what I think would be a great La Salle novelty shirt. To honor our Christian Brothers' heritage how about: "Fear the Collar"? Brother responded that he thinks I stole that from the S.P.C.A. Every now and again that guy says something funny.

One thing I meant to post before we left yesterday was that we had a farewell luncheon for marketing coordinator Alicia Pennacchia whose last day was yesterday. She received a unique opportunity and had to make a very difficult decision that will be the best for her. Alicia is a hardcore Explorer through and through and was active as a student and really took the marketing position to new heights in the two years she has filled it since graduation. I talked to her about the decision and it is very clear that she struggled mightily with the decision to leave the place she called home for the past six years. We will miss her and wish her the best of luck. But, I am sure we will still see much of her at games.

The bus is now pulling out and making the short ride into Amherst. Game faces on. I will check in at the Mullins Center.

12:31 PM

I am back in the room after team meal which was the usual pasta and chicken with salad and broccoli. These meals are pretty much the same everywhere and every game for good reasons: 1) it's good, solid, healthy food that you guarantee the guys eat at the optimum (four hours) time and 2) if you would try to get creative with something different but still healthy there is the chance that they won't eat it. You have to remember that these are young men who, if they had their preference, would eat chicken fingers and fries, just like the majority of college students. So, you stick with something that most people like and will get a good fill.

I went down to workout with hopes of watching ESPN's College Gameday while running and listening to some tunes. However, the treadmills are not facing the big TV in the workout room and Brad Cohen was on the only one that had its own monitor. So, I ran for the first 20 minutes with just tunes and then moved over to the other one.

I am glad that ESPN started doing basketball Gameday. As a college football fan I have always said that football version of Gameday was the perfect show to set up the weekend and now they are doing it for hoops too. I just wish they would spend a little more time on schools outside the BCS cabal. I understand that they need to cater to the broader masses but, unlike football where there is a defined different classification between the "Big Boys" and what was known as I-AA, basketball is unique in that we are all playing for the same prize so I wish they would pay a little more mind to all conferences. Even Xavier got no respect from any of the analysts as they all picked the X-Men to lose at LSU tonight. That said, I still enjoy the show and it is relatively young in its existence so maybe it will evolve. This may be a topic of conversation for Ray Necci tonight.

OK, I will post a little more before we leave but for now, here are the IPod selections - it's a little short since I was moving the headphones between music and the TV inputs: Tonic (THREE DIFFERENT SONGS! - see below for shuffle rant), The Damnwells, The Finn Brothers, The Killers, Snow Patrol, My Vitriol, Tegan and Sara, Vigilantes of Love, Pete Townshend, Alice in Chains, Neil Young, Citizen Cope, Matthew Sweet, Guns `N Roses, Rhett Miller, Rush, Semisomic, Sparta

9:51 AM

Good morning Explorer fans! Breakfast was here in the hotel at 9:00 AM. Breakfast was pretty simple - eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, cereal and fruit. I ate light so that I can run at about 11.

The big news is that there was no spades game last night. Rod told me his room number when we got in from dinner and there was ample trash talk from Yves and Paul all week but when I got to the room Rod said that Paul wasn't playing. I don't know . . . something about him not wanting to get embarrassed . . . In all fairness, it was pretty late and I did had to skip the game at the Xavier trip because I had a buddy visiting so I will let it slide with only minimal grief. I did point out to Paul, however, that with only a few road trips left and a 3-8 all time mark, he is likely going to end his career with a negative record in spades.

Speaking of buddies visiting . . . Ray Necci ('97) will be filling in for Steve Degler on the radio this afternoon. He has been producing at ESPN for close to a decade and has always stayed close to the program. I am looking forward to working with him. Also in town, as is usually the case when we come to UMass, Kathy Reynolds ('98) will visit and we will interview her on the air during halftime.

Pre-game meal is at noon so I will check in a little later.

Friday, Jan. 23, 2009

10:39 PM

We have checked into the hotel. We went directly to Applebee's upon arriving. Coach McNelley circulated a menu yesterday and phoned our orders ahead so everything was ready in a short time.

I sat with Coach G, Peter D'Orazio, Dan (The Trainer) Kontos, Coach Fuller and Brother Ed. Eventually Coach G. and I started to talk about one of our favorite topics - funny movies. We both agreed that we love Office Space and cracked each other - along with Dan up talking about it.

The hotel was pretty close but by the time we got checked in I had YouTube fired up to show him the clip of the Office Space parody from Family Guy where they destroy the fax machine. Coach doesn't watch Family Guy but still got a kick out of it. Ok, it's late and I still have a game of cards t get in a few doors down the hall. I will report a final score in a bit.

7:27 PM

We are somewhere in Connecticut. The first movie was pretty darn funny. Now we are watching Eagle Eye which is exciting but a little ridiculous. That seems to be the sentiment among most on the bus. "Is this seriously one of the single-most ridiculous movies ever made," says Harris Adler.

We hit a little traffic, not surprisingly, around New York but then it cleared up.

Bus driver is making a pit stop a rest area but we will be back rolling soon. It seems as mild a pleasant temperature-wise up here as it was today at home.

I didn't charge both batteries today but the new busses have AC outlets so, no worries.

Back to the road.

3:46 PM

We are off on the road and rolling in style! We got one of the posh new busses in the Stout's fleet that we had on our Hartford trip but did not get for Cornell. Same size, just more comfy seats and big flat screen TV's.

First thing Coach G. did was run a clip tape of the UMass players assembled by video coordinator Sean Neal on those big flat screens. He went over the primary players and their tendencies.

After the film session, the managers distributed sandwiches for the ride. Love the Frank's Family Deli! Frank's is owned and operated by La Salle alum Frank Strocen. He and his family are great people and he has been feeding most of La Salle for a long time.

In some ways bus trips are just easier. I don't mind flying and I actually enjoy the airport but there is so much more that goes into a flight and, therefore, more things that can go wrong.

Even for a five or six hour trip, the bus offers far less hassles. Just throw everything in the belly of the beast, hop on, pop in some movies and ride. You can take pretty much as much as you want or need and not worry about space or getting charged extra baggage. Plus, if you get stuck in traffic - you aren't the one driving. If you figure in the 20 minute drive to the airport, the hour and a half that you need to arrive early, the flight itself, waiting for baggage and then bussing to the hotel or gym flights are not really any faster.

The first movie is My Best Friend's Girl. So far, really funny.

1:38 PM

Prepping for another road trip . . .   By now this is somewhat clockwork but there are enough things to remember that you have to be careful.  We already had our one incident of forgetting the scorebook (Hartford) but fortunately Sean Neal was travelling up later and was able to grab it out of my office.  This hapens once a season - usually on the first trip of the season.  It's easy enough to do because when we have home games - our scorer (New Matt Smith) knows exactly where to go in my office to get the book and striped officials shirt.  He will then put them back in that same place after every game - which isn't in plain sight.  So, since I rarely handle the book myself at home, it is easily forgotten.

When this does happen - it is not a big deal.  We just photocopy a few pages from the home team's book and then transcribe them into the official book when we get home.

I already got a run in today but it was a short sprint workout so I won't do an IPod list today.  I will save that for what I hope will be an hour run tomorrow morning but let me vent on something related first.  (WARNING - about to go way off topic) I have this long standing problem with shuffles of all sorts.  My basic issue is that there has never been a "true" shuffle in the impressive history of audio technical.  Going all the way back to single CD boom boxes, the five disc CD carousels, the 16-disc magazines, right on up to IPods where you have 1000's of songs and hundeds of artists - the IPod will give you the same artist or even song over and over again in a very small period of time.  Why!?  Without going into the whole list today I can tell you that I got two songs from The Alarm in my first three songs - I have THREE on my whole IPod - how does this always happen!? I say conspiracy.  For what? By whom?  I have no idea.

OK - that's all for now.  Time to throw some media guides on the bus and continue to get ready for the trip.  I will check in from the bus or if anything of note happens before.