Sept. 17, 2009

San Diego Trip Photos

Fans can follow the Marist football team's road trip to San Diego through this live blog. The Red Foxes will take on the Toreros on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. EDT in a Pioneer Football League contest. The blog will be written by Marist Sports Information Director Mike Ferraro, and questions/comments can be sent to Michael.Ferraro@Marist.edu.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

4:55 a.m.: Yes, you read that right ... 4:55 a.m.! This is Sports Information Director Mike Ferraro welcoming you to the live blog of the Red Foxes' road trip to San Diego.

We are making our way south on 9W, as we are headed to the New York State Thruway exit in Newburgh on our way to Newark Airport. Our flight is scheduled to take off at 8:30 a.m., which should put us in San Diego at around 11:40 a.m. Pacific (2:40 in the east). Practice and dinner at Olive Garden will follow later in the day.

As the trip unfolds, this blog will contain a behind-the-scenes look at the trip, as well as a photo gallery. But for now, it's time to get a little rest. Let's just say the easiest way to make sure I didn't oversleep and miss the bus was just to not go to sleep in the first place ...

8:08 p.m. ET: Travel day is always a whirlwind. We arrived at the airport at 6:30 a.m., and after checking in, going through security and grabbing breakfast (the line at McDonald's was shorter than Dunkin' Donuts), we boarded the plane shortly after 8 a.m. We landed in San Diego around 2:15 ET, and after getting our bags, we arrived at the hotel approximately 45 minutes later.

When we got there, we had to wait because a number of the rooms were not ready. However, while we waited in a conference room (where sandwiches/drinks arrived for lunch about an hour later), the hotel staff brought out a Wii. Various members of the team engaged in Wii tennis until their rooms got ready.

The room had mostly cleared out around 5 p.m. ET, while one room still needed to be attended to -- that of yours truly of my roommate, the 32-year voice of Marist football, Ed Weir. Yes, Ed and I made our way to the Wii. Although I took care of him in tennis, I was no match whatsoever for him in bowling (which I found out he had played before).

The team departed for practice at USD around 5:45 ET, and should be wrapping up as I'm typing, while I stayed back at the hotel. We'll be leaving for dinner (Olive Garden) in about an hour.

Back with more later tonight ...

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

2:15 a.m. ET: Caught up on some work, and just watching a little TV before bedtime.

We headed over to dinner around 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT at Olive Garden, where I had a great time and was allowed to sit at the grown-ups table along with the aforementioned Mr. Weir, head coach Jim Parady, associate head coach/defensive coordinator Scott Rumsey, coordinator of sports medicine Glenn Marinelli, defensive backs coach Larry Riley, wide receivers coach Nate Fields and running backs coach Jason Tillery. By the time we arrived back at the hotel two hours later, we were happy -- and full.

Back at the hotel, once Ed and I figured out how to work the TV (quote from Ed on that subject: "You need an engineering degree just to turn this thing on."), we caught a little bit of Baseball Tonight before gravitating toward the NFL Network. Ed is now gravitating toward sleep, but I'm determined to make it another 45 minutes. Why, you ask? Becuase the NFL Network is showing "Greatest Fourth Quarters," and the next game in this show is the Browns-Broncos 1987 AFC Championship Game. As a Broncos fan, let's just say I'll sleep peacefully after watching it.

Forgot to mention this before, but one of the best comments I heard all day came from a gentleman who works at the airport here. After we got our bags and was asked a little bit about Marist, he wished us well and told us that he hoped the weather was good during our stay. I thanked him before wondering what exactly constitutes a bad day here ... four clouds in the sky instead of three? A day that's 71 degrees instead of 76?

On that note, I'll be back with more (including some pictures) during the day. Good night!

2:35 p.m. ET: Woke up around 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT and headed over to USD's campus about 45 minutes later for breakfast in the school's dining hall. With great food and lots of choices, it was a great way to start the day.

After breakfast, the players and most of the coaches headed over to Sea World for a few hours of sightseeing, animal bonding and lunch. I am back at the hotel to get some work done, but fear not -- my roommate and broadcast partner for tomorrow's game, Ed Weir, is there with my camera. Hopefully Ed and camera make it back safely, and we'll have some pictures to share with you tonight.

One bus will bring back some of the team in about two-and-a-half hours, while a later bus will bring everyone else back in four-and-a-half hours. A walkthrough is set for USD early this evening, with dinner at Junior Seau's restaurant following that.

9:28 p.m. ET: Going to have to make this one quick ... just got back from walk-through at USD, and now we're headed to Junior Seau's restaurant for dinner. We went there the night before the game last year, and the food was awesome.

You'll notice a new picture with this blog and on the football front page of the site. Thanks to Ed Weir to snapping those for me, and you'll see a complete photo gallery after dinner.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 19

3:50 a.m. ET: A great night of dinner at Seau's Restaurant was followed by a return to the hotel ... which included an epic struggle with both Ed Weir and myself to open the freezer at the hotel so we can buy chocolate chip cookie sandwiches (don't ask, just don't ask), game preparations for our broadcast, general sports discussions with Ed and some Web site improvements.

If you click on the link above, you will find a photo gallery of our trip. Special thanks to Ed for his fine work with the camera at Sea World.

Also on the football home page of GoRedFoxes.com, you will find links to Marist-San Diego game notes, and a link to The New York Times story written by Brian Heyman about the program, which appeared in the paper's print edition last Saturday.

It's time for sleep ... breakfast awaits us at 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT. An hour and 15 minutes later, it's off to Torero Stadium. Back with more in the morning!

12:30 p.m. ET: Headed down to breakfast as soon as I'm done typing. We'll leave the hotel to head over to Torero Stadium at 1:45 p.m. ET/10:45 a.m. PT, and hopefully arrive there within about 10-15 minutes.

Back with more once I arrive at the stadium!

2:38 p.m. ET: Welcome to Torero Stadium ... as I'm typing, Ed Weir is setting up the radio equipment for today's broadcast. Check Ed (play-by-play) and myself (color) out beginning at 3:45 p.m. ET on WKIP (1450 AM in Poughkeepsie) and GoRedFoxes.com.

The weather here is predictably perfect ... 77 degrees and hardly a cloud to be found.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 20

9:40 a.m.: Back in my office after a red-eye flight from San Diego to Newark and a bus ride back north.

There are some more pictures added to the photo gallery, including a few from prior to yesterday's game and this morning's sunrise as we were passing through New Jersey.

Thanks for following along with the blog this weekend as the Red Foxes now begin their preparations for next Saturday's contest at Bucknell.