Oct. 28, 2009

DISNEY PHOTO GALLERY | LIVE BLOG - SAINT PETER'S

Fans can follow the Marist women's soccer team's trip to the 2009 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships from Wednesday, Oct. 28 - Monday, Nov. 2. The blog will include commentary from each day in Orlando, at the championship. The Red Foxes are seeded seventh and will take on Saint Peter's in its opening round match on Thursday at 11 a.m. All games will be covered on GoRedFoxes.com with a Live Blog, powered by CoverItLive.com.

As always, feel free to send any comments or questions which can be answered in the blog to Marist Assistant Sports Information Director Andy Alongi at Andrew.Alongi@Marist.edu.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 28

2:17 p.m. - It's a rainy Wednesday afternoon, but the Marist women's soccer team is destined for sunnier skies as we depart campus for Newark International Airport. Jet Blue Flight 527 is scheduled for a 6:15 departure and a 9:07 p.m., landing at Orlando. The weather conditions in Orlando right now is 85 degrees and mostly sunny.

Right now the team is talking a look at its "required reading" for the bus ride. I will be looking at mine in a few minutes. We revisit the bus ride when we arrive at the airport.

2:54 p.m. - The bus just got on Interstate 84 and everyone is still trying to democratically pick a movie to watch. Assistant coach Brendan Lawler and I sold the bus on Tommy Boy, a comedic classic, so classic that it now has a commercial running with the fat guy in a little coat scene. But when we put it in the player, it was not formatted properly. After one or two more formatting issues, we are watching Don't Mess With Zohan by default, since it was the only thing the DVD player would respond to.

Maria Baez's thoughts on the movie to the rest of the bus: "Everyone be ready for your IQ to become like minus five because of this movie."

About 20 minutes into the movie everyone is quiet and very intrigued by the movie. Just my observation.

Complications At Check-In

5:49 p.m. - After a very interesting check-in with Jet Blue associate Quiver Richardson, no relation to the Knicks' Quintin, I have safely arrived at the counter. When I went to check in with the extra bags, since I only travel with one, I learned that I was not a part of the travel party according to the Jet Blue list. I was told the best way to resolve the situation would be to call 1-800-JET-BLUE (free plug) and explain my situation. After Quiver got on the phone and verified that the situation was actually true, and not a fabrication, they allowed Quiver to change a name from our travel party who is not with us to my name. Now there is a long story about me in the manifest for Jet Blue Flight 527. This all reminds of LOST, the first time I heard the word "manifest" used in a sentence.

During the wait, I watched the Saint Peter's women's soccer team check in. They are on our flight, should make for an interesting trip. We are delayed until about 7:40 p.m., due to the poor weather that hit the area earlier today. That's all you'll get out of me from the northeast. Until Orlando, my faithful readers.

Should There Be A Change In Cabin Pressure, Follow Chelsea's Instructions

8:48 p.m. - Greetings from seat 13D, sandwiched between Marist forwards Kate Fox and Jackie Frey, with game one of the World Series on all over the plane, including two of the three seats in this row. During the in flight tutorial our flight attendant Chris enlisted the help of two of the Red Foxes. Fox handled the life vest demonstration and Chelsea Botta taught us how to breathe through the oxygen mask should the cabin pressure change during the flight. Important stuff. Take off was great and went smooth.

Prior to take off, Coach Roper was asked to ring her flight attendant button in her seat. I'll do some investigative work and try to get you some details ASAP.

The length of the flight is 2:20. Until next time, when there is hopefully a larger Phillies lead. It's the middle of the third and Philly leads one nothing on a lazy pop fly by Chase Utley that found the fifth row in right field, which is something you NEVER see at the new Yankee Stadium.

Word Of The Day = JET

11:38 p.m. - After a day of observing, I noticed the same word three times in my travels, which was "Jet," hence the title of this entry. The first indication of Jet was the airline, JET Blue. The second happened on our JET Blue flight, where I listened to the song JET by Paul McCartney. The theme was rounded out when we boarded our coach bus a JET set bus.

Its time to check in to the hotel and rest up for the opening round match tomorrow at 11 a.m. From Orlando, Andy says goodnight.

Thursday, October 29

10:28 a.m. - Good morning readers and welcome to Hess Sports Field I for the opening round of the 2009 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship. I am at the field and the team is getting loose for the game with Saint Peter's at 11 a.m. Please be sure to follow my LIVE BLOG, which is the number one story and also is linked at the top of this page.

The team had breakfast at 8:20 a.m., and we headed right over to the field after. They took a team photo and are getting ready for the match.

I am scoring the Manhattan vs. Rider for the conference, so I will get updated information about the Red Foxes when I return to our resort. Until this afternoon friends.

RECORD-SETTING DAY

5:49 p.m. - I have returned to the hotel after scoring the 8/9 matchup at the Wide World of Sports to find that not only did Kate Fox break the school record in goals and points but the fans set a record for followers on the live blog with 148, so thank you for reading. As I said in the blog, I will be doing the same thing tomorrow, so look for more of the same as the Red Foxes take on second-seeded Siena in the quarterfinals.

After the Marist match, I had some time to write the game story for the website, and go through my regular post game routine. Upon the conclusion of the second game of the day, I embarked on a Disney bus adventure that took me from the Wide World of Sports to Hollywood Studios and back to the hotel. On the bus from Hollywood Studios to Port Orleans I had a nice chat with the parents of a Manhattan player, who also won today. They told me they really enjoyed the Marist campus when they came up during the season and that they were thrilled that Manhattan got the W. Standard stuff.

The team is getting Olive Garden for dinner and then doing a little prep for Siena tomorrow at 11 a.m. The blog will kick off at about 10:50 with pregame info. I'll be watching Game 2 of the World Series, and tracking how many times they show Pedro throwing Don Zimmer on the ground. Stay tuned to GoRedFoxes.com for the latest on the Marist women's soccer team's trip to Disney.

Friday, October, 30

BUSY 30 HOURS LEADS TO FEWER POSTS

10:57 p.m. - It has been a busy few days down in Disney to say the least. In the past 30 hours I have watched more women's soccer than you can imagine, probably the equivalence of three or four matches in such a short span. This morning started with the Marist vs. Siena match, where the Red Foxes looked strong. I followed that match up by scoring the Canisius vs. Iona quarterfinal. Upon the conclusion of the Golden Griffins 1-0 win, I went back to Field I to watch and assist with the last minutes of regulation two over times and a shootout between Loyola and Manhattan (Loyola won on PKs 5-4).

At the end of the match, the Siena Assistant SID Mark Adam and I took Disney transit back to Port Orleans. We got back to the hotel around 6 p.m. A number of players left for dinner in the Magic Kingdom at the Crystal Palace Diner, and some free time in the parks. While we were waiting for the bus to come, I got tennis scores from our assistant men's tennis coach, and Jackie Frey, and Brendan Lawler were having a debate about a player of the year in the Times Herald Record from years ago. Not sure if that conflict was ever resolved.

Anyway we got to the park to learn that Coach Roper brought park tickets for everyone but herself. Disney 1, Roper 0. She went back to the hotel to get her pass before dinner, and was back just in time for the parade on Main Street.

While we were walking through the park Kassie Palmer asked what she had to do "to get in the blog," because she feels I slighted her on the last trip to California. Her wittiest comment was when she said that she would save all her clever comments for until she was around me, so I would hear them and put them on the Internet.

We only got to a few rides, but included on the short list were It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion, very fitting with the Halloween theme. Everyone seemed to think the Haunted Mansion was a little too scary.

The team will go to a training session tomorrow morning. In the evening there is the MAAC Championship banquet and a mass, which will be said by Father LaMorte, a member of the Marist community. Hopefully I will get to a park tomorrow. But we'll see what happens. Thanks for your patience and we'll see what tomorrow brings in the morning.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

12:10 p.m. - HAPPY HALLOWEEN blog faithful. Right now we are at our practice session at field three at Hess Sports Fields at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. The team had breakfast this morning at 10 a.m., and we left for the field at about 11:10 a.m. Right now I am listening to the Marist vs. Valpo Football game on the Internet. I'm going to take some photos of the complex and practice for a post later this afternoon.

On the horizon we have the banquet tonight, where we will learn the All-MAAC teams. Check back later tonight for that information.

SHELLS ON THE FLOOR

3:42 p.m. - The team finished up at practice at about 1 p.m., and went directly to lunch at Logan's Steakhouse, which I felt had an interesting set up. The food was good and the restaurant offered free peanuts on every table. The shells were to be thrown on the floor when they were done with. I was still behind the idea of Logan's until I saw a few spills at neighboring tables. When the spills were noticed by a staff member, the servers just poured peanuts over the spill to dry up the mess.

The first thought that came to my mind was from the movie "Big Daddy" where Adam Sandler's character cleans up the child's messes by covering them with newspaper. Exactly the same at this restaurant, but with peanut shells.

The team is getting ready for the banquet, which will be held in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Busses depart at 6:45 p.m.