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Author Topic: I traveled with the team to an away game.  (Read 2209 times)
Dave Gray
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« on: September 29, 2021, 09:45:13 am »

So, I had a unique opportunity to travel as a guest of the FAU Football Team.  I rode their chartered bus with the players and coaches, flew on the chartered plane, stayed in the team hotel, ate with the team, and watched the game from the field and in the AD's box.  It was a cool experience and it's so fresh and I've talked a lot about it in my personal life, but I wanted to mention it here, in case anyone had questions.

Short version -- it was f'ing grueling.  I don't think I respected players enough for how hard it is to travel.  We played Air Force.  It was mostly travel in tight spaces and eating quickly, being shuttled from place to place, and dealing with climate differences.  I was puking from altitude sickness, exhausted from the travel, and sore from constantly sitting on seats for hours at a time.

The players literally limp back to the bus after the game, then get right on the plane.  It's amazing that they can compete under the circumstances.  Home field advantage is as real as it gets.
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Spider-Dan
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« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2021, 11:29:12 am »

Are these the types of drawbacks that would not apply to a pro team like the Dolphins, or a semi-pro team like Ohio State?
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Dave Gray
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« Reply #2 on: September 29, 2021, 12:01:01 pm »

Are these the types of drawbacks that would not apply to a pro team like the Dolphins, or a semi-pro team like Ohio State?

I asked myself that and from what I could tell, they still would.

FAU was very organized and has everything down to a science.  The issues that we dealt with were not avoidable.  Unless the team owned their own jet with their own seats made for huge dudes, even though the flight was chartered and eliminated as much waiting as possible, you still had a giant man sitting in an airplane seat.  And busses are busses -- so those seats aren't super roomy.

Climate is climate.  Altitude would affect everyone, I imagine.

And mostly, time is time.  It's still hours in busses and hours on planes, any way you slice it.
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ArtieChokePhin
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« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2021, 01:31:06 pm »

Thought this would give some perspective on what these guys go through.   This is coming from an NFL player so I'm guessing that for college, Monday would be the player's day off.

https://www.nfl.com/news/a-week-in-the-life-of-jack-crawford-0ap3000001086791
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Dolphster
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« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2021, 01:45:19 pm »

So, I had a unique opportunity to travel as a guest of the FAU Football Team.  I rode their chartered bus with the players and coaches, flew on the chartered plane, stayed in the team hotel, ate with the team, and watched the game from the field and in the AD's box.  It was a cool experience and it's so fresh and I've talked a lot about it in my personal life, but I wanted to mention it here, in case anyone had questions.

Short version -- it was f'ing grueling.  I don't think I respected players enough for how hard it is to travel.  We played Air Force.  It was mostly travel in tight spaces and eating quickly, being shuttled from place to place, and dealing with climate differences.  I was puking from altitude sickness, exhausted from the travel, and sore from constantly sitting on seats for hours at a time.

The players literally limp back to the bus after the game, then get right on the plane.  It's amazing that they can compete under the circumstances.  Home field advantage is as real as it gets.

In spite of the puking, exhaustion, etc. I still think it is really cool that you got to experience that with the team.  And even though it may not seem like a great thing to have gotten to do right now because of the discomfort associated with it, I bet that years from now it will be a story that you love telling and your memory of it will be much more about the coolness of it than the shitty parts of it. 
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CF DolFan
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« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2021, 02:48:11 pm »

That's pretty cool that you got to do that! I'm sure if you were a 20 year old kid it wouldn't bother you as much.
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« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2021, 03:00:36 pm »

That's pretty cool that you got to do that! I'm sure if you were a 20 year old kid it wouldn't bother you as much.

As someone who ran cross-country at that elevation during HS, I can say that I have seen high school athletes experience the same thing as Dave. When you go from 1,000 feet above sea level to 5,000+ feet, that's a whole different type of breathing.

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CF DolFan
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« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2021, 04:08:10 pm »

As someone who ran cross-country at that elevation during HS, I can say that I have seen high school athletes experience the same thing as Dave. When you go from 1,000 feet above sea level to 5,000+ feet, that's a whole different type of breathing.


Oh yes I get that. While I have never been there I've seen many pics inside oxygen bars and heard many tales of people and their struggle to breathe.  I was just referring to the rigors of traveling and quick turn around itself.
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ArtieChokePhin
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« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2021, 06:26:49 pm »

I've been in that area.  For the first 3 days, I was told to drink water constantly and to eat lightly and frequently in order for my body to adjust to high altitude
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Dave Gray
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« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2021, 08:51:10 am »

In spite of the puking, exhaustion, etc. I still think it is really cool that you got to experience that with the team.  And even though it may not seem like a great thing to have gotten to do right now because of the discomfort associated with it, I bet that years from now it will be a story that you love telling and your memory of it will be much more about the coolness of it than the shitty parts of it. 

I am super grateful for the experience and I still had fun and enjoyed the experience.  I agree.  ...some of my best memories of vacations (and of life in general) are times of discomfort and suffering.  It's all part of the experience.
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Dolphster
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« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2021, 09:12:54 am »

I am super grateful for the experience and I still had fun and enjoyed the experience.  I agree.  ...some of my best memories of vacations (and of life in general) are times of discomfort and suffering.  It's all part of the experience.

For sure, Dave.  As you get older, I bet you will look back on that experience more and more fondly.  I feel that way about my deployments to Iraq.  It obviously sucks to be in the middle of a war.  But 15 years have passed since my last deployment and I think back on the funny stories a lot more than the shitty things and I think about the relationships with my battle buddies where because of the circumstances, we were closer than brothers and shared a unique bond that probably couldn't be created under any other circumstances.  Funny how time kind of re-focuses your memories like that. 
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DenverFinFan
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« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2021, 11:58:07 pm »

Awesome Dave, hope you enjoyed CO and our altitude!
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Dave Gray
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« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2021, 09:29:25 am »

Awesome Dave, hope you enjoyed CO and our altitude!

Can't say that I enjoyed the altitude, however, if I were to go back, I think I would know enough to prepare a little and maybe extend my trip so I could acclimate.
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