Ducks in Flight
March 19, 2008
The first
and sometimes the hardest part of the basketball trip for the Ducks is in the
books. And it was an overwhelming success.
I’m talking about the four and half hour flight from Eugene to Little
Rock, Arkansas. If you are of average height and weight, four and a half hours
on an airplane is no picnic. If you’re six feet four with long legs or even up
to the seven foot category, a ride like that can be a muscle cramping, knee
knocking down right night mare. Especially if it’s on one of those regional air
jets made for short hops along the west coast. But Delta Airlines came through
with a comfortable, made for big guys and long flights 757. It had plenty of
room to let the big bodies stretch out. And by the way, nothing overly
luxurious.....just reasonably comfortable.
Now this may not seem like a big deal, but to the guys who have to step out of that jet, slip into the big shoes and start making athletic plays on the court, it is a very big deal. And not just the size of the aircraft, but the direct from Eugene flight is time saver. To fly commercially from Eugene to Little Rock would have meant at least one and maybe two connecting flights. So Oregon’s day might have started at 6am and ended as late as eleven PM. Recovering from a day like that doesn’t give a team much time to get game ready. But that won’t be a problem now. The Ducks left Eugene at noon on Wednesday and by seven pm Arkansas time they were working on game film and a game walk through.
Thursday
schedule was a mid morning breakfast and then a short bus ride to a local gym
for their first practice in Little Rock. They’re game ready now. They wouldn’t
have been without the charter.
If you have any questions, comments or observations for Jerry, please send an e-mail.
