One for the Road

CSU-Pueblo women's head basketball coach Kip Drown calls the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference the hardest travel league in the country. His point was driven home this past weekend as the Thunderwolves opened up RMAC play with a pair of games versus Adams State and Fort Lewis College. The trip started out at 845am Friday morning pretty much business as normal. But that all changed on the way up LaVeta pass on Hwy 160. It is a brutal stretch of road during winter months even when the sun is shining due to high winds and poor visibility caused by ground blizards. As usual an accident caused a delay that closed both lanes of traffic for close to half an hour and slowed progress after that. Fortunately we made it to Alamosa just in time for the women's shootaround at noon. But that was about the last thing that went off without a hitch on this trip. It was becoming clear that the intended plan to travel to Durango following the games that night was in severe jeopardy due to terrible conditions on Wolf Creek Pass. The decision had to be made before play that night to have any hope of securing rooms that night in Alamosa. Rather than risk getting stuck on top of Wolf Creek in the middle of the night it was decided to spend the night in town following the day's play. The Women won in pretty business like fashion opening up a 10 point lead early on in the second half and surviving every run made my the Lady Grizzlies down the stretch to win 67-57. The men's game was perhaps the greatest awful game I have ever witnessed let alone broadcast. Both teams combined for 55 turnovers. Both teams put together big runs early and often. The Pack raced to a 7-0 lead only to see the Grizzlies answer with 13 straight of their own. CSU-P then answered with seven straight to lead 19-13 and held it for most of the half until Adams put together another 7-0 run to take the lead and held it going to the locker room up 35-32. The teams traded jabs before the Grizzlies put together another run to lead 49-42 with 12:59 to play. But again as it did all night long the Pack clawed its way back into it forging a 51-51 tie with 11:33 to play but could never take the lead again despite heroic effort. With 15 seconds to play CSU-P caught a huge break when the Grizzlies DeRay Wilson stepped to the line for one and the bonus and hit the first free throw but was guilty of a lane violation giving the Pack one last chance to steal the victory. However ASC played great defense forcing the Pack's Jed Knafelc to force a desparation three that fell short as time expired. ASC won the game 70-69 and would sleep soundly in their own beds that night.With the games over it was back to the travel saga of CSU-Pueblo. Luckily rooms were available and the decision was made to start out again on the road the next moring to battle Wolf Creek Pass at 745am. Now usually its about 2hr 45 minute drive to Durango from Alamosa. Oh did I mention the snow? Lots of snow? Chain law type snow? It is quite and education chaining up a bus carrying two NCAA basketball teams in nice snow storm that warms your heart for the holidays. But this is no way for the women to prepare to take on the 8th ranked team in the country and the men to take on a team it hadn't beaten in Durango since 1994. Eventually the teams rolled into Durango some five hours later. The women would miss their shoot around practice and lose badly to FLC in a game it was never really in despite getting to within six early on in the second half. but a 17-2 run by the Lady Skyhawks put this one to bed. The men would play shorthanded when Andre Martin and A.J. Kapanoske were benched for violating team rules. As usual they played hard but went away quietly into the night as FLC won 66-55. Now the real battle began. Trying to get back to Pueblo in one piece. Now the man in charge of driving the bus this trip was one Justin Hergert. If there is an equivalent to MVP for travel in this league Justin has a leg up on the award for his work on this trip. Again he was called upon to chain up the old bus at the foot of Wolf Creek Pass. This time however it was close to midnight in the snow and cold. He and his support crew of coaches executed a sparkling 24 minute stop and we were off and rolling again behind a snow plow carving a path through the fresh powder blanketing the road. Then the call came in from Athletic Director Joe Folda ordering his troops to stop for the night in Alamosa since La Veta Pass was in his words "a mess." At 300am the tired wounded Thunderwolves rolled into potato town to get six hours shuteye before taking to the road in the morning at 1000am. But of course this plan changed and it was decided to leave at 900am instead. Only one problem. Someone forgot to let the radio guy know! Well I woke up at 9am sharp and was in the shower when the phone rang at 902am. Now being a fantasy football commissioner it is quite common for my phone to ring many times on a Sunday morning so I finished that five minute shower to get ready for the onslaught of calls that may come my way in the next hour or so. Well the next sound my phone made at 905am was a text from the womens assistant coach Leslie Haywood saying hey we are all on the bus. We decided to leave at 9am instead. It was my turn to make a quick turnaround to get this trip rolling again. Ten minutes later I was on the bus and away we went making our way back to Pueblo arriving at 1145am. Fifty-one hours later the toughest travel league in the country had spit out its latest victims. Boy I cant wait for the Nebraska, New Mexico and western slope trips later this season.
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----------LIFE GOES ON-----Life is precious as well as unpredictable. Fort Lewis Sports Information Director Chris Aaland found out Wednesday November 23rd his five month old son was sick. For most of us the bacterial infection his pride and joy came down with would make us sick for at most a day or two if at all. But for a unique few it is fatal. His boy was one of those. On Thanksgiving he was flown to Denver on flight for life. On Friday he was gone. No words can describe the pain this man and his wife and five year old were going through. The services were last Thursday. Now amongst all this Fort Lewis College was on its way to winning the mens NCAA Division II soccer title Saturday afternoon. Couple that with the home games the Skyhawks were set to play against our Thunderwolves. For most of the public a S.I.D. is an afterthought. Even those of us in the media take them for granted far to often not to mention certain coaches of non descript programs demand of them on a daily basis. It was a tough tough week for Chris but he continued to do his job with the help of his fine staff all week long. He provided me with everything I could ever want and then some all week long. Walking into Whalen Gymnasium was oddly quiet Saturday afternoon. Everyone wanted to know where everybody was at. I called Chris to ask him what was up and where I was to set up. He informed me of the soccer match and was happy but uneasy as the Skyhawks were clinging to a 2-1 2nd half lead. Around 440pm he and his crew started to show up. The match had gone to overtime but Aaland had a basketball doubleheader to run. Then the word came down. The Skyhawks had scored to win the title. Chris was overcome with boyish joyful emotion as he ran around hugging members of the women's team warming up on the court. Then watching him leave the court pumping both fists brought first a smile to my face then a tear to my eye knowing the gamut of emotions he had felt the past 10 days. He is truly one of the good guys I have met out on the broadcasting trail. His touching goodbye to his son found here http://www.durangotelegraph.com/index.cfm/second-section/saying-goodbye-to-gus/
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----------THE KING IS DEAD-----One week after coming to Pueblo and leaving the home team CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves heartbroken defending champion Minnesota-Duluth suffered the same fate losing to upstart Wayne State (Michigan) 31-25. Bulldog quarterback Chase Vogler who tormented the Pack with his scrambling ability found himself harassed all afternoon long in the loss. Wayne State will play Winston Salem in one national semifinal while Pittsburg State (Kansas) takes on Delta State in the other.
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----------TEBOW STATE OF MIND-----Another fourth quarter comeback against another NFL bottom feeder on the road for the Tim Tebow all-stars Sunday as the Broncos put away the hapless Vikings 35-32 in the stadium formerly known as the MetroDome. The boys in purple were left crying much the same way as Prince does in his stage act in his beloved home state of Minnesota. Tebow looked his usual self in the first half as Denver managed only 47 yards total offense falling behind 15-7. The second half became a track meet as both squads raced up and down the pitch scoring at will. And this time Tebow made great throw after great throw in leading the Broncs from behind one more time for the win. Couple that with the Raiders pathetic performance on South Beach and the Broncos find themselves in first place. Of course the naysayers will point out the strength of the opponents on this magical stretch. And on cue Chicago will waltz into Mile High next week in free fall following another loss of not only a game but star running back Matte Forte who sprained his MCL on a vicious hit vs the Chiefs. Win that game and it sets up a showdown with New England in two weeks most likely on Sunday Night Football as NBC will undoubtedly use the flex schedule option to cash in on the Tebow phenomena. It gets no easier for the Raiders either as they face Green Bay at Lambeau Field.
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----------TIGER ON THE PROWL-----I find it comical the weight that is being put behind Tiger Woods victory Sunday in California. It is great to see Woods back in good form. The PGA Tour needs his star power more than ever after two years of wandering in the wilderness without El Tigre in the winners circle. However I find it laughable that a glorified made for television exhibition amongst 19 of his good buddies with guarenteed money on the line is being called his 83rd official win. This win is akin to me winning the money game on any given Friday afternoon at Elmwood amongst those vying for the City Championship later in the summer. When Tiger wins against a full field in an official PGA Tour or European Tour event then we can pronounce him all the way back. The only difference is I fully expect Woods to do this. Myself? No chance of showing up for the carnage let alone winning. Stay tuned.......
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----------PROGRAM REMINDERS-----CSU-Pueblo is on the road again next weekend in Denver. Friday night Colorado Christian is the opponent for a women's-mens doubleheader. Pregame show is set for 545pm on Homer1350-AM and www.homer1350.com . The women tip at 600pm and the men at 800pm. Saturday Golden is the site as the Pack takes on Colorado Mines. Pregame is 515pm with the women tipping at 530pm and the men at 730pm also on Homer1350-AM. Remember you can never miss a minute of the action by downloading the free app for your smartphone at www.iheartradio.com .