Hitting the Road ... And Being at Home

We're all set for our first road game of the 2009-10 season at Vermont tonight (7 p.m.). It's certainly a bit odd for us to three games into the season and yet to play on the road - the last few years have been filled with early road trips. But now, we won't be back home at Leede Arena until the Blue Sky Classic on Dec. 29-30. Because of our location, we don't have day trips for road games very often. They can be a bit hectic. Usually the staff works and the players go to class, then we head out and eat pregame meal along the way.

Few links for tonight's game - check out the game preview and notes here, where you will find links to the WUVR radio broadcast, livestats and Vermont's video feed (which costs $7 if you want to watch the game).

For those who had questions about what game day is like at home, here are some thoughts. Home game days are usually pretty hectic for everyone. I obviously have a lot of responsibilities to make sure the gym is set up and that media and game operations will run smoothly, but the coaches and players have full days too.

So for the players, when we are at home, most of the day goes like any other - they have to attend all of their classes. The team has its "shootaround" or walk through sometime during the day, usually at 1 or 2, and sometimes people can't make it because of class. We all come together for a delicious pregame meal at 3:00 up the street at Molly's - like clockwork it's salad, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies. I think most players enjoy a quick nap after pregame to relax before taking the court. Oh and Coach Wielgus never comes to pregame meal at home ... she's a little superstitious ;)

In terms of getting to the gym, it really varies depending on how much time an individual player needs to spend in the training room, but 5:30 in the locker room is pretty common. People get heat treatments, ankles taped, etc over in the training room before reporting to the locker room. There are lots of different little rituals - I know some people get dressed in a certain order, some like the solitude of their own headphones, others like the bustle of the locker room.

Players make their way onto the court at different times to shoot and loosen up before starting a formal stretching routine. The coaches and players head into the team room to go over strategy about 35 minutes before tip-off and come back out with about 20 minutes to go for their stepped up warmup.

After the game the players usually get something to eat on their own - spend time with their family if they are here - and try to relax if they don't have too much studying to do!

Thanks for the questions and comments, keep 'em coming! 

Happy Thanksgiving as well ... We'll have an update before heading out to Cincinnati on Friday.

-Dara