By PETE SCHLEHR, Director of Athletic Media Relations
As we were leaving the Towson Center yesterday on a charter bus headed for the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Tournament in Richmond, I was struck by how different things are today from 30 or so years ago in terms of travel and staff.
My first overnighter with a Towson team was truly a memorable one. The Tigers were participating in the Lebanon (Pa.) Valley Holiday Tournament December 29-30, 1975. Besides the Tigers and host Lebanon Valley, the four-team field included Bridgewater and York College.
Head coach Vince Angotti and athletic trainer Jim Wall picked up two university vans from our motor pool and met the rest of us at Burdick Hall. We crammed everyone and everything into those two vehicles. There was actually more luggage back then because the players were not issued travel suits. On many occasions players were required to wear at least a shirt and tie.
Along the way we stopped for a pre-game meal at a McDcnald's. Some of the players took their money and dashed across the highway to a 7-Eleven where they loaded up on orange juice and lunch meats.
That's how we ate on the road in those days. Never saw a salad, nice cut of prime rib or a baked potato until years later.
Upon arriving at Lebanon Valley we were directed to our lodging - a campus dormitory. Each room had a twin bed and a bunk bed. Jim, our student manager Eddie Diggs and I stayed in one room. Eddie, because he was youngest and the smallest, got the top bunk.
He never said anything but I think deep down he really liked that top bunk.
Oddly enough, no one involved with the program (myself included) was full-time athletics. Coach Angotti still had faculty responsibilities; he was on release time from the Physical Education department. The two assistants, Chuck Laur and Mike Raudabaugh were part-time. They came to practice and games whenever it didn't interfere with their regular daytime job. Most of my efforts were devoted to athletics but I received my marching orders from the university relations office.
Jim Wall was full-time but he was the only certified athletic trainer on the staff. He was responsible for every varsity, and jayvee, team we had. He seldom traveled but made this particular trip because it was during the holidays when most everybody else was shut down.
Eddie was the only manager. We didn't have an operations guy then. Even though he was a student, Vince depended heavily on Eddie. Eddie delivered. I always marveled at his talents. He's among my favorite all-time Tigers.
We won the tournament handily, beating Bridgewater 74-63 and York 77-65. Our starting five were Pat McKinley, Bobby Washington, Brian "Gumby" Matthews, Mike Jeffers and Savia "Sky" Sharp. Ray Tannahill, Pat Britton, Francis Clay and Paul Brooks were stuffed into those vans too and contributed to the victories.
Let's fast forward to 2010.
We left the Towson Center for this trip on a charter bus driven by a professional, James Green whom we have adopted as part of the Tiger Basketball family. James' younger brother, Lamont, was an All-American linebacker at Florida State during Coach Kennedy's basketball tenure with the Seminoles. Plus, Tiger assistant coach Allen Edwards and Lamont, who played in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, were part of a troupe that spoke to athletes at Florida high schools.
The travel party this day consisted of four full-time coaches (Pat Kennedy, Jim Meil, Danny Nee and Allen Edwards), a director of basketball operations (Phil Cohen), a full-time certified athletic trainer assigned to men's basketball (Chris Martin), three of five student managers (Patrick Springer, Lyle Hoffman and Craig Palmisano), 11 players (all clad in travel seats supplied by Under Armour) and a media relations guy (me). Normally our radio talent, Spiro Morekas, accompanies us. Due to a business commitment he's meeting us in Richmond.
The bus, of course, has state-of-the-art video equipment. Once we're under way the screens display game tapes (CD's) of our next opponent. Every move is scrutinized. Nothing escapes the coaches' eyes.
In 1975 we didn't watch film on our opponents because there wasn't any to watch. If an assistant coach couldn't scout an opponent in the flesh we would buy a report from a service, like the one operated by Brooks Gracie whose written report would provide the only information we would have in preparing for the game.
Today, teams usually exchange video, and there's plenty of it. With so many games televised and streamed, acquiring film on an opponent isn't the hassle or challenge it once was.
In the early days the video was shot by a student manager who always seemed to be stuck somewhere in the rafters so he could get the panoramic view. Today our video duties are handled very capably by Tiger Video Coordinator, Greg Rex, another full-time staffer.
Remember when the head coach was driving those vans? He would also have to make his own hotel (dormitory) reservations and arrange for meals, etc. Not any more.
Those tasks, and many others, now fall on the Director of Basketball Operations.
Phil Cohen is a typical operations guy. His cell phone is glued to his ear. He's in touch with bus drivers, hotel managers, food suppliers, building managers. He's likely to have the phone numbers for weather forecasters, traffic controllers, travel agents and local pizza delivery men from Boston to Atlanta. The team doesn't move unless he has planned it. As it is with Jon Dalhquist in football and Eric Franc for the women's basketball program, everything that drives the program goes through the operations person.
These guys are a separate breed.
The Eddie Diggs of a generation ago have been replaced by five people. Patrick appears to be the leader of this year's gang. The bus doesn't move until Patrick assures the coaching staff that all players, staff and necessary equipment are aboard and accounted for with his usual, "We're good to go, coach."
I've noticed that the modern manager has to have some old fashion herding skills to be successful. Patrick, Craig and Lyle know exactly where everybody is at any given moment. If the bus is to depart the hotel for a 7:00 p.m. game at 5:15, the three of them start ushering players, coaches and staff in the right direction long before launch time. They're all active contributors in practices as well as in games. What they do for the program is a story for another time.
After almost three hours we pull into Richmond. James takes us directly to the hotel, a Crowne Plaza in the middle of the city. Phil has called ahead. As we walk into the hotel each person is handed a room key. No lines. No waiting. No coin flipping to see who has the top bunk.
All the meals are in the hotel, buffet style, in a separate room away from the main dining area. An anxious waiter stands by to make sure everything goes smoothly. The hotels want us back when we play in Richmond again.
What else has changed is the quality of the opponent. Tomorrow at noon the Tigers step on the court with UNC Wilmington, a team that has more trips to the CAA quarterfinals than any other school in the league. If we're successful, we win the right to face top-seeded Old Dominion on Saturday at noon.
UNCW and ODU aren't Lebanon Valley, Bridgewater and York College. But then, nothing else about our program is the same as it was either.
