Road Trip: Georgia State – From the Bird’s Nest

Thanks to the incredible league scheduling, I got to make my second trip to Georgia in the last two weeks.  But, at least, this time I didn’t have to worry about a layover anywhere.

I flew out of Baton Rouge to Atlanta (It was a lot cheaper than Lafayette) for the trip to Georgia State.  The flight was scheduled for early afternoon and left almost on time.  I say almost because, as frequently happens nowadays, there wasn’t enough room in the overhead bin to accommodate everyone’s luggage, including mine.  (I carry my computer bag and my radio equipment onto the plane, and check the bag with my clothes).  They started making announcements about please get seated so we can leave on time and I’m getting somewhat irritated.  When I realized there was no room I went to my seat and sat next to a young (drop dead good looking) woman with the same issues.  She finally got her bag into the last overhead bin, which meant she’d be going against the flow of traffic once she landed.  (And she had a connecting flight.)  So, I sat in my seat with my radio equipment in my lap.  And, honest to God, a flight attendant came up and said “you’re not going to be able to hold that in your lap.”

Really?  What was your first clue to that?

I had to go back out onto the jet way and check the equipment.  But I had to present my boarding pass so I could get a bag claim check.  There were about four others with the same issue.  But we finally got seated.

With the time change it was after 3:00pm when I got to the Atlanta airport.

The team was on the same flight and we had a discussion about game time for the men and women.  That Eastern/Central time zone thing gets us from time to time and this was one of those times.  I thought the women’s game was at 12 noon EST,  11am in Lafayette.  But I was told while on the plane we were playing at 11am EST, 10am in Lafayette.

I called Scott Prather and alerted him to that once we landed in Atlanta.  He, of course, was not pleased.  We deal with last minute stuff a lot, but sometimes, especially if it’s happening on a Friday, it can be awfully taxing.  We discussed it (at length) and finally I told him to call Georgia State’s Sports Information Department.  If anyone would know, they would.  Well, the original time was correct, Scott went to change his pants and I informed those I was with.

Some people don’t like ATL.  I do.  If I have a layover, there are plenty of places to dine, drink or just people watch.  If there is no layover, it’s relatively easy to get what you need.  A short walk to the train and within ten minutes we were at baggage claim.  There were monitors that showed where every flight’s passengers could pick up their bags.  And, from there, it was a short walk to the train that goes to the rental car center.  That’s one of the things I like about ATL.  You catch the train and you never have to go outside.

The Atlanta airport is south of downtown off I-85.  For the second year in a row, we were staying in Buckhead.  A great hotel…but I still scratch my head as to why we stay there when there are plenty of good hotels in the downtown area where Georgia State is located.  I’ve decided it’s all about hotels willing to work with schools on price, late check out, meals and other things and the team got a good deal in Buckhead, about a 15-minute drive from the downtown area and about 25 minutes from the airport.

I checked into the hotel, took a shower and did some game prep.  I’d love to tell you about my exciting Friday night in Atlanta, but actually, I didn’t leave the hotel.  The weather wasn’t good…it was cold and rainy and I figured staying in was the best thing to do.  The hotel had a Shula’s Restaurant, more of a limited menu and mostly bar and grill food, although you had four different steaks on the menu.  I got an appetizer and a chicken sandwich (and a couple of Yuenglings.)  I was back up in the room for about 8pm and it was more game prep and a little television before bed time.

After breakfast the next morning, basketball SID Ben Rikard and I needed to leave for the arena at about 9:45.  Blake Barrington, who handled the SID duties for the women, had gotten a head of department job in Colorado, which means Ben is doing double duty the rest of the season.  We traveled downtown and, thanks to Siri and a little memory on my part, we found the arena with no problem.

The GSU Sports Arena is a bit strange in that it is on the third floor of an all-purpose building.  From the street it’s up some stairs, but from where we entered, it’s an elevator ride to get there.  We had just two seats at press row, and between my equipment and Ben’s computer, there wasn’t much workspace.  Not like we’ve never experienced that.

We were on the same side of the arena as the team benches.  And, we were seated at the end of press row right next to the Cajuns’ bench.  It’s not unusual for a player to come and fist bump with the folks at press row just prior to tip off.  I’ve seen our guys do it with the stat crew and PA announcer at the CAJUNDOME.  R. J. Hunter, the reigning SBC Player of the Year, was the guy at GSU.  He went down the line and then got to Ben and realized, hey this guy is wearing red.  He hesitated, but Ben gave him the fist and he sheepishly grinned at me.  I did the same.  (He got the fist that didn’t have the conference championship ring on it; that would have been rude.)

Considering he had two game stories to write, Ben got things done pretty quickly and we packed up and headed back to the hotel.  We both had to finish our stories and, ironically, we got them done about the same time.  Neither one of us had eaten since breakfast so we were both pretty hungry.  We wanted a sports bar atmosphere and found Twin Peaks not far from the hotel.  This one was a two story restaurant (with valet parking…always good in a big city.)  We got to see all or part of three different basketball games (Saturdays are great…) and had plenty to eat and drink.  For the second straight night, I ate grilled food.  I have no idea what’s gotten into me.

We didn’t stay out too late because we had to leave the next morning.  My flight was at 9:30, which meant I really needed to leave the hotel by 7:15 or so to gas up the rental car, get to the airport, return the car and check in.  I was able to get to the airport in plenty of time (trust me, it doesn’t always work out that way.)

Going through security is interesting in Atlanta.  The terminal building is in a different building from any of the gates, so everyone gets screened at the same place before getting on the train to the various concourses.  They had about a dozen screening areas that were open and it didn’t take long at all to get through.

I got to the gate and there were a lot of people there.  I knew that meant it was going to be a full plane.  Actually, as it turned out, the flight was overbooked.

And, that’s when the bidding starts.

When a flight is overbooked, the man or woman at the gate asks for volunteers to take a different flight in exchange for a travel voucher.  Normally they start at $200-$300 dollars and I wait to see which people jump up the fastest.   Almost always, they have volunteered before the airline gets to the price where I’d be willing to make the change.

Well, this time they started at $500.  Five minutes later it was $600.  But there was a catch.  Every flight to BR was booked the rest of the day.  So, you had a choice.  You could fly out first thing in the morning (not an option for me), get a food voucher and free hotel room.  Or, you could accept a flight to New Orleans leaving an hour later, but you were on your own once you got there.

If you live in Lafayette and your car is in Baton Rouge, that’s not a good thing.

$900.  And still no takers.

The supervisor came up to the young woman and asked how she was doing.  She replied that she was up to $900 and no one had budged.  So the supervisor got on the mic and said they would go up to $1300 and that was the highest Delta ever goes.  The supervisor left after making the announcement and one person got up.

So I’m thinking, is there any body I can call and ask to pick me up in NO and bring me to BR.  The answer was no.

Ten minutes later a second person volunteered.

And believe it or not, the plane was only a few minutes late arriving back in Baton Rouge.

$1300.  That could fly three or four people to a lot of places.

Next time I’ll take them up on it and hitchhike.  Or take a $100 cab ride.