Sports

Trip Diary: Day 3

By Adam Clark

Posted on Nov. 24, 2008, at 12:00 a.m.

Day 3

All times in EST.

08:15 a.m.: I wake up to a steady snowfall and messy conditions. The last thing Amy and I needed was a cancellation or delay as two days in Iowa was more than enough.

10 a.m.: After continental breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and took the shuttle to the Waterloo Regional Airport. Our flight was scheduled for 11:15 a.m. and despite some light snow and wintry conditions there were no delays.

12:15 a.m.: We sat at the gate for a good 20 minutes or so and they told us that they were jumpstarting the engine (All I could think of is pulling up my GMC Sonoma and pulling out the jumper cables and hooking them up to the airplane.).

1:30 p.m.: We arrived in the Twin Cities, where we had a three-hour layover. I’m surprised I survived the last flight with a screaming baby during the whole 40-minute. After some Sbarro’s pizza, some sleep and some NFL action, we were ready to board for Detroit.

3:30 p.m.: The plane is big with three seats on both sides of the aisle and lucky for me I get a middle seat.NOT! To my right is a so-called important businessman who had his BlackBerry in full use. To my left is some college-aged kid that also had his BlackBerry out. When I sat down though, I soon found out that I had zero room. Both gentlemen were kind enough to take up all of the arm rests (they each had two) and have their elbows in my area. Don’t you love people? And to top it off, some lady reclined her seat into my lap, making for the best flight ever.

6 p.m.: Crossing over to the Eastern time zone, we land in the Motor City after the most uncomfortable situation of my life.

6:30 p.m.: I’m sitting in a chair in the airport watching the Patriots/Steelers game among a bunch of obnoxious Pittsburgh fans who keep clapping. Then all of a sudden, Wes Welker gets laid out on a cheap hit by a no-name safety. Probably the cheapest hit I have seen all year, but hey, that’s what the Steelers and Ravens do best, right?

7 p.m.: The Steelers won the game and I am visibly upset. But the Jets lost and I wonder what the analysts are going to talk about now, after Brett Favre had a bad game and the darling Jets lost.

9:30 p.m.: After another long layover and some delays, we are on the plane to Bangor. Never thought I would say, “I’m so glad to come back to Maine.”

11:30 p.m.: We land amidst messy conditions in Bangor. My roommate picked me up and we set off to our Old Town apartment. On the way, a car was 30 feet off the road in the ditch after going a little bit too fast down a hill on Stillwater Ave.

1:30 p.m.: Unpacked, tired, but my fantasy team is headed to the playoffs. Life is good and we are back from Iowa.only to go to class in the morning.

It was a great year covering the Black Bear football team and a season recap and outlook on next year will be published in next Monday’s edition of The Maine Campus. Best of luck to the outgoing seniors and we hope to see UMaine carry the momentum and into the playoffs again next year. For now, that’s a wrap.