All Aboard The Roo Express: Florida 2015

March 5, 2015


12:09 pm

As the players piled onto the bus and got signed in, a round of applause broke out: Everyone was on board. The bus began to pull forward, and as it did, the players all settled into their seats.  However, it seemed like nothing would be able to hold in the eager anticipation for our journey ahead.  Coach Smith kept the jovial mood alive and rolling with his jokes.  But by the time we reached Colton, a town approximately 25 minutes from SUNY Canton, I think it began to sink in and the guys began to realize just how long the ride was going to be, and really started settling down.

High Spirits leaving the Lot

12:46 pm

Movie Time on the RooBus

For the movie selection, preview trailers for Curious George and Pride and Prejudice began playing. I thought it seemed unusual for a baseball road trip for those kinds of movies to be playing, but fortunately Cinderella Man was the featured presentation.



FUN FACT:
Vinny Bondinello has created his own dubstep/electronic remix of Andrea Bocelli




11:19 pm

We had already watched Act of Valor and The Last of the Mohicans by the time the fourth movie selection of the night came around.  Also by then, most of the players had used up the battery life of their phones and mobile chargers, so at one point, I had four phones, and a mobile charger plugged in to my laptop as I typed.
The fourth movie was Gettysburg. Many factors of this movie led to some humorous lines from some of the guys.  If you haven't seen the movie already, maybe these movie summaries will save you some time:

One player said: "This movie is never-ending... pretty soon we're gonna run outta ammo."

Another quip: "That movie was like a minute-for-minute reenactment of the actual battle."

And the Line of the Night came from senior Keenan Shannon after he had stopped paying attention to the movie and realized it was still on a while later: "What is this? Gettysburg 3: Revenge of the Sith?"

 1:40 am

The presence of snow became less evident as we passed through southern Maryland and the Washington D.C. Capital District Area. And the total disappearance of the white coating on the ground started near southern Virginia and North Carolina.  And up until this point, the roads were quite slick with slush, which put us back a little while.


12:45 pm

After stopping at Denny's, we crossed the Florida-Georgia line, and practically as we did, a light rain began to drizzle.  This rain followed us up until the halfway point between Orlando and Jacksonville. But after that, it was smooth sailing, besides some minor, slow traffic.


4:45 pm

Coach Carbone gave us a quick rundown of the night's schedule once we were to arrive, and then added at the end that the Detroit Tigers were staying in the same hotel as us.  Once he said that, an energy that preceded the energy of bus leaving the lot the day before erupted.  The bus was bursting with energy and excitement for our arrival, but also because we were about to stay in the same hotel as "Big Leaguers."  We could possibly run into a Professional Baseball player like Miguel Cabrera, or even their manager Brad Ausmus at any point.

5:25 pm

WE ARRIVED at the hotel!
Everyone was relieved once the bus pulled in and the gear was unpacked.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT UPDATE OF THE ROOS IN FLORIDA TOMORROW NIGHT!!