Dec. 23, 2002
Sohpomore guard Ethan Rohde took some time out from his busy schedule on the Broncos' recent road trip to Maryland and shared his experiences with SantaClaraBroncos.com:
Dec. 18 (Day 1)
"It had been awhile since I had seen 6:25 followed by an AM, but to catch our 9:10 flight we had to depart from school at 7:15. It was painful waking up and such an early rise helped me be a couple minutes late. Nevertheless we all made it to the airport and caught our flight to Phoenix. I slept the entire three hours and was only interrupted once from my slumber when the flight attendant spilled OJ on my shoulder. From Phoenix we had a connecting flight to Baltimore (our final destination). This ride was around four hours. I kept myself entertained with the in-flight movie "Miracle on 34th Street." After a long day of travel we finally made it to the hotel at 7:30 (which was really 4:30 our time). From the Wyndham Hotel most of the team went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Walking there from the hotel was a mistake because the weather was freezing. We had to be back at the hotel for a film session on our first opponent (UMBC) at 10:00. I made it back to my hotel room at 11:45 and passed out as soon as I hit the bed."
Dec. 19 (Day 2)
"I woke up for a shower at 9:35 and headed down to the lobby with my roommate for the trip, Linden Tibbets, where we had breakfast at Shula's. After eating the team headed out for DC to get a tour of the national monuments (guided by Coach Sam Scuilli who is a native of New Jersey). We got to see the memorials of Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, James Madison, the Washington monument and the memorial walls from the Vietnam and Korean wars. I had the privilege of seeing these before, in eighth grade, but forgot how impressive they were. After the walking tour we went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The best part was probably in the lobby of the Bureau where there was a glass case of a million dollars in 10 dollar bills. Seeing that made me want to get a job, fast. At 4:30 it was back to the hotel. Most of us ran across the street to get something to eat from a fine establishment called Shane's. It was known for its sandwiches and did not fail to impress. After a quick second to relax it was off to our 6:00 practice at the UMBC gym. We were all pretty tight from the long travel but managed to get all the kinks out before our game the next day. Following practice we ate at the ESPN Zone. The food was good but the place was popular because of the atmosphere. They had tons of televisions broadcasting the day's games and many virtual video games involving any sport imaginable. The rest of the night was ours to relax. My body needed rest so after cutting my hair (got to look good for the game tomorrow) Linden and I just watched Slackers on HBO. I wish I would have just gone to bed, the movie was far from Oscar-worthy."
Dec 20 (Day 3)
"After rising at 11:00, the Anderson twins, Jim Howell and myself went across the street to a buffet place for breakfast. Being too tired, seeing how I had just woken up, I wasn't in the mood to complain about the $18 I spent on some fruit, a muffin, and a bagel. The team had a walk-through downstairs in the hotel followed by our team pre-game meal, which was at Shula's. Linden and I headed back to the room to prepare for our game and relaxed by watching an ESPN Classic match-up between Illinois and Missouri. We left the hotel at 5:00 for the game, which was at 7:00. After a sluggish first half we did enough things right and were able to get the victory. We couldn't celebrate the win for too long because we had to begin preparing for our next game against Loyola on Sunday. We made it back to the hotel at 9:30ish and headed to the Cheesecake Factory again. We had a little pre-meal entertainment on the walk to the restaurant as we witnessed a skirmish between two guys who didn't seem to care much for each other. After dinner it was lights out."
Dec 21 (Day 4)
"I woke up again at 11:00 and not wanting to spend another $20 for breakfast I went to Walgreen's with Jim Howell and got the breakfast of champions, some Wheaties. We had another film session at 12:00 until 1:15. With three hours until practice Brad Anderson, Brandon Rohe and I wanted to walk around and see some more of Baltimore. We hit up a few retail stores and made our way to a shopping district. Brad did most of the shopping and even looked to buy a bootleg copy of 8 Mile as a Christmas gift for teammate Kyle Bailey. At 3:00ish we went back to the hotel and hung out before our 4:30 departure for practice. It was a light practice mostly of shooting and review. Following practice, we went back to the hotel at 6:30 and out for dinner. We tried Cheesecake again, but the 2.5-hour wait sent us to the ESPN Zone. After dinner we had film from 9:45 until 10:15. I finished up the night by packing and watching what was possibly the worst movie I have ever seen (under the recommendation of Kyle Bailey), the Color of Night. I usually like Bruce Willis, but the movie was awful."
Dec. 22 (Day 5)
"Today was the first day game of the year. After our 10 a.m. team pre-game meal I went back to bed for an hour before getting on the bus at 12:15. The 2:00 game versus Loyola turned out to be a great team win. Everyone contributed and we did a lot of things right. Hopefully we can carry this over to the Cable Car Classic and throughout the rest of the season. Playing good and winning creates happiness and excitement, which is something that this team can bring Santa Clara University. After the game it was straight to the airport to catch our 8:30 flight to Las Vegas. Our plane got to Vegas around midnight (really 2:00am our time). This is where I broke off from the team and headed back to my favorite place on earth, my home in Seattle. I couldn't wait to get back and spend some quality time with my family and friends for at least a couple days. My flight left at 11:58 out of Vegas and will be getting into Seattle at 2:25 am. It had been a successful trip but I was very eager to get home and relax with my family, especially since by big brother was flying in from New York for the holidays. And thus the end of our road trip."