August 24, 2006

Travel Day

The alarm went off at 5 am and after a quick shower I was off to the airport. My flight on United Airlines went from Charleston to Chicago. In Chicago, I met with the other coaches and members of our traveling party except for Coach Jim Calhoun (Connecticut) and Steve Lavin (ESPN and former UCLA coach). They were both traveling from Los Angeles and met the group in Tokyo. Coach Calhoun was coming from The Michael Jordan Fantasy Camp. The first person I met was USO photographer Michael Theiler. It was funny because the first thing he wanted to know about was Beaufort, SC. He and his wife had just watched the movie, The Great Santini (based on the book written by my first cousin, Pat Conroy) and were interested in the area.

I can't say enough about the USO and how organized and first class the trip has been so far as every single detail has been covered. I am very thankful for the opportunity and am proud to work with the USO, AFE (American Forces Entertainment), and to be associated with the family of coaches at Nike.

The USO is a non-profit organization that has been providing morale-boosting programs to service members and their families since 1941. They put together care packages, distribute phone cards, greet troops coming home, and provide many other desired services. The USO's motto is appropriately tabbed, “Until Everyone Comes Home.” AFE was established by the Department of Defense in 1951 for the sole purpose of providing live, professional entertainment to troops and family members stationed throughout the world. The two organizations work together to produce tours and Nike has stepped up big-time and donated all the shoes for the 12 teams and various apparel.

After three hours in Chicago, it was off to Tokyo/Narita, Japan. The flight to Narita was approximately 13 hours. That's a long time in a plane, but is nothing compared to the sacrifices our troops and their families make on a daily basis so we are all happy to do it. I actually had a very productive flight, and I owe my Citadel coaching staff a big thank you as they are the best! They put together several DVDs and other information that I needed to look at in preparation for this season and it made the trip go fast.

In between watching basketball clips on DVDs or working on practice plans, I started reading The Tipping Point, a book by Malcolm Gladwell. Reading is a passion of mine but something I haven't had much time for this summer with the move and change of jobs. Anyway, 13 hours without a cell phone and it is amazing what you can get done.

We cleared through customs at around 4 p.m. Tokyo time on August 24. Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of Charleston. Where did the day go? We weren't done traveling yet. The drive from Narita, Japan to Command Fleet Activities Yokosuka (Naval Base) was 2½ hours. Command Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY) will be our home on the trip. At one time, we were scheduled to also land on the carrier USS Kitty Hawk, and then go to Okinawa. However, recent developments in the world caused our trip to be shortened.

CFAY serves approximately 25,000 personnel and its primary mission is to provide support services to the naval forces in the Western Pacific. Yokosuka sailors take great pride in setting the standard of “Service to the Fleet” for the rest of the navy. The base has been in existence since 1871and command was surrendered to the Allies in 1945. During World War II, the Yokosuka Navy Yard employed more than 40,000 workers. Since the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, CFAY continues to be America's most important naval facility in the Western Pacific.

Once we arrived at the BOQ (Bachelors Officer Quarters) on base, it was a quick drop and off to the Officers Club for dinner. The dinner was very good, but that did it for me. The last thing any of the coaches needed to do as tired as we were was have a big meal. The rest of the evening was a big-time struggle for all of us. We met the 12 team captains, had a lottery to select teams, were briefed by the refs, and then had a short meet-and-greet. I can't wait to tell more about what we are doing and how the tournament works but right now ... I've got to get some sleep. First practice is in 10 hours. What day is it?

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