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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Traveling men
The most grueling part of Holy Cross' schedule wrapped up at Lafayette Saturday.

The Crusaders went 2-1 on the trip, an eight-day oddyssey featuring three games and over 1,100 miles of travel. It's not easy being the most remote outpost in the league. While the Pa. and D.C-area teams are all within an easy drive of each other, no place in the league is close to Worcester.

Ralph Willard described the Crusaders' jourrneys after the Lafayette game:
"We're tired right now. I'm tired. This has been a tough trip, this last week-- three games in eight days, planes trains and automobiles."

"We pulled in from Lehigh at 3 o'clock in the morning on Saturday night. Then we had to leave Tuesday to go to Navy. We got back Thursday at 11:30 in the morning. We had to get up at 5 o'clock to catch the flight to make most of our classes. How do you think these guys are going to class on that Thursday. I couldn't even stay awake, and I didn't play in the basketball game. You can imagine what these guys are doing going to class on that Thursday. To me it is a total travesty."
Willard rues the day the league did away with the Friday-Sunday travel partners:
"The Big East, the MAC, everybody does Saturday-Mondays, they do two games in three days. Why we have gone back to this is beyond me. I think it is hypocrisy, is what I think it is personally. These kids should not be put through this.

"I felt that way when I first got into the league and I feel that way now. To the life of me, I don't know why we changed back from the travel partners. Ity certainly was better for the student athlete. Forget about basketball coaches, it was better for the student-athlete.

"From a coaching standpoint, this is better for me in terms of preparation, probably. But it is not fair to the kids. It really isn't."
The Crusaders are home for three games, then:
"...the week after next, we are going away to Colgate, which is a bear of a trip for us, with the snow usually, I mean when does it not snow in Hamilton. Then we've got to fly down to American on Friday. I am really dissapointed we have gone away from the travel partners."
Published at 7:01 AM by Hoop Time.
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