Piedmont College men's basketball fans can follow the Lions' six-day trip to New York City through senior Will Martin's daily blog. Martin will be blogging about the team's trip to participate in the 8th Annual 9/11 Tournament of Heroes hosted by the College of Staten Island. The team departed Demorest on Saturday, December 26th at 5:00 PM on a Mountain Coach entertainer bus and will be returning mid-afternoon on Thursday, December 31.
Fans are encouraged to
email Will with comments and thoughts on his blog.
Day #1 Photo Gallery - Lower Manhattan
Day #2 Photo Gallery - Times Square
Final Day Photo Gallery - Championship Presentation
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 -- Championship Earned!
When 3:30 came it was time for the review of the Randolph College scouting report. We met in the assistant coaches room and went over our game plan. Afterward we had a few minutes to finish packing up our things and loaded the bus. Still full from lunch, we traveled to Boston Market for our pregame meal. Most of the team chose the three piece chicken plate with macaroni and cornbread. When we had all finished our food we took the bus to the gym in plenty of time to get dressed and shoot in the auxiliary gym while the consolation game was being played. As game time approached the team was anxiously waiting to get on the court. Our excitement was very clear as we quickly jumped out to a quick lead. We played solid defense and made some very confident shots on offense to carry a nine point lead into halftime. Feeling the championship trophy in our grasps, we were ready to hit the floor and get the second half underway. We were also very aware that Randolph had been down by nine at the half the night before and found a way to come back and win in overtime. We knew they would make a run, but at the same time we wanted it so much more. I could see it in the eyes of the guys coming out of the locker room after halftime and I knew we were going to “finish the trip."
Just like we assumed, Randolph made their run in the second half and managed to cut into our lead and tie the game late. With less than thirty seconds left, the game was tied at 67 and Sam was fouled. With senior confidence, he stepped to line and knocked down both free throws to give us a two point lead. There was still time left on the clock for Randolph to run a play and our defense made the final big stand that has seemed to have been missing. With a strong defensive rebound, Peter secured the ball and was fouled in Randolph's last attempt to get the ball back. Luckily there were only a couple seconds left on the clock as Peter missed his free throw. Their three-quarter heave was way off and we had finally finished the game with a win. We were officially tournament champions and the team was elated.
Following the game, the all-tournament team and MVP was named. Mike Chatman was named to the all-tournament team and J.C. Herebia was honored as the tournament MVP. Although the awards were very deserving, it was truly a team effort. Dan contributed a strong nine points while Rubio was a leader on the court like usual. After receiving the trophy, we took a team picture at center court. Among all the pictures we have taken this trip, we all agree that this is the most satisfying one. We have officially finished the eventful trip in championship fashion. Coach Glenn talked to us afterward about keeping the big perspective of our season but enjoying the journey each day.
We are now on the bus and on the way home. We are expecting to hit some rough weather with the approaching ice and snow storm, but with Jeremy behind the wheel there are no worries. After finishing our post-game sandwiches that were delivered from a highly recommended local deli, the XBOX was up and running with heated battles of March Madness and Call of Duty. Peter seems to be the one to beat at March Madness and Gonzo seems to be the favorite in Call of Duty. We are all still enjoying the win, and I’m sure the excitement will make it difficult to go to sleep any time soon.
This trip has truly been a once in a lifetime experience. From Times Square to the hardwood, we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the trip. We will remember this six-day trip for the rest of our lives. We bring home with us plenty of pictures to show family and friends and we have a championship trophy to put in the Mize Center as well. As a senior, I consider myself very lucky to have been a part of this team for four years. This team is truly much more than just a team, we are a family.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 -- Mock Shoot-Around & Championship Preparations
It is now day four in New York and we are getting ready for the 9/11 Tournament of Heroes championship game tonight at 7:30 versus Randolph College. We were able to sleep in before our 10:00 AM meeting and scouting report. Following our video presentation we walked downstairs here at the hotel for our “shoot-around” in an empty conference room. Coach Neeley had commandeered a roll of tape from Jocelyn and already created a half court including the lane on the carpet as well as a small ball of tape to use as our “basketball.” We then bundled up and walked down the street a little bit to Chili’s restaurant for lunch. Most of us ordered a hamburger or sandwich of some kind and we were all stuffed by noon. Some people weren’t even able to finish their enormous burgers. Luckily we have a few hours to lie back down and rest up for our game tonight. We will be relaxing until 3:30 when we will again go back over our scouting report before checking out of the hotel and re-loading Red Lightening for the 14-hour ride home following tonight’s game. Jeremy, our bus driver, has been resting all day in preparations of driving us back through the night to campus. Coach Glenn has not told us where we will eat our pre-game meal, but I’m sure like always it will be somewhere very good. Today’s weather on Staten Island is approximately 25 degrees, a nice 24 degrees warmer than yesterday. We are glad to be heading home tonight as the New York area is bracing for a four-day snow and ice storm. The area is also planning for tomorrow night’s famous New Year's Ball Drop in Times Square and I know a few of our fans/parents up here participated in yesterday’s “practice” confetti drop. I will write again tonight after our game as we are on the bus returning en route back to balmy Georgia.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 -- Team Advances To Championship
Well, we took care of business tonight as we were able to pull away and beat The College of Staten Island in the first round of the Tournament of Heroes. After resting in our rooms for a few hours earlier today, we loaded the bus and went to have our pregame meal at a local Italian restaurant called Jimmy Max. After finishing our meal, we were on the way to the gym to watch the first game of the tournament between Randolph and Colby-Sawyer. When it came time for us to play we were amped and ready to go.
After pregame warm-ups, the three former CSI basketball players that died in the September 11th attack on the World Trade Centers were honored with an emotional presentation. The game began fast and that pace continued throughout the first half. Going into half-time we were trailing the home team by nine. We were all confident that the second half was going to be ours and we were not going to settle for anything less. We quickly cut into that nine point lead, and tied the game with ten minutes left in the second half. From that point on, we took control and pushed forward; however, the game was still up for grabs with two minutes left in the game. Free throws from Tracy and Rubio proved to be crucial and gave us the six point lead that sealed the victory for the Lions.
Celebration was only brief, as we are now switching our attention to Randolph. We will play in the championship game tomorrow night at 7:30. Randolph will be a tough opponent but from what I can see, the team is ready for the challenge and is refusing to leave New York without finishing our experience on a positive note. We concluded the night with our normal team meeting to discuss tomorrow’s opponent and schedule. Although we had plenty of down time to relax today, I’m sure no one will have a problem sleeping tonight. It is still extremely cold here with the wind chill down around zero degrees and we seem to freeze just walking from the bus to the hotel.
We will be up in the morning at 10:00 for another meeting and walk-through here in the ball room of the Crowne Plaza to finish up our preparation for tomorrow night’s championship game.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 -- Game Day Preparations
We were able to sleep in this morning, but the wind howling outside woke us up in plenty of time to shower and get dressed by 10:00. Jim made it only as far as the lobby in his shorts, because it was 22 degrees with the wind chill being just 1 degree. It has been a really long time since we have seen weather this cold. We braved the winds and walked over to Dunkin Donuts and had our breakfast. Most people chose a breakfast sandwich of some kind; however, I did notice Phil secretly eating a pink donut with sprinkles. After breakfast we took our bus to the gym for our 11:00 AM shoot around.
Like we always do on game-day, we went over parts of the scouting report on the floor and then split up into teams for the normal shooting games. Phil rebounded from the pink donut to hit the victory-clinching free throw and lead his team to a win. We finished in the gym and are back at the hotel now with plenty of time to keep our feet up and get hydrated before we leave at 4:30 for our pre-game meal. I will write again tonight after our first game of the 8th Annual Tournament of Heroes.
Monday, December 28, 2009 -- Afternoon in Times Square...The Ultimate NYC Experience | PHOTO GALLERY
It is 9:00 PM now, and we have just got back to our rooms from a very eventful day in Manhattan. We began by getting on the subway, an experience that was new for all of us, and traveled up town to Madison Square Garden. We were running a little bit behind schedule so we had to hustle to make it to the Garden in time for our All-Access tour. It is not easy to move a group of 20 people together quickly through the crowds of Manhattan. I think I speak for everyone when I say the tour was amazing. Instead of just seeing where the New York Knicks play, Coach Glenn had set us up with an all access tour of the entire facility. We saw the main court, met one of the Knicks dancers, and even went through the locker rooms of both the Knicks and Rangers. I would have to say that most of us enjoyed seeing the locker room and floor of a NBA team in the most famous arena in the world, but I believe that Josh Haymore enjoyed his personal picture with the Knicks dancer the most. After seeing the locker room of the Knicks, I must say that we are very lucky to have such a nice locker room of our own back at home.
After the hour long tour of the enormous arena that is commonly known as simply “The Garden,” we got back on the subway and traveled up to Times Square. When we emerged from the subway at Times Square there were people everywhere, especially right in front of us. The group of people seemed to be all trying to get a picture of someone in the middle of the crowd. Sam made his way through the crowd and was able to capture a personal picture of Ryan Seacrest. The American Idol host was right beside us. We continued to walk forward to the Rockefeller Center where Coach Glenn had us tickets to go to the top of the building on the 70th floor. The line for tickets was all the way down the street, but Coach Crain had already picked up our tickets and we walked right in past everyone else. We took elevators all the way to the top, what is known as “The Top of the Rock,” to see the entire city of New York. Words can’t even describe the view that we had. We could see for miles in all directions. Josh Chapman was nervous being so high up, so he stayed away from the edge while pictures were being taken. The Hudson River, Central Park, The Empire State Building and every other building of New York City was visible. The view was truly one of a kind, and one that none of us had ever experienced.
When we came out of the Rockefeller Center we were able to take plenty of pictures in front of the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. We then began to make our way to the NBA store. Outside the store Coach Glenn gave us maps of the area and directions that we would meet back up at the ESPN Zone in Times Square after two hours of free time. We all went inside the NBA store to look around and get pictures beside the life-size statues of Yao Ming and Shaquille O’Neal. The store here in New York had everything you could ever want, from shirts and hats to autographed Jordan shoes. After leaving the store some of us went looking for food while others were immediately intrigued with the nearby St. Patrick’s Church. Tracy and Jim went looking for a good place to eat and found Burger Heaven, which afterward they both agreed was amazing New York food yet again. The Ringgold boys, Sam and Phil, chose a small Chinese restaurant for dinner. According to them, the restaurant charged by the pound and they thoroughly enjoyed the platefuls they purchased. The ten-story Macy’s store was also nearby and most of us made our way through the largest department store we had ever been inside. Josh and Dee made some shoe purchases at the Foot Locker and Champ’s Sporting Good Stores. We all walked through the streets of the Times Square area still in amazement of how tall the buildings are.
When it came time to meet back up at the ESPN Zone we were exhausted from walking but we each had plenty of stories to share of the things we had seen and the stores we had been in. We again made our way onto the subway that would take us back to the Staten Island Ferry. While on the subway this time, I noticed Dan was getting a little nervous about the speed of the underground car we were on. We reached our familiar destination and loaded the ferry that took us back across the river. The ferry was a great place to once again get some more pictures since it was now dark and we could see the entire city lit up. The Statue of Liberty was amazing to see at night as we passed right underneath on our way back to Staten Island. The entertainer bus that we traveled in from Demorest was waiting outside when we got off the ferry. We made the short drive back to the hotel where we had about thirty minutes to relax before our nightly team meeting. Like we always do in advance of a game, we went through the scouting report and watched clips on tomorrow’s opponent on the wall with the projector. Basketball is now the only thing on our minds as we continue to prepare for the game tomorrow night. We will be able to sleep in before we go to the gym tomorrow for our normal game day shoot-around. I will write again after we return from the gym in the morning.
Monday, December 28, 2009 -- Morning Practice...Keep Climbing The Mountain
It is now day two on Staten Island and we are up early again getting ready for practice. We loaded the bus and drove right around the corner to the gym to have practice at 9:00. It is a bit colder than yesterday and the wind is a little stronger, but the team is ready to hit the floor and get a good practice in. Like always, practice was energetic and fast. The only thing on everyone’s mind this morning was getting ready to play The College of Staten Island tomorrow. We finished at 10:30 and returned to the hotel to shower and layer up for the rest of the day in Manhattan.
It is 11:15 now and we are about to re-load the bus to take us to the Staten Island Ferry. Our driver Jeremy has been very accommodating to all of our shuttling in the bus. We will be taking the ferry across the river like we did yesterday, but instead of staying in the Financial District we will be taking the subway up to the Times Square area. Everyone is excited for what the rest of the day has in store for us as Coach Glenn has kept today’s agenda private so there must be something good in store for us. The subway is going to be an experience in itself, and everyone has their cameras charged and ready for plenty of pictures. We will be in the Times Square area until 9:00 PM tonight, so I will post again when we return to the hotel. I will hopefully have some interesting pictures to accompany my blog tonight.
Sunday, December 27, 2009 -- Early Morning Arrival And Lower Manhattan | PHOTO GALLERY
Well, we have now arrived in New York. We woke up on the bus at about 7:00 AM outside our hotel (Crowne Plaza of Staten Island) and quickly unloaded as we were on the way to Dunkin Donuts to get some breakfast. After some donuts we were all ready to see Manhattan. We took the bus to the Staten Island Ferry which takes us over the Hudson River to Manhattan. Cameras were out as everyone began to take pictures of the tall buildings and Statue of Liberty in the approaching distance. As a team, none of us really knew how cold we would be, so we were all wearing multiple layers of clothes, gloves and hats to keep warm. We quickly realized that we weren’t in Georgia anymore.
Coach Glenn led us off the boat and into the streets of the financial district of Manhattan. We stopped to take team pictures beside the Wall Street bull and on the steps of the New York Stock Exchange. As a team, we made our way past Ground Zero to the World Financial Center. After an overview of the part of Manhattan that we were in, we split up and started to explore. Some of the team went to look in some of the stores nearby, while others were more interested in the historical importance of the churches that were close by. Phil, JC, Sam, Jim and I went to St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s Churches. Although there were church services going on, we were still able to walk in the back and see the beautiful architecture of some of the oldest churches in New York. We all had money to eat lunch with and we all wanted to find an authentic New York eating experience. Somehow, the entire team ended up at the same place, Steve’s Pizza. The pizza was different than the Papa Johns and Pizza Hut that we are used to in Demorest. It was well worth the money. Jim, wanting a snack along the way, decided to buy a hotdog from a corner street vendor. Before I could ask him if it was good he had already eaten the entire thing. He was quick to say it was “one of the best hotdogs I have ever had.”
After lunch we still had an hour or so before we had to meet back at the ferry. Some people went to the see the Smithsonian exhibit at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House. JC, Jim and I went to see Trinity Church. We at least knew a little bit about this church, since it was the church in the movie National Treasure. Sam, having not brought any gloves, found a good deal from a street vendor and bought a pair in preparation for tomorrow’s weather. The internet says that it will be snow flurries and a high of 23 degrees on Monday. After meeting back up together, we somehow crammed 18 people into four cabs and were on the way back to the hotel to get ready for practice.
The College of Staten Island, host to the tournament we will be playing in, is just a few blocks behind our hotel. Therefore, we decided to just walk to the gym for practice. Most of the team was drained from the long bus ride and all the walking that we had done earlier in the day in the city, but everyone was ready to get on the floor and begin preparations for our game on Tuesday. Coach Glenn was not going to make the practice easier just because we had walked all day. We came here to win this tournament and we had to get better in the gym today in order to do so. Practice was a success and everyone went as hard as we usually do back home in the Mize Center. We finished practice and were back at the hotel by 4:30 with time for showers and relaxation before we went to dinner.
We again ventured by foot next door to Applebee’s for dinner at 5:30 and thoroughly enjoyed the sit down meal while watching the NFL football games that were on the fifteen TVs throughout the restaurant. After dinner we walked back to the hotel to relax and rest up for the big day ahead of us tomorrow. The day would not be complete without a team meeting to discuss the next day and our 9:00 AM practice in the morning. I am sure there will be no difficulty in sleeping tonight after such a long day. I will write again tomorrow after our morning practice.
Saturday, December 26, 2009 -- Return From Christmas Break & Departure
Well our trip is off. Coach Glenn approached me this morning about authoring a daily blog about our trip to New York City and I am glad to provide our fans with an all-access point of view of our team's trip. Unfortunately, my senior season was lost due to a torn ACL injury but I am glad to still be an active part of this team and glad that I will be able to share our team's experiences with you.
We have had a busy day today as we began this morning with a 10:00 AM film session with edits and corrections from our last game before the holiday break. The team then hit the floor for some conditioning before meeting at Arby's for lunch since the cafeteria is closed for the holidays. We practiced again from 2:00-4:00 before cleaning up and loading the bus to start the trip. We are traveling on an entertainer coach and will be traveling during the night after our 5:30 PM departure. So far we have only stopped for a quick pick up of some Chick-Fil-A boxed dinners and a quick restroom break at a Virginia rest area. Luckily this bus has wireless internet and in-motion Direct TV which will help pass the time on our 14-hour trip. Each player has his own bed with a TV screen and DVD player so getting some sleep tonight should not be too hard. The coaching staff is up front doing some work, some guys are lounging in the bunks, but our current entertainment is a competitive game of four-person Call of Duty on the X-Box in the back.
Coach Glenn frequently talks to us about different experiences we go through as a team and I speak for the entire team when I say that we are looking forward to the experience that lies ahead of us. Only one of our 15 players has ever been to NYC so a lot of guys are excited about both the trip, and more importantly, getting the second half of our season kicked off.
It is 11:45 PM and and we are somewhere in central Virginia with a lot of road miles ahead of us. I will post again tomorrow when we have arrived in New York.
