Jennifer Jackson's Road Diary
January 27, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Jen Jackson is a sophomore guard/forward on the 2002-03 ECU women's basketball team. The Farmville, Va., native will be checking in with ECUpirates.com throughout the weekend as the Lady Pirates travel for key games at TCU and Houston.
Day One - Traveling to Fort Worth
7:55 a.m.
I was awakened by the morning light feeling moderately parched. As I reached for a bottle of water from the refrigerator, I remembered that we were supposed to get snow last night. Every time they predict snow, we never get any and so I didn't believe we would have any this time either. But, there is always that slight hope. As I wiped the frost from my dorm window, I was shocked to see about an inch or more of snow! At that time, it didn't matter to me how much there was, I was just happy to see it! I immediately knew classes would be cancelled, and I jumped on the phone to call my family and tell them the good news, and to check and see how many inches they had. Just as I was finishing up my conversation with my grandmother, "Rook" (LaToya Horton) ran up to my room to enlighten me about the news (as if I didn't already know). After things began to calm down, Rook, Sam (Pankey) and I remembered that even though classes were cancelled and snow was falling, we still had a flight to catch. We immediately got on the phone and tried to get any information about the trip that we could.
9:30 a.m.
9:45 a.m.
10:25 a.m.
11:10 a.m.
1:15 p.m.
2:50 p.m.
4:45 p.m. CT 5:30 p.m.
6:50 p.m. 10:15 p.m.
As we arrived at the hotel to check in, we crowded on the elevators to race to our rooms and showers. My buddy, Katie (Cloud), was kind enough to let me get in the shower first. I am now out of the shower and ready to go to bed. But, first I have to call my grandmother and let her know I am okay, and to wish her a good night. Now it's lights out.
9:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
12:25 p.m.
2:45 p.m.
3:40 p.m.
5:35 p.m.
9:30 p.m.
8:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
3:30 p.m.
5:45 p.m.
9:10 p.m.
8:45 a.m.
11:15 a.m.
3:45 p.m.
6:20 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
10:35 p.m. (Eastern time)
10:45 p.m.
11:05 p.m.
I received another phone call stating that we would be leaving at 10:30. That was a slight relief. I have a few more minutes to get ready.
We arrived at Minges Coliseum and I gathered the rest of my things, making sure I had everything I needed. I got my steak and cheese sandwich, and waited with the rest of the team for the bus to take us to RDU.
The bus has finally arrived. As we went out of the gym to load our things on the bus, I heard a loud scream. I looked up to see what the "death-defying" scream was all about, and to my surprise, "C" (Courtney Willis) was lying in the snow. Courtney had fallen to the ground while trying to sling her bag under the bus. After the laughter calmed down and the spotlight was off of Courtney, we began to watch the movie Shallow Hal.
We arrived at RDU to check our bags and grab a bite to eat (if needed).
We departed RDU on a journey to Houston, Texas. While being seated to the two most interesting people ever (Rook and Melissa Kolbe), we discussed a few very interesting topics to pass the long ride a little faster.
We landed in Houston and had a 45-minute layover before departing for Dallas/Ft. Worth, and TCU. As the 45 minutes passed, I stopped at Taco Bell to order a #4 combo which included three crunchy tacos and a Sierra Mist (drink). Then I walked to our gate for my row to be called to board the plane. As I began going to the gate, I realized that walk was probably the longest tunnel in life! All this while being "deboed" by angry pedestrians and rude "cart drivers." I also had the pleasure of witnessing a very small lady. She was probably the smallest human life form I have ever seen. I'm finally at the gate and relaxed enough to begin eating my food.
We departed Houston.
We arrived in Dallas and as I waited to get off the plane (which took about 15 minutes), I continued reading my January 2003 issue of Ebony magazine that I had bought at RDU. We finally got off the plane and went to baggage claim. Everyone's bags arrived safely and we are now on our way to the bus. We are headed straight to the gym to get in a good two-hour practice before we eat dinner and check into the hotel.
After practice, we stop at Boston Market to grab a bite to eat. Being that it is so late, we don't have many choices. The food was good, but after the day I've had, I'm very beat.
I was awakened by the telephone ringing for the early morning wake-up call. It was Melissa (Kolbe) telling us that breakfast was in 15 minutes. After breakfast, I came to my room to get taped and ready for morning shoot-around.
We left for shoot-around whether you were on the bus or not ... as I think B.J. (our manager) now knows!
We arrived back at the hotel and we have a couple of hours before our pregame meal to do with what we want. So, I think I'll study.
We are leaving the hotel for our pregame meal at Chili's. Everyone has now learned to be on time. We had placed our orders earlier and so we just had to sit down and wait for our food to be brought to us. I had the very delicious monterey chicken. During the meal, I shared a conversation with Chrissy (Roberts) and Brady (Sallee) which was very interesting and amusing.
We are now departing Chili's to go back to the hotel. We are waiting anxiously, but patiently for the time to go back to the gym and get ready to play. But, in the meantime, I have to study a little more.
We depart the hotel for Daniel-Meyer Coliseum to prepare ourselves for the game.
The game is over, and we are leaving TCU's gym 8-8. As you can see (by our record), we were defeated by TCU. They used their height as an advantage over us, but all the while, we didn't block out as well as we should have. I'm very disappointed, but we can't let this defeat carry over into our game against Houston. Now we have to work on the things we did wrong, and improve on them by Sunday. We are now back at the hotel. As soon as I get to my room, it will be lights out for me so that I will have enough rest for our flight to Houston tomorrow. Good night.
I've just received the wake-up call to prepare to leave at 8:30 a.m. for our flight to Houston.
We have arrived at the airport and are through security. We haven't eaten breakfast yet. So, I'll grab something from McDonald's. But, to my surprise, McDonald's was 10 minutes away from our gate. By the time we were done eating and back at the gate, the other passengers are in the process of boarding. We finally board and prepare to take off.
We take off and 40 minutes later arrive in Houston. We gathered all of our belongings and get on the bus. We immediately went to eat, for those who did not have a chance to eat at the airport. I wasn't feeling well this morning, so I didn't eat much (not to mention that I had already eaten at the airport). Our meal was followed by a trip to the hotel where we checked into our rooms. I am lucky. My roommate is the funniest person on our team, Courtney Willis. But, for some reason, Courtney and I were both pretty tired, so, we just napped until time for practice.
We are now leaving for practice.
We are finished with practice and headed back to the hotel. We have a little over an hour before dinner.
We are finished with dinner, which was delicious. Personally, I need to begin getting mentally prepared for tomorrow's game. So, as I watch a little bit of TV, I'll drift of as soon as possible. Good night.
We just received our wake-up call to eat breakfast. Breakfast was scheduled for 9:00 a.m., and we were finished by 9:35 a.m. After breakfast, we went up to Coach's room to watch film on Houston so we would know what to expect from them. But, before we got to Coach's room, "someone" must have gotten her room confused because we ended up at the wrong room. The room belonged to some guy who was very upset that we had bothered him. Finally, we got to the right room and watched some film of Houston playing TCU. The game should be rather good this afternoon with the intensity that both teams (Houston and us) will bring. I think all of us are excited and are ready to play.
We are departing for out game against Houston. We decided to leave a little early for our 1:00 p.m. game to get in more shots for the big game.
We are departing UH. We boxed out a lot better this game than against TCU and we played a lot harder. We came to play today. That's why we came out fired up, made many runs, and went into halftime up on Houston. We came out of halftime with the same intensity that we had in the first half. Houston came out and turned up their intensity. We had a small breakdown, but still managed to stay on top. Then some calls didn't go our way. We still kept our composure and played together, but the score began to turn in their favor. Overall, the game was closer than the score makes it seem, because we had to foul at the end to stop the clock and, unfortunately, they made their free throws. At the end of the game, we eneded up a little short, but we played hard, together, and with intensity.
We are beginning to board the plane for our flight back to Raleigh. Everyone is trying to watch the last possible seconds of the Super Bowl in the airport before we get on the plane. If I had to pick a team to win, it would be Tampa Bay. But, personally, I don't care who wins as much as others on the plane.
Finally, we begin to take off. We are in the process of moving after a 15-minute delay (which seems a lot longer when you have been on a VERY LONG four-day road trip).
We've just landed in Raleigh. We are finally back and the only thing left to do is get our luggage and get on the bus for another hour and a half bus ride. But, that's okay because we'll be off the plane, out of the airports and through with the hassle for awhile.
We have gotten all our luggage and are ready to leave the final airport on our road trip. But, unfortunately, we had to wait on the bus again! It wasn't too long, but long enough to add a damper to the rest of the weekend.
The bus is finally here! By 12:30 or so we should be arriving at Minges Coliseum and headed for my dorm, and this road trip diary will be over. Sorry ECU fans, but I've got to go. Thanks for following us on our trip and we'll see you Friday night at Williams Arena for our game against St. Louis.
