Dec. 23, 2008
Check in daily (or more!) with Assistant Director of Media Relations Russell Houghtaling, who is traveling with the Northern Illinois football team to Shreveport, La. for the 33rd Annual Independence Bowl, where the Huskies will battle Louisiana Tech, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.
Day One – Dec. 23, 2008 – 8:00 a.m.
The trip begins now!
Which is exciting, for you reading, but for us, getting on buses at 6 a.m., the excitement hasn’t quite hit full stride. It was 14 degrees and dark when the players, coaches, and staff boarded several coaches headed for Rockford International Airport. We’ve got a charter waiting to whisk us away to Shreveport.
That may sound glamorous, but it’s no Air Force One. A rough count based on the seating chart reveals over 150 people on the flight down. That includes players, coaches, and staff, and only a select few get more than one seat. The larger linemen each get one-and-a-half, which I’m confident Jason Onyebuagu (6-2, 305) and Scott Wedige (6-4, 285) will easily fill.
I suppose I should back up just a bit. For those of you wondering, “Who is this guy writing?” and “When are we going to here from people we care about: the players?” I’ll address the questions in the order they were posed:
I’m Russell Houghtaling, Assistant Director of Media Relations for Northern Illinois University Intercollegiate Athletics. And actually, I’m a sub for this trip because they guy that normally accompanies our Assistant A.D. for Communication Donna Turner on these trips tore his ACL while goofing around with the women’s hoops team, and had to get surgery. (I think he was trying to show Ebony Ellis how to rip down a rebound)
Now, onto the second question: Gee, thanks. You don’t care about me?
Actually, I’ll be getting as much player input for this blog as possible, but with their schedule on this trip, and the frequency with which we’d like to post on this blog, it would be nearly impossible to have them do the actual writing. Again, I promise there will be lots of player input, I may even take a shot at getting a guest blogger or two to fill in.
As I write, and we roll closer to the airport, I’m waking up and started to really get excited about the trip.
Ah, Louisiana, home of Cajun food, Mardi Gras, and the 33rd Annual Independence Bowl. Ah, Shreveport, where the only thing better than the people, is the weather. Wait… the Weather Channel Report on my phone says 28 degrees… 28 degrees?! I thought Shreveport was in the South. Isn’t it always warm there?
Phew. A further check reveals that it will actually get up as high as 55 today, and will reach the 70’s on at least two occasions this week. No minus signs in front of the temperatures in Shreveport. Maybe that excitement is starting to hit it’s stride.
RH
