Louisville

Well, we arrived safely and are ready to begin the quest.  A bit of an early start via Southwest Airlines as we were on the 7:30am flight to Louisville through Baltimore.  Of course, gone are the days of getting to the airport 20 minutes before departure.  As a result, an unfriendly 4:45 alarm this morning.

This was my first time flying Southwest and experiencing the no assigned seat policy.  However, not to worry, I was in group A, which is good, for both legs of the trip and found myself in the aisle and bulkhead.  Not too shabby Clipper fans.

We are staying in the Galt House, in downtown Louisville which overlooks the Ohio river.

We enjoyed a bit of lunch and then off to the practice courts.  We had to find our own accommodations as practice in not allowed at the tournament site until tomorrow.  We found courts at Central Park just a few miles away and were surprised to find very nice courts...far better that what we experienced at Merrimack.  Very nice temperatures today and pretty decent hitting.  We hit for about an hour and then vacated the courts to a patiently waiting Ouachita Babtist squad.  Had a chance to meet Coach Ward, a nice guy.

Tonight is the opening ceremony which will be held at Churchill Downs.  Unfortunately, the NCAA only provides for 9 team members.  Since we are travelling with 11 Coach Neil and I will not attend.  Perhaps we will take the opportunity to find the local Morton's for a meal on the college.  Sorry about that Ivan...

Ok folks, gotta go.  The rental van I was given has faulty brakes and the tow truck is coming to take it back to the airport.  The fine people at Enterprise will be leaving me with an alternate minivan.  Hope it is a good one.

It is great to be in the great state of Kentucky, home of your 2012 National Basketball Champion Wildcats.  I hope I do not get accosted as I wear my UK apparel proudly.

I will be back to you soon.

Nuff said...