A little levity at my expense before we begin the chat ...
I flew to Orlando last night to cover the first few days of the Under Armour All-American Game practices. @Cole Patterson will be arriving later in the week to cover the later practices and the game itself.
I should have known this wasn't going to be the best of trips when it was announced on Sunday night that Tuesday's Media Day had been cancelled due to COVID concerns. That's usually the day when we're able to corral all the guys we need and get all of our interviews done, since it's tough to grab more than 1 or 2 guys after practices since things are so hectic and everyone's going different directions. We'll still be able to cover practices and do interviews after practices, presumably because those are outside (wish they could have moved media days outside, even if it was just outside the hotel ... but that's neither here nor there).
I went ahead and made the flight to Orlando yesterday evening on Spirit Airlines. Spirit had mentioned the possibility of needing volunteers to change their flights so I put my name on the list. I somewhat jokingly told my dad that I wasn't even sure I'd want the free flight voucher that Spirit was offering if they needed the extra seats because of the horror stories I'd heard about that crappy airline. Got to the airport, and everything was going along smoothly until I stupidly made the following post in another travel thread ...
Flight left on time and arrived in Orlando without any issues at 8:30. Woohoo! "This Spirit; thing isn't so bad," I thought. A few minutes later our pilot comes on the intercom and says they're waiting for a gate to open and it'll be a few minutes before we can taxi to the terminal. A few minutes turned into about 20, and he then comes back on and says they haven't been given any real information so just sit tight. We did, for a freaking hour and a half. Something about lack of fuel trucks but we never got a real explanation. FINALLY we deboarded at a little after 11 and I headed to baggage claim because I checked my carry-on bag because Spirit actually makes it CHEAPER to check a bag than to carry one on. Not sure where the logic in that is. 30 minutes pass. An hour. Other flights that landed are getting their bags in about 10 minutes. The Austin flight ... nada. Finally, after close to two hours, or bags come through at a little before midnight. It too nearly 3 1/2 hours from the time we touched down for me to get out of the airport. **** you Spirit.
I then make the drive to my hotel and check, about 30 minutes. I hadn't eaten since a small sandwich I had made for lunch, so I was starving. No worries, Google Maps shows a McDonald's about a mile away that's open 24 hours. I drop off off my bag, drive to said McDonald's at about 12:15 a.m. When I get there, all lights are on but there's a cone in the drive-through lane. Weird, I thought, but no big deal. I then go park and walk to the lobby and see a sign on the door apologizing for the inconvenience but McDonald's would be closed, last night only, from midnight to 6 a.m. for "maintenance."
My frustration level is still low, so I decide to head to the Wendy's that I'd seen down the road. I get in the drive-through line at 12:30ish, about 10 cars deep. I go online and check the hours ... open until 2 a.m. so I've got plenty of time. I wait. And wait. And wait. The line barely moves, maybe a car or two. Finally at about 1, the line starts to crawl forward. I get to the intercom, ready to order when some guy comes on and says, "Sorry, Wendy's is now closed." An hour early, mind you. I respond to this kid in grumpy-old-man fashion with a "****ing A. Of course you are!" I haul ass out of there.
I remember I had seen a Taco Bell by my hotel with a line of cars. I check the hours. They're open until 3. Screw it, I'm desperate. I get in the longest damn line ever with some small hopes of getting a chicken taco or something to put in my belly. I wait for about 20 more minutes and the line once again has barely moved (WTF is up with drive-throughs in Kissimmee FLA?) Doing the math, it's going to probably take me an hour or so just to order my food so I get out of line and head to the 7-11 across the street.
After all that, below was my 2 a.m. "dinner" in my hotel room ...
TL/DR ... Spirt Airline sucks. Fast food in Orlando sucks. I've got a couple hours to kill today, so let's chat.
Fire away with your recruiting questions!
I flew to Orlando last night to cover the first few days of the Under Armour All-American Game practices. @Cole Patterson will be arriving later in the week to cover the later practices and the game itself.
I should have known this wasn't going to be the best of trips when it was announced on Sunday night that Tuesday's Media Day had been cancelled due to COVID concerns. That's usually the day when we're able to corral all the guys we need and get all of our interviews done, since it's tough to grab more than 1 or 2 guys after practices since things are so hectic and everyone's going different directions. We'll still be able to cover practices and do interviews after practices, presumably because those are outside (wish they could have moved media days outside, even if it was just outside the hotel ... but that's neither here nor there).
I went ahead and made the flight to Orlando yesterday evening on Spirit Airlines. Spirit had mentioned the possibility of needing volunteers to change their flights so I put my name on the list. I somewhat jokingly told my dad that I wasn't even sure I'd want the free flight voucher that Spirit was offering if they needed the extra seats because of the horror stories I'd heard about that crappy airline. Got to the airport, and everything was going along smoothly until I stupidly made the following post in another travel thread ...
Flight left on time and arrived in Orlando without any issues at 8:30. Woohoo! "This Spirit; thing isn't so bad," I thought. A few minutes later our pilot comes on the intercom and says they're waiting for a gate to open and it'll be a few minutes before we can taxi to the terminal. A few minutes turned into about 20, and he then comes back on and says they haven't been given any real information so just sit tight. We did, for a freaking hour and a half. Something about lack of fuel trucks but we never got a real explanation. FINALLY we deboarded at a little after 11 and I headed to baggage claim because I checked my carry-on bag because Spirit actually makes it CHEAPER to check a bag than to carry one on. Not sure where the logic in that is. 30 minutes pass. An hour. Other flights that landed are getting their bags in about 10 minutes. The Austin flight ... nada. Finally, after close to two hours, or bags come through at a little before midnight. It too nearly 3 1/2 hours from the time we touched down for me to get out of the airport. **** you Spirit.
I then make the drive to my hotel and check, about 30 minutes. I hadn't eaten since a small sandwich I had made for lunch, so I was starving. No worries, Google Maps shows a McDonald's about a mile away that's open 24 hours. I drop off off my bag, drive to said McDonald's at about 12:15 a.m. When I get there, all lights are on but there's a cone in the drive-through lane. Weird, I thought, but no big deal. I then go park and walk to the lobby and see a sign on the door apologizing for the inconvenience but McDonald's would be closed, last night only, from midnight to 6 a.m. for "maintenance."
My frustration level is still low, so I decide to head to the Wendy's that I'd seen down the road. I get in the drive-through line at 12:30ish, about 10 cars deep. I go online and check the hours ... open until 2 a.m. so I've got plenty of time. I wait. And wait. And wait. The line barely moves, maybe a car or two. Finally at about 1, the line starts to crawl forward. I get to the intercom, ready to order when some guy comes on and says, "Sorry, Wendy's is now closed." An hour early, mind you. I respond to this kid in grumpy-old-man fashion with a "****ing A. Of course you are!" I haul ass out of there.
I remember I had seen a Taco Bell by my hotel with a line of cars. I check the hours. They're open until 3. Screw it, I'm desperate. I get in the longest damn line ever with some small hopes of getting a chicken taco or something to put in my belly. I wait for about 20 more minutes and the line once again has barely moved (WTF is up with drive-throughs in Kissimmee FLA?) Doing the math, it's going to probably take me an hour or so just to order my food so I get out of line and head to the 7-11 across the street.
After all that, below was my 2 a.m. "dinner" in my hotel room ...
TL/DR ... Spirt Airline sucks. Fast food in Orlando sucks. I've got a couple hours to kill today, so let's chat.
Fire away with your recruiting questions!
