Courtney and I have agreed that we have a newfound respect for those people who make their lives traveling week-in and week-out. Be it for business or athletics a life on the road definitely wears on you. Don't get me wrong here, I love traveling, but to do this over a long period of time has to be one of the most demanding jobs out there.
In February I began to plan for the different scenarios for Kansas' March Madness run. I had to budget, decide on staff, arrange equipment, and book travel arrangements. You can have a plan going into the conference tournaments, but Selection Sunday is when you have to put that plan in motion, a mere four or so days before the first round of games.
Fußen, Germany. My Eurotrip traveling days when I think I wore the same clothes for a week straight... can't do that here.
Omaha was the first stop for Kansas. Kyle West and Alex Dufek took care of KUJH-TV Sports' duties there. I was able to relax for a couple of days over spring break after starting the avalanche of paperwork required to send reporters to venues for sporting events.
I arrived back at Kansas from my home in Iowa on Sunday evening with just Monday and Tuesday to get ready for our flight to Detroit. Classes had to be dealt with, we needed to debrief from Omaha, equipment needed sorting, and sleep fell victim to activities that were cut to get all the work done.
After five nights in Detroit we flew back to Kansas on Monday and had to be ready to fly to San Antonio on Thursday. Again classes, debriefs, sorting equipment, turning everything around and leaving again was the order of the two whole days we got to get caught up.
Now imagine you're playing for a major league baseball team or are a national accounts manager for some company. This is how life is for you every week. I sat next to a woman on the flight to Dallas who lived in Kansas City, who was just in San Antonio, who was headed to New York (maybe, was that Wednesday or Friday, oh well, I'm in Dallas now for a while, what day is it?) Where am I? Oh yeah, San Antonio, Texas, it's Saturday, game day is all that matters.
Personally, I love the stress of running to an airport gate, not knowing where my luggage is, coming up with solutions to problems on the fly, haggling, wheeling, dealing, watching a product come together with insufficient means, rushing to beat the deadline, and then just sitting back to watch all the effort pay off. It makes you really appreciate down-time.
For me that relief usually comes when I see myself on ESPN's Sports Center sitting on press row, or chasing someone with a camera, or hearing, "Hey nice work on that package." I can say, "Yeah, thanks. I can't wait to do it again next week!" Or tomorrow as the case may be.
Hey, one more game. And then you can tote up one heck of a semester that began back at the Orange Bowl.