On the road with the MCC Eagles

By By Tony Krausz/assistant sports editor
May 24, 2003
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. The last four days have been very eventful for this road-wary scribe. Traveling with the Meridian Community College Eagles to the site of the 2003 Junior College World Series and having the pleasure of being around the coaches and team for the last 96 hours has given me the chance to really learn about this squad.
Plus, the added bonus of traveling the farthest West this St. Louis boy has ever been in his life has been an incredible experience.
Here are just a view of the sites and sounds that have
stuck out so far on this trip.
Midwest
Many of the Eagles have commented about how boring the ride through the state of Kansas was because of the total lack of scenery.
Yeah, the state that is home to the NCCA Tournament runner-up Kansas Jayhawks is pretty boring to travel across. It really is just flat land filled with wheat.
But for a Midwest native, it was great to be back in the vicinity of home.
I've been in the South for about two years now, and it has been great to me. But it was nice to be back in the middle of the country, even if it was the less than beautiful Kansas.
Bus Talk
A good part of the 27-hour ride was pretty quiet. Most of the Eagles tried their best to get some sleep on the ride, but there were still plenty of conversations to eavesdrop on during the trip.
The best bus chatter' by far had to be this exchange between head coach Michael Federico, assistant coach Chad Caillet and the team's trainer, Sander Atkinson. The trio, for whatever reason, got locked into a pretty animated debate about the television show The Bachelor.'
In all honestly, it was more about the latest Bachelorette' series in which one of the potential future husbands was named, Bob.
Apparently, Bob is going to be the next Bachelor' because the Bachelorette' at the end of the series didn't select him.
The conversation went something like this: "Bob was hilarious," Federico said. "He was the best part of the show."
Caillet and Atkinson just look at the MCC skipper.
Maybe a little too much information, but what do you expect from guys stuck in a metal tube for a day and some change.
First Practice
The Eagles made their way onto the practice field at Canyon View Park on Thursday. Each team at the tournament is allowed one hour on the field, and MCC made the most of it.
Shortstop Brandon Rousseve showed how much the team wants to win when he darted down the first-base line, after his final hit of batting practice.
Each final hit was called in play, and the players got a chance to run the bases. The New Orleans native went so hard down the line he tripped over the bag.
Rousseve's plate fall prompted Atkinson to yell out, "Brandon are you going to need some ice for that ego?"
Just good times.