The bus ride home after a weekend series is often an enjoyable experience. Usually, we have played well and board the bus after a full and satisfying meal. Guys are laughing and getting ready for card games, DVDs or just staking claim to the best sleeping area.

The coaches are all fat and happy, replaying the various parts of the game that were special. There is a nice, warm, satisfying feeling on those occasions.

But not so today.

We’re heading home from Jacksonville after dropping the second and third games of a series that stated out so promising. An extra-inning win Friday featured some clutch hitting and great relief pitching. We really looked like we might be getting things in gear.

Coach Fossas said that he sensed a more professional attitude on this trip.

Then we ran into a buzz saw named Neal Frontz. He carved us up Saturday night in a game that saw us give up two big innings early - a deficit too large to overcome. We hit some balls real well but either right at a Dolphin fielder, or close enough for one of them to make a great play. I was disappointed, but felt we had taken good swings and looked forward to today.

This game was perhaps the most disappointing of the season.

The litany of mistakes is staggering. Mistakes by young players as well as veterans, from guys playing new positions, to ones played since little league. These were mainly mental mistakes. They led directly to nearly all of Jacksonville’s runs. Yet, at the end, we still had a shot. We scored three runs in the eighth to pull within a run, but JU held on, and we headed for the showers.

It was a locker room reminiscent of that in Campbell three weeks ago. The only sound was the water in the showers as we tried to wash away the sins of the day.

The bus is like a tomb. Even the bus driver caught on and turned off his radio. There is little to feel good about as we roll down I-95, tired, angry and hungry.

The hurt of losing is compounded by the way in which we lost, and by the fact that we have now lost three consecutive conference series. I haven’t looked it up, but I believe that’s a first since the conference changed from divisions to a round-robin format in 1999.

Sometimes silence is good for people. We live in a world of constant noise and stimulation. There’s always someone talking on a cell phone, or playing their music too loud, or feverishly changing TV channels.

Maybe we need these five hours of quiet to contemplate what just happened. Perhaps this time will be spent thinking about what transpired, and why. My hope is that we learn something from this and move forward from here.

KC

(photo courtesy of FAU Media Relations Office)