Road Trips – Part 3: “The Eats”

It’s 12:30 a.m. and we just took off in our charter bus for Wichita. As I look around the bus I see guys grab their pillows and do their best to fall asleep in order to make time go faster for this 14-hour bus ride. Some conquer the conquest of falling asleep while others wrestle around in their seats frantically. Six hours later we are all woken up for breakfast at IHOP in Waco, Texas. Slowly all the baseball players get up from their awkward sleeping positions to stretch and yawn. Thirty-five guys stumble off the bus all squinty-eyed and still half asleep, but somehow find their way into the restaurant and pack into a back room at the local IHOP right off the interstate. Cell phones are plugged into random outlets, in hope to salvage some battery for the remaining eight hours. Ten minutes later, breakfast is served. As the guys scarf down their food, I can’t help but to stop and think of how many different places I’ve eaten at over the years due to baseball.

Thankfully, here at UTPA we get fed pretty well. Our team manager, John Paredes, in describing his job once told me “If you eat pizza more than five times throughout the year, you’re not doing your job right.” For those of you who were wondering, John does back up his claim. To name a few meals we get on the road would include: Texas Roadhouse among other good BBQ places, authentic Italian food in New Jersey, real deep-dish pizza in Chicago and my personal favorite, Olive Garden! One thing I admire about John is that everywhere we go he tries to incorporate some type of a meal that you couldn’t get anywhere else, hence the deep dish and Italian food. This just makes me excited to see what else he’s got planned for meals for the rest of the season.

However, as the saying goes, in order to enjoy a sunny day, one must endure lots of rainy ones. For those of you who have played junior college, you know exactly what I’m talking about. For those of you who haven’t, let me clue you in a little bit. Low expenses equals low quality meals in junior college. I will admit we did have some decent meals, but that wasn’t always the case. Eating at the same restaurant more than a dozen times can get old pretty fast. The one and only “Golden Corral” seemed to be a favorite among college coaches just about everywhere. The aromas of somewhat home-cooked meals fill the air. Desserts on top of desserts crowd the buffet, and don’t forget about the infamous “chocolate fountain” cascading in the corner. I recall eating at the Golden Corral more than enough times in junior college to remember the basic layout of the restaurant, no matter which one I go into. This may explain why I cringe every time I walk into that restaurant.

Even though the eating at the same place over and over again can be rough, I consider myself lucky to be eating all these different types of food around the country thanks to my school, UTPA. The best part about eating on the road is, you get all your meals for free and you don’t have to even think about cooking, or doing the dreaded dishes. Most people don’t get to enjoy such delicacies or even meals for that matter. So, no matter whether the meal is McDonald’s or Golden Corral, I won’t complain, but then again who doesn’t like to be “wined and dined” from time to time?

Next week we’ll talk about the destination and all the cool places we get to go thanks to baseball. Until then here’s another one of my favorite quotes…

“The only easy day was yesterday” –Navy Seal Philosophy

Dylan

(photos by Dutch Cowgill)