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Topic: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Topic: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

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Eagle66
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Member Since: 3/13/2005
Post Count: 1,329

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OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/6/2014 7:40:31 AM

SIU's basketball team got stuck driving back to Carbondale after a game in Normal, IL.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10249024/snow-strands-southern-illinois-salukis-interstate-57

bornacatfan
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Member Since: 8/3/2006
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/6/2014 9:12:13 AM

Always worry about this since Notre Dame lost a couple of swimmers in a bus crash during a snow storm. I never worry about fans missing a game as much as I do kids being safe to a from events.

never argue with idiots, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Winter comes and asks how you spent your summer.....

The game loves and rewards those who love and reward the game

colobobcat66
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Member Since: 9/1/2006
Location: Watching the bobcats run outside my window., CO
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/6/2014 9:35:34 AM

bornacatfan wrote:

Always worry about this since Notre Dame lost a couple of swimmers in a bus crash during a snow storm. I never worry about fans missing a game as much as I do kids being safe to a from events.

for sure, there have been numerous casualties in various kinds of van, bus and plane crashes over the years. It is not uncommon at all. You wonder if the budgets could allow for an overnight when the weather looks precarious.

Bobcat61
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Member Since: 5/24/2005
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/6/2014 10:03:06 AM

Since I am 39 years old AGAIN- I remember the time the Bobcat BB team was held up for several days because of the weather. Do not remember the year but Dale Bandy was the head coach and Skip Hoovler was the head trainer
They were in or near Lima at a Moose Hall or some club.Only entertainment was playing pool- no idea who won and who lost $$. I had a charter bus ready to leave Col's to get them when the OU bus finally got them out of there.
I am sure that the kids on the trip remember ALL the info.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE A CAT-- BE BOBCAT.........................

MedinaCat
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Lakewood, OH
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/6/2014 1:27:25 PM

That was either the winter of 77 or 78, stranded in Upper Sandusky. The story I heard was the players and staff had to take turns holding the door shut as a result of the wind. Perhaps Giacamo can relate the incident better?

Panda
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Member Since: 12/22/2004
Post Count: 280

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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/6/2014 4:58:57 PM

This incident was in Jan. 1978. Skip Vosler was the Head Athletic Trainer. Dale Bandy was the HC. The team was stranded for approx.16 hours on the highway and 4 days at Upper Sandusky KOC Lodge. It should be noted that one female student AT was on this trip. It is true that the bus door was opened, the door was sprung open and the equipment was sucked out of the bus. The players and staff had to hold the door shut, once wedged back, trading off every 5 minutes. The bus for the first four hours lost all telecommunications. Once regained they remained in contact with a trucker called "Squirrel". The sheriffs officers finally located the bus by following all the equipment that was sucked out.
It should be noted that several people died as they left their cars freezing to death. There were more incidents that occurred to the team during this period, but not necessary to relate.

Last Edited: 1/6/2014 5:00:25 PM by Panda

Panda

GoCats105
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Member Since: 1/31/2006
Location: Seattle, WA
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/7/2014 8:49:00 AM

http://www.bnd.com/2014/01/06/2992063/6-semis-375-vehicles-trapped-in.html

bornacatfan
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Member Since: 8/3/2006
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/7/2014 10:32:46 AM

seems like a cursory look at the conditions and the schedule would have told them to stay put. Charter bus may have had something to do with the decision. THey are to be in CHicago by Wednesday . Staying over in Normal would be prudent, especially with school not being in session and then leaving on TUesday for Chicago from Carbondale anyway....seems like Ops needed to make some decisions based on conditions and schedule. Without the need to factor classes in that becomes a bit easier in my book.

I think I would have been calling some local Chicago area D3 and NAIA schools and working with some local coaches on practice times and housing. The fraternity seems to take care of themselves when one reaches out to another.

UpSan Bobcat
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Member Since: 8/30/2005
Location: Upper Sandusky, OH
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/7/2014 11:44:51 AM

Panda wrote:

It'd be interesting to see what people around here remember about that incident.

Pete Chouteau
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/7/2014 12:19:40 PM

Interesting that you bring the operations director into the conversation.

I don't know the inner workings and responsibilities, but when the director of basketball operations is so often a de facto assistant coach, does logistics suffer? Or is it just a bs title to get another suit on the bench?

Jeff McKinney
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Member Since: 11/12/2004
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/7/2014 1:29:05 PM

That incident happened when I was a student at Ohio.

bornacatfan
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Member Since: 8/3/2006
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/7/2014 10:39:24 PM

Pete Chouteau wrote:

THat is an interesting question. Mark Morris left here for UI with Groce. I do not know that his value as a coach is anyplae close to his OPs prowess. I could call Brian Townsend. I think he spends a bit more time on ops than coaching theese days though he is a really good individual workout and skills developement coach. Butler uses Ops to get a coach on the bench though Kevin Kuwick would have no problem making ops decisions AND coaching. He is so organized. I think it depends on the program and what they want.

THe SIU ops guy is pretty well suited for the job. Administrative side at Kansas under self and as a HC at Parkland JC in addition to other experience. I am not sure why he did not do some scrambling and get things organized.

I have always thought that is a job I would like if I were to retire.

GoCats105
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Member Since: 1/31/2006
Location: Seattle, WA
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/8/2014 8:07:00 AM

bornacatfan wrote:

Pete Chouteau wrote:

I think it probably depends on the size of your program too. A program like Ohio has one guy to most likely handle that, the Ops guy. Xavier has two, although I think the Ops guy is more involved on the bench than anything. They also have a Coordinator of Basketball Administration. Same essential job title, two very different jobs. You can usually tell by where they sit on the bench. The Ops guy was right by the head coach. The Admin was down by the trainers.

It may have change since I was there, but Thornton was definitely more of a coach kind of Ops guy, with Mercurio being the Admin at X.

giacomo
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Member Since: 11/20/2007
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RE: OT - SIU Bus Gets Stuck Heading Home

Posted: 1/8/2014 9:34:34 AM

Panda nailed most of the story. We didn't really know how much danger we were in until after it was all over. The people of Upper Sandusky really rallied around us, putting us up in their homes so we had a warm bed and could take a shower. Before that happened we went to a local grade school to practice and let off some steam after being cooped up at the K of C. We were supposed to be able to take a shower and one guy got about a one minute hot shower and then the water turned to ice! So much for the shower.

The day after we get to the K of C, the phone rings and Jan Smoljan picks up the phone and says to me "Hey Giacomo, it's for you". We all got a good laugh, but he then says it really is for me. Now this is way before cell phones and internet connections and I think we got one phone call to call our parents and tell them we were okay, that's it. So I pick up the phone and it's the guy who owns the local paper and he proceeds to tell me that I'm his daughter's boyfriend and he wants to do a story about our experience. The funny thing is I didn't have a girlfriend at the time and while we were talking I was trying to figure out who his daughter was. It finally came to me- I had taken her to the movies one time about two months earlier!

I'll expand a little about the gym bags flying out of the bus. I think it was Bill Brown and another coach were in a car following the bus. When we stopped, they of course stopped, but their car was blown into the back of our bus by the force of the wind. They got scared and came into the bus, that's when the door was broken and the bags got sucked out. It was like the "Airplane" movie and that scared us and we had to take turns holding the door and putting pillows around the door opening so we wouldn't freeze.

We ended up having an "Upper Sandusky Day" at the Convo for a few years where we invited the whole town to a game and made a presentation thanking them for helping us. What a story!

Last Edited: 1/8/2014 9:42:31 AM by giacomo

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