One Heck Of A Trip

  It was 2035 miles long by car with two round trip flights to and from Newark-Liberty International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. This refers to the ten day road trip my wife and I just concluded on Thursday. 

The purpose of the trip was to attend games in St. Louis and Kansas City. Those places were among the three remaining cities where I had not seen a MLB game. 

But the trip became much more than simply baseball games at the two venues. It included so much more, yet stayed within sports themes too.

We began our journey with a flight from Newark to Chicago. Hertz bestowed upon us a brand new Subaru Outback, one which had only 4 miles on the odometer. That was going to change markedly during the next ten days. It was a beautiful vehicle to drive, which made the long segments very tolerable. And the gas mileage was over 28 m.p.g., which helped reduce travel costs. 

First stop was Springfield, Illinois. This was a makeup visit, as last year our Budget vehicle died en route and we only were able to get to Champaign, Illinois with the help of a vey friendly Illinois State Trooper. 

A couple of takeaways from Springfield. The food was lousy. The State Capitol is in need of major repairs. And the cicadas were buzzing us, noisy swarming from nearby trees. We were glad to leave town. 

Day 2 started with threatening skies, which abated by time we reached St. Louis. It remained hot, made much more tolerable by the absence of moisture. 

Before leaving Illinois, we took a detour off I-55.We ventured into Bloomington, to see Illinois State University. ISU was the school which delivered Doug Collins to the NBA as a star guard and then coach. 

An added bonus was that Illinois Wesleyan was on the other side of downtown. IWU is a Division III school. To most, that means nothing. However, when I took my family to the 1996 Division III Final Four in Salem, Virginia, Illinois Wesleyan was a participant along with Franklin & Marshall College, Hope College, and the eventual champion, Rowan University. I have now been to 3 of the 4 campuses; I doubt I will ever stop in Holland, Michigan to see Hope, home of the most obnoxious fans in Salem.

First stop in Missouri was Washington University. The august college was the home for the 1904 Olympics, and Olympic Rings adorn an area adjacent to the football field, which was the Olympic stadium. Outside the fence is a sign indicating that the roadway was part of the 1904 Olympic marathon. 

Wash U surprised me with its beauty. The Law School, in the Anheuser-Busch Building, is among the prettiest I have seen. With this visit, I have traveled to all eight schools comprising the University Athletic Association. That is the fourth Division III conference I have seen its entirety, along with the NJAC, NESCAC and Centennial. 

We sandwiched in a stop at Ulysses S. Grant’s home before dining at Charlie Gitto’s On The Hill. The Hill is the Italian neighborhood where icons Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up. It may have been eons ago when they lived there, but the traditions and atmosphere are permanent.

Ballpark number 1 was Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals. Red is the dominant color. The Cardinals faithful wear anything St. Louis. They are rabid and loyal. The Cards lost to Colorado 3-2 in a boring game. The pre-game ride to the top of the magnificent Gateway Arch in a small gondola was far more exciting. 

The next day we paused at Jefferson City to see the Capitol. Then we went to Columbia for the University of Missouri. Mizzou was what I expected it to be—a mix of modern and old buildings. And with updated athletic facilities. It was like a lot of its brethren in the Southeastern Conference—which I had now completed. 

Our worries on Friday were about the weather as we trekked from Overland Park, KS to the Truman Sports Complex. We had tickets for the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals at 7:10 p.m. CST. 

We parked our car in a lot adjacent to Ghia Field at Arrowhead, the home of the World Champion Chiefs. Thoughts of the frigid cold night in January, where so many people suffered, went though my mind as I was clad appropriately in shorts. So, too, did I think of Patrick Mahomes II, Travis Kelce, Head Coach Andy Reid and, of course, Taylor Swift. 

Kauffman Stadium, a.k.a. Royals Stadium looked older. It was still in good shape. A lively crowd was on hand despite the ominous weather. It was K-State Night, and the Royals wore City Connect uniforms. 

Yes, it did rain during the game. Not enough to halt it, but enough for us to use our umbrellas. Seattle rained runs on the scoreboard, scoring seven in the first inning and took an 8-0 lead. What made this game memorable was the fact that the spunky Royals never gave up, as the pitching held the M’s at bay while chipping away at the score until mounting a final rally to walk off with a 10-9 victory. I was impressed with Bobby Witt, Jr., the KC shortstop. He is going to be a perennial All Star. 

The remainder of the time in the KC area was spent relaxing, going to the Truman Presidential Library and sampling cuisine the area was known for. We actually walked on an artificial turf field for a mile at Shawnee Mission South High School until the custodian reluctantly had to lock the gate. 

We departed our hotel for our next leg of the journey. We stopped first at the University of Kansas. We saw a Jayhawk basketball player headed to venerable Allen Field House. The stadium is being renovated, so the football team’s six home games will be at Ghia, 48.8 miles away. 

Next up was Topeka, home of the State Capitol and where Brown v. Board of Education originated. Very moving. 

Then we arrived in Manhattan, the home of Kansas State University. Three things stood out—athletics and schools for agriculture and veterinary medicine. Very nice.

Our last stop of the day was in Lincoln, NE. While that is the Nebraska state capital, it is the home of the University of Nebraska. Arriving in town, the huge football stadium, baseball complex and arena are the first sites seen. I could envision how the city becomes the largest one in the state when the Big Red fans come in for games.

The following day we saw, Creighton University, Charles Schwab Field, the location of the College World Series now underway in Omaha and another agrarian school, Iowa State. We ended the day in Des Moines, the home of Drake University. 

The final day on the road included stops at Grinnell College, where the school’s basketball team took 111 three point shots in a game; and the University of Iowa. At the latter, we saw Carver-Hawkeye Arena, a modernistic place which Caitlin Clark called home until April, and Kinnick Stadium, home to the football team and a stone’s throw from the Iowa Children’s Hospital, where the football fans wave to the children at the end of the third quarter. 

It was at Iowa that I realized how much behind Rutgers was in athletics. Observing Iowa, my final Big Ten school, and the thought of the magnificent facilities at Nebraska, reinforced my belief that it will take forever for the Scarlet Knights to catch up with the rest of the league.

I did keep tabs on sports during the ten day trip. We watched the Celtics and Mavericks play in the NBA Finals and Edmonton and Florida square off in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Dodgers and Yankees, two old rivals, met that weekend without Juan Soto in the lineup due to a forearm strain; we saw Saturday and Sunday’s games where the teams split victories after LAD won an epic pitcher’s battle on Friday night. New York came to KC right after we left, and with Soto back in the batting order, took three of four from the Royals. 

It was also during this time that the sports world lost two icons: Bill Walton and Jerry West. I had always marveled about their play and their careers after hanging up their sneakers. Two of the greatest players in my lifetime. I felt older with their passing. 

That’s it. We are back in New Jersey. Watching the Yankees in Boston. Seeing the Mavs crush Boston in Game 4. Looking in on a possible sweep by Florida. Checking in on the Phillies and Orioles. 

I have seen every MLB franchise in a home game except the Red Sox. I have only Washington State left to finish the Power Five schools. Just Butler remains in the Big East, although I may have seen a building once upon a time while in Indianapolis. 

Lots of corn, wheat and soybean fields are etched in my brain. As are the memories of all the places we stopped, including a last minute side trip to South Dakota, my wife’s 48th state. 

Ten days. 2035 miles. Six states. A plethora of ballparks, colleges, state capitals and landmarks we visited, including the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Conference closure. 

It was one heck of a trip.