Cal coach Justin Wilcox said Tuesday Addressed the long-distance travel problems faced by the University of California In the Atlantic Coast Conference, ESPN ran a lengthy article About the travel challenges that UC, Stanford and SMU have to deal with.
According to the article, the University of California and Stanford University will travel with a combined total of more than 44,000 people. The two schools will play three ACC games each during the Easter period, and during the Central time slot they will play non-conference games (UC vs. Auburn, Stanford vs. Notre Dame) and an ACC away game at SMU.
But what is most meaningful here is Excerpt from ESPN article:
“It’s been a whirlwind of events,” said Josh Hamel, UC’s senior associate athletic director for facilities, events and capital projects. “It’s not an exact science. I don’t think there’s a playbook that says, ‘This is what you do when you switch conferences.'”
Fortunately, CAL In addition to Stanford, UCLA and USC have announced they will move multiple time zones to the Big Ten Conference in 2022. UC has had discussions with UCLA specifically about the move, Hamel said.
Monthly conference calls were quickly set up between UC and Stanford to allow for the exchange of ideas. Both schools decided to depart on Thursdays, a day earlier than usual, for their long-distance road games. Both schools use larger planes for road trips, not only for the comfort of the players but also for cargo space. For example, UC has a charter agreement with Delta Airlines and will use a Boeing 767-300 plane with a minimum of 210 seats for road trips this year. The only exception is for road trips to Florida, where UC must use a slightly smaller 757 plane because Tallahassee has a small regional airport.
UC and Stanford equipment trucks will leave their respective campuses on Monday to allow enough time to make the cross-country trip for Saturday’s kickoff to prepare sidelines and locker rooms. Drivers will work in shifts of two, driving 10 hours and resting 10 hours.
Because of the long journey home, the trucks won’t get back to California until Tuesday or Wednesday, so game equipment, including uniforms and coaches’ and staff’s laundry, will have to be loaded onto the plane to be cleaned and prepared for the following week. Stationary bikes, coolers, some medical equipment, rain gear and cooling fans will remain on the trucks.
Despite the challenges of playing in an opposite conference, Wilcox concluded that “it’s not that big of an issue.”
Well, let’s see.
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