Marc described their travel issues at the start of his show:
For penny pinching programs like UCF...sometimes they view Noon road games as an opportunity to save $20 or $40 by flying home via commercial airline later on that night....as UCF's Team had seats on a Frontier Flight #1063 at 8:25 pm on Saturday Night.
UCF got to the airport almost FIVE hours before the flight (what else would they do in Cincinnati?).
While UCF's team was at the gate...(waiting for their plane to arrive from somewhere else)...an Ambulance was also waiting for the plane's arrival. (Crew member fell ill).
After the passengers departed...and the ambulance pulled away...The plane's interior lights turn off (which is never a good sign if you think that plane will be departing soon to somewhere else)...The boarding time was delayed....then the sign at their gate says CANCELLED.
An announcement was made that Frontier would try to get passengers home on a Sunday Night flight or a Monday flight.
UCF had to scramble to find hotel rooms late on Saturday night and then find seats on any airline to get home on Sunday.
On the flights home on Sunday morning (half the team had to fly thru Chicago ans the other half had to connect thru Washington, DC)...UCF's 6' 10" Center Lahat Thione was given the middle seat in the LAST ROW of the plane!!! (The UCF Photographer who was in an aisle seat ended up switching with him).
This is what happens when you don't have much $$ in your basketball budget...as EVERY TEAM in the Big 12 flies charter...and that includes more than half the teams in the AAC too.
Teams in the AAC (and virtually anyone else recruiting against UCF) have used the fact that UCF doesn't fly charter to/from all road games as it does make a HUGE difference in recruiting to tell players that they will be home just hours after a road game has ended.
UCF's game in Cincinnati ended at 2:11 pm on Saturday. but the team didn't get back to their dorms for almost 24 hours later.
If UCF would have flown a charter flight home...they would have been home BEFORE the scheduled 8:25 pm Frontier Flight would have even departed.
Meanwhile...UCF's Team has to fly tomorrow for their game on Wed at Wichita State...and they will fly charter (I think the team would have had a mutiny if TMo forced them to fly commercial) as its hard to get to/from Wichita (just like Tulsa)...without any non-stop commercial flights.
For penny pinching programs like UCF...sometimes they view Noon road games as an opportunity to save $20 or $40 by flying home via commercial airline later on that night....as UCF's Team had seats on a Frontier Flight #1063 at 8:25 pm on Saturday Night.
UCF got to the airport almost FIVE hours before the flight (what else would they do in Cincinnati?).
While UCF's team was at the gate...(waiting for their plane to arrive from somewhere else)...an Ambulance was also waiting for the plane's arrival. (Crew member fell ill).
After the passengers departed...and the ambulance pulled away...The plane's interior lights turn off (which is never a good sign if you think that plane will be departing soon to somewhere else)...The boarding time was delayed....then the sign at their gate says CANCELLED.
An announcement was made that Frontier would try to get passengers home on a Sunday Night flight or a Monday flight.
UCF had to scramble to find hotel rooms late on Saturday night and then find seats on any airline to get home on Sunday.
On the flights home on Sunday morning (half the team had to fly thru Chicago ans the other half had to connect thru Washington, DC)...UCF's 6' 10" Center Lahat Thione was given the middle seat in the LAST ROW of the plane!!! (The UCF Photographer who was in an aisle seat ended up switching with him).
This is what happens when you don't have much $$ in your basketball budget...as EVERY TEAM in the Big 12 flies charter...and that includes more than half the teams in the AAC too.
Teams in the AAC (and virtually anyone else recruiting against UCF) have used the fact that UCF doesn't fly charter to/from all road games as it does make a HUGE difference in recruiting to tell players that they will be home just hours after a road game has ended.
UCF's game in Cincinnati ended at 2:11 pm on Saturday. but the team didn't get back to their dorms for almost 24 hours later.
If UCF would have flown a charter flight home...they would have been home BEFORE the scheduled 8:25 pm Frontier Flight would have even departed.
Meanwhile...UCF's Team has to fly tomorrow for their game on Wed at Wichita State...and they will fly charter (I think the team would have had a mutiny if TMo forced them to fly commercial) as its hard to get to/from Wichita (just like Tulsa)...without any non-stop commercial flights.
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