Julian Hayes' Texas Bowl Journal
Dec 23 | Football
Rutgers freshman wide receiver Julian Hayes chronicles the Scarlet Knights' trip to the Texas Bowl, reporting each day on the team's daily activities in Houston leading up the inaugural Texas Bowl vs. Kansas State on Dec. 28 at Reliant Stadium.
After practicing at Rutgers the past couple weeks, today was travel day. I woke up around 9:30 and finished packing, making some last-minute decisions on what to bring and what to leave home. I traveled over to the Hale Center (our football complex) to check in my suitcase by 10:30.
Once I got my suitcase all checked in, I headed back in the complex for a team brunch around 11:00. I was craving some breakfast food, but got a little pasta along with my omelet. With some time to kill, I headed down to the players' lounge to relax before a team meeting.
After the meeting, I headed down to the locker room to put on my suit and head to the buses. When walking out of the Hale Center we were greeted by plenty of members of the media taking photos of our departure and interviewing the captains along with Coach Schiano.
This was my second trip of the season. I traveled to the Navy game. This was the first time I was flying with our team, however. The ride to the airport was neat with the police escorts and we went right to the hanger where the plane was. I was surprised how easy it was and how quickly we got there. When we got to the hanger, there was a huge "Rutgers Football" banner which was a welcome site. A bunch of guys took photos in front of the banner and took it all in on their video cameras.
It was only my second time ever flying. We had a huge plane, a 777 I believe, filled with members of the traveling party. I was hoping to score a nice seat in first class but that was reserved for most of the seniors.
After a snack, I took an afternoon snooze, waking up just in time to see the last hour of the movie "Invincible." We had televisions in the seats, so I tuned into some cartoons I used to watch and saw an episode of the "Simpsons."
When we landed, the busses were waiting for us on the tarmac and we were once again greeted with police escorts to the hotel. On our way to the hotel, I saw the skyline of the city. I was surprised how big it was. We also saw Minute Maid Park where the Houston Astros play.
When we walked in the hotel, the hotel staff was applauding our arrival and welcoming us. It was really cool. The hotel is huge and decorated in Rutgers. My favorite part was a huge projection video on the wall with our highlights from the year. The Block "R" was everywhere. It was a nice warm welcome when we arrived. In our rooms were brand new Rutgers Texas Bowl warm-up suits. They were really cool.
I relaxed a little bit with my roommate Shamar Graves and then we had a meeting and grabbed something to eat. After that, we had a little time to ourselves to relax and see some of the sights before curfew.
We have an early practice tomorrow so I need to get some sleep.
Goodnight from Houston and be sure to check back tomorrow on our first full day in the Lone Star State.
-Julian #18
