Nov. 23, 2008

Hello and welcome to another season of Louis and the Ladies (formally known as Thoughts From The Road). To all of the new visitors, my name is Louis Suttmann and I am a traveling manager on the women's basketball team. I use this column to help portray to our fans what life is like for our team on the road. I, of course, have a unique perspective as I am one of only two men who travel with the team; the other being head coach Jim Jabir. After each road trip, I will provide my own recap of the main events, but will also interview two or three members of the team.

Our first trip of the year was a five-day, three-game tournament in beautiful Austin, Texas. It didn't take long for me to be reminded of the male-to- female ratio. No sooner than we had sat down in the Dayton International Airport did our first team vote occur with a question posed by assistant coach Kyle Rechlicz, "Is it acceptable to open the perfume sample in someone else's magazine?" I withheld my vote for lack of knowledge on the subject matter. In case your interested, we (they) decided it was not acceptable.

While Texas was slightly cooler than any of us had expected, we all enjoyed our time in the Lone Star State. They really do have a certain southern hospitality you just can't find many other places. With such a young team, there was a great deal of new experiences to be gained by the girls. I decided to interview both a freshman and a senior so you are able to see both ends of the spectrum. Here is our trip, through the eyes of Justine Raterman and Marie Rosche.

Marie Rosche:
This being Marie's fourth year as a Dayton Flyer, she has plenty of experience on the road. But is traveling now different from traveling as a freshman?

It's still just as exciting, but now for a different reason. As a freshman, it was new and different, but now it's exciting because I know this could be the last time that I'll be able to travel with a team like this. I'm definitely a bit more appreciative.

Any wise words of advice for the first years to help them throughout the year?

It's always smart to pack an extra pair of underwear and socks. I once forgot my socks. I only had the pair I was wearing. Luckily, I had great teammates and they hooked me up with a couple pair of their socks.

Even though she's already traveled around the world through basketball, there must be one school she'd love to play at....

Oh, hands down The University of Hawaii. Just to get to spend a little time on the island!

Speaking of islands, if Marie was to be stuck on a remote island, in the middle of nowhere, which member of the team would she chose to be stuck with?

Ooo, tough call. I would want to take Coach Rechlicz because I know she'd come up with a crazy idea of how to build a raft and get us off. But then I'd want to take Casey (Nance), because she's so loud that I know someone would hear her eventually and we'd be saved. Just one, though? I'd have to go with Coach Rechlicz.

Justine Raterman:
This being Justine's first experience of traveling with a Division I program, I was curious as to how it compared to her high school days.

We actually didn't travel that much with my high school team. We hardly ever had to stay in hotels, except when we went to state. Just being way for whole days at a time is different. I was really surprised at how planed out every day was for us. We knew where we had to be at pretty much every moment of the day.

I was really impressed with the fan support we had at Texas. Four families' came to support their daughters. One of those family's was the Raterman's.

It was really cool to see how much they support me, especially all the way down in Texas. It really made me feel so much more comfortable and not as nervous, just knowing they were there. They don't really cheer that loud, but just knowing they're there is a really awesome feeling.

I presented Justine with the same question as Marie, "If you were stuck on a remote island, in the middle of nowhere, which member of the team would she chose to be stuck with?"

I would want to take Potter (Jaime Potter, the team's athletic trainer) because she could give me massages! Ok, maybe not. Umm, I'd take Casey (Nance), because she's smart so she could kind of try and figure some stuff out, but we'd also have a lot of fun!

If you had a choice to be stuck on an island, wouldn't you choose someone who grew up on an island?! I still can't believe neither one of them even thought of me! Well, good luck to both of you and Casey! Check back soon to hear all about the team's next adventure!