A sense of anticipation

Story by Brian Sullivan

J riday, September 10.A weak Indian Summer sunstrains tobreak throughthe early morning haze Theonly distinguishable sound isthe rumble of two Eagle buses as they grind to a stop infrontof Dorm 5

Several football players,clad inthe required road dress of sport coat andtie, lug dark blueequipment bags upthestairsand pile them next to the vehicles' baggage holds Trainers, managers, coaches, radio personnel, and sportsinformation staffadd to the mountain ofparaphernalia that has accumulated Somebody says, "Let's load up!"

Single-file, men board thebuses, shedding suit coats and ties down theaisle Everyone settles infor the five-hour drive to Jefferson City,Tenn.,andthe following day's game against Carson-Newman College

"I told myself last year that that would be my last bus ride," remarked Tom Sweat, Flames' Sports Network commentator

"I wonder ifthey'll serve us submarine sandwiches for lunch," came a voice from the back ofthe bus.

As the bus pullsaway from Lynchburg, Head Coach Tom Dowling stands onthe stepsinthefrontand chats with thedriver The growl ofa CB radiosquelch dominates the background noise The sounds of a game filter forward Dowling chuckles about the old days of the football team as the bus rolls past a church sign that declares, "Youare notnecessarily a loser if you arenota winner."

"Discard, discard . . .c'mon, discard," A game wasgetting more intense.

"It's like moving an army," said Dowling. "When we're on the road with the team, I don't want anything to gowrong."

The bus pulls into a rest stop for lunch. Boxes of submarine sandwiches, chips, and sodas areplaced outside thedoor as the team lumbers out A group ofplayers, seeing that allof the tables have been taken, walk over andaska family iftheycan share a table with them

Back on the bus after lunch, Dowling walks back to where thesports information staff isseated andinvites them to the film andtothe players'chapel servicethat willbeheld aftersupper atthe hotel Dowling goes back to chatting with thebus driver while Sweat cues up tapes for the following afternoon's broadcast

Nostalgia dominates the conversation between Dowling and the driver as they trade a series of one-upmanship stories of the early days of LBC football Tales of baseball-bat-brandishing drivers bring waves oflaughter tothe front ofthe bus

"Iwas looking through thefiles theother day," said Dowling, "and Icame across one ofthe firstfootball programs thatLBC put out. Itsaid atthetop, 'LBC Football — an outreach ministry ofThomas Road Baptist Church.'

"When I came here, thebus drivers were incharge ofthetrips Once adriver wanted to stop the bus forthe night so he just stopped atamotel, got outand got himself a room,andspent the night.Nowthey'rea little more professional."

Dowling sits in thefront seat with his legs draped over thefront rail, watching thescenery pass by The bus isfairlyquiet now, most riders are either reading or taking a nap

As the busslows down toturn into the driveway of the Ramada Inn where the team is staying, players stretch, gather their belongings, straighten their ties, put their jackets back on, then sit quietly as the coaches disembark toclaim theroom keys. With orders tobe back on the bus within the hour to goto the practicefield, the squad scatters tosearch out assigned rooms

Returning within the prescribed time, clad in grey workout clothes, the team travelsthe thirty-odd miles to Carson-Newman for a workout before supper

As the bus pulls into the college,it draws glances from students asthe driver takes a wrong turn and has to back up from a dead-end road to turn the bus around. Once on theright route, the bus pulls up behind thelocker rooms and the team walks offtoward the playing field —-• only tobe told that itis notavailable because thegrounds crew hasjust painted the lines on itfor tomorrow's game

Dowling immediately herds the team toward another field where they break down into their respective offensive-defensive squads forahalf-hour ofdrills, followedby a critique from Dowling.

The team is melancholic on the bus returning to the Ramada, showing neither passiveness nor anticipation toward the following day's game. Once at the Ramada, the players rush to clean upfor supper, by now only 15minutes away.

The players shuffle into the dinner line and are greeted by a buffet featuring stuffed crab and chicken with allof the trimmings. A few players drift outto the lobby of thehotel to watch highlights of the previous week's Georgia-Clemson game Then they all watch an old war movieentitled,"The Devil's Brigade," a cliche tale about a bunch of Yankee reprobates who were mixed with a battalion of elitist Canadian commandos whose mission was to capture a German hilltop gunemplacement,alldone tothe cheers oftheplayers.

Dowling getsup afterthemovie and tells theteam thathe felt theworkout that afternoon went well.Hethen introduces Dr. Bill Matheny, oneofthe team chaplains, who delivers a short devotional from Hebrews 5 Then the team captains call a short meeting Everyone isdismissed soall the players cangettobed by 10:30 p.m September 11,7:30 a.m. Wake-up call The players file back down tothe restaurant for a breakfast buffet.Outside in the parking lot one ofthebus driversishelping to jump-start a vehicle with Arkansas platesowned bytwo lady occupants ofthe hotel One lady helps the driver asthe other steps back tosnap a picture of the scene on herinstamatic

The air is hazy and cool — with the prediction ofrain Oneofthe coaches expresses concern about theweather Playersinsuitsand tiesfilterintothe bus while Dowling and assistants, clad in red and blue, chat with Flames' Sports Network Commentator Jerry Edwards A few peopleask ifDr Jerry Falwell is attending the game

One of the players reads a devotional book on thebus Sweat finishes hisinterviews fortheday's programs and packs hissound equipment intocasesoutsidethe bus A quiet sense ofanticipation reigns The entire spectacle draws a fewcurious staresfrom apairofelderly men ina motor home, while their wives, clad inpolyester pants andwhite rayon sweaters,try not to notice the scene An old man with the name Larry on his baseball cap,coaxes a riding lawn mower past thesideofthebus. Inside, the bus isquiet except for the muffled comments of a few players and the frigid hiss on the air conditioning

The bus pulls away from thehotel as Coach Wherry reviews theoffensive depth chart for Carson-Newman Dowling asks offensive coordinator Kendall Keith about a hypothetical fourth-down situation and the bus driver chuckles about a vehicle thathasjustpassed him onthewrong side As thebusenters Jefferson City,ithitsa bump in the road,spilling a heavy Case of radioequipment onto thehead ofEdwards Blood stains hisgray hair and spotshis collarand jacket,prompting criesfrom the coaches toget the trainers whoare on the other bus.

"You're not going to get me off the broadcast that easily," jokes Edwards

"Your head isharder than that case," retorts Sweat

A majorette glances casually at the bus as itpullsup behind the lockers.The playersquietly disembark,grab the blueequipment bags,then plod intothe locker room. Inside, oneofthetrainers is attending to the cuton Edward's head by spraying an antiseptic on it Edwards remarks that his head is feeling a little better,butthat his neck isstiff Playerscome out intothehall to be taped up Edwards wipes atthestain on hiscollarand talks with a player as the trainers attend to the rest of the squad

The radiocrew and statisticiansmove their equipment up to the press box where a television crew isreadying itscameras for a live telecast of the game

A rotund reporter asks LBC SportsInformation Director Kevin Keys ifDr Falwell iscoming to the game and appears disappointed when he is told that he isn't.

Boxes of chicken and cases of soda are brought in for the consumption of theattending press. Reporters check depth chartsand press guides forthegame while discussing that evening's Tennessee Iowa State contest in Knoxville. In the back ground, a local radio broadcaster intones, "Test 1 2,test 1 2,"as he checks his equipment.

The skies over the stadium are begin ning to look threatening The scorekeeper takes his place inthe press box and unceremoniously asks ifanyone knows how to run the scoreboard

Dowling's voice booms through the press box, "I think that we are a much better team after a week of practice," as Edwards readies tapes for the pregame show

Game time After the invocation and the national anthem, the coin flipisin Carson Newman's favor They elect to receive the kick-off.Liberty can only watch in horror asthereceiver breaksthrough theLBC line and returns the opening kick 95 yards to score The somewhat confident team is now in a state of shock

All during the game LBC fights CarsonNewman forfieldposition, but withoutsuccess. Finally in the fourth quarter the Flames score.

"Make yourselves credible . . . make yourselves credible," cries one sidelined player.

"I don't care if we are offensively sound," yellsone coach intohisheadsetto the coaches perched on top of the press box."We can beoffensively sound andstill not score any points."

00:00 Final score, 31-10. The team walks over tothe victors fortheobligatory handshake, then returns to the locker room An LBC assistant coach walks over to Dowling and asks, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," comes the response

After talking to the team in the locker room,Dowling trotsup tothepress box for the post-game radio interview with Edwards. He puts on the headset inthe booth as two children, one wearing an LBC helmet, mimic the contest that has just concluded

"We have now passed up our two best opportunities," said Dowling "I thought that we were a little flat on the practice field lastnight We need the support ofthe fans behind theteam The battleis going to be more mental than anything Help us as we try to get this thing going."

Dowling puts down the headset afterthe interview and walks back to the locker room. A reporter chases him to ask ifthe Flames will again put Carson-Newman on their schedule for next year. Down at ground level, an LBC manager finishes packing a kicking net on the empty field

Back on the bus,Dowling ishanded the finalstatistics of the game He sighs as he flipsthrough the pages, occasionally shak ing his head He puts the stats down and stares out the window, drumming hisfingers on the top ofa black briefcase, watching the countryside pass by. He reaches back and squeezes the shoe of Defensive Coach Steve Wherry Wherry looks up from the stats that he is reading and re marks, "That one really hurt."

"Itcouldn't have hurt me more if they'd have cut me," sighed Dowling.

He turned back to the window, watching as the bus rolled home, drumming hisfin gers on his briefcase Tap, tappa, tap, tappa, tap