Life in the NAIA...

It's more about buses than planes...

That's the easier part of the whole deal, but what about when you take a wrong turn to where you're supposed to go...

That's me... Sports' version of "Wrong Way Corrigan..."

I've never claimed to be a walking Rand McNally atlas or anything of the type, but I'd like to think that, when I look at a set of directions ((and print them out)), I can get where I'm going.

Not so much...

The third picture is of Davis Field in Pikeville, Kentucky. That's where the Pikeville College Bears play their football games against the rest of their NAIA brethren. It's a multi-purpose high school facility with SprinTurf that will house baseball, softball, and high school sports where it sits. The drive is a fairly simple one from Atlanta- Chattanooga, Knoxville, Tri-Cities, and into the Virginia mountains into eastern Kentucky.

Not so much...

Knoxville has construction going on downtown which causes two decisions- north on I-640 to I-75, or south on 640 to I-40 and I-81. I chose north, and I should have taken the left turn at Albuquerque. It took me 30 miles north of Knoxville on 75 headed to Lexington to realize that I couldn't turn right until the Daniel Boone Parkway- 40 MILES INTO KENTUCKY!!!

So, I get to Davis Field in the second quarter of a game where Shorter College scores 35 straight to win 52-17 going away... that's the good part...

If you can track down the Shorter Hawks Sports Showcase TV show from that week, you'll see Head Coach Phil Jones give me the gift that keeps on giving- a map of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Classic...

So, driving back to OSG HQ, I was a-feared that I'd run in to Tennessee-Florida traffic out of Neyland Stadium. I take a detour into the town of Wise, Virginia looking for gear to share with the rest of the family.

I wander in to a football game: UVa-Wise and West Virginia Tech. The Highland Cavaliers took on a team that, really needed Sedale Threatt's outside shooting. 28-6 after one, 35-12 and 41-19 at the break. And Tech wasn't the one in the lead...

Thus, picture one... a 62-33 final... and I missed all the traffic...

By the way, did you know that gas is about 60 cents cheaper in Tennessee than on the way back to the HQ...? Stinks...

UVa-Wise quarterback Randy Hippeard is pictured ((thanks UVa-Wise athletics))

More from the road as we get closer to Carroll of Montana defending their NAIA Division I title for the nine-billionth year in a row in Rome, Georgia in late December...