Jon Jaques Blogs for the New York Times

Big Red Ruminations: Taking Flight in Boise

By Jon Jaques
New York Times Quad Blog
March 19, 2009

Cornell’s Jon Jaques has been blogging for The Quad all season and, for the second consecutive year, will be writing about the Big Red’s trip to the N.C.A.A. tournament. Cornell is the 14th seed in the West region and will face No. 3 Missouri on Friday in Boise, Idaho.

After we safely landed in Boise at around noon Mountain West Time on Wednesday, I thought to myself that the Cornell basketball traveling party might have just become the first group to successful complete a direct trip from Ithaca, N.Y., to Boise, Idaho.

For the second consecutive year, a long, cross-country trip to the western United States was bestowed upon us by the selection committee. And, for the second straight year, we were fortunate enough to have a charter plane take us directly from Ithaca to our destination. Normally, you can only fly directly to three cities from Ithaca, and none of them is Boise.

From what I’ve seen of Boise so far, there are plenty of two things: open and uninhabited lots and mountains. The mountains kind of sneak up on you because even though they are miles and miles away, the snow-capped peaks were seemingly walking distance from our plane as we stepped onto the airport runway. On our way to the Double-Tree Club Hotel, we passed by, but did not enter, the Boise State football stadium. So, no, I have not yet seen the blue turf.

A few hours later we boarded the bus again and headed for practice at Bishop Kelley High School in Boise. The session was probably the last chance for the team to have a physical, up and down practice filled with live action before Friday’s game against Missouri. Thursday is a busy day, with a practice that is open to the news media in the morning and another workout in the afternoon, but those are more about mental preparation than anything else.

While the high altitude here in Boise is certainly going to be a factor for both teams in Friday’s game, the light air may help in other areas. Usually after practice, a few members of the team throw down a few dunks before calling it a day. The side rims on Bishop Kelley’s court were noticeably short, so even the smallest and most flight-challenged players on the team were giving it a go, and putting down “dunk shots”, as we like to call them, with ease.

Finally, after missing his first three attempts, even the assistant coach Woody Kampmann rose up and brought down the house with a rim rattling dunk. Everyone and their mother were dunking in this small Boise high school’s gym. Despite the short rims, something was odd about this. My theory (take it or leave it) is that the high altitude made each player (and coach) weightless and made rising above the rim effortless. This theory is solely based on watching baseball games at Denver’s Coors Field for years and seeing how high altitude can contribute to the distance a baseball travels. Feel free to correct me if you feel this theory is flawed, but it’s all I came up with.

Enjoy watching the first day of the tournament. Check back later for more on media day from Taco Bell Arena in Boise and our final preparations for the big game versus Mizzou.