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Carload, other players filter into VegasWALLY HALLARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE LAS VEGAS -- Early Saturday morning Pacific time, Harold Harris was on a lobby pay phone calling home, but he was all smiles because he had arrived at the Golden Nugget for Thursday's Las Vegas Bowl with a little extra money. Harris, a cornerback for the Razorbacks, was one of only five Arkansas players who drove to the site of the bowl game to save airfare, and they all traveled together in offensive tackle Gary Hobbs' Chevy Tahoe, arriving Friday night. "It was smooth sailing all the way," Harris said. It must have been, because they made the approximately 1,325-mile trip in 19 hours by driving in shifts. Maybe the next best deal was the one defensive end Randy Garner got for himself and end Carlos Hall. "Two hundred dollars round trip out of Dallas," Garner said. "It was on National Airlines, which I'd never heard of, but it was just fine." Hall nodded his approval and added: "All airplane seats are cramped if you don't get an exit row, which we did." They too arrived Friday night and had seen enough of Las Vegas by Saturday to know, "We're ready to get to the bowl game," Garner said. The NCAA allows the players approximately $800 each for travel and $400 per diem for the week. If the players can save money off that deal, it is perfectly legal. Tackle Sacha Lancaster landed a good deal for him and 24 teammates on a round-trip ticket out of Dallas for $265, and they were due to arrive Saturday afternoon. Return specialist Steadman Campbell, quarterback Zak Clark and tight end/tackle Nathan Ball came through the hotel doors at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, having left Fayetteville at 3 a.m. Central to catch a 7:15 nonstop flight from Tulsa. "It was a little bumpy, but I'd stayed up all night, so sleeping on the plane wasn't a problem," Clark said. Walk-on Marcus Hill flew out of Little Rock on Friday, and he and defensive tackle Raymond House were looking for a place to eat Saturday afternoon as another load of players arrived from the airport. Coach Houston Nutt, who was part of the team's official travel party and arrived around 11 a.m. at the hotel, had to make one change to accommodate the players. The final check-in was to be 9 p.m. Pacific time, but one final group was due to land at 7:30 p.m., and to make sure they were on time, Nutt changed the team meeting to 9:45. All players had the option of making their own arrangements and all but two, including receiver Boo Williams, chose to forego the charter plane. An estimated one-third of the players arrived Friday, and by 2 p.m. Saturday more than three-fourths had checked into the hotel. Following the team meeting, the players were free for the evening. But they will have their first practice today at 11 a.m. at a local high school.
This article was published on Sunday, December 17, 2000RETURN to main page
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