When Impact travels, it's hardly first-class

[François]

When Impact travels, it's hardly first-class
Regular flights, budget accommodation, Montreal's soccer players don't enjoy pampering offered to Expos, Canadiens

PAT HICKEY
The Gazette


Saturday, April 26, 2003
The Montreal Impact took no chances when it came to starting their first road trip on time, but arriving in this historic city was another matter.

The city's premier professional soccer players gathered at Dorval at 5:30 a.m. yesterday, in plenty of time to catch a 7:40 flight to Cincinnati. And they were still on schedule when they boarded their connecting flight to Charleston.

That's when the trouble started. Bad weather over the area the locals call the Low Country forced the plane to make several turbulent passes over the city before it was cleared for landing.

"The pilot was coming in for a landing and all of a sudden, he went full throttle up," said veteran Mauro Biello, an admitted white-knuckle flyer. "We tried to land three times. We were up there for about an hour. Some guys were saying it was our worst flight ever."

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There's an old saying that everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. The rainy weather here - and there's more of the same in the forecast as the Impact prepare to meet the Charleston Battery in their A-League opener tonight - made for an unpleasant start to this trip.

But while veteran Lloyd Barker was waiting for his stomach to settle down, he was grateful that the team was on a commercial flight.

"We used to make a lot of flights on a 19-seater," Barkersaid. "There was an advantage in being able to go home right after a game, but those flights were really scary in bad weather."

And while the Impact was an hour behind schedule in arriving at its hotel, Nick DeSantis noted there are delays and then there are delays.

"Travelling with this team isn't too bad; there are no real horror stories," De Santis said. "The worst experiences I ever had were with the national team. I remember one trip in South America where we took 28 flights in 30 days and the delays added up to more than 100 hours."

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DeSantis can remember the days when most of the Impact road trips involved a bus ride. With the growth of the A-League across North America, the team still goes to Toronto, Syracuse and Rochester by bus, but anything over five hours means hopping on a plane.

There are few complaints about the team's travel arrangements, although Major League Baseball or National Hockey League players would describe the Impact's way of doing things as spartan.

The Canadiens and the Expos follow the lead of other major sports teams and do most of their travel by chartered aircraft. The charters allow the teams the luxury of coming and going when they want and, unlike the 19-seater the Impact used to fly, they employ large commercial liners that offer room to spread out. It's a requirement in baseball, where the collective agreement mandates that each player have a first-class seat or that three seats are provided for every two players.

The Impact had to put up with a full flight in a cramped economy cabin yesterday, as well as a stop to change planes in Cincinnati.

There's also a difference in the accommodations. Baseball and hockey teams are accustomed to staying in luxury hotels located in the heart of downtown.

They complain if they're too far from a favourite restaurant or room service isn't available after midnight.

Headquarters for the Impact in Charleston is the Howard Johnson's, an economy hotel which is a 15-minute walk from downtown. The restaurant is open only for breakfast and a maid warns that putting money in a soft-drink machine is akin to throwing it away. on the plus side - if you're not particular about your diet - every fast-food chain known to man is located within a three-block radius. There is no health club although there is a small outdoor pool.

After arriving yesterday, some players ordered submarine sandwiches and there were plans to have a team meal later in the day. The players receive about $50 a day for meal money - baseball players get $76 U.S. and NHL players $80 U.S. - there is usually a team meal a few hours before a game.

"Team meals can be important on a trip like this because it gives us a chance to get together, do a little bonding," said DeSantis. "We've been training together but then everyone goes home. This is a chance to be together, to get to know each other."

Team meals are heavy on chicken and pasta and Barker notes that the Italian players like Biello and DeSantis are sometimes hard to please.

"They know what things should taste like that," laughed Barker.

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The impact routine is similar to that followed by NHL teams and DeSantis said the toughest part of a trip is waiting around before a game.

"You do a little training and have a pregame meal but there's a lot of time when you're doing nothing on the day of a game," said DeSantis. "It's a little easier at home where you go home and take a nap or do something."

The Impact players have a curfew the night before a game and occasionally the night of a game when there's another game on the horizon. After tonight's game, the Impact has two weeks off before they play again and that means a chance to sample some of Charleston's southern charm.

"Guys will probably go out and have a beer or two," said Biello. And, as captain, Biello said he might buy the first round. But he said he couldn't be expected to follow the lead of Canadiens' captain Saku Koivu, who took his teammates to Bern's Steakhouse for dinner on the Canadiens' last trip to Tampa. Bern's is known for its extensive wine list. Koivu said his teammates "took it easy on me" although the bill reportedly topped $3,000 U.S. - before the tip.

"You won't find me doing that and you find us sticking the rookies for a dinner bill," said Biello. That's because the salaries in the A-League are in the $20-50,000 range, a long way from the $3.4 million Koivu collects.

And don't expect anyone to stay up too late tonight. The Impact have a 6 a.m. flight back to Montreal tomorrow and the wake-up call is at 3:30.

phickey@thegazette.canwest.com