Hey there Purple Eagle fans. What a great way to finish a road trip.

After practice Saturday we headed back to the hotel for some down time before we had dinner. I had locked down a reservation at Boston Market for the team, so we were set for dinner. My favorite restaurant, Chipotle, is located next to the Market so Coach Dobrich and I headed over there to grab some burritos. After we snagged them, we met the team back at BM where I downed an entire meal there and started on my Chipotle. What a great night!

We got back to the hotel where Chris and I found that there were some great movies on TV; I saw that my Georgetown Hoyas fell to Louisville and Rick Pitino’s white suit. After that Chris and I surfed between a few different flicks.

Coach had an urge for Chips’A’Hoy Rainbow cookies, his favorite. So Coach Dobrich, Coach and myself took off on a two-mile walk, stopping at various stores until we settled for some donuts from DD. This is one of my favorite things on the road when Coach goes for a walk and invites me to go with him. We talk about Gonzaga, DC (my hometown), everything. It’s great to just walk and pick his mind a bit about basketball and everything in between. We got back to the hotel and I settled in for the night after ordering some Papa John’s Pizza for the guys. Chris and I ended the night watching Fast and the Furious, the original with Vin Diesel. Lights Out.

We started Sunday with our pre-game meal at noon, and got ready for the game. After the meal, I headed back to the room, and picked out my favorite Purple Tie that my Mom (Catherine “Kay” O’Brien) got me for Christmas. It was the Gonzaga tie of the year with little purple eagles all over it.

I got online and read an article in the Niagara Gazette written by my favorite Purple Eagle beat writer Jonah Bronstein. He talked to Coach Ak, Stan, and myself about our days at Gonzaga College High School. From Purple Eagles to Purple Eagles. He also called Dick Myers (our old coach) and chatted him up a bit. What a great article! Thanks Jonah. We got on the bus at 2:15 and headed to Reitz Arena to take on Loyola.

This game is becoming one of the most heated rivalries in the MAAC. We always have great games against them that are always very physical and close. The place was packed with a great Loyola student section; of course we had our own traveling party. I would guess we were about 200 fans deep behind our bench.

Charron, Stanley and Tyrone’s mom were there leading the cheers and winning the battle over the Loyola student section. Mr. McLaughlin sat right behind our bench and, to prove that he is the best AD in the country, he ran out during halftime to move Coach Martelli’s rental car that was parked illegally due to the wind blowing a street light onto the road.

The game was great. Charron (my roommate) started off on tear and solidifying his case for MAAC Player of the Year in the process. He had 25 at halftime where we held a comfortable lead. Loyola started the second half on a tear and took the lead at one point. We would not go away though and pulled out a win that saw Charron finishing with 45 points, the most points scored by a player in the country this season. He and Gerald Brown had a shootout in the first half, where Brown had 21, but my boy Stan (Gonzaga class of ’04) held him to just eight points in the second half. It was great to see Stan drop 20 points in his last visit to Loyola in front of almost 100 family members and friends.

Lorenzo Miles (Gonzaga College High School/Niagara Grad) came to the game while he was home for a break after playing overseas the last couple months. He’s doing great and it was awesome seeing him there again. Stan wasn’t the only who had family there…the O’Brien fam, including my uncles Bill and Dan and my awesome godmother Barbara, was out in full force led Kay “My Son Has Senioritis” O’Brien. She rocked all purple as well as her Women for Obama button. She recently was all over my case about voting even though I was at school “studying” all hours of the night. I think she mailed me my absentee ballot with the whole thing already filled out, there was a note that said just sign this and mail it in. So much for being an independent person, better she did though, because I was gonna use the write-in spot and vote Mr. McLaughlin for President.

After the game I hit up Kay for some cash and we headed to the airport. The flight was delayed a little, which gave me plenty of time to hit up another favorite food place of mine, Phillips Seafood Restaurant. Coach Martelli, Mr. McLauglin and myself got famous crab cake sandwiches with a side of Crab Bisque for me. There was bad wind so taking off and landing was an adventure, and I think I heard Colin scream from the back of the plane a couple times. I sat next to Coach Martelli and he turned down my request of holding hands when I was scared during the landing. Luckily we didn’t go by Colin’s theory of “If we see the ground from the plane that means we’re safe”. Haha I love that kid.

Alright Fans, we finished with a strong weekend. Charron needs to be MAAC Player of the Week and we got some big home games this weekend so I better see you all there Saturday and Monday night. Great talking to you again, and congrats to the men’s hockey team and my boys Cook and Pags keep it going boys…7 games with no losses great job. Wait till the CHA’s Colin and I are coming back in full chef outfits to lead the N-ZONE and make Dwyer Arena a little more hostile.

Thanks Mom and family for coming (and the money) great seeing all our fans that come to every game and thanks to Mr. McLaughlin for the Phillips I got it next time.

In It To Win It- Danny “OB Triple OB” O’Brien

Part I 

Hey there Purple Eagle fans, just checking in from beautiful Baltimore, it's a sunny 55 degrees down here so I'm rocking some shorts. I apologize if I sound out of breathe, Coach Ak(Gonzaga College High School) had me working during practice at Reitz Arena (Loyola) today. I was coming off screens, throwing no look passes and dropping dimes on the court today. We look good and are locked in on a very dangerous Loyola team. Coach uses the word respect alot and we definately respect what this team is capable of on the floor.

Starting from the beginning, we left for Buffalo Airport Thursday evening after practice and learned our flight had been pushed back a little bit, just enough time for Colin and I to hit up Burger King, of course. Before we went there, Coach Dobrich told me to double whatever I ordered. Mr. McLaughlin also jumped on the airport Burger King bandwagon. I almost ordered a Coke but in this Lenten season I have decided to give up soda for 40 days. Colin did the same except he later told me he downed a Pepsi on Ash Wednesday, so I guess he might be in trouble with the BIG guy.

We finally got on a little plane headed towards Newark to play Rider. All week Charron talked about this game in the room and around campus. He was really locked in on this game. We finally got to the hotel and walked down the street to a diner for a little dinner. The thing about diner's I don't get is they always have a Happy Waitress Special, but no diner waitresses' ever seem happy. Being in Jersey they should rename it the Unhappy Waitress from Linden Special, haha. (For Joey C).

Friday we headed to Rider for a shoot around to prepare for the top-ranked team in the MAAC. Everyone was anxious and you could just tell we were ready for the game. Things went well there and we left the gym feeling good. We did our usual pre-game meal and such, while me and my roommate; Chris "Air Up There" Armstrong watched Cheaper by the Dozen 2 to get ourselves pumped up. We left for the Sold Out Bronc Zoo feeling good.

Besides last week's home game vs. Loyola this was one of the best games I've seen in my four years here. The gym was packed, we had our loyal fans led by my second favorite moms, Ms. Rogers and Ms. Hodge and Rider's fans were nuts. We came up short but played a good game. Tyrone and Charron had great games and Killa' Kam provided some energy off the bench. AP took a charge which is becoming pretty common every game, he has to lead the nation in charges per minute. Stan played like a senior and looked good out there.

We have a quote in our locker by Dr. Martin Luther King that reads "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." I love this quote and defiintely think it depicts the team we have. We have an opportunity to do something special despite the challenges we face the rest of the season.

We got into Baltimore late last night and headed to bed, I got about six hours of sleep before I had to wake up early to find a laundromat to do laundry. Kevin came with me and we really found out how rude the people at the Radisson Hotel are. Again, I am looking for Mr. Radisson and I am hoping a Niagara alum knows him. Laundry finally got done and Kev and I got back just in time for a team meal at noon.

We relaxed for a little while before heading here to Loyola so Chris and I took in another movie, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, not bad. Some guy just walked through our practice, so Coach let him know about our secret defense for Gerald Brown, haha. I hate people walking through our practices because it means Colin and I have to regulate and kick people out, I mean, I'm sure you've heard we're the worst rebounding managers in the country. Imagine us trying to kick people out of a gym, its a nice sight.  As I type this my mouth is watering more and more for Chipotle tonight. When I graduate, I think I'm only going to work in a city that has one.

Practice just ended so I'm gonna wrap up for today, but before I leave I'm going to wish my boys Ted Cook and Pags good luck tonight, get things done down there boys and also goodluck to my boy Joey, you get things done tonight also. I want to wish my facebook girlfirend Ashley Cornett a Happy Birthday, I'll be back Sunday so we'll go to Pizza Hut Buffet or something special. Last but not least to Liz Martelly who I promised a shoutout to, I'll see ya soon and keep things fresh in Philly.

CRUNCH TIME!!!!!!! - Danny "Dizzle" O'Brien

Danny's Past Road-Trip Blogs