By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
Jan. 13, 2011 

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - Remember those famous travelers Dorothy and Toto?

How they had that whirlwind trip from Kansas to the Emerald City, all the while wishing they were back on that farm?

Remember, too, how happy they were to get home?

Now fast-forward to the Robert Morris University Colonials.

They just endured a trip that took them to North Carolina, Arizona, Maryland, Ohio, New York and back to Maryland.

All the while they also wished they were home.

And now they are.

So … who do you think was happier to get home, those two Kansas Jayhawks or the Colonials?

"I think the Robert Morris Colonials, to be honest,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said. "They're weary (from being on) the road and just having all those games on the road. Crazy things happen on the road. The mental fortitude that it takes to win on the road for a young team is exhausting.

"I think we were at the point (last) Saturday at Mount St. Mary's. We played very hard, but guys were exhausted. Guys looked mentally spent.''

There won't be much rest for the weary, either. The Colonials play Fairleigh Dickinson Thursday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center, the start of a four-game homestand.

That, too, sets the Colonials apart from those old-time Jayhawks.

"They just had to hang out on the farm,'' Toole said of Dorothy and Toto. "They didn't have to do a whole lot when they got home to Kansas. I think Toto had a couple weeks off.''

Well, Toto probably was dog-tired, after all.

As tired as they might be, the Colonials do have the welcome prospect of finally playing at home, where they haven't played since Dec. 11 and where they've played just that once since Nov. 19.

Toss this into that data, too. The game against Fairleigh Dickinson will be the Colonials' 2010-11 Northeast Conference home opener.

This is the latest into a season that RMU will play its first league home game since Jan. 14, 1988 against Wagner. This disclaimer, though. That season, teams played 16 league games (two fewer than the current 18), and league play didn't begin until Jan. 9.

We digress a bit, however. Let's get back to coach Toole.

"I think being able to play four (in a row) at home will kind of recharge our batteries and rejuvenate us for the remaining 10 (regular-season) games after these four,'' Toole said.

No question that being on the road can sap a person.

"Sit on the bus. Lay around the hotel room,'' Toole said. "I mean as much as it's nice to lay around the hotel room, it gets old. And it gets tiring. Every time you go into your hotel room you sleep, and then you wake up and you watch film. You're never on a set schedule. You're never in a routine, really. There's down time, and there are things going on that are boring.''

Things will not be boring for the Colonials for the next month.

They'll play nine NEC games in that span, seven of them at the Sewall Center.

By the end of this stretch, one would think the Colonials will have a pretty good idea of where they'll finish in the NEC regular-season standings.

"Absolutely,'' Toole said. "After these nine games, we'll have five left. And those five, hopefully they're not games that we need (to win) to get into the NEC Tournament. Hopefully they're five games we're playing where we're fighting for an NEC (regular-season) championship or some home games in the NEC playoffs.''
The top eight teams qualify for the NEC Tournament. The top four are guaranteed at least one home tournament game.

"So these nine games are huge,'' Toole said. "It definitely helps to have seven of them here at the Sewall Center, but in our league anybody can beat anybody at any time. So it's not like it really gives you a huge advantage or cushion. It's not like we play in the craziest atmosphere in the country. It's not as if teams are fearful to come to the Sewall Center.

"I think all it does is make our guys a little bit more comfortable being at home than they are on the road.''

"Home'' will look a bit different for the Colonials beginning with the FDU game.

The team had to practice at the venerable John Jay Center gym on campus Monday and Tuesday because a new scoreboard was installed at the Sewall Center.
Seemed weird that a team that had been on the road for so many games this season finally returned home only to discover it couldn't immediately practice in its gym.

"I don't know if it's weird,'' Toole said. "It's just pretty much typical about the way the world works. I guess they had to wait for the scoreboard to get shipped here, but it's just incredible that all the days we've been gone and finally we return home and now we can't even practice in our own gym. But if things were easy, then I guess it wouldn't be as enjoyable.''

The new overhead scoreboard is another step in the upgrading and refurbishing of the Sewall Center.

The interior was painted after last season. Now the new scoreboard.

"And they're going to try to some more stuff over the summer with some more chairbacks and change the (indoor) track color,'' Toole said. "They're exploring a lot of different options. They're trying to make some upgrades and improve this place as much as they can.''

One wonders if the new scoreboard will consistently show more points on the home side than that of the visitors.

"I absolutely hope so,'' Toole said, laughing.

That's because points in NEC games are so important.

Consider the Colonials in their four NEC games thus far.

They won by a point at Long Island. They lost by two points at St. Francis (N.Y.). They lost by five points in overtime at Wagner. They won by three points at Mount St. Mary's.

It seems as if every NEC game is close.

"I think it's conference play in general,'' Toole said. "I think if you look at Big East games, you look at ACC games, look at Pac-10 games, there's always those one or two plays where they make or break for you and they are the swing of the one or two points that you need to come out with a victory,'' Toole said.

"There aren't very many blowouts in conference games. There aren't very many games where one team takes the lead early in the first half and they just coast to a victory. It's just not how it works, and I think the teams that understand that it can be one or two plays and those one or two plays can happen at any time during the 40 minutes are the teams that are most successful because they (play with greater urgency) and (are) the most relentless.''