THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 15, 1994 TAG: 9408150374
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MONTPELLIER, FRANCE LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Nine o'clock came a bit early for Old Dominion's basketball players Sunday morning.
Staying out until 5 a.m. can make that wake-up call a bit rugged.
The Monarchs had their fun following a 30-point loss in the first game of their French tour. But it came with a price.
As the team bus idled outside the hotel in Antibes on Sunday morning, coach Jeff Capel fumed. ODU's three-hour bus ride to Montpellier was delayed because four players couldn't get out of bed.
One by one, Corey Robinson, E.J. Sherod, Mario Mullen and Petey Sessoms straggled toward the bus. ODU finally was ready to roll 30 minutes late.
About an hour down the road, Capel gave instructions to stop the bus.
``We're just going to stop and make them get off the bus because they're ready to go to sleep,'' Capel said. ``They can't sleep at night; they're not going to sleep now.''
The bus ground to a hault at a gas station.
``Everybody out for a walkabout,'' Capel yelled to the groggy Monarchs.
ODU's nine players congregated alongside the bus.
``Look at them huddling over there,'' Capel said. ``They're mad enough to bite a fish hook.''
Someone asked the coach if he could get some water.
``Yeah, go suck on that hose over there,'' Capel said, pointing to the fuel pump. Then, under his breath, Capel muttered, ``Don't stay out all night and then make me late.''
The players had had their fun, and now Capel was having his. Forty-five minutes later he called for another ``walkabout.'' During the second one, Odell Hodge and Mullen apologized to Capel for the team's transgressions.
``They had to test the limits,'' said ODU assistant Bobby Collins.
At one point Collins was sent to the back of the bus to make certain the players stayed awake.
If ODU's players did not know it already, they do now: their new coach doesn't cotton to foolishness and irresponsibility.
``There are some things you just can't do or you're going to be disciplined,'' senior forward David Harvey said.
``The fact they were out didn't bother me,'' Capel said. ``It's that they didn't tell us. I think they have to understand we need to communicate.
``What's the saying? `If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.' If you can't stay up all night and then get up and be where you're supposed to be, you shouldn't do it.''
It's a safe bet the Monarchs stayed on the porch Sunday.
Capel worked them hard at a grueling two-hour practice Sunday night. Toward the end, practically everyone was bending over and tugging at his shorts, but the Monarchs practiced well. Capel praised them for an excellent workout.
``It was the most intense practice we've had,'' sophomore guard Corey Robinson said.
Neither Robinson nor Harvey would discuss what the Monarchs did all night. But they got the message about what Capel thought of it.
``Coach is not going to be taken advantage of,'' Robinson said. ``He wants you to know where he's coming from.''
Tonight, in their second game of the tour, the Monarchs get a return of sorts to where many of them came from. Their game with Montpellier should have a playground atmosphere.
Barring rain, they will play on an outdoor court at 10 tonight. the game is part of a festival the town is holding to celebrate a Catholic holy day.
A wooden court will be put down, but as far as the Monarchs understand, there will not be any other amenities.
``To me it's like playing in the park growing up,'' Capel said. ``We played a lot of games at 10, 11 o'clock in the park. As long as the lights go out, it's going to be fun.'' ILLUSTRATION: Map
France
by CNB