Mark Gottfried Leaves for Operation Hardwood on Sunday
5/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Coach Gottfried will be writing a daily diary of his trip for the Tuscaloosa News ( www.tuscaloosanews.com) beginning on Wednesday, May 23.
TUSCALOOSA ?? Mark Gottfried reports for duty Sunday.
The University of Alabama basketball coach is traveling to the Persian Gulf region for the USO and Armed Forces Entertainment's "Operation Hardwood II." Gottfried is one of 12 men, most of them college basketball head coaches, participating in the event designed as a goodwill mission for American troops serving in the Persian Gulf region. The coaches conduct a basketball tournament made up of teams of American troops in Kuwait and Bahrain.
"This is something that is just a win-win situation," said Gottfried who is on his second tour of duty, so to speak, for the USO with "Operation Hardwood." "We all take something back from the experience, the coaches and the troops. I'm looking forward to meeting more of our service men and women. That's what I enjoy, just getting to know them, spending time with these men and women. Just kind of seeing their reaction to the coaches being there was really cool last year. That was probably as meaningful as anything we did. And getting to know the guys on my team. Last year I had 12 guys??I had one female on my team. They were great people, a lot of fun to be around.
"There are so many people in the military from our Southern states, Alabama of course being the most special to me, but also Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina---you are constantly meeting people who come up to you there and tell you they're from Alabama. That really made an impact. Even though you're on the other side of the globe, you're meeting people who know people you know, have common friends and that type of things, and it really makes it special. It really brings it close to home. It really makes you think about how these people who are putting their lives at risk are your neighbors' family members, your friends' friends, your family, your friends. They are over there doing remarkable things. I want them to know, especially these people serving who are from Alabama, that we care, that we appreciate what they are doing."
Joining Gottfried on the tour will be Rick Barnes from the University of Texas, ESPN's Jay Bilas, Jim Crews of the U.S. Military Academy, Tom Izzo of Michigan State, Billy Lange of the U.S. Naval Academy, Charlotte's Bobby Lutz, Reggie Minton from the NCAA, South Carolina's Dave Odom, Indiana's Kelvin Sampson, Kentucky's Tubby Smith, and Maryland's Gary Williams.
Gottfried, Odom, Bilas, Lutz, Izzo and Sampson are repeat performers. Those six were in the inaugural group of eight men who traveled in late August of 2005 to the region for "Operation Hardwood."
This year's trip will include a side trip for three specially selected coaches, including Gottfried. He, Odom, Lange and Bilas will make up a specially selected travel party the U.S. Navy requested to visit troops on an aircraft carrier in the area.
Step one of the trip will take Gottfried to Washington, D.C. where all the coaches converge Sunday.
"We'll have a reception there in D.C. with some Pentagon officials and the USO, kind of a send-off," said Gottfried of his upcoming itinerary. "We did it last year. It was great. We had somebody from the military speak to the coaches and tell us what to expect. Then Monday we'll actually leave for Kuwait, flying from Dulles Airport to Frankfurt, Germany. And from there they'll have a plane waiting for us to take us to Kuwait City. I think we arrive Tuesday evening. Last year it was about 18 hours in the air.
"It's a long flight but it's worth every minute because of what we get out of this tour," said Gottfried. "We'll play some cards on the flight, talk a little basketball. We'll fight over who gets the aisle seat."
After a quick reception at Camp Arifjan, the coaches report to practice on Wednesday, May 24 at Camp Arifjan. Opening ceremonies and the tournament's first round of play will be on Thursday and the championship game will be on Sunday, May 28.
The smaller travel party headed to the aircraft carrier will leave Sunday for Bahrain and their activities with the U.S. Navy.
"Last year the military was very excited about what happened with the success of the first ??Operation Hardwood' and the naval operations branch of our military requested that a few of the coaches spend an extra day or two and travel to an aircraft carrier there in the Persian Gulf this time around. The military has gone to great lengths to have that approved and to organize it and all the logistics of getting us out into the ocean. It's no small task. But from what we hear, the sailors are excited about us coming. We'll spend the day and a night and part of the day Tuesday with them on the aircraft carrier. I'm probably the most excited because I'm really looking forward to that experience and meeting those people."
Gottfried will return from the trip on Wednesday, May 31.
