HAMPTON AT N.C. A&T
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Aggie Stadium, Greensboro
Records: Hampton 1-0 overall, 1-0 MEAC; N.C. A&T 0-2, 0-1
Tickets: $20. Call 334-7749 or go to http://www.ncataggies.com.
TV: ESPNU (taped telecast at 10 p.m.)
INSIDE: Aggies QB likely done for season.
First, N.C. A&T's football team loses to Prairie View. Then it gets stranded for an extra day in L.A.
GREENSBORO -- The event was called the Angel City Classic, but for N.C. A&T's football team and band, the trip back from Los Angeles resembled the Biblical afterlife destination devoid of angels and ethereal joy.
"It is a horror. No doubt," coach Lee Fobbs said shortly after getting off a chartered flight at 1:35 p.m. Monday -- nearly 24 hours later than originally scheduled.
The flight itself was smooth and without incident. It just took awhile to get started, having been compromised by mechanical problems and FAA regulations.
The Aggies' losing streak grew to 18 games when they fell to Prairie View A&M 22-7 on Saturday afternoon, and they were scheduled to leave Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday morning, according to an itinerary handled by the game's Texas-based promoter, John Fleming III.
Fleming's company, Black Educational Events, had contracted with Premier Charter Network of Castle Rock, Colo., to provide two DC-10s owned and operated by American Trans Air. One aircraft would take the Prairie View traveling party to Houston; the other would transport the Aggies.
"The plane that was supposed to take Prairie View to Texas had a mechanical problem that couldn't be rectified until (Monday)," said Wheeler Brown, A&T's associate athletics director. "So what they wanted to do was use our plane to take Prairie View home (Sunday) and then come back and pick us up."
So the Panthers got out of town first. Pilots and flight attendants made the trip from Los Angeles to Houston and back, but under FAA safety policy they were required to rest before getting back in the air. When officially cleared to resume work, they were stuck with an itinerary that would put them in Greensboro after midnight -- at which time there would be no baggage handlers at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
Taking care of the luggage of 100 football players and coaches and 200 members of the university's band isn't exactly a do-it-yourself deal. The Aggies were stuck.
"It's just the nature of aviation," said Kim Butorac, president and chief executive officer of the charter service. "ATA did this event last year and the thing went flawlessly. The promoter has done a great job and the event was fine. It was just one of those things that can happen when you're trying to move people with machines."
Attempts to reach Fleming for comment were unsuccessful.
For the Aggies, the timing was unfortunate on a few levels. The players and band members missed a third day of classes for the trip. A&T's coaches found themselves a day behind in preparations for 2006 MEAC champion Hampton, which visits Aggie Stadium at 6 p.m. Saturday.
"We're going right now to the office and get to work," Fobbs said while walking through the PTI terminal.
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