We are back in Fargo once again, at the premier event for USA Wrestling. We have a large, strong team this year and expect to make some noise up here. Pat Kelly is putting in lots of work compiling a media guide for the team, which will hopefully be available on Monday.

Every trip to Fargo seems to have something unusual or unique to set it apart, and this year's journey was no different. We had two separate buses transporting the team up, first to the Legends of Gold facility in South Dakota on Wednesday, then on up to Fargo the following day. The air conditioning on one of the buses did not seem to be working, and with a temperature inside the bus of over 100 it appeared that we would need to find a replacement bus. However, it was then discovered that the heater had been turned on in the bus, which is obviously not a good thing on a hot July day. So, after a one hour delay, the bus got on the road.

While this would be an interesting story, it doesn't stop there. When the bus arrived in Fargo, there was some discussion with the driver on how we needed him to wait for the wrestlers to register, then drive them over to the dorms so they could check in. He objected to waiting for the registration to be concluded. After some discussion between staff members, a plan was determined that would let him take the wrestlers first to the dorms, where they could unload their gear then walk back to the registration. However, when Coach Baker approached the driver to explain this plan, he was dumbfounded to discover that the driver was removing his (the driver's) luggage from the bus. The driver informed Coach Baker (in colorful language) that he was fed up with the job and the company, and he quit. With that, he took off walking away from the venue with his luggage, leaving the bus idling at the curbside of the Fargodome!

Everything worked out fine, as the first bus driver came back to help out with the stranded wrestlers. Apologizing profusely, she finished getting them where they needed to go, then moved the second bus to the far side of the Fargodome's parking lot, where it still remains today. At least one of the wrestlers videoed the driver's meltdown; I'll try to get a copy of it to post on this forum.

Tomorrow we start wrestling; hopefully with a great deal more control than that exhibited by our bus driver!