The Morning Flight to Philly
Odds and travel gods favor Miamians headed east for NCAA Tournament
The Morning Flight to Philly
Odds and travel gods favor Miamians headed east for NCAA Tournament
The odds were against the RedHawks heading east from Cincinnati to the City of Brotherly Love. Between the usual Interstate 275 “bridge traffic” from the west and a 30-minute standstill on southbound I-75, it was unlikely that Miami University fans on the 8 a.m. flight to Philadelphia were going to make it. Adding in the TSA wait and a gate on the far side of the terminal, the odds looked even worse.
“I finally got to the airport and then I saw the (TSA) lines and started panicking,” said Katie Mariano, a Nursing student at Miami. “I started texting my friends traveling later that they needed to leave now.”
But by wheels up, seats on American Airlines 5578 were filled and the “Love and Honor” greetings were flying between the passengers. Miami gear seemed to be the required dress code for the commercial airliner, though Wright State sweatshirts mixed in as those fans were heading to Philadelphia, too, to cheer on their men’s basketball team.
“I was worried there would be no other Miami people,” Mariano said. “I was worried we wouldn’t be representing at the game.”
“No way,” fellow Nursing student Katie Masa countered. “Miamians show up.”
It was one thing to show up for the First Four in Dayton, a drivable distance for much of the fanbase. Miami fans packed UD Arena to create what Barstool Sports deemed the toughest place to play “when Miami of Ohio and their swim team is in town.”
But it’s another thing to call off work or class or your kid’s baseball tournament to board a flight, find a hotel, and get game tickets — all in under 36 hours. But so far, it’s been totally worth it. I love spending time with Miamians and capturing their stories and excitement. They LOVE this school.
“Where are you staying,” asked Mariano, a Philly native.
“I’ll figure it out when I get there,” said Masa, who hails from Charlotte. “My dad just got tickets to the game last night, so I got this flight and I’m meeting him there.”
Just before the cabin door closed, a student clad in a Miami hoodie came through, breathless but beaming.
“Oh my god,” she said, meeting the eyes of another Miami student as she tore down the aisle. “I didn’t think I would make it.”
But the travel gods had smiled upon her, and she had an hour and 45 minutes to catch her breath on the smooth flight east. As the plane touched down and flight attendants welcomed the passengers to Philly, a buzz emerged.
“We have Miami University and Wright State aboard,” the flight attendant announced. “Join me in wishing them luck and cheering them on in the tournament. And, let’s say early congratulations!”
The cabin erupted in cheers.
Jiaying Wang ’17 was one of the passengers cheering. He has a special connection to Miami basketball: He served as the student manager of the men’s team from 2013-2017. During that time, he said, “we never saw anything like this.”
Wang and his girlfriend, Jingyan He ’18 met at Miami. She is now pursuing a doctorate in physiology at UCLA, and he is an assistant professor of sport management at the University of Missouri.
“We were so excited for Miami to make the tournament that we flew from LA to Dayton to watch them play SMU,” Wang said. “And now we’re here in Philadelphia.”
Susan LaMacchia ’92 and her son, TJ, a sophomore Accounting major, were also on the flight in from Cincinnati. The mother-son duo laughed as passersby said “good luck” to TJ, who was sporting a Ron Harper replica jersey.
“They thought I was on the team,” TJ said. “A lot of people are rooting for Miami.”
The 11-seed Miami RedHawks face the 6-seed Tennessee Volunteers at 4:25 p.m. And all the fans on the Cincinnati to Philadelphia plane are hoping for a repeat, beating-the-odds performance.