We Used to Lay up in the Luggage Bins

by Craig Cirbus

When football returned to UB in 1977, the program had nothing. We took one Blue Bird bus on a road trip, which had forty-nine seats: 48 seats for the players, one seat for the head coach. The assistant coaches had to get to the games on their own. We used to lay up in the luggage bins just to be able to stretch out because it was so tight.

Willie Dando, the wife of head coach Bill Dando, used to buy the oranges so we had something to eat on the bus. We also had these big sandwiches from Mueller's Delicatessen on Bailey Avenue that we'd eat on the side of the road. An alumnus, Kevin Brinkworth, paid the money to rent the bus so we could get to the game. We traveled the day of the game and literally fell out of the bus after three, four, five hours on the road. We would get off the bus, walk on the field, and play a game because we couldn't afford to stay overnight.

And when we stayed overnight - three times in three years - there were four players to a room, two people to a bed. People even slept on the floor, just so we could make it go, because there was absolutely no financial means to support the program.