[2/23/05].

Fifteen years ago, I would have jumped at the chance to take a bus ride with nearly 20 teenage girls.

Fifteen years ago, though, I never got invited.

Following Monday’s yellow dog ride to Olive Branch and back with the Warren Central girls basketball team, it would be hard to get me back on one of those buses if the Swedish curling team was aboard.

For those that do not remember riding the yellow dog, the seats are bench style made of cinder blocks with a thin layer of vinyl to give the appearance of comfort. Leg room is designed for grade school children.

When one of Warren Central’s assistant coaches offered her seat near the front, I should have known something was up.

&#8220You might want to sit up there so you and coach (Donny) Fuller can talk,” she said before giving me a tire seat. You don’t actually sit on the tire, just over it, cutting down leg room by 50 percent.

By the time the first stop had been made in Vaiden, knees crunched and the back already screamed in agony.

Bus seats are perfect for youngsters who can stretch full length, but for adults, there are two positions one can sit – one leg down one extended, or both feet flat looking straight ahead.

I expected the ride to be made worse with the constant high-pitched squealing mixed in with loud music, but not these Lady Vikes. Technology has changed the day from loud summer camp-style sing-a-longs to quiet concentration. Many of the players brought personal TVs, DVD players and video iPods.

Even after the basketball game had ended, a 65-60 Warren Central victory in the opening round of the Class 5A state playoffs, the ride home was in relative peace. The few who could sleep did, while the rest of us counted down the mile markers.

It’s 81 miles from the Olive Branch exit of Interstate 55 to Grenada. It’s another almost 100 miles to Jackson. Forty or so more grueling miles later, the bus pulled into Warren Central High School equipped with its victory lights.

&#8220How do you do this all season,” I asked Fuller.

&#8220I’ve done this a whole lotta times,” he responded.

The journey began at 11 a.m. on Monday and ended at nearly 1 a.m. Tuesday. The entire game, the sole reason for making such a distant journey, clocked in at 1 hour, 27 minutes.

As we turned into the school, those who had been sleeping woke up, while those of us who couldn’t sleep watched as the last miserable 100 yards were completed. The bus doors opened and I bolted.

Coaches and players are superstitious and have asked if I will be riding again on Friday when the team plays Murrah at Clinton High in the North State tournament.

Absolutely not, I tell them. Hopefully I will never have to ride a school bus again. I pity anyone who has to ride them. I pity the players and coaches. I pity the team managers and the driver.

The only saving grace for this group of Lady Vikes is that they won’t have to leave I-20 again this season unless it’s making the short turn up 55 toward the Mississippi Coliseum and the state basketball tournament.

If that happens, I’ll just meet them there.