Even Hawks need airports

Anybody who's ever had to fly out of Terminal F at Philadelphia International knows there's nothing exciting about it; it's the worst terminal at one of the worst major airports in North America.

But I finally got just a little bit of excitement there today.

I was just checking in to head on Spring Break (i.e. back home to snowy Montreal) when I turned around and saw Pat Calathes. And Ahmad Nivins. And Tasheed Carr. And yes, Phil Martelli (who I've never seen up close in person -- he looked a lot younger than in photos or footage).

They were off to Dayton, and there we were, me and the Hawks standing in line at the security checkpoint. I thought it was pretty cool but went on my way.

So I stopped to buy a newspaper and Pat Calathes gets in line behind me. I couldn't see what he was getting, but he was eyeing a People magazine with a bikini-clad Drew Barrymore on the cover.

I turned around, put my head back to look up (he's about 6'10", I'm a little over 5'6"), and congratulated him on the win over Xavier last night. He said thanks.

Then I told him that he really killed Penn when he played us.

He gave a half-smile and chuckle and said: "Yeah...well it's kind of a rebuilding year over there"