The Boys on the Bus Endure Long, Tedious Rides to and From Games : On the Road: A trip to the San Fernando Valley for Servite’s football team includes stop-and-go traffic, nodding off and leaving Anaheim almost six hours before game time.

It’s 2:09 on a Friday afternoon and two buses carrying the Servite High School football team are creeping along the Santa Ana Freeway amid a sea of brake lights.

It is said that by the year 2000 the average speed on Southern California freeways will be 17 miles per hour. Presently, the two buses are moving about 15 m.p.h. as they head toward Mission Hills in the San Fernando Valley, where the Friars are scheduled to play Alemany.

But that’s more than five hours off. Behind them is Anaheim and classmates still studying in school. A round trip to Alemany is about 110 miles and what with Los Angeles traffic, teams such as Servite take off as early as possible to ensure they will arrive before the national anthem.

It often means tedious, slow-moving bus rides for the players. Their classmates back in World History may envy them for getting out of class, but an hour and a half on a bus is not exactly jet-setting.

Here’s a diary of a long, sometimes strange trip:

1:15--Fifth period ends. The Servite varsity football players are excused from sixth period. They gather at the locker room to collect their gear and board the buses.

1:48--The buses, two 46-seat Mark IVs with reclining seats, air conditioning and restrooms, load up with players. Twenty two on one bus, 21 on the other.

“We could get by with one bus but I don’t want them in the aisles,” Servite Coach Larry Toner said. “If we are going to travel that long, I want a recliner bus, because if we do get stuck, I don’t want to be sitting on one of those things that is hot and the kids are straight up. It is just a more comfortable ride if you get stuck in traffic.”

Comfort apparently breeds contentment because the boys on the bus are generally quiet.

“Usually by Friday everybody is so tired from school and practice and stuff that the bus ride is really relaxing,” linebacker Cris Calabria said. “It helps us calm down before the game.”

1:50--Ariel Ordonez asks defensive coordinator Jerry Howell how much longer it will take to get to Alemany. The buses haven’t gotten on the freeway yet.

2:03--Toner falls asleep as the bus moves at a good clip up the Santa Ana Freeway through the city of Commerce. He remains dead to the world until it is time for the pregame meal. Many of his players twist and turn in search of the perfect recline. A few study for a history exam on Monday. They’re missing the review in the classroom right now.

2:05--Ordonez gives up on U.S. history and begins squirreling around in his seat. He passes his book on to Calabria. Traffic is now stop-and-go on I-5. The players are oblivious for the most part, their heads lolling back and forth as the bus lurches.

Those who stay awake are lulled, perhaps even a bit addled by the tedium. Said one player: “It would be a longer trip if nobody slept.”

Calabria said, “It’s hard to stay mentally prepared. There’s the bus ride, then you get there and have a pregame meal. There is just so much time to kill.

“It’s hard to stay into it, but not so hard because at Servite, they do everything first class. We’re going to eat at a restaurant.”

2:42--The buses arrive at a Panorama City restaurant. Toner delivers a brief lecture, warning: “Mind your manners. Say yes ma’am, no ma’am, thank you ma’am.”

The players get a special discount at the restaurant. They pay $6 out of their own pockets for all the pasta and salad they can eat. A few rue the disparity between appetite and plate size.

Still, $318 later, 43 players, seven coaches and three managers are satiated. Everything goes smoothly, unlike two weeks ago when Servite traveled to play Crespi in Encino.

One restaurant manager had promised the team a discount but when they arrived the manager on duty refused. There was a 20-minute delay while the problem was rectified.

3:48--The buses roll again. The players, having been fed, are an alert and boisterous lot ready for action, unfortunately, game time is still about four hours away.

4:00--Traffic on the 405 bogs down at Rinaldi; fortunately, this is the exit to Alemany.

4:05-- Two hours and 17 minutes after leaving Anaheim, the buses arrive at Alemany. On the field the sophomore team, which came on another bus and did not eat a pregame meal, is in uniform and warming up to play. Taping is not until 4:30, so the varsity players drift about. They will do quite a bit of this for the next three hours.

“The waiting is the killer on these long trips,” said Ed Drzanek, offensive coordinator.

5:15--The team heads to the locker room to suit up. About 25 Servite fans are in the stands. Municipal Court Judge Roger Robbins has already arrived to watch his son, Chandler, play.

“I finished my calendar at 1:15 and worked through lunch,” he said. His wife will drive up later.

“The perceived obstacle of driving from Anaheim to the San Fernando Valley is a deterrent,” Robbins said. “We’re not really wild about it I can tell you that.”

Walt Boucher, his wife, Cindy, and their son, Dusty, 12, also are in the stands to see son Brad play in the sophomore game. Walt is self-employed so he gave himself the time off to attend the game. The couple had to take Dusty out of school early so they could beat the traffic.

7:32--Finally, six hours after leaving Servite, the game begins. The Friars go ahead, 14-6, on a 74-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and eventually win, 24-6. The ride home won’t be so long.

9:40--The game is over. After a seven-minute talk from Toner, the team heads to the showers.

9:50--Players get a bag lunch of roast beef sandwich, chips, fruit juice and candy bar from the boosters near the buses. They talk and eat, and re-live the victory.

10:19--The buses pull out of the Alemany parking lot. The mood on board is lively and silly as the Servite players begin mimicking jungle noises.

10:46--About half of the players are fast asleep. For the most part the ride home is uneventful. There is a tense moment when the car in front of the lead bus weaves dangerously back and forth. The coaches speculate on whether the driver is asleep at the wheel or inebriated. The car changes lanes toward the exit. Traffic later slows for about a minute for a head-on collision in the middle lanes. The rest of the ride to Anaheim is smooth.

11:08--The buses pull into the Servite parking lot. The ride home took about an hour. The players let out a raucous cheer, they won the game and they made good time.