Road Diaries: Boston Flee Party

So I get an e-mail last night during the Cavs game that my 6:30 a.m. flight on U.S. Air into Philadelphia this morning had been cancelled. Never a good thing. I called U.S. Air and they rebooked me on a 7:15, meaning I'd still make my connection into Cleveland and be home in time to have lunch with Mrs. Lloyd. Or not.

We boarded the plane as usual at 7 this morning, only to have the pilot come on and tell us we'd been grounded because of weather in Philly until 8:15 (why exactly they waited until we were on the plane to tell us is the first of many mysteries of the day). Given the new delay, I had about 15 minutes to make my connection ... in another terminal in Philly. I had about as much chance of making the connection as the Cavs did at beating the Celtics last night.

At 8 a.m., after the little girl sitting behind me had successfully kicked my kidneys into my spleen, the pilot came back to tell us that a mechanical problem had been discovered. Now mind you, we were sitting at the gate and hadn't moved FOR 45 MINUTES!!! No one seemed to discover this teeny, tiny little mechanical glitch until then (when we should've been in the air 45 minutes earlier). But wait, it gets better.

The good news, Iceman said, was that it was an easy fix. The bad news was Maverick and Goose were going to have to fly in the new equipment from Washington! That would push the departure back until 10:30 a.m., by which time the snow would have successfully assaulted the eastern seaboard much the way the league has assaulted the Cavs for the last two months.

Now a full flight of about 175 people needed reticketed on new flights with a blizzard on the way. I haven't seen that many angry, violent people pushing and shoving since The Decision. I bypassed U.S. Air and its Philly connections entirely, returning to my first love Continental, which I shouldn't have betrayed in the first place. They were waiting with outstretched wings, a tissue, a hug and a direct to Cleveland. Only that direct leaves in 20 minutes -- a full 10 1/2 hours after I was supposed to leave. I've seen enough of Logan Airport to know I don't need to see it again for a long, long time.

The good news is it hasn't started snowing yet and I should get out OK. The better news is the Cavs are done coming to the Northeast until March.