Ron Barr and Sports Byline USA LIVE from Iraq

I'm a movie buff and some of my favorites are westerns.  Two in particular, "3:10 to Yuma" and "The Magnificent Seven" apply to the first leg of my trip.  I get to San Francisco International 90 minutes before my flight to Washington Dulles to make my non-stop flight to Kuwait.  Well, the United "11:10 to Washington" turned into the "1:30 to Washington."  This is not good since landing in Washington will be about 10 minutes before my flight to Kuwait takes off.  Missing this flight begins a series of problems I don't need.  So, I swing into action.  Being a pilot I always anticipate and look for alternatives.  However, nothing looks good.  Connecting flights through Germany and other European gateways are not available.  It looks like I'm rolling the dice and hoping we get favorable tailwinds.

Waiting for our delayed flight to come in, I notice the Captain of my flight getting some late weather information.  I ask him if there's any chance he can get me there in time to make my "only flight to Kuwait" connection.  I tell him my situation, who I'm meeting and what we're going to do in Iraq.  We talk some flying, and then he says, "I'll get you there in time."  He tells the ground crew, "I want this plane turned around in 30 minutes and I want everyone loaded at the same time."  I smile knowing he's trying to save time and get us on our way to Washington.  Everyone hustles and we get off the ground at 1:50 pm.  Flying time is 4 hours and thirty-six minutes and that means if nothing happens we should hit the gate fifteen minutes before the Kuwait flight leaves.  I notice during the flight that he climbs to a higher altitude.  I smile knowing he was looking for more favorable tailwinds hoping to pickup some additional time.

We make our final approach to Dulles, I check my watch, and I smile.  He knocked 10 minutes off his flying time.  We hit our gate at 9:25 pm.  I'm the first off the plane and a United representative says, "Mr. Barr, you're leaving for Kuwait from gate C-8, about 4 minutes away."  I stroll on my Kuwait flight looking cool and with no sweat.  It was no sweat because of a professional, thoughtful United Captain who made sure my mission wouldn't be get started with a problem.  He gets my deep appreciation.

In the "Magnificent Seven" a group of gunslinging cowboys come together to save a town from the bad guys.  My "Magnificent Five" isn't that dramatic, but they are special.  Randy Cross, winner of three Super Bowl Championships with the 49ers and now a game analyst with CBS. Spencer Tillman, also a Super Bowl winner with the 49ers and now the studio host for CBS Sports' College Football.  Brian Billick, former Super Bowl winning Baltimore Ravens coach.  Jon Bullock (JB), producer and the real brains of the Magnificent Five.  And, myself.  Fill in any description you want.  We're locked and loaded and ready to do our thing for the troops.  And, thank God we're all on the same flight doing it.

Washington to Kuwait is a 12 hour long flight.  Sleep is hard to come by, but boredom can make anyone doze off.  Spencer Tillman is sitting by a Major General who is headed to Afghanistan and they hit it off immediately.  J.B. is looking hopefully sitting with someone who leaves him alone so he can sleep.  Randy has no one sitting next to him and is thrilled by that.  I'm sitting with Brian Billick and we get a chance to catch up on things.  One of our common threads is the late Bill Walsh.  Bill was Brian's friend and coaching mentor.  Bill and I shared a 30-year friendship.  We shared our favorite Walsh stories, talked about what made him so great, and reflected on his absence in our and so many other people's lives.  Also, I got a chance to ask him, "what happened in Baltimore?"  The answer is a reflection of life in professional sports.  But, a soothing reminder for Billick is that he was fired after only his first year of a 4-year 24 million deal.  You do the math and you can see why Billick is looking forward, not in the past.  Lucky for me because if he hadn't been fired, he wouldn't have been free to join us on this trip.

Twelve hours later we touch down half way around the world in Kuwait City.  It was a typical overcast, sand and dust obscured day in Kuwait.  We made it and the Magnificent Five is ready to bring some fun and smiles to our troops.  This is why we're here.