Aaron McFarling

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COLUMBUS, Ga. - Truth be told, this isn't exactly Kevin Owens' fantasy. Not on a day as big as this. He'd rather be back home in Philadelphia, hanging out with his boys, cheering like crazy for his Eagles. But NBDL road trips don't stop. Not even for the Super Bowl. So here he is on Sunday evening, in room 249 of the Holiday Inn, chilling with his Roanoke Dazzle teammates.

Always with the teammates.

"Go, T.O.! Go T.O.!" Owens shouts at the small television at the front of the room. "Yeahhh! T.O.!"

His cellphone rings.

"Whassup!"

Pause.

"I know! T.O., baby!"

There are five of them here. Owens and shooting guard Matt Carroll are Philly guys, big fans. James Thomas, Sherman Gay and Terrence Shannon are on the other side of the room. They've agreed to root for the Eagles for the day.

Carroll told me before we left on this trip that there's a bond in this league that you don't see in the NBA. He's right. There, you play the game and go your separate ways. Here, you spend your lives together, for better or worse.

"I love these guys," Thomas says, leaning back on the bed. "But this guy right here ..." He points to Carroll, his roommate.

Basketball is what draws them together, but the Dazzle players are sports junkies in general. Owens, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Haddonfield, N.J., wore his Eagles jersey to and from the game Saturday night. And football talk - any kind of football talk - has been a common theme during this seven-game road trip.

Take Friday's exchange over lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Coach Kent Davison: "You know, a lot of people don't realize how good O.J. Simpson really was."

Thomas: "Oh, yeah. I saw highlights of him the other night. He was great."

Davison: "Yeah, it's a shame what happened with him."

Thomas: "Yeah, and it's really too bad since he didn't do it."

Everybody stopped chewing and looked at Thomas.

He grinned.

"I'm just playing with you," he said.

Or picture Davison, the 32-year veteran of the sidelines, kneeling at the front of the bus last month, turning the radio knob as he desperately tried to get the broadcast of the playoff game between the New York Jets and his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.

All of them watch NBA basketball a lot, taking notes and dreaming at the same time. But football - and particularly the Super Bowl - offers a chance to relax.

Until the FedEx commercial comes on.

"FedEx!" Shannon shrieks. "Man, [expletive]! That's the worst [expletive] company!"

He explains that at the end of the 2002-03 NBDL season, he had all his stuff shipped via FedEx from Roanoke to his home in Illinois. All seven boxes were lost, he says, including his treasured collection of Air Jordan sneakers.

"FedEx," the voice says at the end of the commercial. "The most reliable way to send your package."

Thomas laughs.

"Oh, yeah?" he says.

After the first quarter, the quintet moves down to the hotel lobby. More room.

The wings arrive from next door. The players spread out on the furniture.

A party is under way, D-league style.

The Eagles score a touchdown. Owens shouts, gives a round of high-fives, then picks up the phone and dials home.

"Hello, Dad? How you doing?"

Pause.

"Yeah, we're down here in a hotel lobby in Columbus, Ga. A bunch of us are down here watching it."

Pause.

"Nah, we're having fun ..."