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Good article about player's parents traveling to see their games, including this on Jeremis Smith's mom:
When Von Smith of the Fort Worth-Dallas area stepped off an American Airlines plane in Greensboro on Thursday, it was déjà vu. She had been here before, when her son, Georgia Tech player Jeremis Smith, played in youth amateur tournaments at the same coliseum when he was 8 and 10 years old.
"He's my son. It’s an obligation to be here to support him’’ she said. "I think he plays even harder when I watch."
On Thursday, as always, she was preparing to keep her feet moving throughout the game, as if she, not her son, was playing defense. "I do a lot of coaching," she said.
Her son responds.
"He plays like a monster," she said. "He's not afraid of anything. He takes hard hits on the floor. My heart stops a minute when this happens."
She may travel more next season. Her daughter hopes to play basketball for Harvard.
"I wanted children as a younger woman and I got exactly what I wanted," she said. "I'm happy and trying to do the best to enjoy them while I still have them."
Luckily, for Smith, she works for American Airlines. She gets free air travel.
When Georgia Tech played Boston College, she jetted to Boston. Since it was a weekend game, she got time for sightseeing.
Most times, it's fly in, see the game, take the red-eye home or the earliest flight the next morning.
Many times, she says, she has stepped off planes and gone right to work at the airport.