It’s kismet: Against the odds, UB student, alum travel to Bahamas Bowl

NASSAU, Bahamas — Peter Grollitsch was thrilled he could snag his parents one of the last rooms available on a cruise that’s docking in Nassau today. And that he can fly down from Charlotte to meet them so they can all watch the Bulls battle Charlotte in the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl.

Meanwhile, UB freshman Edrinique Morton is over the moon that she gets to perform with her bandmates in UB’s Thunder of the East marching band … for UB … in her home country.

What are the odds?

Morton, who plays alto saxophone, is from Exuma, Bahamas, which is about a 35-minute plane ride from Nassau. She’ll be arriving back home this morning after spending a few days this week in Miami with her sister.

“It’s amazing luck,” the biomedical sciences major told UBNow in a phone interview on Wednesday. “I’m grateful I’ll have the opportunity to do this because coming to UB I never thought I’d be able to perform in my country with the band. It’s exciting that I can have family members come watch me.”

She is also looking forward to sharing Bahamian cuisine — especially tropical conch salad — and culture with her classmates. “A lot of people showed me around Buffalo when I first got there. Now, I get the opportunity to show them my home country,” Morton said.

“I hope everyone enjoys the sunshine because when we get back to Buffalo there will be a few inches of snow on the ground,” she added.

Grollitsch will be attending the game with his parents, Peter and Lois. The younger Peter flew to Nassau from Charlotte, where he works in regulatory capital and regulatory reporting for Wells Fargo, after work on Thursday. His parents’ cruise ship is scheduled to dock in the Bahamas Friday morning. He’ll meet them at the pier and then they’ll head over to Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, where the Bahamas Bowl is played, for the pregame tent party being sponsored by UB’s Alumni Association.

An avid traveler, Grollitsch used some savvy to find out which cruise lines had cruises that were docking in Nassau on Friday. “It just coincided well. They boarded the four-day cruise (on Thursday). They get in to the Bahamas around 9 or 10 Friday morning and then leave at 7,” said Grollitsch, a 2009 UB graduate who studied business administration.

He was president of the Student Association in 2009, when the Bulls played in their first-ever bowl game, the International Bowl, in Toronto, and arranged for several hundred UB students to take buses up north to go to the game.

He also traveled to Mobile, Alabama, last December to see the Bulls play Troy in the Dollar General Bowl, then drove to New Orleans to spend a few days there.

“I’m a big supporter of UB and UB Athletics. I’ve been to three out of the four bowl games, a couple of basketball NCAA Tournament games,” Grollitsch said.

“If I can make it, I try to travel and support the team. It’s always fun to make a little trip out of it, have a good time with some fellow alums and explore a different city.”

Does Grollitsch have any allegiance to the Charlotte 49ers now that he works in that city?

“None whatsoever,” he said immediately.