Daily Archives: August 4, 2010

Augie in China: Layover in Japan

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After two hours in O’Hare Airport and 12 and a half hours on a plane, Augustana has set foot in Japan! It was a long awaited arrival as the flight lasted half a day. Most of the guys were buried in their personal entertainment systems on the plane, and were either playing games or watching movies. To pass the time we would by play Battleship or Tetris on the plane’s system against one another.

All of the big guys were fortunate enough to get exit row seats so that we could stretch out in the extra room (thank you to Dr. Norm Moline and whomever else set that up).
 
Once landing in Japan, we made our way through security and settled down in a Japanese noodle restaurant to get our first taste of Japanese food. Our stay here isn’t very long (a 3-hour layover) and we are confined to staying within the terminal. But, everyone is excited to come back to Japan at the end of our trip when we get to spend a day in downtown Tokyo.
 
Our flight to Hong Kong leaves in an hour. See everyone then!
 
-Kyle Nelson

Heading to Europe: Trip of a lifetime

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Chris McDevitt is part of a group of Division III players (and three Division II players) traveling to Europe as an All-Star team this month. The others are Anthony LoRusso of Ramapo; Sean Hughes of Rowan; Fran Brzyski of Susquehanna; Alex Raymond of Juniata; Otis Smith of Southern Maine and SUNY-Cobleskill’s Damon Franklin. The D-II players: Eric Brennan of Kutztown, Ricky Hudson of American International and Erv Ezell of Seminole State.

McDevitt’s first blog entry follows:

The past three years at Widener University have been the best three years of my life. Participating in Division III basketball has opened the door to many great opportunities, and this week will be one of them.

One of my teammates last year got the opportunity of a lifetime to travel abroad to Europe with other NCAA basketball players. Hearing about his, I realized I wanted to make this experience my own. Nine other Division II and Division III players and myself will be traveling through Europe for the next ten days which begins on Wednesday with our flight to Belgium.

At Widener I have been part of a great basketball tradition, including winning two conference championships in the last three years. Yet, nothing can compare to a trip of sightseeing, basketball, and experiencing life in countries outside of the United States.

The anticipation is building on the days leading up to the trip. I am excited to be able to meet fellow college basketball players from other areas of the United States, and build relationships with them on and off of the basketball court while in Europe. We have all been communicating through Facebook and a few texts to get ready for the next two weeks. Although we will not be able to have any practice sessions as a team before we leave, we are planning on a few upon our arrival. I cannot wait to see all of the talent that will come together as a unit and hopefully we can showcase our skills and personalities throughout the ten days.

We will be departing from Newark Airport on Wednesday, Aug. 4. When we arrive in Belgium we will be meeting with a tour guide for a tour of the city of Mechelen and practicing that night. We will be taking part in a ton of tours while in several different cities, which I will update daily while in Europe. Our games will all be played in the evening against a variety of teams from different European leagues.

The special part of this trip which the team values greatly is that each of us will be representing our college/university as well as our country. This is an amazing opportunity and we are all extremely excited to get this experience started!

Next time you hear from me we will have completed our trip over the pond and be in Belgium.

– Chris McDevitt
Widener University