Augie: A struggle to get up

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Decked out in Brazilian wearThe Augustana basketball teams are in Brazil this week and are blogging on the trip. Tayvian Johnson is blogging for the men’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team.

Waking up today was a struggle for many different reasons. First, the game last night was very taxing on us. It was a hard fought game and a few guys, including me, were pretty banged and bruised. Despite that, however, last night’s game will be a game that will never be forgotten.

Not only did we play the best 22-and-under team in South America, we were playing in the same arena where the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards will be practicing for their exhibition game in early October. On top of that, the USA men’s and women’s teams will also be using the facility during the 2016 Olympics.

A man named Daniel Soares also attended the game and he is one of the two men employed by the NBA to arrange the game between the Bulls and Wizards. That was one of the best game experiences we could have asked for to end our trip.

After the game we cleaned up and went to another all you can eat Brazilian pizza restaurant. It also had the fantastic cinnamon banana pizza that our team has grown to love.

After dinner we went out with our tour guide to a local dance club. We took the city bus to the club and odd enough it was very similar to an American city bus besides the man that got on about half was through and was singing loudly in Portuguese.

The club was fun and after that we had a handful of guys who attempted to stay up and watch the sunrise. Only about half actually made it and I was not one of them. After the struggle of waking up, we made it to lunch a small diner where I had the best meal of the entire trip – filet-de-frango at Madelom. We then packed up and after stopping at the market to get some local soda and doing some last minute shopping it was time to head to the airport.

Being at the airport now is bittersweet because while I miss my loved ones I have nine of the best days of my life to remember. I’ve made memories with my team that I will never forget and we are a better team after this.

I love Brazil!

Augie: Women say farewell

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On the beach, in uniformThe Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Tayvian Johnson is blogging for the men’s team.

Well our time here in Brazil is wrapping up.

Today we went to the beach to get in a last few hours of fun in the sun before having to return to the hotel and pack up for our journey back home. It was a beautiful day with a clear, blue sky and lots of ocean waves. We took our last opportunity for a photo shoot and brought our uniforms for pictures on the beach.

As our time wraps up here in Rio de Janeiro, we can look back at what an experience it has been. It was 10 short days full of amazing and unimaginable sights and sounds. It truly has been an experience of a lifetime.

Tonight we will leave and tomorrow we will be back on US soil where we will get time to reflect and reminisce on the time here in Brazil.

Augie: A magnificent statue

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GroupThe Augustana basketball teams are in Brazil this week and are blogging on the trip. Tayvian Johnson is blogging for the men’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team.

Today was a day of breath-taking events. After an early rise we went to see one of the most photographed statues in the world, Monumento do Cristo Redentor or the Christ Statue. After a long wait in line and a card scan we were traveling up Corcovado mountain.

To get up the mountain we took a train and out of both sides of the window there were small glimpses of what would be one of the most amazing views we could ever ask for. When the train ride was over we had reached the monument and neither pictures nor the view from ground level do this amazing piece of art work justice. This was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen, standing 98 feet tall and a wingspan of 92 feet it was breath-taking to say the least. You could see everyone on our team light up as we finally reached the top of the stairs and looked up.

Along with the breath-taking view of the city of Rio de Janiero, the statue lit up faces from people of all nationalities and ages. It is a true spectacle when you can cross language barriers and see true enjoyment on people’s faces. Underneath the statue there was a chapel where I found teammates Brandon Motzel and Ben Ryan. Ben was putting in an offering and Brandon was praying.

Seeing that made me stop and realize how fortunate I was to be on this trip with such great people. I sat down said my prayer, took a few more pictures then we all started our trip back down the mountain. While waiting for our bus we saw two men playing a game that looked like a cross between badminton and handball. They we hitting a small ball with a tail in front of us and surprisingly hit it to me with no warning. I returned it to the men and one of the men started playing the game. It must have excited our whole team because we bought about 10 of them and will be bringing them back to the states.

After we got back to the hotel it was more giant waves on the beach. After we washed off and started gearing up for what would be the hardest game of the trip. We played C.R. Flamengo. Coach Giovanine had been telling us we need toughness to compete and we found that tonight. After being down four at half and down two with one and a half minutes to the best youth team in South America it was clear that our trip was a success from a basketball standpoint.

Although a few calls that didn’t go our way and some free throws ended up in a loss it was still a great game to play in and be a part of. Today might have been my favorite day and I know everyone on the trip had a blast.

Augie: Women sweep Brazil

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With their socks.The Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Kevin Schlitter is blogging for the men’s team.

Well we’ve done it again!

We’ve managed to go undefeated here in Rio and had quite the time doing it. Today we played a game that was full of unselfish, team basketball. I think we can all say we’ve made huge strides while we’ve been here and it has been a great experience!

Yet again the girls we played were full of fun and welcomed us with open arms. Today, instead of exchanging shirts, many of the Brazilian players wanted our socks. Although many of us had just played in them and they were definitely smelly and sweaty, the Brazilian players wanted to give us jerseys for our socks because they can only buy white socks in Brazil and many of us had black or navy that we wore. It was a bit different and I won’t lie: I feel bad for giving them my socks because they were not something I should let anyone else touch, especially after a game. But, in good fun we exchanged laughs about the smell and sweat and they assured us that they were a wonderful gift!

Tonight we will head to a traditional Brazilian steakhouse where we will have quite the traditional meal and we will of course celebrate our three wins and the time we’ve spent here.

Tomorrow we will head to the beach bright and early to watch the sunrise and take in whatever we can of this wonderful city. I’m sure it will be another one of the great things that we get to experience while here. Then, tomorrow night we will head back to the United States. First, we will fly from Rio de Janeiro to Miami and then back to Chicago.

The time has flown, but it has been anything but wasted. We can’t be grateful enough for the opportunity we’ve had to come to Brazil and see some amazing things!

Augie: The view from up here

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GroupThe Augustana basketball teams are in Brazil this week and are blogging on the trip. Kevin Schlitter is blogging for the men’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team.

The day started overcast, but the views we saw made it seem like a bright day.

Sugar Loaf Mountains in two words is “simply breathtaking.” We started off zipping up the world famous cable cars that can be seen in James Bond’s movie Moonraker. The ride up was a little unsettling for most of us seeing how the cars swayed so much on a windy day.

Once we made it to the first mountain we were amazed with the views of the city of Rio de Janeiro and more importantly, the several beaches and mountains in the background.

But we weren’t done just yet.

Another cable car ride brought us even higher into the sky where it seemed like we could see for hundreds of miles. A great team picture at the top and then it was straight down on solid ground.

After the mountains we did a little shopping at the international market where they were selling everything from t-shirts to earrings to even ‘love sacks’. Hundreds of vendors flock the square right off Ipanema Beach every Sunday. A brisk windy walk back to our hotel and it was right back to the beach where there were the biggest waves I have ever seen in person. These waves had to be at least 15 feet high.

At first only a few brave souls wondered out to take on the beasts but as time passed more and more came in. Coach Giovanine’s wife was talking to us about how someone’s bathing suit was bound to come off with how strong the waves were. Sure enough, the words were barely out of her mouth and Ben Ryan’s bathing suit showed up right in front of me!!!

Dinner tonight was at a Churrascaria or Brazilian steak house which is famous down here. We ate and ate and kept on eating until we physically could not fit anymore. Later tonight we plan on heading down the beach to another local night market in search for souvenirs.

Tomorrow will be my favorite day when we visit Cristo Redentor, or Christ the Redeemer statue. We finish the night by playing a very tough C.R. Flamango team which beat Kansas State last summer.