Tag Archives: Insider

Augie in China: Last day in Hong Kong

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A day after our scrimmage game in Hong Kong against Hong Kong Baptist University, we got a whole day to do some sightseeing. As a group, we went on a boat tour through Hong Kong harbor. This harbor goes right through the middle of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.

Augustana with Hong Kong Baptist University players.
Augustana captains Kyle Nelson (left) and Bryant Voiles on a boat cruise in the Hong Kong harbor.

The tour took us up and down the harbor and we were able to see the skyscrapers and other buildings that made up the business district of Hong Kong. The boat also sailed into the shipping container district. This was a massive area of large ships dropping off and collecting containers to take to all parts of the world. This was something unique to see since this is one of the world’s largest and most productive shipping yards that caters to the entire world.
 
Once we got back to land it was a quick lunch and the team was off to explore Hong Kong Island. Up until this point we had spent all of our time on mainland Kowloon. We boarded the Star Ferry to take us across the harbor to the port on the island. Once on the island we walked around the business district looking at all of financial and other business buildings. It was amazing how many people were walking around, as every sidewalk was packed. We then boarded a bus to take us to Stanley market so we could do some shopping. The bus took us up through the mountains of HK Island and past all of the expensive houses and ritzy clubs that were in the area.
 
After spending a few hours at the market, we got back on the bus and made our way back to the main area of the harbor. The team split up into two groups at this point. One group took the ferry across the harbor again to see the light show that the buildings on HK Island sponsored. At 8:00 p.m. every night, the buildings have a choreographed light show to music that you watch from the other side of the water. The second group took the subway underneath the harbor back to mainland Kowloon to our hotel.
 
Just outside of the hotel at 11:00 p.m. at night there was a game for some outdoor basketball league taking place. The players had jerseys, officials and a clock and we watched a couple minutes of the game.
 
We are headed to board a train to take us to mainland China, specifically to Dongguan. We play our first game in China against the best team from the NBL (the National Basketball League), essentially China’s equivalent to America’s NBA Developmental League. We are then on the Guangzhou for one night to prepare for a stretch of five games in nine days.
 
Off to China!
 
– Kyle Nelson

Insider: ‘I can’t believe the season’s over’

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As I was asked to write my final blog I’m thinking to myself, “I can’t believe our season’s over. It went so fast.” As for many teams we wanted to go all the way and get into the NCAAs, but for us that didn’t happen. Even though our season ended earlier then we would have liked, there were a lot of great memories and experience that made this season one of the best for me.

In the beginning of the season we had a slow start and not the best record, but that almost got us motivated and made us work harder, which set the tone for the rest of the season and how we played. After the rough start the team got going and we started to play well and never looked back. It was an exciting season for the team — we were working and meshing well together and playing Edgewood College basketball. One of the great memories for the team was when we went to the Bahamas for our winter tournament. We played well and we won the whole thing. That was the first tournament in my career that we have ever won, so it was very exciting.

For me, this season was one of the best in my career. Being a senior I knew I needed to be a leader for the younger players, this was going to be a learning experience for myself, just as much as it was going to be for them. My teammates were great, worked well everyday together and made playing basketball fun. I loved playing with them all, each one of them taught me something that I will never forget and will cherish every memory from this year. The same is true for the coaching staff. They put so much time and effort to help us become the team we are today. I am thankful for every single one of them and all that they do. They have taught me so much and are the ones that made me the player I am today.

As for me personally I can’t believe my college career is over. It went by so fast and it’s hard for me to know that I won’t wear an Edgewood College jersey again and go and play the game that I love. Even though it’s over for me, I had a lot of great memories and accomplishments that I never knew I would get from playing basketball. All of what I have accomplished individually wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my teammates and coaches, so thank you to you all. You made basketball the best for me here at Edgewood College and I will always remember you all.

Playing basketball here at Edgewood College was the best decision of my life. I not only grew as a player, but as a person as well. I have learned so much and I hope all of my teammates and the other future Eagles experience what I have and enjoy it all.
– Megan Scheele, Edgewood College

Hello from Baruch College

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My name is Mike Dietz and I am a senior at Baruch College located in New York City. This is my second year on the team after playing my first two seasons at SUNY Plattsburgh. I was born and raised in Queens, which was the main reason for me changing schools to come back home.

I loved my experience at Plattsburgh; winning two SUNYAC championships and winning an NCAA tournament game will stay with me forever. I’m still close with all the players and the coaches; I wish them nothing but the best! I still follow the team and will always consider myself a part of the Plattsburgh family.

I’ve had many interesting experiences playing basketball. I played my high school basketball at Archbishop Molloy in Jamaica, Queens. I played for Hall-of-Fame coach Jack Curran and many of our games were against future NCAA & NBA players such as Rudy Gay and Mario Chalmers. It was also nice playing alongside 2008 SEC Tournament MVP Sundiata Gaines (Georgia). We had a very strong team all those years, which was needed because the competition in the CHSAA is unmatched by any high school conference in the country.

I feel I should offer some insight on Baruch College and the CUNYAC (conference) as a whole. The CUNYAC is unlike any other conference in the country in my opinion. Unlike other conferences where road games involve jumping on a bus and traveling for at least an hour (I hated the bus trips at Plattsburgh), the CUNYAC games are closer in proximity. Tomorrow, we play in Brooklyn against Medgar Evers, which will be a 20-minute bus ride for some, while others without classes Tuesday afternoon will hop on the subway. That’s right, we take the subway to our games!

No conference game is further than 30 minutes away, and that’s when we have to go to the College of Staten Island every other year. There will be several instances when our whole team will take the subway to our games. It is very different than your normal D3 team.

Also, Baruch is a commuter school with no dorms, so everyone lives on their own. This forces us to have to deal with many obstacles not seen at your regular D3 programs. Each player has to travel to school everyday for practice, and for me that is 45 minutes on the R train. We have players coming from all five boroughs (Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and Staten Island for you people not familiar with the city), including Westchester County and nearby New Jersey.

Our season this year has had its up and downs losing two very heart-breaking games. We are 3-2 after beating Polytechnic, Immaculata, and Stevens Tech this past Sunday. Our two losses are to NYU and Farmingdale (OT Loss), and both were close games right down to the wire.

The Farmingdale game in particular is a heart-breaker because we had a 24 point lead in the first half before finally losing the lead in overtime. It was a crushing blow because we played so well in the first half, and we had the lead the entire game until the last 15 seconds when they finally tied it up. We had nothing left in overtime as we eventually lost by seven. We start our conference play tomorrow (Tuesday) versus Medgar Evers.

The 2008 Baruch Bearcats can be best described as what a team is supposed to be. If you were a coach, you would love coaching this group of guys. It really is a pleasure to play on this team because everyone is involved and everyone truly cares for one another. It is a selfless group, which is rare nowadays.

I’ll keep everyone updated on our team’s progress as we try and build on our big road win at Stevens Tech. Hopefully, I’ll have some good stories from our subway journeys. You can keep track of our team at www.BaruchAthletics.com, where our scores and statistics are always updated on the website before I’m done showering!

Talk to you soon,

Mike Dietz