Troy University Athletics
A Traveling Broad: Belgium, Days 4 & 5
8/9/2009 12:15:00 AM | Basketball (M)
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Ghent, Belgium
The last two days have flown by faster than any other the other days thus far. I regret not having blogged last night. Since I've seen so much in the last forty-eight hours, it may be difficult to recollect. But here goes:
We arrived at the Marriot in Ghent, Belgium, after a long bus ride from Amsterdam. As you recall I'd hoped for more beautiful scenery than snoring. I may have been party to the snoring more than the scenery. There is something about those busses that rocks me to sleep every time.
I awoke as we were entering Belgium and stayed at the front of the bus for the remainder of the ride. The country side here is much like the northern states, with lots of farmland (potatoes, corn, wheat to name a few recognizable crops) and farm animals (sheep, goats, cows, and horses). The corn though is honestly about 8 feet tall and the grass is so much greener. Charles, Inga, and Bob all say they've received lots of rain this year, although it hasn't rained more than a schmutz since we've been here. (A schmutz is something like a drizzle, from my dad's Pennsylvania childhood. It's fun to say!)
We rode to Brugge (which is pronounced much like you were saying Zsa Zsa - Bruzs, if you will). And, no, you shouldn't start calling our video coordinator Frizs in similar fashion. The letters don't make sense around here, like our phonetically sounding words do to us. However, the Flemish rendering of the Dutch words are less harsh and phlegm-ish, if you'll pardon the pun.
Brugge is a beautiful, bustling tourist city with many up-scale shops and galleries. We toured this city by boat, via Bartolome' the boat captain. We weren't the only occupants of the boat, and definitely weren't the only language represented. That meant Bart would say something in French, Dutch, and one other language before telling us in English. The front passengers would laugh when he told the story in their language and then we'd experience a delayed laugh when we heard it in English. Other than that, the boat ride became a parade for TROY basketball, with the players waving at bystanders on the shore and oncoming boats. We received many waves and smiles and returned the favor as we walked along the canal to other boat passengers.
After our arrival in Ghent, we took a walking tour of the city. One significant word: "cobblestone." And as cobbly as these stones are, you may even be able to split it into two separate and disctinct words. Throw in the turn-about wooden draw bridges (where it rotates on the axis instead of raising and lowering) and all the belfrys and cathedrals and you'd swear you were on the "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves" movie set. It is beautiful, nonetheless.
This city has ties all the way back to the 11th Century, as witnessed in the cathedral and castle we visited today. It is definitely like a time warp here. We've said many times since arriving in Ghent that Charles' bus must be a time machine. It's reminiscent of a medieval city here and every time I walk out onto the canal, I anticipate jousting horses and chivalrous nights to come to my side. No luck, yet...but there's still time.
There are still plenty of bike riders, but they are slower and not as aggressive. Likewise, everything has slowed down tremendously since leaving Amsterdam. I could see myself re-visiting this place in years to come. Of course, not during pre-season football camp, but this would be a city I could see myself in again in my lifetime. For no other reason than the chocolate!
I've tasted mussels, a local beef stew made with beer (of course), and chocolate (OF COURSE). That was pretty much the three things we were advised to sample. I've not been disappointed with a meal or a chocolate yet.
Reading the menus are totally different stories, though. Thanks to Bob, our trip guide, and Peter Bruyse, our local tour guide, for helping us out in that department. Although everyone I've spoken with says that everybody should know English, we've experienced quite a few more language barriers here than in Amsterdam. They not only know the language, they know food! And that's really important! I've included a picture of the menu for you. You try to find something tasty on it!
So, then this morning, I was off to see some more sights with Coach Maestri and Peter. You can see some of the photos of statues and churches, both of which abound here in Ghent. Among some of those historical markers are two plaques for our resident radio broadcaster who was unable to make the trip with us, Barry McKnight. He'd advised me that Ghent was where the Treaty of Ghent was signed, which ended the War of 1812. Somehow I don't think John Quincy Adams stayed above the Esprit shoppe when he was here in 1812, but the plaque is there and I took a special picture just for him.
I had lunch with 4 European men: Bob, Peter, and two others whom I can't recall their names (my apologies if they're reading this. What am I saying...of course, they're reading this!) It was definitely a treat. I pretty much felt like I was in America with men talking basketball, except this time I really didn't understand a word they were saying! I could tell when their tones changed and thought for a minute I'd have to sit between them to help resolve whatever issue they were "arguing." I found out that I wasn't nearly as good at debating and making profound points as I thought I was, not even when I batted my eyes and smiled real big. We split the check, Dutch treat of course, and were on our way.
And then there's a little game we played tonight. We were promised that the teams in Belgium would be more talented than the others we'd already played. The competition tonight was younger and more energetic, playing a similar style of basketball as we do (or at least from my perspective). We won, but allowed the opponent to score more than 72 points, which was something I'd challenged the players to do - allow them to score 72 points and no more - so we could keep on a roll as in the previous games. They failed me in that department slightly, with a final score of 94 to 77.
I received a real box score in this game, in addition to the hand-written box score from the previous game. It is unlike the US version and takes a translator, much like everything else around these parts. So once again, I'll give you my cookie cutter approach to recapping the story:
Game 3 Recap:
First of all, I didn't have to tape kneeling this time! They had a table for me to use in the sporthal (that's what they call a gym around here). That was a definite plus on the night.
Secondly...Travis and the other 'professional' journalists out there reading this...I'm lucky to get the stats right, let alone include any play-by-play. I do however, occasionally entertain myself on the bench with Christian Lange, manager extraordinaire,by providing some play-by-play announcing and color commentation, but you don't want hear that. I promise.
In other news, the Trojans won by 17 points over St. Jan Basketball, even though we were out-rebounded, shot 54% from the field and 37% from the 3-point land (now that I think of it, the field and 3-pointers may be the same thing, but I really don't know). The starters: Vogler, Hazzard, Jones, Delk, and Toombs combined for 54 of the total points scored.
Brandon Hazzard led the Trojans in minutes played and points scored, with 27 on the night. Hazzard was 100% from the free-throw line at 2-2, blocked a shot, and had 2 rebounds. That brings his tour totals to 74 points and 7 rebounds.
Travis Lee had a stand-out night, contributing the second best totals with 18 points, shooting 100% from the charity stripe, and pulling down 2 defensive rebounds. His tour stats rise to 49 points and 12 rebounds.
Richard Delk scored 14 points and had 5 rebounds, moving his totals to 34 and 13 respectively for the three games played thus far. He also blocked a shot and shot 100% from the free-throw, rounding out the three players this game to do so in addition to Hazzard and Lee.
Mario Telfair rounds out the Trojans scoring in double digits with 10 points on the night and 5 rebounds. He also led the team in shooting percentage tonight with 71%. He moves to 22 points and 13 rebounds on the Trojans' European Tour.
William Toombs pulled down 10 rebounds, scored 3 points, and blocked one shot. This was his first night in which he didn't score a double-double. Toombs' total for the three-game sweep rise to 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Other contributions came from the following players: Tracye Macon-8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 shot blocked (29 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 3 games), Michael Vogler-5 points and 1 rebound (29 and 8), Antywan Jones-5 points, 4 rebounds (36 and 14), and Josh Williams-4 points, 2 rebounds (23 and 7). Regis Huddleston and Kyle Greenwood were held scoreless on the night.
The only other statistic from the score sheet that stands out to me is that we score 32 fast break points. If we could have one-third of all our points come on the fast break, I think that means we're breaking faster than the other team. Could be something to that and winning games, but again, I'm no expert.
Enough of that; let me put my tour guide hat back on.
We'll be in Ghent one more day, with a game between here and Paris tomorrow evening. We are taking the players to a church or two in the morning for them to witness the grandeur and beauty of these old monuments. Some of them are still working churches, although some have been turned into museums.
We will play the fourth and final game against Waragem BBC at 4:00 local time and then bus on to Paris afterward. My final story will most likely come from Paris in the "oui" hours of the morning Monday after a tour of "The City of Lights."
It's hard to believe we're in the final hours of our trip. It has definitely been an adventure of a lifetime and one that I will certainly speak of fondly for many years to come. I'll say all my "mercis' and 'bonjours' in the final edition!
Until Paris-
GO TROJANS!!
ASteed
