December 7, 2009
Follow the Vikings as they take on Gonzaga
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Augustana at GonzagaWhen: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9 Join us for the gameThe Augustana Office of Alumni Relations is hosting a game-watch event at Buffalo Wild Wings in Moline (4408 16th St.), starting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night. Not in the Quad Cities?Visit us on Facebook and let other alums around the country know where they can go to be among Vikings and watch the game. On campus?The FSN Northwest feed of the game will be shown live on Ch. 19 in all campus residence halls and academic buildings. CUBOM also will be hosting a game-watch in the Olin Auditorium at 8 p.m. Wednesday night, which will be followed by the movie The Time Traveler's Wife. |
The Augustana men's basketball team is traveling to Spokane, Washington, to take on Division I power Gonzaga in an 8 p.m. game on Wednesday, December 9.
You can follow the Vikings' trip and get behind-the-scenes updates from the road here, so keep checking back.
Pumping up the crowd noise ... itinerary for Tuesday
The Vikings will practice at the Carver Center this afternoon from 3-5 p.m. Coach Grey Giovanine has been pumping in extremely loud arena sounds during practice to prepare the players for the rowdy atmosphere at The Kennel, the 6,000-seat arena in which Gonzaga is 63-4.
The Vikings will have one more practice, Tuesday morning at 6:30 a.m., before loading a bus for Midway Airport in Chicago.
Here's the itinerary for Tuesday's travel day out to Spokane:
6:30 a.m.: Practice, Carver Center
8:30 a.m.: Load bus for Midway
1 p.m. CST: Flight leaves Midway
3:50 p.m. PST: Land in Oakland, California
6:50 p.m. PST: Depart Oakland
8:55 p.m. PST: Arrive in Spokane
Tuesday is going to be a long day for all involved, and we're hoping the "blizzard warning" issued for the Quad Cities isn't going to throw a monkey wrench into an already tight schedule for the trip.
Monday, December 7, 12:25 p.m. CST
What Gonzaga fans are saying
The fans on the Gonzaga message boards are starting to talk about Wednesday's game. Thought you might want to check it out.
Here's a link to the Spokane Spokeman-Review's website, for more info on the Bulldogs.
Monday, December 7, 1:10 p.m. CST
Breaking down the film
The Vikings just wrapped up their Monday practice, which opened with a film review of a Gonzaga game from earlier this season. Assistant coach Tom Jessee took the players through the Bulldogs' personnel, going over their styles of play, tendencies and statistics.
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| Augie forward Kyle Nelson pressures the ball during practice on Monday. |
There was a lot of work on defense during practice, how the Vikings are going to approach guarding the great perimeter players on the Gonzaga team. Of course, The Bulldogs also have size on the front line, and there was plenty of emphasis on rebounding and positioning inside.
Despite the tremendous odds stacked against the Vikings in this matchup, make no mistake, coach Grey Giovanine is preparing his team as he would for any other matchup, and he's not boarding the plane Tuesday planning on taking a loss. Before Monday's film session, he talked about what a unique opportunity this is for his players to measure themselves against some of the best players in the country and to "pull off the greatest upset in college basketball history."
Monday, December 7, 5:15 p.m. CST
Delayed at Midway ... only a little
The Vikings left the Carver Center at 8:30 a.m. sharp and, despite the weather blowing into the Quad Cities, the drive to Chicago Midway went smoothly. Assistant coach Tom Jessee and secretary Julie Peters handled the "flight attendant" duties on the bus, passing out doughnuts, fruit, juice and granola bars to the players and staff, and the bus arrived at Midway at about 11:30.
The team's flight to Oakland has been pushed back to 1:35, but we should be out of here well ahead of the weather.
For now, the players are grabbing a bite to eat before we load the plane, which, hopefully, will leave on time.
You can feel the anxiety in the terminal, as many, many flights have been delayed/cancelled. Keep your fingers crossed for the Vikings. If you're traveling to Spokane today or tomorrow ... good luck! And have a safe trip. We'll hope to see you there.
Tuesday, December 8, 12:32 p.m. CST
On the ground in Oakland
We made it out of Chicago ahead of the snow storm that is sweeping across the Midwest and, after a 4.5-hour flight, arrived in Oakland, California. We'll layover here for a few hours before continuing on to Spokane, where we should arrive at around 9 p.m. PST, or 11 back home.
It was pretty cramped on the flight. We flew Southwest, which means there was no assigned seating. The players were the last ones on the flight and by then there were mostly middle seats remaining. It was entertaining to watch some of the tall guys trying to squeeze in there.
There were, however, two players who rode comfortably the entire way. Terrence Green, who has had a stress fracture in his foot in the past, and Bryant Voiles, who is recovering from a foot injury, took advantage of the airline policy that lets people who need special assistance board early. So, they road in the front row with extra leg room. Their teammates let them hear about that.
Couple other tidbits from the day ...
- Freshman Luke Scarlata has size 18 feet. He's 6-8 now, but both of his older brothers didn't stop growing until they were 20. One is 6-7, the other 6-5.
- Scarlata and Voiles played the card game War as we waited to board in Chicago. Looked like Scarlata was winning.
Tuesday, December 8, 7:13 p.m. CST
Long day getting longer
Just got word that our flight from Oakland to Spokane has been delayed until 9 p.m. PST, which won't put us in Spokane until around 11, or 1 a.m. back home. That's a long day for the players and coaches, who were at the Carver Center for practice at 6:30 this morning.
Here's a few shots of the guys killing time at the airport.
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Tuesday, December 8, 9:11 p.m. CST
Sixteen and a half hours later
Well, 16 1/2 hours after loading the bus at the Carver Center, a tired group of Vikings finally landed in Spokane and made their way to their hotel. Everyone was checked in and in their rooms by midnight PST, 2 a.m. back home.
Funny story from the Oakland airport ...
A random guy approached a member of the travel party who was wearing a gold "Augie" sweatshirt and asked where he could get a sweatshirt like that. Apparently, the guy has a friend named August, whom everyone calls Augie, and he thought it would be a riot to give him the shirt.
The guy was also bound for Spokane, and he asked why the team was headed out there. When informed that we were on our way to play Gonzaga, the following exchange took place.
Random guy: "Gonzaga, eh? They're tough. They've got a good reputation."
Julie Peters: "Well, we have a pretty good reputation, too, where we come from."
Random guy: "Really?"
Coach Giovanine: "Let me put it this way: only one team is coming into this game unbeaten, and it isn't Gonzaga."
A Gonzaga University bus, with big Bulldogs logos on the side and back, picked the team up at the Spokane airport. Nice, roomy motor coach, complete with leather seats, a kitchen and full bathroom in the back. Pretty nice digs.
Practice tomorrow at The Kennel at 11:30 a.m., then a team meal and some down time before a gathering with friends and family at the hotel. Then, of course, the game at 6.
Wednesday, December 9, 2:23 a.m. CST
Practice at The Kennel
The team practiced at Gonzaga's arena, The Kennel, from 11:30 to 1 p.m. It's a small arena by major college basketball standards, but the 6,000 fans in close quarters will make it very, very noisy tonight.
The players looked sharp in practice, mostly going through shooting drills to get accustomed to the environment.
The pregame meal is going to be at Perkins across the street from the hotel, and then there will be a quick gathering with friends and family in the hotel lobby before heading back to The Kennel for the game.
Here's a few photos from practice.
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Wednesday, December 9, 4 p.m. CST
Small world tidbit of the day
Augustana freshman Kameron Norton is the grandson of former heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton and the nephew of former NFL linebacker Ken Norton Jr. Ken Norton Sr. fought Muhammad Ali three times in championship bouts in the 1970s, breaking Ali's jaw in one of the fights.
In 1974, Norton fought George Foreman for the championship, losing in two rounds. Here's where the world gets small ...
One of the Gonzaga assistants was asking Coach Giovanine about the Vikings, and Coach pointed out that Kameron is the grandson of the former champ. Turns out, the coach's grandfather was the referee in the ring for that 1974 Norton-Foreman bout. Kameron came over and was introduced. Both were excited to make the connection.
Kameron, a 6-6 forward, is playing about 19 minutes a game as a freshman. He averages 4.6 points and 4 rebounds a game.
The team just had a short meeting in the lobby, where Coach Giovanine was planning on showing a highlight tape he'd put together from Division II Grand Valley State's upset of Michigan State a few years back. Coach described all the footage that showed the Grand Valley State players outhustling and outplaying the Spartans. It sounded like it would have been great motivation ... had he not forgotten it back in the Quad Cities.
The team had a good laugh over that one.
The message was sent, though, that if they execute and refuse to back down, anything is possible.
Wednesday, December 9, 5:28 p.m.
'Experience of a lifetime'
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Augustana's Chris Anderson drives against Gonzaga's Bol Kong in Wednesday night's 79-40 loss. Anderson had four points in the game. Photo galleryClick here to see images from Augustana's game at Gonzaga
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Despite a 79-40 loss to Gonzaga on Wednesday night, that's what Augustana players called the game they played against the No. 22-ranked Bulldogs in front of 6,000 basketball-crazed fans at Spokane's McCarthey Athletic Center, better known as The Kennel.
The Vikings, who are now 5-1 heading into Saturday's showdown with Wash U, hung tough with Gonzaga for about 14 minutes Wednesday. They trailed 20-11 and had several chances to cut into that lead before the Bulldogs closed the half on a 20-3 run that put he game out of reach.
Every Augustana player who made the trip got in the game, and all but two scored. Kyle Nelson and Matt Pelton led Augie with 8 points each, and Troy Rorer had a game-high 9 rebounds. Rebounding, in fact, was the bright spot for the Vikings, as they were only minus-4 (45-41) to the much, much taller Gonzaga team. (The Bulldogs bring a 7-foot-5 player off the bench)
Another positive Coach Giovanine pointed out in the locker room after the game was that the Vikings held the Bulldogs to 4-14 on 3-point shooting. Gonzaga normally shoots very well from the outside.
Giovanine was disappointed in the Vikings' outside shooting (1-21), free throw shooting (5-13), number of turnovers (20) and that they didn't attack the basket more on offense.
The coach spent little time on the Gonzaga game, though, quickly turning his and the team's focus to Saturday's matchup with Wash U, the top-ranked DIII team in the nation. Wash U twice has beaten Augie in overtime over the past two seasons and has won back-to-back national championships. One of the team goals for the year is to beat Wash U.
A few other items from the day ...
- Before the game, there was gathering of about 50 people (families and friends of players, alums, former players, etc.) at the hotel. Augustana President Steve Bahls and his wife, Jane, made the trip out, and President Bahls said a few words about how exciting a game like this is for the college.
- The players had a lot of text messages waiting on their phones after the game from friends and family watching back in and around the Quad Cities, and they were really excited when they found out so many people back home had watched the game.
- Augie's Troy Rorer collided head-to-head with Gonzaga's Matt Bouldin in the first half. We were told the replay on TV was pretty brutal looking. Both players went down hard, and Bouldin didn't return to the game. Rorer was fine.
- We were told by some who watched on TV that the announcers speculated that Chris Anderson had been thrown out of the game when he had to run back to the locker room. Nope. Anderson was told by an official that he had to remove his under shirt because it was not the same color as his jersey.
- Augustana trailed before Wednesday's game even started. Terrence Green was given a technical foul for dunking in warmups, and Bouldin made both free throws to make it 2-0 before the jump ball. Augie scored first, after Green rejected Gonzaga's first shot attempt, to tie the game at 2.
Wake-up call for the team is 5:15 a.m. PST Thursday morning, and then the journey begins back to the Quad Cities. Our flight leaves Spokane at 7:05 en route to Oakland. We're scheduled to be back in Chicago around 4:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, back in the QC by 7.
Thanks to all of you Vikings fans for your support, in Spokane and back at home. The team really appreciated knowing so many people were so excited about this historic matchup.
Go Vikings!
Thursday, December 10, 1:43 a.m. CST
Back home in the QC
Well, after another long day of travel -- 15 hours or so, which made 31 in three days -- the Vikings arrived back at the Carver Center at about 9 p.m. Thursday night.
The day, which started with a 5 a.m. PST wake-up call, went pretty smoothly with flights from Spokane and Oakland departing on time, but it wasn't without a little excitement.
We arrived in Chicago on time at 4:30 and picked up our bags from the baggage claim only to find that our bus driver had gotten in a fender bender outside the terminal. So, we had to wait another hour for the police to show up and fill out a report before boarding the bus and heading back to the Quad Cities.
Coach Giovanine talked Wash U to the players on the bus, and most of the guys either rested or did homework during the three-hour drive home.
Thursday, December 10, 9:56 p.m. CST
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