Friday we left Ubben Basketball Complex around 1:30 CT and departed Willard Airport around 2:30 leaving sunny skies and a balmy 80 degree day. Arrived in Ottawa around 5:30 ET. On the plane ride we crossed over beautiful Lake Erie and the Canadian landscape was very woodland, lots of trees, very scenic. We arrived at our hotel around 6 and had a little pre-game snack and left for our game against Carelton University, the 5 time reigning Canadian Champion (something that will never happen in NCAA basketball). The gym was about the size of a high school gym here in the states maybe a big sized one and their was a lot of people there (mainly to see Jeff). Trent, Rich, Shaun, Calvin, and Chester started and at halftime the Illini led 33-28. It was kind of sloppy but that was to be expected a bit. Well we couldn't close the deal in the second half and went into overtime tied at 64-64. In OT Rodney hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to put us up by 3 and the Illini held on 74-72. Demetri played really well breaking some ankles and making some nice passes, Steve made some shots, but had to leave with a sprained ankle. Jeff played well considering he had the most attention on him and had the biggest crowd response. After the game went back to the hotel for a post-game snack and then to bed!
Some things I noticed that were "different" was that the road signs were in metric and had both English and French on them, were the same colors as our signs back in the States. We passed the Candian Football Stadium for the Ottawa Roughriders, which was neat, and there is a man-made canal that goes through Ottawa with a bike/running path on both sides which made the city very scenic. The houses were built differently, but were very nice looking on the outside, other than that it was hard to tell that we were in Canada.
What Black Squirrels?
Day 2 of 2007 Illini Canadian Tour Saturday September 18 am wakeup for Jason to run along the canal path, a little 20 min run nothing major, but still made me feel like I accomplished something! Cooler than I expected, but the sun was out and it was neat to run along the canal-on the way back to the hotel I about got attacked by 2 BLACK squirrels. Who knew that Canada had black squirrels? When I got back to the Hotel, I finished my workout with some abs at the fitness room and then showered and gave the players their wake up call at 9. Then it was time for breakfast/pre-game meal which was delicious-a nice lil sausage, cheese and tomato omelet with some yogurt and granola/dried fruit mix.
At 10:30 we left for our game against the University of Ottawa Gee Gee's at 12. The gym was smaller than Carelton's, but was decent size, most American High Schools are probably bigger, but all you need is a regulation size court, hoop, rim and a ball and your good to go.
We led at Halftime 39-29, it was sloppy to start, partly we used FIBA rules, but execution of plays on offense was a little better. We pulled away a bit thanks to Illini Nation's favorite walk-on Chris Hicks who came through with 5 clutch points in the end to put the illini on top 73-56. Demetri had 7 assists in the first half and Rodney had a monster block that literally looked like he was spiking a volleyball over the net and he also had a monstrous put back dunk! Shaun had his productive 17 and 9, and we about had a bunch of people in the locker room chasing after Jeff.
On the road to Montreal at 2:30 and watched "Shooter" which I liked, had a lot of action and Mark Wahlberg is a stud in the movie. The landscape was all trees on both sides with some farm land and we stopped at a gas station/KFC/BK/Pizza Hut/Dunkin Donuts for a snack and then arrived in Montreal at around 5:30 and headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, where I ordered the Chicken mac-n-cheese which was very delicous. After dinner we had a lot of free time and I went and found a church for Sunday morning and from the outside it looked very beautiful! From what I could tell Montreal seems to be more "French" than Ottawa was, and upscale/rich/metro, and just a lot of stuff going on. After bed checks, I went to bed to get some rest for another action packed day!
Basilique Marie-Reine-Du-Monde Cathedrale"Mary Queen of the World Cathedral"Sunday September 2 Day 3 of 2007 Illini Basketball Canada Tour
7:45 wake up and workout run on the treadmill 20 mins, some abs and push ups and then 10 mins in the pool-it was too hard to resist. Then at 9 I walked to Church for mass at 9:30 at the Basilica of Mary Queen of the World Cathedral. It was all in French which made it interesting, but really the only times I was lost was during the readings and homily other than that I knew what was going on and felt like I could participate fully in the mass. It was very beautiful inside and is a smaller version of St. Peters in Rome. There were some differences in the way mass is in America to mass in Canada, but nothing major. Overall it was a new spiritual experience for me! Then it was back to the Hotel for breakfast and some relaxation before the game against Concordia University at 2:00.
Left the hotel at 12:30 and the game at 2 didn't go very well for the Illini, getting stung by the Concordia stingers 86-82. The gym was ridiculously small, probably the size of a grade school gym in the states. We didn't play very well, no life, no energy, seemed to not want it where they did and they shot ridiculous. Well it will be a wake up call and def showed some things they need to work on for the season.
Then it was back to the hotel to dinner at Reuben's steakhouse where I devoured a 16 oz. steak which was delicious and def filled me up. Jeff got a drink from a table of girls for which he caught some smack from the guys. After dinner walked around with some of the guys and just took the city pretty much. We stopped at a pool hall/bowling alley/club atmosphere which was really "chill" and cool. We left as it was getting pretty full and headed back to the hotel. Watched half of Ocean's 13 with Brian R, Chris, Mike, and Trent and after bed checks at 11 I went to bed as I was falling asleep during the movie. It seemed like the first three days have gone by fast, but I am (did) looking forward to going home!
7:45 wake up and workout run on the treadmill 20 mins, some abs and push ups and then 10 mins in the pool-it was too hard to resist. Then at 9 I walked to Church for mass at 9:30 at the Basilica of Mary Queen of the World Cathedral. It was all in French which made it interesting, but really the only times I was lost was during the readings and homily other than that I knew what was going on and felt like I could participate fully in the mass. It was very beautiful inside and is a smaller version of St. Peters in Rome. There were some differences in the way mass is in America to mass in Canada, but nothing major. Overall it was a new spiritual experience for me! Then it was back to the Hotel for breakfast and some relaxation before the game against Concordia University at 2:00.
Left the hotel at 12:30 and the game at 2 didn't go very well for the Illini, getting stung by the Concordia stingers 86-82. The gym was ridiculously small, probably the size of a grade school gym in the states. We didn't play very well, no life, no energy, seemed to not want it where they did and they shot ridiculous. Well it will be a wake up call and def showed some things they need to work on for the season.
Then it was back to the hotel to dinner at Reuben's steakhouse where I devoured a 16 oz. steak which was delicious and def filled me up. Jeff got a drink from a table of girls for which he caught some smack from the guys. After dinner walked around with some of the guys and just took the city pretty much. We stopped at a pool hall/bowling alley/club atmosphere which was really "chill" and cool. We left as it was getting pretty full and headed back to the hotel. Watched half of Ocean's 13 with Brian R, Chris, Mike, and Trent and after bed checks at 11 I went to bed as I was falling asleep during the movie. It seemed like the first three days have gone by fast, but I am (did) looking forward to going home!
Day 4 of 2007 Ilini Basketball Canadian Tour Monday September 3rd
Well again I got up around 7:15 and worked out by doing some elliptical and shoulder and abs before breakfast at 8:45 which was a nice ham n cheese omelet. We left for the game at 10:30 to take on McGill University at 12. We were supposed to play the Canadian Military team afterwards, but that was canceled because of lack of bodies and injuries that we had. Well we won and that's the important thing, 107-103 in 2OT! It was exciting for the fans, but not for us, I would rather blow everyone out of the water than have a close game, but it should help us in the long run. Champaign's Finest, Trent (20) and Steve (19) led the way scoring with some big 3's down the stretch. It looked like last years team where we blew a big lead late and missed free throws at crucial times in the game. From what I could tell it was a nice campus with a lot of construction going on (reminds me of another university) and the gym was a big junior high gym. We left at around 3:45 to head the airport and had pizza on the way. We arrived in Detroit about 6 to go through Custom's check and that lasted about an hour and we were back on the plane and headed for home at 7. We arrived in Champaign at 7 central time and after getting everything in order at Ubben I made it back to the apartment at 8 to a nice surprise of Morgan baking cookies that were absolutely delicious! So, after a nice and long trip it was back to the grind of school!
Well again I got up around 7:15 and worked out by doing some elliptical and shoulder and abs before breakfast at 8:45 which was a nice ham n cheese omelet. We left for the game at 10:30 to take on McGill University at 12. We were supposed to play the Canadian Military team afterwards, but that was canceled because of lack of bodies and injuries that we had. Well we won and that's the important thing, 107-103 in 2OT! It was exciting for the fans, but not for us, I would rather blow everyone out of the water than have a close game, but it should help us in the long run. Champaign's Finest, Trent (20) and Steve (19) led the way scoring with some big 3's down the stretch. It looked like last years team where we blew a big lead late and missed free throws at crucial times in the game. From what I could tell it was a nice campus with a lot of construction going on (reminds me of another university) and the gym was a big junior high gym. We left at around 3:45 to head the airport and had pizza on the way. We arrived in Detroit about 6 to go through Custom's check and that lasted about an hour and we were back on the plane and headed for home at 7. We arrived in Champaign at 7 central time and after getting everything in order at Ubben I made it back to the apartment at 8 to a nice surprise of Morgan baking cookies that were absolutely delicious! So, after a nice and long trip it was back to the grind of school!
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