Cleveland State sports information director Greg Murphy will be checking in every day as the Vikings men's basketball team takes part in a trip to The Netherlands, France and Belgium in preparation for the 2013-14 season. Today, he covers CSU's first day in The Netherlands. For links to photos, videos and more, click here.
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – Happy Friday! The group has a lot more pep in the step today after a good night of sleep and rest. We started today with breakfast before heading out on a canal boat tour of Amsterdam.
The city reminds me of Pittsburgh with all of its rivers, but the buildings and architecture here in Amsterdam is much nicer. The other thing about the city is that everyone walks or rides bikes. The bike riders don't care who is in their way, they ring the bell on their bikes and you better get out of the way. Thankfully, nobody has been hit… yet!!
The other thing I have noticed is you don't cross the street unless you have the walk sign. Back in Cleveland, I can cross Prospect or Euclid if there is no traffic coming, but not here. It feels like the old video game "Frogger" with busses, cars and street trolleys coming at you with no regard for if you are in the street or not. And don't forget about the bikes. So it's best to just wait until you get the walk sign.
Speaking of bikes, Anton Grady got in on the action today, borrowing our tour guides bike for a little ride up the street. You will have to check out the video of him barreling down on us.
The canal tour lasted about an hour and was really nice. We got to see many of the sights of Amsterdam and you can see them in today's photo gallery. Then it was off to the Anne Frank House, but unfortunately, there was no photography or video there.
It was amazing to see what went on in the house and to walk through the rooms where Anne lived in hiding for all those years. It made me want to read The Diary of Anne Frank again.
Tonight at 8:00 p.m. is the first game of the trip. I am excited to see how the team plays together. There seems to be a lot of good chemistry and communication between the guys and hopefully that will carry over to the court.
It will be fun to see the returning guys in action, but also to see Grady back playing, along with Trey Lewis who sat out last year after transferring from Penn State and Jon Harris who transferred in this spring from Miami (OH). Junior college transfer Ismaila Dauda and freshman Demonte Flannigan will also get their first taste of college basketball.
I'm wondering if Coach Waters ever goes with a "Cleveland" lineup of Lewis, Raphael Viera, Flannigan, Harris and Grady at any point tonight?
We shall see. Be sure to check back later tonight for a recap of today's game (and hopefully a box score!).
Until then, take care and please keep the emails coming to g.j.murphy@csuohio.edu. It's great to hear from people back home!
