Aug. 1, 2008

Contact: Brian McCann

Welcome to my first-ever blog. I hope you enjoy it and the editions that will follow over the coming days, months and years.

It is a bright and sunny day here in Cleveland, the calendar having undergone the switch from July to August last night. Things are beginning to hustle around campus as everybody gets ready for the start of another school year.

That can mean only one thing. . . yep, it is basketball season.

Alright, I am sure that you might be a tad confused because basketball practice doesn't start until Oct. 17th this year (that's the day of the Mid-Vike Madness) but at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, I will be in the Auxiliary Gym in the Wolstein Center watching the guys go through the first of their 10 allowable practices before they head to Spain on Aug. 14th.

The trip is going to be a nice one for the guys as they will vist the Spanish cities of Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona over a 10-day span from Aug 14-24. In the process, they will play four games against club teams [for the hoops junkies out there who have Google at their fingertips, the teams will be Llescas (Aug. 14, 11 a.m. EDT), Alginet (Aug. 19, 12 noon EDT), Lliria (Aug. 20, 12 noon EDT) and El Prat (Aug. 23, 12 noon EDT).

When the Vikings aren't playing or practicing, they will spend a lot of time enjoying the sights and culture of Spain. Already on the travel itinerary are visits to the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Lladro Museum in Valencia as well as guided tours of all three towns the team will visit.

The only downside to the trip is that under NCAA rules, the only players who are allowed to make the trip (and take part in the practices leading up to the trip) are the 10 returning players from last season. That means CSU fans will have to wait a little longer before they see Trevon Harmon, Charlie Woods, Josh McCoy and Jeremy Montgomery in action.

I will be making the personal sacrifice to accompany the team in an effort to keep the fans informed about what's going on. We will hopefully have daily blogs, live game reports and other features on our new blog page throughout the tour.

There is one thing that I have to do before I go because I know nothing about the exchange rate of the dollar to the Euro so I am going to stop by Key Bank and get a little help so that I know what I am doing in a couple of weeks (I'd hate to buy a $80 bottle of Pepsi because I didn't know any better.

Anyway, feel free to email me at the link above to ask any questions that you might like answered in this space in the near future.

Thanks.