Final Blog from Paradise

Well, I'll be leaving for the airport in just about an hour. (Many thanks to the Lucas family for giving me a ride there.) This trip has been a blast and I'll miss the weather, the beautiful surroundings, and the friendly Bahamian people, but there's always a part of you that is eager to get home (especially this time of year).

The team is leaving soon for the straw market and shops over in downtown Nassau, which they will be traveling to via ferry. The plan is for them to do some shopping and then come back and get some final time in the sun. They are leaving tomorrow morning.

With the end of this trip comes the end of the WC Athletics in 2007, as always a memorable year. Cain Athletic Center will be quiet until just after the New Year when both basketball teams return to practice. Both basketball teams will have games on January 5th (the men at home, the women away) and the swim teams will be competing at the Orange Bowl Swim Classic that day as well as part of their winter training trip to Florida.

Until then, so long and have a safe and happy Holiday season!

Congratulations to Bri

Well, we're back from a 73-54 loss to a tough (and very tall) Bates team. (GAME STORY) Today's game was really a case of four bad minutes as the Shorewomen were trailing just 23-20 before Bates went on a 21-4 run over the last four minutes of the first half.

Brianne Slizofski was named to the All-Tournament Team after finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds in today's game.

The team had a good time last night visiting the aquarium over at Atlantis and then playing the game Catchphrase out on the beach. Now that the games have concluded, they have a full day or recreation ahead tomorrow and are planning on going to downtown Nassau to the straw market. I'll be heading back home tomorrow, but it's been a great time. I think we've all benefited from being exposed to another country and another culture and the team, while not coming away with the results they had hoped for, were able to play some high-quality competition, which will only benefit them in conference play.

Off Day (Well, No Game Anyway)

No game today as the team prepares to take on perennial Northeast region powerhouse Bates College tomorrow. There was ample free time this morning, which I took advantage of by walking over the bridge to Nassau and down to downtown where the cruise ships put in. After lunch, rather than heading to a gym, the team practiced outside the resort on the combination basketball/tennis court. Today has definitely been the sunniest/warmest/most humid day of the trip thus far.

The team is currently outside trying out snorkeling!

Post-Game

Well, not the result we were hoping for in the first game here in the Bahamas as Washington & Jefferson shoots 57% in an 80-53 win. The Presidents are a very good team and it showed today. GAME STORY

We had two trips to the gym and two trips back today and each way by a different route due to varying traffic. Tonight's ride back took us through downtown Nassau for the first time and it is a pretty little area. We passed the straw market, which the team will be going to on Friday when I'm on my flight home.

Tonight's dinner is Bahamian-themed (we'll be heading down there soon). Tonight is also karaoke night at the resort - that should be fun.

Tuesday Morning

After eating dinner at the resort's buffet (Monday nights are Asian food themed) and some free time, everyone got some much needed rest last night.

Following breakfast this morning, we all headed out to an hour practice at the site of this afternoon's game. Traffic from Paradise Island to Nassau and back wasn't as bad as yesterday, but you definitely need to be an aggressive driver to get anywhere.

The tournament director told Suzie and I what Junkanoo is, which we had seen several signs for and people buying tickets for. Apparently, it is a competitive street parade with music held n Boxing Day and New Year's Day. It sounds like a lot of fun. Here is the Wikipedia entry on Junkanoo.

Lunch is coming up at 12:30 - we leave for today's game against Washington & Jefferson (6-2) at 2:30.

Greetings from Paradise Island!

Sports Information Director Phil Ticknor blogs about his experience in the Bahamas with the women's basketball team at the Sunshine Shootout.

I'm proud to bring you the first-ever Sho'Blog from international soil!

First the bad news - there is no Internet in the gym that will be hosting the games here and, being outside of the United States, my mobile broadband card won't work. So, unfortunately, no in-game updates.

Now, the good news ... the Internet in the hotel room works like a champ, so I'll try to check in once or twice a day.

I actually flew into Nassau separate from the team - they flew from BWI, while I flew in from Philadelphia. (Also heading back separately as I will be departing Friday, while the team is staying until Saturday.) By chance, the team got into Nassau a little late and my plane was early, so I was able to ride the shuttle with them out to Paradise Island and the Paradise Island Harbour Resort, the tournament's hotel headquarters.

The weather here is gorgeous, which I'm sure is just delightful to hear if you're stuck in the frozen north. After checking into the hotel, we all grabbed something to eat. The team then headed to a public beach, while Suzie Friedrich (along for additional "adult" supervision) and I took some scenic photos from the bridge connecting New Providence Island (where Nassau is) to Paradise Island. We tried to catch up with them after that, but seemed to have ended up at the wrong beach. We did get a nice stroll through the Atlantis resort as a result of our wrong turns, however.

Everyone is resting up now as the team's flight from BWI left at 7:00 a.m. Dinner tonight is still to come. Tomorrow will see a morning practice followed by a 4 pm game against Washington & Jefferson. I'll have a full report on the game on WashingtonCollegeSports.com and some other thoughts here once we return to the hotel tomorrow night.

That's all for now!