TicketsNov. 24, 2009
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team is in Alaska for the 2009 Great Alaska Shootout. Senior guard Shelly Bellman will chronicle the trip in a daily blog on GoBEARCATS.com.
Day 2 in Alaska: WOW!
Since we got some much needed sleep, we were ready for our first day in Alaska, which I learned that it is two and a half times bigger than Texas. I had no idea Alaska was so huge.
We had our wakeup call at 8:30am. When the phone rang, I did not want to wake up at all, but I rolled out of bed, opened the curtains, and I said out loud, "OH MY GOSH!" From our 9th floor view, I looked straight out, and saw the bay, and then I looked to the right and saw big and beautiful snowcapped mountains! I couldn't believe it. I have never seen mountains like that. I looked out our window last night when we got to our hotel, but it was too dark to see anything. I had no idea we had that kind of view.....and I LOVE it!
We went down to breakfast, then watched film, and then went to practice. We had a one hour shootaround at the gym were playing at tomorrow, the George M. Sullivan Sports Center. On the way into the arena, Kelly Howe, our strength coach had a snowball in her hand. She showed it to me and said she is going to get Jeff, our trainer. I cracked up because he is one of the biggest jokesters, and it is always great when the joke can be played on him :) Love ya Jeff. I got my phone out, and set it up to record a video. We played it off, and waited for Jeff to catch up with us. I started recording, and Kelly whacked Jeff with the snowball. We all were laughing as Jeff reacted and tried to push Kelly off the sidewalk and into the snow. Good times, good times! We got in the gym and got down to business. We prepared really well for our first challenge against Western Carolina.
After practice, we came back to the hotel, and had the afternoon to do whatever we wanted. Some of the team went to a nearby mall to do some shopping, and some of the girls stayed back at the hotel. I personally stayed back and rested some. I also checked out our men's team who's game was on TV. They are playing in the Maui Invitational tourney this week. They beat Vandy, so that was cool. Good job.
At 7 o'clock, we had the Great Alaska Shootout Women's Banquet. Our whole team dressed up, looking really sharp, and went to the nearby Sheraton Hotel. They were hosting the annual banquet of the Shootout, and all four teams were invited. We all had assigned seats at round tables set up all around the ballroom, and they mixed players from all teams at the tables. It was really cool to meet some of the girls on the other teams. My teammate Val Schuster and I sat a table together, and we asked the girls that played for Alaska Anchorage a lot of questions about the state they now live in. One of the girls we met was from Germany, and her accent was really cool. She said she likes Alaska a lot and likes playing ball for Anchorage. The other girl was from Alaska. She said that right now, there are only about 6 hours of daylight. That's how it is in the winter, but in summer, it is bright and sunny for 22 hours a day. It wil be 2 or 3 in the morning and they won't even know it because the sun is still out. Very interesting.
The rest of the banquet was really cool. They fed us, which was really tasty, and then this dance group performed for us. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. And we also met this UC alumni who now lives in Alaska. Her name is Jean Craciun, and she played basketball for UC in 1979. It was so cool to meet her and hear some of her stories about her college years. She said that they had a bake sale one year to pay for their uniforms. My how times have changed, and I'm certainly glad that they did!
Well, it was a great day. We got Western Carolina for our first game, and we surely want to play great ball, and come out with a VICTORY!!! Let's go cats!
Day 3 to come next!