cto
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This is the second part of a three-part post that had to be split up because the site does not allow more than four pictures in a post.
6) Speaking of the gyms: The Rome gym (pictured below) was the size of small high school gym; graffiti and garbage cans decorated its exterior; and the game's start was delayed for half an hour because the ambulance required by law at all games broke down, and we had to wait for a replacement ambulance. The Rome game was against a team that was purported to be very good. They weren't. I think the final score was 82-42, but you couldn't tell from the scoreboard. The scoreboard recorded each quarter and then started over at 0-0 for the next quarter because it could not register a number higher than 35. Fortunately, Barbara Boeheim, who was sitting behind me, recorded each quarterly score on her phone ... so we added up the numbers at the end of the game. The scoreboard also experienced periodic power failures, and the time on it had to be continually reset.
7) Oh, and the rim at one end of the court was bent and sloping forward. When the SU coaches asked about it, Todd Blumen said they were told it would be replaced "in four days." During the delay before the start of the game, Howard Washington was the first player to resume warm-ups at the sloping rim that was our basket for the first half. He was alternating left-handed and right-handed shots and making them all.
8) The atmosphere at the first game in Lake Como was also interesting. The PA announcer was also the Italian team's "head cheerleader." While announcing the game, he continually exhorted the locals, loudly shouting "Andiamo, Andiamo!!" into his microphone. Oddly enough, that is one of the few Italian phrases I know (having spent two weeks in southern Italy a few years ago with a guide who was always exhorting us to "hurry up, let's go." The announcer also loved saying ... "Syracu--sa" and "Hugh--sa." He had a lot of opportunity to say "Hugh--sa" because Elijah scored 18 points and was named the game's MVP. (No pictures of the Lake Como game, but here's George Clooney's villa on the lake .. as seen from our boat tour).
9) On our first afternoon in Lake Como, Christine Dunn Abbott and Jeremiah Maher suddenly discovered we were just 15 minutes from the Swiss border. Since none of us had ever visited Switzerland, we decided to add another country to our "life list," and we hired a cab to take us across the border. However, in these days of the European Union, one doesn't even know when he/she is crossing a national border. No guard booth, no passport checking ... not even a "Welcome to Switzerland" sign. I mean even Connecticut has "Welcome to Connecticut" signs.. and truck weigh stations... where I-84 and I-95 enter the state from New York. Anyhow, here's a picture to prove we visited Switzerland.
More to come in Part Three
6) Speaking of the gyms: The Rome gym (pictured below) was the size of small high school gym; graffiti and garbage cans decorated its exterior; and the game's start was delayed for half an hour because the ambulance required by law at all games broke down, and we had to wait for a replacement ambulance. The Rome game was against a team that was purported to be very good. They weren't. I think the final score was 82-42, but you couldn't tell from the scoreboard. The scoreboard recorded each quarter and then started over at 0-0 for the next quarter because it could not register a number higher than 35. Fortunately, Barbara Boeheim, who was sitting behind me, recorded each quarterly score on her phone ... so we added up the numbers at the end of the game. The scoreboard also experienced periodic power failures, and the time on it had to be continually reset.
7) Oh, and the rim at one end of the court was bent and sloping forward. When the SU coaches asked about it, Todd Blumen said they were told it would be replaced "in four days." During the delay before the start of the game, Howard Washington was the first player to resume warm-ups at the sloping rim that was our basket for the first half. He was alternating left-handed and right-handed shots and making them all.
8) The atmosphere at the first game in Lake Como was also interesting. The PA announcer was also the Italian team's "head cheerleader." While announcing the game, he continually exhorted the locals, loudly shouting "Andiamo, Andiamo!!" into his microphone. Oddly enough, that is one of the few Italian phrases I know (having spent two weeks in southern Italy a few years ago with a guide who was always exhorting us to "hurry up, let's go." The announcer also loved saying ... "Syracu--sa" and "Hugh--sa." He had a lot of opportunity to say "Hugh--sa" because Elijah scored 18 points and was named the game's MVP. (No pictures of the Lake Como game, but here's George Clooney's villa on the lake .. as seen from our boat tour).
9) On our first afternoon in Lake Como, Christine Dunn Abbott and Jeremiah Maher suddenly discovered we were just 15 minutes from the Swiss border. Since none of us had ever visited Switzerland, we decided to add another country to our "life list," and we hired a cab to take us across the border. However, in these days of the European Union, one doesn't even know when he/she is crossing a national border. No guard booth, no passport checking ... not even a "Welcome to Switzerland" sign. I mean even Connecticut has "Welcome to Connecticut" signs.. and truck weigh stations... where I-84 and I-95 enter the state from New York. Anyhow, here's a picture to prove we visited Switzerland.
More to come in Part Three
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