And lucky for me, the team was able to get me a photo press pass. Yay!
We have been fortunate to be a part of the Swiss Cup Finals with SAM Basket Massagno! The team did amazing in the tournament beating a top team in the semifinals to pave the way into the Finals in Fribourg. This was SAM's second appearance in the cup finals, the first one was 21 years ago. So last Saturday, I boarded one of the three fan buses leaving Massagno to head to Fribourg (4 hours away). The fans were all amazing, all wearing matching t-shirts and scarves, beating on drums and using a megaphone to cheer! Amazing experience to be a apart of! SAM was competing against Union Neuchatel Basket. A very physical and aggressive team. And lucky for me, the team was able to get me a photo press pass. Yay! The game was great to watch but unfortunately it did not go SAM's way. They lost by four points in the last seconds of the game. You could tell how deeply disappointed the players, coaches and fans were. There were tears in the eyes, but hugs of enormous pride that the team achieved making the Finals. Even though they were plagued by injuries throughout the season, they were still able to showcase their talents all the way to the Cup Final. Cheers to SAM Basket Massagno on a great season! Swiss Basketball Press pass! Yay, I love my profession. Now who wants to get me a 70-200mm lens?! Hint to Dan, birthday gift for me? ;-) Check out the video below to get the full Swiss Cup experience!
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This basketball season has been full of changes! We have had a lot of great experiences, met a lot of great people along the way and put on some serious miles on our frequent flyer accounts! At the time, it was hard to appreciate and be thankful for the opportunities we were given. But now we can just look back and smile at each unique (and at times very strange) overseas basketball experience!
This season of changes has brought us to our favorite place in Europe. We are beyond excited and happy to be back in Switzerland, especially in the beautiful region of Ticino. Dan signed a short contract with the Swiss team, SAM Basket Massagno. Sound familiar?! That's because Dan played with SAM three years ago. We are thrilled to be in a familiar place, surrounded with people who we already know, and able to enjoy the beautiful Swiss lifestyle...if only for a few weeks. Life is good! This past weekend we were fortunate to travel to Colorado to see Mike's (Dan's brother) senior night at the Air Force Academy. We had an absolutely AMAZING weekend filled with basketball celebrations. Mike had an amazing night and we couldn't be more proud. Air Force beat #12 New Mexico on a three point shot (almost) buzzer beater...the student section stormed the court and lifted up Todd Fletcher (who scored the last three to win) and Mike. AMAZING, doesn't even come close to describing it! Everyone was screaming, jumping around and celebrating. What a way to end your college career!!! And we couldn't be happier to be a part of it all. Best.Senior.Night.EVER!! Mike celebrating. As Dan put it: "My brother Michael Fitzgerald. He's a stud, but doesn't get a big head about it....well, he does and he doesn't! What a rockstar." Who wouldn't want to have a huge head cutout?! Awesomeness. Here is a video of the celebrations. If you watch closely you can see Mike getting lifted up at the end of the video. I was too excited to keep filming so I totally missed the full moment. Ugh. A little glimpse will have to do! All Images © Air Force Academy.
The Happinets hosted a fan event at a big Aeon mall in Omagori City, which is located about an hour southeast of Akita City. (Oddly enough most malls in Japan are called Aeon, I am still not sure why that is.) The event took place right in the middle courtyard, where all fans gathered to meet the team. I have to admit, it was very neat to see! There must have been a couple hundred people there all patiently waiting to hear the players talk, shake their hands and get their autographs. There was a huge blue mat laid out on the floor where some fans were sitting. The fans occupying the mat all had their shoes off! Very interesting, you would never see that in the States or anywhere in Europe. Other fans and curious onlookers occupied the sides as well as the upper atrium of the mall. The first part of the program was hosted by the cheerleaders, who introduced the fans to what I like to call, the "towel cheer." In the second half of every home game all the fans take out their pink Happinets towels and do a chorographed cheer. Check it out! I love the music and hope to learn the cheer at the upcoming home game. After the whole team came out, each player introduction himself and talked a little about their intentions for the 2012-2013 season. Most players mentioned that their goal was to bring the championship to Akita this season. Wooohoo! Bring it, please! Then all the players paired up with a fan to do a free throw contest. Check out Dan and his partner square off against Anthony Kent and his partner. Dan said he didn't want to cheat and use the backboard....haha! Sure, sure...I am sure that was the case because he is great at free throws. ;) While the contest continued I snuck off to go to Kaldi Farms, an international store, to buy a $100 worth of salsa, jalepenos, canned beans, tortillas, and hot sauce. Yum! Have I mentioned how much we love Mexican food and miss it when we live abroad?! Overall, the event Aeon in Omagari City was absolutely great and we were both very thankful we could be apart of it. Go Go Happinets!
Spending holidays away from family is never easy. Since last year's Christmas proved to be disappointing we were not sure what to expect of our holiday celebration in Japan this year. Last season my cousin and I missed the last train from Tokyo to Sendai and had to sleep at the Tokyo train station on Christmas day. Plus to our surprise the train station closed down in the middle of the night and we spent the majority of our night at a 24 hour noodle shop, where we Skyped with family and ate noodles for 5 hours. So as you could imagine, it was a little disheartening but definitely a Christmas to remember! This year's celebrations were much more in the spirit of Christmas! No noodles, no sleeping at a train station, just Christmas trees, music and celebrating. On Sunday, right after the home victory against the Saitama Broncos, the team hosted a Christmas party for the boosters and fans. The event took place at a fancy hotel in Akita City and was very nicely organized. All the players were introduced, then mingled with fans, took lots of pictures, signed dozens of signatures and even played BINGO. I even won a t-shirt at BINGO! On Christmas Eve, along with the other Americans, we were invited to a Korean BBQ restaurant in the Kawabata district of Akita. Korean BBQ is very popular in Japan! Basically you order raw meat and vegetables and then grill it on a personal table grill. We love it and wish the US had similar restaurants. We ate so much food and by the end of Christmas Eve we had a major food coma. We are very thankful for the wonderful and memorable Christmas celebrations! ありがとうございます。 メーリークリスマス Meerii Kurisumasu from Japan!
We are very happy to be back in Japan for another season in the BJ League. Dan recently signed a contract with the Akita Northern Happinets in Akita, Japan. Akita City is located on the northwest part of the island, so this season we are preparing for lots of snow and a much colder winter. The town of Akita is smaller than Sendai but still has a fairly large population of around 300,000. For what it lacks in size it definitely makes up with basketball fans, as the support for the team here is unbelievable!! One explanation might be that the Happinets are the only professional team in Akita but the other, more probable one, is that Akita is known as the "Japanese Kingdom of Basketball." How cool is that?! The team, boosters, and fans have been extremely welcoming both to Dan and me. We are very excited to be back in Japan and can't wait to see Akita Northern Happinets raise the BJ League Championship trophy! Check out the cool Akita Happinets uniforms!
This is going to be Dan's first time wearing a pink uniform. Check out Obras short article about Dan.
Can you understand what he said?! We better brush up on our Spanish skills! After a summer of waiting and negotiating we are happy to announce that Dan signed a contract with Obras Sanitarias Buenos Aires for the 2012-2013 season. We are very thrilled and excited to be moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina! This is going to be the fourth continent we will be traveling to and playing on (North America included) and we are excited for the new culture change. Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city in Argentina and is known for its fine steaks, tango and European vibe. "It's a rough-hewn mix of Paris' architecture, Rome's traffic and Madrid's late-night hours, all spiked with Latin American flavor." (Lonely Planet, 2012) Sounds absolutely amazing! So cheers to a new year filled with new adventures! Every season we collect lots of team merchandise to remember our time abroad. This past season was a little different because instead of our typical team t-shirts and scarves we were able to snatch up lots of different goodies... teddy bears, keychains, buttons, and wrist bands just to mention a few. Not only did the Sendai 89ers have great merchandise but they also had some neat advertising around the city. |