June 27, 2007

Entry by Todd Newcomb, Bucknell Associate AD
For other entries, please click here.

After months of anticipation, the Bucknell University men's water polo team embarked on its two-week European Tour on Tuesday, June 26. Nine members of the team (recently graduated senior Mark Masterson, Jason Rechel, Kyle Roslyn, Josh Sunday, Peter O'Keefe, Nick Doyle, Johnny Stupp, Nick Donahue and Alex Lampley) along with head coach John Zeigler, assistant coach John Abdou and associate AD Todd Newcomb, boarded a Smolley's bus in front of Davis Gym and set out on their way to JFK Airport in New York. After a quick snack stop at the Sheetz in Lewisburg, the trip began in earnest and nearly three-and-a-half hours later the team arrived at the airport to check in at the Delta International terminal. Three additional team members (recently graduated Sean Robinson, Randy Ang, and Alex Lovell) met the team at the airport after flying in from their respective homes.

The team made it through the check-in process relatively easily - in less than 40 minutes actually. However, things took a dramatic turn when the plane was an hour late leaving the gate and then delayed a second hour waiting to take off on the tarmac! So, the eight-hour flight, which covered some 4,000 miles, turned into a 10-hour ordeal. Most of the student-athletes on the trip have been to Europe before and were indeed prepared for the long flight -- unlike me. This is my first venture to Europe and my 6'4" frame struggled in that seat for so long! I still don't understand how goalie Nick Donahue, who stands 6'8", found a way to sleep, but I will be sure to pry the secret from him for the return flight.

Upon arriving in Budapest at 9 a.m. (2 a.m. our time back home and now June 27), we met up with three more team members - Andrew Nelson, who arrived from Switzerland, Lee Anderson, who arrived from Australia (with his newly acquired surf board), and Luke Belenky, who came in on a train from Germany and met us at the hotel. This completed the roster for the trip.

After collecting our bags - all of which came! - we met our host, guide and translator for the trip --- Imre Toth. We boarded the Hungarian version of the Smolley's Express, and headed off to our hotel, the Hotel Romanik in Budapest. On the way we caught a glimpse of the gas prices - between $7 and $8 a gallon!! We also got a feel for the roadways in the city - mediocre at best - and a first-hand look at some road rage when a motorist got out of his car next to us and proceeded to come up to the window and yell at our driver.

A converted public residence, the Romanik will be our home for the next several days as our team trains and competes. It is truly the home away from home of Bucknell Polo as we are the only ones in the place!!

No rest for the weary! After a brief reprieve to drop their bags in their rooms, the team met downstairs and walked the ½ mile or so down the road to the local pool club for practice. Keep in mind this happened at approximately 6 a.m. eastern time (12 p.m. in Hungary) and that the guys came in off a red eye flight.

After a one-hour workout the team returned to the hotel for lunch. Power-naps followed before the team had to return to the pool to scrimmage at 5 p.m.