Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Put day number two of our stay in
Rio in the books Shockers fans!
The day began with some sightseeing in Rio and Sugar Loaf
Mountain was our scheduled destination but after we woke up to a beautiful,
sunny morning, Caesar and Vitor decided we needed to take advantage of the
great weather and go see the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. We boarded our bus and headed to see
the top tourist attraction in all of Rio De Janeiro. Vitor introduced us to Marcos, who was our guide for the
day. He is from Rio De Janeiro but
lived in the United States for a time.
Marcos told us many great facts and stories about the city of Rio and
the different neighborhoods we drove through on our way to the statue.
We arrived to the base of the mountain that the statue sits
atop after a short drive from our hotel but we were disappointed to learn the electricity
was out in the area, which made the cable cars that take visitors to the top of
the mountain out of order. So we
went back to the original plan and boarded the bus to head to Sugar Loaf
Mountain.
Sugar Loaf is a unique mountain that overlooks the city and
gives you spectacular views of not only the city but also the gorgeous beaches
and Atlantic Ocean. Be sure to
like the men's basketball Facebook page and you will be able to see some of the
great pictures from today of one of the world's prettiest cities.
After the Sugar Loaf tour we headed back on the bus to our
hotel through some of Rio's most beautiful neighborhoods/beaches such as the famous
Ipanema Beach and Copacabana Beach (our hotel is only a few blocks from this
great beach!). Again Marcos
did a great job of telling us fascinating information.
We arrived back to the hotel around noon Brazil time and
everyone in the group was told that the afternoon was free time and that we
needed to be back at the hotel for pre-game meal at 4:00 p.m. Swimsuits and flip-flops were the
prevailing choice for everyone as different groups ventured out of the hotel on
their own to hit the beautiful Copacabana Beach!
The beach did not disappoint as the sun was plentiful and
even though the Atlantic Ocean was a little on the cold side the water felt
great! A sand volleyball game with a soccer ball instead of volleyball broke
out among many of the Shocker basketball team! No winner was decided but both
teams agreed to a rematch later on the trip.
We headed back to the hotel to clean up before we gathered
in the lobby restaurant for a great pre-game buffet dinner. Coach Marshall spoke to the team when
they were finished eating and announced that our game had been pushed back to
8:30 instead of 6:00 so we wouldn't leave the hotel till 7:00.
Tonight's game was played at the Flamengo Sports Club in Rio
De Janeiro (sports clubs in Brazil are like gigantic American health clubs with
other attractions for their members and they also sponsor professional futbal,
basketball and other sports teams).
Wichita State defeated the under-19 Flamengo club team,
80-39 in a game in that all of the Shockers veterans sat out to rest and give
the newcomers and Ehimen Orukpe, Josh Walker and Randall Vautravers a chance to
gain valuable game experience.
Check out today's highlight video for a recap of tonight's game from
Coach Marshall. Freshman Ede
Egharvba led the Shockers with 14 points and fellow freshman Evan Wessel added
11 points in the victory.
The Shockers have a quick turnaround for the fourth game of
the trip tomorrow morning against the Tijuca Sports Club.
Goodnight Shockers nation!
