Tide Takes Canada
8/4/2017 12:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Alabama men's basketball team is currently on an eight-day trip to Canada, which features three games against local universities, as well as team activities and site-seeing. The Crimson Tide departed for Canada on Aug. 4 and will return to Tuscaloosa on Aug. 11, while making stops in Montreal, Quebec (Aug. 5-8¬) and Ottawa, Ontario (Aug. 8-11) before returning home to Tuscaloosa.                                 Â
Alabama will play a total of three games against three Canadian Universities throughout its time in Montreal and Ottawa. The first game will be played on Aug. 7 against McGill University at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) in Montreal. The Tide will then play a pair of games in Ottawa, beginning with a contest on Aug. 9 at Carleton University at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) followed by facing the University of Ottawa on Aug. 10 at 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. CT).
This blog page will document the entire trip, including video highlights, photos and a recap from each of the day's events. It will be updated each evening so that our fans can keep track throughout our time north of the border.
Buckle Up and Roll Tide!
The Trip Begins (August 4-5, 2017)
After departing Tuscaloosa for Atlanta on Friday evening, the team stopped and ate dinner at Dantanna's. It was especially nice for two of our players, Daniel Giddens and Collin Sexton, who are both from nearby Mableton, Ga. Both players had immediate family members that met the team in the restaurant and spent time with their sons and teammates. After dinner, we went to the hotel for a good night's rest for a busy travel day on Saturday.
The team woke up early on Saturday morning to head north of the border. After an early breakfast at the hotel, we departed Atlanta International Airport for a noon flight to Montreal. The team landed safely in Montreal –Trudea International Airport at 3 p.m. ET. Upon our arrival, we ran into WWE wrestlers Big E, Baron Corbin and Rusev, who were flying in for a WWE show in Montreal that same night. A few of the guys, as well as coach Avery, took photos and had a chance to talk to the professional wrestlers.
Following a quick rest at the team hotel, we went to McGill University's gym to get some shots up and go over some game situations. Following the hour-long practice, we all had free time to explore the city and eat dinner. All-in-all, it was a long, but eventful day. Ready to get some rest and get back at it Sunday! Until then, Roll Tide!
Exploring Montreal (Aug. 6, 2017)
Sunday was one of the more relaxed days we will have on our trip. We began the day with a team breakfast followed by some free time to explore more of the city. The more time we have to walk around the city of Montreal, the more we realize the beauty of this place. Whether it's the architecture, the people or the places to eat, it's been a tremendous educational experience for our guys.
Later in the day, we had a great two hour practice in preparation for Monday night's game at McGill. After practice, we went to dinner at Fire Grill and enjoyed spending time as a team. After eating dinner, we returned to the hotel to get some rest in preparation for game day on Monday!
As a reminder, fans can watch tomorrow's game LIVE by clicking HERE, or visiting our schedule on RollTide.com and then clicking on the "Watch" link. We cannot wait to play our first game of the 2017-18 season!
It continues to amaze us that everywhere we go, people see the Crimson and White colors and the "A" on our chest and automatically give us a "Roll Tide!" Whenever we see and hear that, it makes one realize how far the Alabama brand reaches. Whether it was in the airport, on the road or even walking around the streets of Montreal. The people here have been overwhelming in welcoming us and making us feel at home as much as possible.Â
Until next time, Roll Tide!
Game Day, Montreal Stay Comes to a Close
Wow! What a way to end our visit in Montreal. A terrific stay in a historic city and ending with a big victory in our final night in the city.
The day began with a team breakfast followed by some rest. We then had a spirited shoot around today that was highlighted by the entire team singing Happy Birthday to junior forward Donta Hall, who turned 20 today!
After a great pregame meal at a local restaurant, the game against McGill tipped off at 7 p.m. local time. Our guys played with terrific energy and passion en route to a big 96-57 victory! There were around a dozen Alabama fans in the crowd cheering the team on to the win. You can read the full recap, watch the highlights and check out the photos all right HERE.
After the game, the players were allowed some free time before heading to bed. We depart Montreal in the morning and head to our next stop:Â Ottawa, Ontario. We are told it's about a two hour drive, so we will head out around 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
We've had a terrific time in this city and we can only hope out next stop will be equally as good. There's only one way to end this night…Roll Tide and Buckle Up!
Merci Beaucoup, Montreal
Prior to leaving the wonderful city of Montreal on Wednesday, we had to take one last group photo in front of the city skyline. We cannot express enough gratitude and appreciation for our host city and McGill University throughout our three days in the nation's most populated city. Now we head to the nation's capital: Ottawa, Ontario. So merci beaucoup Montreal. Ottawa, here comes the Tide!
Welcome To Ottawa!
After we departed Montreal, we took a bus to Ottawa – the nation's capital. The two cities couldn't be more different. Montreal was a historic, French-speaking city that had a very European feel, while Ottawa seems more like a major metropolitan downtown where a majority of the people speak perfect English. It's amazing what a difference only a couple of hours make.
Once we arrived at our hotel, we unloaded the bus and settled into our rooms. We had a few hours of free time for the team to go and explore the city. We went to the Parliament buildings, which is where the Canadian congress meets and is located directly across the street from the Prime Minister's building. The Parliament buildings were magnificent in so many ways. They were built over 100 years ago and the structures are in terrific shape. There was also a war memorial nearby which honored the tomb of the Unknown Soldier – similar to what we have in Washington, D.C.
Following our free time, we departed the hotel for a light shootaround and a great team dinner. The restaurant where we ate was adjacent to the Canadian Football League's Ottawa RedBlacks' new football stadium. The team is the defending Grey Cup Champions from last season, despite the franchise only being a few years old and having started play in 2014.
Following dinner, the guys returned to the hotel for a good night's rest. Tomorrow is game day and the first of two games in two days, so it's important to get some rest. The game against Carleton will unfortunately not be live streamed, so we will do our best to keep you updated via twitter. However, you can watch live stats by clicking HERE. Until next time, Roll Tide!
You Win Some, You Lose Some
It's hard to believe we have only one game remaining on our Canadian trip. The team dropped a hard-fought contest to Carleton on Wednesday night, but not without showing some fight and heart. After trailing for the entire first half against the Ravens - a team that has won 13 of the last 15 U-Sport Canadian national championships - the Crimson Tide fought back and took a one-point lead midway through the third quarter. However, Alabama could not hang on as it dropped the first game of the Canadian Tour.
But as many of you know, this trip was not just about wins and losses. Sure, we all are competitive and love to win, however, there are greater goals we want to accomplish. Like learning how to fight through adversity, getting a better idea of how to play with one another and, maybe most importantly, building a bond with one another.
That's exactly what we've done with this trip. Today was another terrific day north of the border, despite the outcome from the game. We started the day with a team meal in what was possibly the best team room we've ever been in. We ate on the 28th floor of the Marriott hotel, which had windows from the ceiling to the floor all the way around, which gave us an unreal view of this beautiful city (pictured above and below). The longer we spend time in Ottawa, the more realize what an incredible city it is.
Following breakfast, we had a few hours before practice to relax and walk around. After our shootaround, coach Johnson had the bus driver take us through the city for a bit where we saw some different areas of Ottawa. Â
Of course the game was disappointing and that isn't going to change. However, it was great to see these young men bounce back from a big deficit and show some fight. You win some and you lose some, but we are learning so much about one another and that's what this trip it all about.Â
Tuscaloosa, We're Coming Home
After eight days and three games in Canada, we are finally coming back home to Tuscaloosa!
We have played games, spent time with one another, seen historic landmarks and created a bunch of memories during our eight-day trip north of the border. So it only seemed fitting that our Canadian Tour ended on a high note with a 10-point, 81-71, win at the University of Ottawa on Thursday night. Below is the postgame photo of both teams, while coach Avery Johnson recaps the trip in the above video.
Our final full day in Canada began with breakfast on the top floor of the hotel. However, we did not practice prior to Thursday's game as we have done every other game day. Playing three games in four days will take a lot out of you. So instead, after we had breakfast, we were able to take one last look around the city of Ottawa.
It's hard to believe that our trip has come to an end. We will depart the city of Ottawa first thing Friday morning and take a two-hour bus ride to Montreal International Airport where we will catch our flight home. The team has learned a lot about one another and it's exciting to see how much we've come together in just a short amount of time.Â
We hope you have enjoyed our Tide Takes Canada blog. We are excited for the upcoming season and we hope you are too.
Until we see you again in Coleman Coliseum later this fall, Roll Tide and Buckle Up!
