Final Journal
Tim Cole - Juniata College

In my opinion, the Bring It Tour has spent just the right number of days in Prague.  We’ve seen the sights, went off the beaten path, and hit the night life… hard.  To rewind and look at the past week, we will start in Kladno, Czech Republic.  We had a practice in the morning, despite having only 8 players.  For water breaks we drank carbonated water which was not very satisfying.  Mort worked us hard but we reaped the benefits later when we took the final set off of a first division Czech team.  We were matched up against some of the club’s younger players, but they still had an average height of about 6’6”.  Special props need to be given to Mr. Joe for his super-middle performances… two games going all front row all the time… but maybe the play of the day was when I set one of the Czech player’s tips over on the first contact to the corner for a kill.  A terrible play I’ll hang on my volleyball mantle nonetheless. 

After the match Tatsu paced the grass looking for four-leaf clovers, singing his “contract, contract” song.  The bus eventually showed up, complete with metal guitar versions of classical music and mob boss looking driver.  Oh Europe.

Tuesday morning we had practice in a nice gym that also is the home gym of a very successful Czech women’s team.  Tuesday night we had dinner at TGIFriday’s for a taste of America.  We talked about the experience of being in Europe on the whole.  I admit that before I came out here I could not imagine anyone saying that playing professional volleyball in Europe was not for them, at least not anyone who came on this tour.  But, after being out here some of the hardships of this constant road trip have emerged.  Those of us with girlfriends are going through various degrees of withdrawal, and the same goes for family, American food, and the general lifestyle.

In many ways I would compare Prague to a large state university.  So much to see, so many people, and yet there is always another huge party right around the corner you don’t even know about.  Prague is an epicenter of fashion, art, music, and culture.  The beauty of the city is effortless.  There isn’t a thing in this place that is not worthy of remark.  Our heads have been sitting on a swivel for the past five days.  Tatsu had to buy reserve camera batteries just to take it all in.

Wednesday night we went out in a big way.  I bought some euro style wrap around sunglasses and Miss Z showed us around to a pub and a few dancehalls.  We met up ironically with a few girls we had seen another night.  They swear they are 18.  Hmmmm… Tatsu swears he is 25.  I’m not so sure about either.

In no particular order a few things of note about Prague include- street performers or all styles, from music to a man balancing silverwear on his hand.  There are painters of various talents, singers, and vendors.  The hustle and bustle of the streets is unreal.  Thousands upon thousands in every direction, from every walk of life, rubbing shoulders in the narrow cobblestoned streets of great Praha.  We’ve all probably walked a good 15 miles this week doing routine sightseeing.  And we’ve seen a fraction of what Prague has to offer.  In every way that Slovenia possessed natural beauty, Prague has man-made.  The architecture is stunning, in both size and detail.  The people are beautiful, patient, and kind.  There is a different pace to the city though, slightly more American in its rush.  Slovenia’s crawl is no more, Austria’s mid tempo artsy lifestyle pales in comparison to the grandeur of Prague. 

I feel like this trip has allowed us all to experience some things the majority of the world has never seen.  I’ve shot bottle rockets off of Charles Bridge, bartered for clothing in Czech market, drank pivo on a tram (sans ticket no less) and been witness to a chirping monkey lady.  And I’m the tame one on the tour.  And so the tour will come to an end right here in a majestic place worthy of grand conclusion.

Editors Note:  Ultimately, our time in prague was a huge success and as the tour ends various players are heading their separate directions, with hopes of finding that ever elusive contract.

Tatsu Imai- Training in Arhaus, Denmark

Jason MacDonald, Ryan Woodward, Tim Cole- Training in Frankfurt, Germany

Jeff MacDonald- Training in Madrid, Spain

Zach Underwood, Adam Simac- signed in Klagenfurt, Austria

Justin Salyer- Training in Germany

Aleksandar Ondelj- signed in Frankfurt, Germany

Cort Withm- signed in Germany

Dante DiPonio- signed in Paris, France

Joe Caruso- training in Middlefart, Denmark

Micah Venturini, Brandon Mueller- training for Omniworld, Holland

Ernesto Pardo- back to USA