Dunn Deal: Postcards from the Battle on the Border

The ski jumps used during the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

Day 1 in Canada is just about in the books. It was a long day but was fun all the way around. Calgary did not disappoint. We landed in Calgary around 4 o'clock after our flight was delayed from Phoenix. Going through customs in international airports is a whole different experience than I'm sure all of us are used to.

Once we retrieved all of our bags, we loaded the charter bus and got on the road. Our first stop was Harvey's, a fast food restaurant. I can't speak for anyone else, but I ordered the crispy chicken which turned out to be a good choice. This place had a mix of burgers and chicken on their menu with the majority of the guys getting burgers. 

The verdict is still out on them and I'll have to let y'all know how they tasted. But I heard from De Angelo (Jones) that they had an interesting taste, different from that of a burger in the states. After leaving there we headed to the University of Calgary to play our first game. 

We we're matched up against the University of Lethbridge. We didn't actually get to the arena until about one hour prior to tip off, so once again we were stretched for time. Drew (our trainer) did a really good job of taping everyone's ankles in a timely manner. Once 7 o'clock rolled around it was game time. 

Everyone looked really good out on the court. It took us a while to get going, but once we got going there was no looking back. All the guys played hard and we ended up winning the contest 106-72. 

After a quick post game talk with coach we were back on the bus with Subway sandwiches and Gatorades that were in the locker room after our game. This time we were headed to our hotel in downtown Calgary. We arrived here, and saw that our hotel was right across from the Calgary Tower which sort of resembles the Seattle Space Needle. 

We checked in and got settled before we all decided we wanted to experience downtown Calgary first hand. A few of the guys walked off in one direction and others in the opposite just to make sure we covered a lot of ground. I took to the streets with Danny Redmon and Cam Jones. We walked around with no purpose initially until we became hungry. We bumped into a few interesting people and had some funny encounters along the way. I think Danny ended up making one new friend in particular who decided he wanted to tag along for a little while! 

We finally found a small pizza place that was still open and selling pizza by the slice. Cam and I grabbed a slice and we started our return to the hotel. We have a trip planned for tomorrow that we were told is going to be extremely fun. We'll be gone from the hotel from 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. then play our game at 8 p.m. The first day in Canada was a success and it's only the beginning... Until the next update.. Stay tuned!

Trip Off to Late Start

As I was lying here on the sky harbor airport floor, I thought that I would update everyone on our status.. Right now as I speak we are all sitting/laying here due to a delayed flight. Our original flight time was 10:17 a.m. and now it was pushed back to 11:55 a.m. This all after a early morning with all of us arriving at the airport around 8 o'clock this morning.

The majority of the team spent the night spread out around the Phoenix area in Scottsdale, Tempe and Chandler. Luis, Shane, and I had people stay over at our homes for the night so we didn't have to travel the day of. We were scheduled to arrive in Calgary around 3 o'clock local time to then proceed to the hotel and begin taping for our game later tonight. By the looks if things now, it seems that we will be heading straight to the arena from the airport with no stop at the hotel because of the lack of time.

We play one game tonight at 7 p.m. Calgary time which is one hour difference from Flagstaff time. Everybody is excited and ready to get to Canada and get the games started. At this point we are all just Relaxing and waiting for our plane to arrive. Right now, Gaellan, Lu (Flores) and Gabe are watching a movie, and just about everyone else is taking a pre-flight nap! I may have to join the guys who are napping!

We just received word that our plane will be pulling into the gate in about ten minutes so we may not be stuck here too long after all. For up to the minute updates between blogs on what we are doing check mine and some of the other guys twitter pages with the hashtag #borderbattle. I'm also going to try to get some pics up for y'all of places we go and just of some of the guys hanging out. Until the next update... Stay tuned. 

Follow Mike on Twitter.

Dunn Deal: Postcards from the Battle on the Border

Hi,

My name is Mike Dunn and I am apart of the men's basketball team here at NAU. This upcoming year will be my second year as a member of the team, and I am really excited and looking forward to the upcoming season. As some of you may know we, the men's basketball team, are traveling to Calgary, Canada to participate in the "Battle at the Border."

This trip consists of a 5-day trip with games each day against Canadian universities. I was presented with the opportunity to keep everyone updated on our preparation and the trip itself.

As of right now we are still in Flag preparing with 2-a-day practices which began July 31st over at Coconino HS. There are a couple new faces, so at this point we are just trying to gel as a team making sure everything runs smoothly for when we arrive in Canada.

Practices have been going really well and the entire team has been working extremely hard. We have a few more practices to squeeze in some things that we will need to know to compete up north. We board the plane to Calgary Wednesday morning at 8 am. I'll be sure to keep y'all updated with daily blogs once we arrive as well as on my Twitter page. It's gonna be a fun and interesting experience for all of us. Until my next update, stay tuned..

Mike

Michael Dunn joined the Northern Arizona men’s basketball program in 2009 after starring at Chandler High School. He was a three-year letter winner that helped his team beat top-seeded Highland in the 5A State Championships, the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 in state history. He saw action in seven games for the Lumberjacks in his first season.