Buried in the bowels of today’s sports section of the Big O (page 7C in the “In brief” column) is a blurb about the Niners playing three games in Ontario in October.
10/9 York University, Toronto
10/10 Humber College, Toronto
10/11 University of Guelph, Guelph, ONT (62 miles west of Toronto)
(I have yet to find it online, but will post if and when I do.)
GO NINERS!!!
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Charlotte 49ers men’s basketball team will play three exhibitions in Toronto in October.
The 49ers will face York on Oct. 9, Humber on Oct. 10 and Guelph on Oct. 11. Playing the exhibitions in another country will allow Charlotte to take advantage of an NCAA rule permitting them 10 days of practice to prepare for the trip.
Charlotte will open its regular season Nov. 19 against Long Beach State at Halton Arena. – DAVID SCOTT
That is awesome. It should be a good experience for the team. I’m glad we are finally doing soemthing like this. Canada isn’t Europe in terms of the talent they will face, but it will still be a good trip.
Go Niners!
Beat the… ummm… the Hawks, the Gryphons & the Lions! 
(Did I read that right… they hold open tryouts for their varsity sports teams, like a high school?)
:blink:
[i]Originally posted by Mike_Persinger[/i]@Sep 10 2004, 08:00 AM [b] COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team will play three exhibitions in Toronto in October.The 49ers will face York on Oct. 9, Humber on Oct. 10 and Guelph on Oct. 11. Playing the exhibitions in another country will allow Charlotte to take advantage of an NCAA rule permitting them 10 days of practice to prepare for the trip.
Charlotte will open its regular season Nov. 19 against Long Beach State at Halton Arena. – DAVID SCOTT [/b]
I see Charlotte slid into the 9 spot in the top 10 in the Observer’s “local” college soccer ranking.
Great to hear our men’s bball team will get a headstart on the season!!!
[i]Originally posted by LeftyNiner[/i]@Sep 10 2004, 08:14 AM [b]I completely missed that this morning. :o I did see the nice write-up about UNCG soccer and their upcoming tournament games at Davidson this weekend. Btw, I'm reffing their sunday game against Vanderbilt. [/b]Lefty, that was a nice story about UNCG soccer. Saw their facility this past Sunday when I showed my older daughter the campus on our way back to Charlotte from my son's soccer tournament in Greensboro. Starting to do that pick out a college thing...
we could probably start chris sager at center and travis gordon at point against these jokers and still whip their asses.
From the Guelph website…
[b]2004-05 Outlook
In a year that all basketball experts anticipated would be a rebuilding year for Guelph, the Gryphons are retooling and poised to take a run at the OUA West Division title. With arguably the best recruiting class in the country, the Gryphons look for this young talented group to have an immediate impact and gel with the core of returning veterans that is led by fourth year guard J.S. Esposito and fifth year forward Nadan Kapetanovic.
Look for breakout years from Eric Malcolm and Jon Odumeru who come to the program with a year of experience under their belts. Taylor Brown will continue to help this team and is once again battling back from surgery this past summer. The freshman group is led by standout guard Nick Pankerichan and talented big man Phil Mathies. Joining them is forward Chris MacDonald and guard Kevin Condron. Perhaps the biggest impact, particularly at the offensive end, will be from former OUA West All-Star and Lakehead transfer Jeff Rosar.
This talented and extremely unselfish group of players will be tested early as the Gryphs host Division I teams from Bradley and UNC Charlotte in early October. In mid October, the Gryphons will travel to Montreal to play in the Redmen Classic Tournament. October 22nd to 24th , the Gryphs host Saint Mary’s, Acadia and Memorial from the AUS. The following week, they will compete in the Jason Pearson Memorial Tournament at Brock. Then, early November will bring the onset of another tough OUA schedule. [/b]
Link: 2004-05 Outlook
They look really intimidating though… :o
Is it just me, or does #32 look older than his uniform number. :blink: 
[i]Originally posted by run49er[/i]@Sep 10 2004, 09:53 AM [b] From the Guelph website...2004-05 Outlook
In a year that all basketball experts anticipated would be a rebuilding year for Guelph, the Gryphons are retooling and poised to take a run at the OUA West Division title. With arguably the best recruiting class in the country…
[/b]
Let’s see, the 3 biggest players they have on their roster:
32 Radhi Knapp F 6’7" 235
42 Eric Malcolm F 6’7" 210
44 Jonathan Odumeru F 6’7" 200
(no centers at all)
… so Withers and Iti pretty much score at will, right? Probably EJ too. 
Still, this is just about the extra opportunity to practice & play together. I’m guessing that the guys probably wont mind travelling either. Should be fun. I wonder how much we’ll get from the Observer on each game? A blurb and a boxscore at least, I hope.
I don’t suppose Sweirad/FNZ will be broadcasting either.
Should be a good trip for the team. Gives the guys a head strart on the season and the coaching staff the opportunity to evaluate individuals, rotations, etc. Not sure what Toronto and Ontario are like in October, since my trips across the border have always been in the summer. Great city to visit, so hopefully they will enjoy it and bring home 3 preseason victories!
GO NINERS!!!
Keep in mind,you don’t go the University of Guelph and think you’re coming out with a win.
Tintin
Memphis did something like this last year. The best part of it is the extra week or two of practice we will get. Also the competitive exhibition games will be nice for us. Last year we only got one preseason game and we saw what happened against GW(yes, I know we didn’t have Withers, but c’mon!). We get three games against teams that will be fighting for pride and then get over a month of practice(and one more game) before the season starts. Bobby Lutz is going to have some explaining to do if we loose more than one game before January. Extra preparation time + cupcake OOC sched means no excuses for a slow start this year.
Rutgers and Alabama aren’t creampuffs at all. Plus Valpo and Indiana are loseable. Davidson is rarely an easy game either just cuz.
This was definitely the right time to spring this trip for the right team.
[i]Originally posted by NinerLoudNProud[/i]@Sep 10 2004, 12:11 PM [b]Rutgers and Alabama aren't creampuffs at all. Plus Valpo and Indiana are loseable. Davidson is rarely an easy game either just cuz.This was definitely the right time to spring this trip for the right team.[/b]
[i]Originally posted by Butter49er+Sep 10 2004, 01:25 PM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (Butter49er @ Sep 10 2004, 01:25 PM)
What is our record against team from Indiana, 0-8 or something. I don’t take any game for granted against an Indiana team, or one from St Louis for that matter.
Alabama is not going to be easythey are better and don’t think that Charlotte has better talent than Alabama, dont forget this is was a elite 8 team. You will have to work for your points and they will get Iti in foul trouble.
Oh, I don’t think any of us are going to take Alabama lightly.
I have my extra special vocal cords lined up for them.
We’re gonna NCSUUSC them.