A 24-Hour Boat Trip??!!

So, just in case you're keeping score, it took 24 hours to travel 5,300 miles from Baltimore to Rhodes. Ok. Then it took us 24 hours to travel 266 miles from Rhodes to Athens. The good news: We're here, we're fed, we're showered, and we can sleep in (well, the players can...coaches have to get up at 7:15 for a meeting). The bad news: the last 24 hours felt like 48.

First, we had a quality training session, focused on shooting, physical play, and being ready for balls to come back from out of bounds quickly -- all things we identified as problem areas from the Ireland match:

Then we went back to the medeival town of Rhodes to see the Special Olympics torch pass through town. The players were celebrated:

Heading into the Torch ceremony

A classical Greek tragic dance to introduce the Torch

Comedy Tonight! (the motto of the last 24-48 hours!)

Then saw the torch:

We SWEAR it was lit!

Then walked back through town and stopped at the Archaeology Museum, where we were graciously admitted for free, but then were promptly escorted out by Olympic officials intent to keep us on schedule:

Goalkeeper Alan Hill with Daphne, our friendly (and diligent) official guide.

Then we boarded the ferry:

But, with 1000 other athletes on board, the ship only had beds for about 1/4 or 1/3 of the occupants, so some of the guys made their own beds out of couches:

benches:

and floors:

while others chose not to sleep:

The reward for not sleeping was a marvelous sunrise over the Dodecanese Islands:

When the ferry arrived in Athens, the players boarded a bus and headed for their hotel. Unfortunately, the soccer fields are too far away to allow the teams to stay at the Olympic Village. Instead, the players are staying at the Alexander Hotel in Anavyssos, about 40km from Athens. This amounts to a one-hour bus ride. So, we're far from the center of town, but the beach is once again across the street, and this time the swimming pool overlooks the ocean:

sunset from the pool deck

Team USA poolside!

So, it's been the longest day of the trip, but now the guys are settled, along with soccer teams from Canada, Denmark, Palestine, Egypt, Costa Rica, Belize, Venezuela, the Ukraine, and others. Tomorrow will feature a light training session, and then transportation up to Athens for the Opening Ceremonies, which begin at 7pm and will be televised on ESPN3.com, click here to subscribe (for free) and watch us!!