It's probably an understatement to say that my knowledge of eastern Europe is poor. I think a lot of people are with me on this one. That said, I will do my best to give a worthwhile geography lesson about where Michael will be playing next year.
The town of Oradea is located on the border with Hungary (just to the right of the Y in Hungary). It has a population of just over 200,000 people, which is comparable in size to Madison or twice as large as Green Bay.
Michael is playing for a team called CSM Oradea which plays in the 16-team Divizia A, the top-tier professional basketball league of Romania.
I haven't yet figured out how to translate the team website but did find some pictures of the Arena Antonio Alexe. I am assuming this is where Mike will be playing his home games. From the looks of it, it seems like an improvement over the high school gym our boy was playing at in Austria.
Anyways, this is as comprehensive as I would like to get with this post. Michael will be able to tell us much more when he gets over there. The goal of this blog is to act as a place where Michael can write of his experiences. We will be allowed to add comments to any post, which I encourage.
I plan on keeping up with the team and posting any game information, pictures, or videos I can find throughout the season. Primarily though, I will be handing over the reigns to Michael. He will be posting updates of his antics on and off the court. Again, our comments are very important to the success of this blog. Sending our love and support will make the distance apart seem much less detached. Spread the word everyone.
