Bradley Associate Athletic Director Bobby Parker is travelling with the men's basketball team to the Bahamas Aug. 11-16 and is providing daily updates throughout the trip in his "Blogging with BP" feature.

While most people come to a place like the Bahamas for a relaxing time in paradise, these late nights of work are catching up with me. Looking forward to the more traditional 7 p.m. (ET) game tonight.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• I have spent a good bit of my time here complaining about WiFi and officials. I have come to grips with the WiFi issues. We are on an exotic island in the Atlantic Ocean where visitors are not expected to work. I need to get over it. I am racking up some serious data charges to provide video highlights from the games, though, so if everyone who has viewed the videos could drop a check in the mail, that would be great (j/k).
• I have spent even more time complaining about the officiating during our first three games. I need to get over that, too. I don't get to vent about officiating back at home, so I am letting it all out now. In reality, I believe concern about the competitiveness of these exhibition games in previous years has been a point of emphasis to ensure the American college teams find the trip worthwhile and continue to venture to the Bahamas. One way to keep the games close, is for the whistles to favor the home teams. I am generally ok with the idea that the officiating may favor one team over another, but some calls have been so blatantly bad, it has often been beyond comical. Omari Grier has twice in three games been fouled hard on drives to the basket with no player in front of him. Both times he was knocked to the floor and while both teams have begun lining up around the lane for the resulting free throws, the officials have called him for a charge. While our 3-point shooting has been cold, we have made three shots from beyond the arc that have not been recognized as 3-pointers. We have followed Southern Miss each of the last two nights and they are equally exasperated by the calls. The event organizers need to beware they do not go to the extreme for the result they desire.
• While the uniforms have changed every night, the players in them have not so much. We have seen several players at least twice and each of the last two nights we have faced players who suited up in the previous game against Southern Miss. In the end, it does not really matter, but it has been interesting to watch.
• Attendance at our games has been roughly in the 75-100 range. On the drive back to Atlantis tonight, we passed the Nassau version of Rucker Park. There was a street ball game being played on a concrete court in a park and I would estimate the crowd surrounding the court at 300-400. Was actually a cool site, sorry I could not get a clear pic as we drove by.
• Walgreens 30 SPF sunscreen works in a bizarre fashion. Yesterday's coating resulted in minor sunburns in just about every place I actually applied it, but virtually nothing in the places I did not. Fortunately it did work on my bald-ish head. Coach Uken cannot say the same thing.  He is now a red-head.
• I have been spent far too much time gazing out my hotel window at people para-sailing along the coastline. I have jumped out of an airplane and off a 25-meter bungy platform. Para-sailing is next up on my to-do list, so if you could overnight those checks for the data charges, I would really appreciate it.
• Confidence has an amazing effect on production. The Braves spent much of Wednesday's game playing with four newcomers on the court together. It is not surprising that the group began the week a little tentative on the floor and their low shooting percentages and general miscues were an obvious result. As Wednesday's game progressed, their confidence began to rise and everything flowed much better. I am sure the competition played a factor, but regardless, the increased confidence paid dividends. Ultimately, that is a major reason we are making this trip. We have seven newcomers and we need to get them ready to contribute by opening night.

Until next time ...

Blogging with BP
Aug. 14, 2013:  A true Hall of Famer
Aug. 12, 2013:  Perspective Check Monday
Aug. 11, 2013:  Travel recap
Aug. 9, 2013:  Live Stats for the Summer of Thunder Classic
Aug. 8, 2013:  Bradley Athletics Provides Family-Friendly Entertainment Options
Aug. 7, 2013:  Recapping the Bahamas Preview Luncheon and Scrimmage
Aug. 6, 2013:  Check out the Bradley Team Store
Aug. 5, 2013:  Introduction and Bahamas Preview

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