The Big 12 Men's Basketball All-Stars are in the midst of a two-week trip through Europe. For more on the team's trip, click here.

DAY 6
Aug. 10, 2002

The All-Stars started their first full day in Oslo, Norway, Saturday by taking a tour of the city following breakfast at the hotel. Tour guide Kristine Lindberg spent nearly three hours giving the players and staff a wonderful, if abbreviated, tour of the Norwegian capital.

Between stops at Oslo's famous Vigeland Park and the grand Ski Jump Tower, Kristine informed the group that Oslo was founded in the year 1000 by Vikings, that Oslo used to be named Christiana, and that Norwegians pay 30-40 percent in taxes. The All-Stars drove by the Royal Palace, which Kristine was proud to announce, has low security, no fences and a phone number listed publicly.

The bus stopped at Vigeland Park, which is a sculpture garden created by Gustav Vigeland and is home to 200-some odd granite and bronze sculptures. The players, which haven't been very impressed by most of the cultural visits this trip, really enjoyed seeing this walk-through park and its sculptures that Kristine said demonstrated, "art through communication."

Nebraska guard Jake Muhleisen was impressed. "That was the best thing that we've seen so far," he said. Jake Sullivan agreed, saying, "It was the first cool exhibit we've been on. I enjoyed it a lot."

Quannas White of Oklahoma called the sculpture garden "beautiful" and "amazing."

The group's next stop was the Holmenkollen National Ski Museum and Jump Tower, which was part of the 1952 Winter Olympics. According to Kristine, the facility is 103 years old and can seat 80,000 spectators. The players and staff also rode in a ski-jumping simulator, which was interesting but caused motion sickness in some.

"Man, my head hurts, that was tougher than I thought it was." Will Chavis of Texas Tech said following the ride in the simulator. "I'm glad I only had bread for breakfast this morning," Jake Sullivan said after his ride.

The team spent an hour or so at a shoot around at Vollen Gymnasium, a beautiful wooden structure at an elementary school in nearby Asker, Norway. The school and gym are located in a scenic tree-laden lakeside village 30 minutes outside Oslo, and the same location for Saturday and Sunday's games.

The entire team ate a pregame meal together and were treated to TGI Friday's in downtown Oslo by John Underwood of the Big 12 Conference office. The majority of meals eaten by the players thus far on the trip have been at the various American restaurants, McDonald's, Burger King, Friday's, Pizza Hut and Subway, to name a few.

The All-Stars had a late 8 p.m. tipoff against the Norwegian Nationals, but the game itself followed the same pattern as the two games in Sweden. After playing even for a quarter, the Big 12 All-Stars made a 15-0 run to open the second quarter on their way to a 92-69 win. A recap and stats of the game can be found on this site. The win improves the All-Stars to a perfect 3-0 mark on the tour.

The team had a special visitor Saturday night in Asker, when Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg and his family where on hand at Vollen Gym for the win.

As the team hits the midway point of its Scandinavian tour, more sightseeing and the chance to finish undefeated await the All-Stars. Though some of the players mentioned Saturday that following the great time they had in Sweden, the trip is likely to go downhill from here. Jason Klotz of Texas disagrees. "Hey, I'm happy about Norway-Denmark," Klotz yelled emphatically.