Dec 2, 2007

Total Chaos

Hello Everyone,

I boarded my second prop plane in my life (the first time was the trip to Florida State for the NIT) and I really don’t like them. It was only about an hour in a half plane ride to Helsingborg, but felt longer with those propellers flopping around. We flew out of a really small airport in Stockholm and flew into an even smaller airport about 30 minutes outside of Helsingborg (at least we rented to big vans for the trip into downtown). The city was on the Atlantic Ocean across from Denmark. Downtown was beautiful with a huge walking center lined with shops and a really big castle tower. We ate at an Irish pub and stayed at a really nice hotel downtown. After the game I walked down by the pier where they had a nice little sitting area. I sat there for about 15 minutes just thinking how blessed I was to be there, looking at Denmark and smelling the salt of the ocean while also freezing my butt off ( a lot of boats were in the harbor at 11 PM). I mean I have bounced around a lot, but my spirits have stayed high through the whole experience. I mean I am living in another country seeing all these wonderful places, and playing the game I have loved since a youngster on someone else’s budget.

I was joined there by a couple of other players a little later and was able to learn about where they have come from. One of our best players is from Israel where he spent a year in the army. He actually even had to spend 29 days in jail because he wanted to leave. It is pretty amazing to hear stories like this and the perseverance of people in the world. I asked him a lot of questions about the situation in Israel because to be honest I was pretty clueless on what is happing in the country. I have been able to learn a lot that I never knew before and it is quite interesting coming from his perspective. The other player I was talking with is from Sweden and I was just finding out as much as possible about how they grow up and some traditions. It was nice to talk with them and learn about their cultures.


Everything with my apartment is situated. I actually moved in last Saturday and the kitchen is a huge improvement from what I had in France. Internet and cable is provided for me here so that will help me save even more money. Also, everything is within walking distance and I don’t have a car. There is access to one if I need to get something or go somewhere special but the gym, store, and downtown are all within 10 minutes walk. This will also keep my expenses low as I’m sure I would drive everywhere if I had the car and gas is not cheap here (not much of anything is cheap here).

Team

We did not play a very good game against Helsingborg, who really was not that good. They had three guys and one of them would go one on one every time. I’m not sure what it is but we play down to the other teams’ level. I guess that is a sign of a young team. I got in foul trouble early and got a little frustrated (they called a foul on me diving for a ball). Our main offensive player never got himself into the game either. I believe him and I were 7-25. I ended up with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. We had a couple chances in the game where we could have put them away, but let them hang around. Then in the fourth they did not miss a shot and we could not get a stop. That game left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and frustration was shown after the game.

There was a dispute between one of our players and theirs (just some pushing and shoving). When I turned around to see it our coach was going crazy on the other teams coach and looked like he was about to clobber him. Everything was cleared and we went to the locker room where it started again. They brought a ton of security and everything was broken up. I was really just hanging in the background because I had no idea what was happening or what sparked it. Needless to say coach was furious at us and at them and we paid for it in practice.

I had two of my hardest practices in my career this week (a ton of running along with just a lot of angry grown men battling in practice). I think it was good for us and hopefully things will turn around for us. We were off this weekend and play again on Friday at home. We have to turn it around or there will be some changes with the team as the board is riding the coach pretty hard.

The team headed to downtown Stockholm on Friday night for a dinner at our assistant coaches restaurant/bar. It was nice to get out and build some chemistry with the team after a hard week of practice. We have four days of practice this week and hopefully we will come out hungry and with a little attitude and get on the winning track.

This is BC gone for now

P.S. I stayed up till 4 AM on Saturday watching the bulldogs hand it to OSU. It def. is not as fun watching it on game tracker but I am glad to see them playing so well.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brandon,

hang in there and keep playing hard.

enjoy all of your experiences in another country.

GO DAWGS!! :)

Big AL

Anonymous said...

Photos on the blog are great!
dad

Anonymous said...

Crone I miss you and I'm probably one of your few friends who read your blog. I enjoy reading your serious yet commical postings and will continue to visit from now on. Although I do talk to you about every day, most of our discussions are about life and not about your experiences over in Europe so it's nice to actually see and read what your life is like over there. Continue the updates and I'm sure I'll talk to you this afternoon, haha.

Coop