Oct 3, 2008


Hello Everyone,

Well, it is a good week for the blog. I have lots of stories and even added some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

We will start off with the middle of the week and our 10 hour bus trip. It took a little less time so that made me happy. I never feel real good after long bus rides I think I get a little motion sickness from these bumpy roads and uncomfortable seats. We stopped at a restaurant named "Texicano" about half way to Gornik. Which I figured would be some sort of Mexican food place. I was gladly mistaken when they served chicken stuffed with some cheese and spinach, and a ton of butter (could have done without the butter). The weird thing was they also had a Buddha hanging on the wall and seemed to be decorated more like an Asian place. This place was going through a little bit of an identity crisis.

I think I’m going to visit more gas stations then I am gyms in my time here in Poland. On the way home we stopped at an unusual one called “Auto Bar”. It was a very small truck stop that was open 24 hours. The bus driver was required to take a 30 minute stop. I was one of the few players to get off the bus as it was pretty late and many of them were sleeping. As I was walking around the place I caught a whiff of what smelled like some animals. Sure enough there was a pig in a cage in front of the restaurant next to the road. I kept looking around and noticed they had a sign for a zoo. This truck stop also had a petting zoo in front of it. I was disappointed though as most of the animals were in there barns sleeping. I’m sure they don’t get a lot of that with the cars and trucks driving by at all hours. I also got a hotdog which was not a very good idea as it came topped with something similar to coleslaw in a very hard bun, should have followed the captains lead as he got a soup that looked really good.

The hotel we stayed at was actual and old castle. We stayed in the old servants’ quarters of the castle that was converted into the hotel. The castle itself is a tourist destination. It had a lot of history, it was built in 1700’s and was taken over by the Nazis during WWII. The Nazis built tunnels under the castle that were used as research facility. The tour was only in polish and you had to have 15 people to go so we did not get to see the tunnels themselves but the castle was pretty neat. The land acreage was massive as you had to turn off the main road and go 600 meters back. They had a horse jumping stadium (a stadium where horses run around and jump over things). It looked like it had not been used for a long time. We also ate at the top of tower in a room that was filled with animals. Mostly deer racks and a few wild pigs were on the walls with your occasional fox. Drew’s parents actually made the road trip from kolobrzeg to watch the game and stay at the castle hotel.

His parents actually left on Sunday to drive back to Berlin and catch the plane home. They were here for a week and got to see the 3 games. They were very nice people as I ate with them on Friday night before the game. They rented a car and did a lot of touring around as well. I could not believe they made the 10 hour trip, but I guess they did not have much to do in the city.

We have been getting in an ice chamber the day after games to help with recovery. As you can see in the picture below it is a little round shaped container that blows dry ice at a temperature of -130 degrees Celsius. We have gloves on and wooden shoes. You are only in there for about 2 to 3 minutes, but it does get pretty cold. I can’t really tell if it is helping, but I’m sure it is not hurting either so you just do what you’re told.

The team has been playing pretty well as we have started the season 3-0. I believe it is the first time they have won three games in a row or started the season 3-0, maybe both. Gornik was the away game and we started pretty slowly and were down by 4 at half. We were not shooting the ball very well either, but opened up the third quarter in a tear and went up by 14 pretty quick. We ended up wining by about 10.
Personally I did not have my best showing shooting 1-5 from three and scoring 5 points. I did not get myself involved in the game like I usually do in other areas of the game.

Saturday we played at home against a team from Warsaw. We were up by almost 20 before the first quarter was over. We played very strong defense throughout the entire game. They went to a zone that slowed us up a bit so we will defiantly need to correct that before next game.

Personally, I had a decent game 2-4 from three which were the only points I scored. I am having a terrible time drawing fouls. I drove three or four times and at least three of them were clearly fouls and I can’t get the call. I did have a better all around game with 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and a charge.

We have two more games this week, one on Wednesday and one on Saturday. We will leave Tuesday to make another 10 hour trip to the game. I think after the season I would have traveled the whole country of Poland on a bus. The team we play on Wednesday has a player from Pike High School (Tony Weeden) which is where some of my brothers and sisters go or went. I played a lot with him this summer in open gyms and the Pro-Am tourney in Louisville.


Until next time!

This is BC gone for now













4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brandon,

enjoyed the entertaining update and pics.

keep playing hard and glad your team is off to a great start.

Big AL

Anonymous said...

Hey,
that ice bath is preparing you for the winter ahead! Keep playing hard. love ya.
the fam

riebe family said...

Hi Brandon,

We met your mom on Amelia Island this week and she shared your blog info. We have three sons who love basketball and are excited to read about your adventures. Our 9 year old son, Jon, says you are a baller! Know you have fans in Wisconsin cheering you on!
The Riebe Family

Anonymous said...

I was a lil concerned about that PINK standing looking TANNING booth! But just wanted to say hey! Miss you!
Darrien and Amber