Heading into Saturdays game we knew it wouldnt be an easy one. Sitting close to the bottom of the standings, Como probably wanted the win more than we did (the bottom 2 teams from the season get moved to a lower division). They started the game like it too. In front of a smaller crowd at a very nice facuility in the city of Como, we got put onto our heals early.
2 goals right away on counter attacks and this pathetic little croud quickly turned into an Annoying little croud. We finaly "pulled our heads out" and woke up. Our offense rallied back with some strong half court and even a few counter attacks of our own. Half time it was all tied up 6-6.
Starting the 3rd period we had a man in the penelty box so it was really important that we win the opening sprint so that we would not be on defense with a man down. For some reason unknown to me they decided to give ME the task of retrieving it. When my coach told me to sprint for the ball I was more than confused. Dont get me wrong, in practice I can win all the swimsets thanks to my handy flipturns and probably because all the Italians are wondering why I am trying so hard...in practice. But if we were to have a sprint, because my stroke looks more like im having a sesiure than trying to go anywhere, I would probably finish somewhere in the lower half of my team. As we were lining up I asked Michalae "why am I sprinting?" He just looked at me with a blank face. I then told him that I cant sprint, "But I am slow". He responded with a "What?" I shot back at him "I am SLOOOW" only to get another "What?" from him. "I am F%(K&£g SLOW!", then the referee blew the whistle and I was off to the races. With 80 to 1 odds I obviously didnt win the sprint but I made up for it about a min later scoring a goal on the next offense. With a 6-7 lead we never looked back.
After a strong week of practice, and getting my strength and conditioning back, I once again was giving a starting position and the overly demanding and underappreciated job of guarding the other teams center. I dont know what my team was thinking getting some offensivly handicapped player who lies about being 6feet tall when it seems that every other team went out and used their foriegn roster spot to sign a mamouth of a center. This week I had to wrap up with a white Karl Malone look alike from Croatia. Only problem was he had some 5ft 11 and a 1/2 inch annoying American making sure this guy didnt deliver. Dont worry im not about to start talking in the third person like the real Karl Malone, I should really be taking this time to praise my team because our defense as a unit is what would prove to stop the Como attack throughout the game.
No kickouts, no goals from Karl on me and we easly dominated the second half winning 13 to 7.
Michalae came up to me 20 mins after the game ended laughing and said, "Ohhhhh You are F&$k!çg SLOOOOW"...The translation had just clicked.
BUS #10
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
BGR
Pumped is an understatement of how I felt Saturday night as I drove to the pool for my first game back. Then when Queen came on the radio singing "We are the Champions" I knew it had to be an omen! As the song went on I got more into it, cresendioing with every verse. By the end of the song I was in full rock out mode singing at the top of my lungs "NO TIME FOR LOSERS; BECAUSE WE ARE THE CAMPIONS" and getting plenty of stares as I putted alnog the rode in the smartcar getting passed and honked at. This would end up being the high point of the night.
Matching up against a stronger Camolgi team, I could see it in my teammates eyes when I arived at the pool that they didnt think there was much chance for victory. But I had just heard the radio tell me that I was a champion so I was confident that we would still pull it off.
We had our routine half hour team talk about matchups and strategy, none of which I understood but would be translated to me later by Roberto in under 2 mins . Im sure he didnt leave anything out...
When the meeting ended I headed out to the pool to start some pregame stretches and drills. The oposing team started to walk in and I imediatly started looking for the BGR. One by one they came out of the visitor s locker room, normal....,normal....,normal....,FREAK. OK so maybe he wasnt 6ft8in 280 but he definetly looked like he should be wearing a Met-Rex tank top and heading to a Worlds Strongest Man competition. The kind of guy that turns sideways to walk through doorways, because he acually has to. GREAAAAAT this is going to be fun I sighed to my self sarcasticly, but then I Quickly remembered that I was a CHAMPION and started feeling better.
The game started and so did their scoring with their Hungarian Lefty showing us why he has an Olympic Gold medal at home and why we dont. They found the back of the net on their first two posessions puting us in a quick 2-0 hole. On our next offensive we earned a man advantage oppertunity an I ended up scoring a goal from the post. Unfortunetly that was as close as the game would get all night. We stayed reletivly close but ultimetly finshed with an L, 14 to 9.
So much for Queen and for me comming back and being the savior to the season. The loss doesnt completely put us out of the playoff hunt but we didnt make things any easier for ourselves.
Ohh yeah, the post game Pizza was still amazing.
Bus #10
Matching up against a stronger Camolgi team, I could see it in my teammates eyes when I arived at the pool that they didnt think there was much chance for victory. But I had just heard the radio tell me that I was a champion so I was confident that we would still pull it off.
We had our routine half hour team talk about matchups and strategy, none of which I understood but would be translated to me later by Roberto in under 2 mins . Im sure he didnt leave anything out...
When the meeting ended I headed out to the pool to start some pregame stretches and drills. The oposing team started to walk in and I imediatly started looking for the BGR. One by one they came out of the visitor s locker room, normal....,normal....,normal....,FREAK. OK so maybe he wasnt 6ft8in 280 but he definetly looked like he should be wearing a Met-Rex tank top and heading to a Worlds Strongest Man competition. The kind of guy that turns sideways to walk through doorways, because he acually has to. GREAAAAAT this is going to be fun I sighed to my self sarcasticly, but then I Quickly remembered that I was a CHAMPION and started feeling better.
The game started and so did their scoring with their Hungarian Lefty showing us why he has an Olympic Gold medal at home and why we dont. They found the back of the net on their first two posessions puting us in a quick 2-0 hole. On our next offensive we earned a man advantage oppertunity an I ended up scoring a goal from the post. Unfortunetly that was as close as the game would get all night. We stayed reletivly close but ultimetly finshed with an L, 14 to 9.
So much for Queen and for me comming back and being the savior to the season. The loss doesnt completely put us out of the playoff hunt but we didnt make things any easier for ourselves.
Ohh yeah, the post game Pizza was still amazing.
Bus #10
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Bus and Blog are Back
I must star with an apology, I am sincerely sorry to all the POLOandPASTA faithful for the coma like intermission on this blog. I left it about as quick as my shoulder left its socket in the Viagevano game, ultimately tearing my labrum and sidelining me for what I thought (and was told) would be the remainder of the season. I didn't even inform you on what happend, although I was surprised to hear that my injury didn't flash across your TV as ESPN Now Update, and Skip Bayless wasn't debating the next morning on 1st and 10 on how my injury might play out for the rest of Erestampa Bergamos season. The quick summary is I tore my labrum and was told by doctors in Italy that I would need surgery. I did not want to agree with them so I packed my bags and headed back home where doctors state side suggested that I try the physical therapy approach. After nearly 3 months of hard work and the support and encouragement of my family some Close friends, I told the team that I was ready to return and fight for them in the final 5 weeks of season. A week later I was boarding a British Airways flight and headed back to Italy.
Arriving 2 days ago, I was greeted at the airport by the team president Dario, who upon first seeing me exit the baggage claim shook his head and laughed. I dint think many of the team thought when I said my goodbyes in January that they would ever see my face again, let alone come back to finish out the season. We headed straight to the pool where after many more Ciaos and hugs it was time for practice and of course the customary Tuesday 15 x 200s that I missed so dearly.
When practice was finished I was more than excited to rush over to the restaurant where I saw Sergio and began my rigorus Italian diet of Pizza 5 nights a week. The only wierd part about comming back was that it was not wierd at all, infact it felt like I never left. I even got my same apartment and the same clown car (I wont lie, I was pretty excited to be mobbing around the streets of Bergamo in the Smart Car again).
As for the real reason of my return, to help my team make the playoffs, the road will be quite tricky. We currently sit in 5th place and need to move up 1 spot to 4th. Doesnt sound too hard but when they are ahead by two wins and we only have 5 games left (4 against the top 4 teams) it will take a great effort to pull it off.
It all starts tomorrow with our game against current 1st place Camolgi. The main thing that I keep hearing over and over is that they have a Huge Gay Russian. HUGE as in 6ft 8in and 280lbs muscle, Gay as in he literly plays for the "other team", and Russian as in, well Russian. Now dont get me wrong I have nothing against gays, come on I voted NO on Prop 13, but when its my job to match up and wrestle the whole game with this man-handeling boheamoth, it would make even the most open man queezy. It didnt help that the first thing my coach asked me when I saw him was, "Are you ready to sacraffice your A$*h&7£ on Saturday for the team?" I first responded with "yes" and then a confused "no" and felt like I was in the middle of a stupid 1st graders joke with no safe answer.
Besideds the BGR (who has played long enough in Italy that he has naturalised), they had an American who didnt quite work out. About the same time that I left the country in January his team gave him the boot and picked up Gabor Kis. Who is Gabor Kis? Just a Hungarian, Olympic Gold Medal, and a nasty Left handed shot...No Big Deal.
As impressive as their lineup is and as difficult it is going to be to pull off the win, I couldnt think of anything I would rather want than to be than back here in Bergamo with my guys, ready to go to battle again.
Bus #10
Arriving 2 days ago, I was greeted at the airport by the team president Dario, who upon first seeing me exit the baggage claim shook his head and laughed. I dint think many of the team thought when I said my goodbyes in January that they would ever see my face again, let alone come back to finish out the season. We headed straight to the pool where after many more Ciaos and hugs it was time for practice and of course the customary Tuesday 15 x 200s that I missed so dearly.
When practice was finished I was more than excited to rush over to the restaurant where I saw Sergio and began my rigorus Italian diet of Pizza 5 nights a week. The only wierd part about comming back was that it was not wierd at all, infact it felt like I never left. I even got my same apartment and the same clown car (I wont lie, I was pretty excited to be mobbing around the streets of Bergamo in the Smart Car again).
As for the real reason of my return, to help my team make the playoffs, the road will be quite tricky. We currently sit in 5th place and need to move up 1 spot to 4th. Doesnt sound too hard but when they are ahead by two wins and we only have 5 games left (4 against the top 4 teams) it will take a great effort to pull it off.
It all starts tomorrow with our game against current 1st place Camolgi. The main thing that I keep hearing over and over is that they have a Huge Gay Russian. HUGE as in 6ft 8in and 280lbs muscle, Gay as in he literly plays for the "other team", and Russian as in, well Russian. Now dont get me wrong I have nothing against gays, come on I voted NO on Prop 13, but when its my job to match up and wrestle the whole game with this man-handeling boheamoth, it would make even the most open man queezy. It didnt help that the first thing my coach asked me when I saw him was, "Are you ready to sacraffice your A$*h&7£ on Saturday for the team?" I first responded with "yes" and then a confused "no" and felt like I was in the middle of a stupid 1st graders joke with no safe answer.
Besideds the BGR (who has played long enough in Italy that he has naturalised), they had an American who didnt quite work out. About the same time that I left the country in January his team gave him the boot and picked up Gabor Kis. Who is Gabor Kis? Just a Hungarian, Olympic Gold Medal, and a nasty Left handed shot...No Big Deal.
As impressive as their lineup is and as difficult it is going to be to pull off the win, I couldnt think of anything I would rather want than to be than back here in Bergamo with my guys, ready to go to battle again.
Bus #10
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Not a Happy Camper
So I guess we are not the ’72 Dolphins…
Saturday night, in front of a packed house at Brescia, we lost our first game of the season. We didn’t just lose, we SUCKED.
As I’ve said before, Brescia is by far our biggest rivals. They are Pigs and we are perfect. I guess just not in the pool…
We could not buy a goal last night as we went 3 for 15 on our man-up opportunities. For those of you who don’t understand water polo…we gave a more pathetic performance than Shaq would if he entered a 3-point shooting competition. BAD shots, unlucky bars, goals that went in but the refs took it away from us, you name it and it happened.
There are many different theories to a loss
-Its good to have one early in the season so that you know how it feels
-You learn more in a loss than you do in a win
-Its better to make a lot of mistakes in one game than a few in every
While there is truth to all of these it doesn’t make it any easier.
I am a firm believer in former NFL coach Herman Edwards’s most famous quote, “You play to win the game”. While often mocked, it couldn’t have been said any better. Its that simple, “You play to win the game”.
No one is happy when you lose, or at least they shouldn’t be. So if you play because it makes you happy, and you are not happy when you lose, then the only reason you play is to win the game.
When the final seconds had ticked off we stared blankly at the scoreboard which indicated a 9 to 6 defeat. Straight to the showers where no one talked, nothing is worse. You don’t want to say anything because you are angry, you don’t want anyone else to say anything because they should be angry too, and still it’s the silence that makes you the angriest of all.
Bus #10
Saturday night, in front of a packed house at Brescia, we lost our first game of the season. We didn’t just lose, we SUCKED.
As I’ve said before, Brescia is by far our biggest rivals. They are Pigs and we are perfect. I guess just not in the pool…
We could not buy a goal last night as we went 3 for 15 on our man-up opportunities. For those of you who don’t understand water polo…we gave a more pathetic performance than Shaq would if he entered a 3-point shooting competition. BAD shots, unlucky bars, goals that went in but the refs took it away from us, you name it and it happened.
There are many different theories to a loss
-Its good to have one early in the season so that you know how it feels
-You learn more in a loss than you do in a win
-Its better to make a lot of mistakes in one game than a few in every
While there is truth to all of these it doesn’t make it any easier.
I am a firm believer in former NFL coach Herman Edwards’s most famous quote, “You play to win the game”. While often mocked, it couldn’t have been said any better. Its that simple, “You play to win the game”.
No one is happy when you lose, or at least they shouldn’t be. So if you play because it makes you happy, and you are not happy when you lose, then the only reason you play is to win the game.
When the final seconds had ticked off we stared blankly at the scoreboard which indicated a 9 to 6 defeat. Straight to the showers where no one talked, nothing is worse. You don’t want to say anything because you are angry, you don’t want anyone else to say anything because they should be angry too, and still it’s the silence that makes you the angriest of all.
Bus #10
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Swim Caps and Flip-Turns
Not many adventures in the life of Bus in Bergamo lately. After the initial “firsts” (1st game, 1st snow,…) It gets difficult to write something interesting about a lot of my days. I don’t think you want me to start documenting the minuets of the daily routine…
9:30am- Woke up
9:35am- Decided to have “Honey Rings” cereal.
9:36am- Poured bowl of “Honey Rings” and then realized I was out of milk.
9:40am- Walked to the market to buy milk for my “Honey Rings.”
These may be the minuets that fill up my day, but by boring you with them, I would be taking away hours off your life.
Instead today I am going to discuss some differences…
“What kind of differences Bus?”
Well if you would just be patient I will tell you…
Since my life here is centered being in or around the pool, that where I make a lot of my observations. I’m going to bullet these out
•Swim caps- It is mandatory that unless you are groomed to pass military standards you must cover your hair with a swim cap at all times while in the pool. I was very confused because I have not worn one since I think I was 8 years old doing club swimming. But here everyone has a cap, and most of the guys wear these cloth ones that look more like a grandma shower cap than anything else. Every time I put mine on I struggle to find my masculinity.
•Flip-turns- Lets just get this point out of the way first- I HATE SWIMMING. This may come as a shock to some of you who are wondering why the hell I have devoted so much of my life to the pool if I loathe this activity, and I do. It’s boring, tiring, and after 24 years I still haven’t found the point of it. I love water polo. Water polo is a GAME that combines physical strengths and skills but more importantly requires as much thinking as playing a game of chess against Bobby Fisher. Swimming is mindless. Hell, even my retarded cat Ned can swim if he gets tossed in the drink.
So for all you smart people out there…”What do you think is my least hated part about swimming?....”
Of course it’s the flip-turn…It’s the only part of swimming where you aren’t actually swimming! You go heals over butt, push off, and then for 2 beautiful seconds you don’t have to do anything at all…just glide. That is why I am so confused by the members of my team…no one does flip-turns. They approach the wall, touch it with their hand, do a 180, and then push off. Besides looking like a 5 year old, this takes way more time. There are definitely guys on the team that are way faster than me, but in anything over 50 yards I can kick everyone’s ass because they insist on doing their open turns. I just don’t get it…who in the world would want to swim anymore than you have to?
-Bus#10
9:30am- Woke up
9:35am- Decided to have “Honey Rings” cereal.
9:36am- Poured bowl of “Honey Rings” and then realized I was out of milk.
9:40am- Walked to the market to buy milk for my “Honey Rings.”
These may be the minuets that fill up my day, but by boring you with them, I would be taking away hours off your life.
Instead today I am going to discuss some differences…
“What kind of differences Bus?”
Well if you would just be patient I will tell you…
Since my life here is centered being in or around the pool, that where I make a lot of my observations. I’m going to bullet these out
•Swim caps- It is mandatory that unless you are groomed to pass military standards you must cover your hair with a swim cap at all times while in the pool. I was very confused because I have not worn one since I think I was 8 years old doing club swimming. But here everyone has a cap, and most of the guys wear these cloth ones that look more like a grandma shower cap than anything else. Every time I put mine on I struggle to find my masculinity.
•Flip-turns- Lets just get this point out of the way first- I HATE SWIMMING. This may come as a shock to some of you who are wondering why the hell I have devoted so much of my life to the pool if I loathe this activity, and I do. It’s boring, tiring, and after 24 years I still haven’t found the point of it. I love water polo. Water polo is a GAME that combines physical strengths and skills but more importantly requires as much thinking as playing a game of chess against Bobby Fisher. Swimming is mindless. Hell, even my retarded cat Ned can swim if he gets tossed in the drink.
So for all you smart people out there…”What do you think is my least hated part about swimming?....”
Of course it’s the flip-turn…It’s the only part of swimming where you aren’t actually swimming! You go heals over butt, push off, and then for 2 beautiful seconds you don’t have to do anything at all…just glide. That is why I am so confused by the members of my team…no one does flip-turns. They approach the wall, touch it with their hand, do a 180, and then push off. Besides looking like a 5 year old, this takes way more time. There are definitely guys on the team that are way faster than me, but in anything over 50 yards I can kick everyone’s ass because they insist on doing their open turns. I just don’t get it…who in the world would want to swim anymore than you have to?
-Bus#10
Sunday, January 3, 2010
NYE
Happy 2010! How was your new years? Hopefully good, because according to the Mayan’s you only get two more…or was it the Aztecs? Let’s just hope they rounded down and we get to squeak in a few extra.
Thursday night I was invited to attend a New Year’s Eve party at the house of Giulio, a friend of Sessa and Roberto that used to play polo with them when they were younger. It was a dinner party, potluck style where everyone brought something to share. I sheepishly brought drinks. I am far from a chef and didn’t want them judging America on the talent of my dish. So all of you should actually be thanking me, one more stereo type averted.
Giulio set up a large table and the 12 of us sat around it and ate for what felt like 3hrs straight. There were the meat trays with prosciutto and salami, several different quiches, gnocchi, and of course polenta! For the main dish which almost no one had anymore room for, was Lenticchie(a seed-like bean) with sausage. It is an Italian tradition to have Lenticchie on the both the last and first day of the year, for it is supposed to bring you good luck with money. While I couldn’t finish my serving I made sure to go back after midnight to have one more spoonful…couldn’t hurt!
As the clock neared the final minuets they turned on the tube and tuned into their version of New Years Rockin Eve. No ball drop but an excited crowd gathering somewhere in Italy to countdown the final seconds of 2009. 3…2….1….
What? no midnight kiss? There were at least 4 couples there and no one brought the New Year in with style. Hey I wasn’t expecting any love, especially with this beautiful catipilliar that is blossoming on my upper lip, but I was a little depressed to see that this was not a universal tradition. Lenticchie is good and all but who doesn’t like a buzzed spit-swap to start your next 365?
The food coma was winning its battle with me. I was ready to bow out and leave but the group was adamant that I stay. Again I couldn’t let America down and be the NYE weenie…so I stayed. Little did I know that I would be letting down the country big time before the hour was over.
The universal consensus is that USA is greedy and only concerned about global domination. Well everyone is way wrong, its ITALY! This is at least the third party where someone has busted out RISKOLA, better known to us as the board game RISK. They love it over here, and they were more than excited to play 4 against 1 vs the American. I will spare everyone the pathetic details but the blue soldiers covering the map might have been the first to disappear.
Board games and no kiss…not my normal NYE but hey I’m up for anything! That’s what this is all about and I’m loving every day!
-Bus #10
NOTE: For some reason it is not letting me add any photos anymore, so until I figure it out you get the privilege of painting your own with your mind…Luck you!
Thursday night I was invited to attend a New Year’s Eve party at the house of Giulio, a friend of Sessa and Roberto that used to play polo with them when they were younger. It was a dinner party, potluck style where everyone brought something to share. I sheepishly brought drinks. I am far from a chef and didn’t want them judging America on the talent of my dish. So all of you should actually be thanking me, one more stereo type averted.
Giulio set up a large table and the 12 of us sat around it and ate for what felt like 3hrs straight. There were the meat trays with prosciutto and salami, several different quiches, gnocchi, and of course polenta! For the main dish which almost no one had anymore room for, was Lenticchie(a seed-like bean) with sausage. It is an Italian tradition to have Lenticchie on the both the last and first day of the year, for it is supposed to bring you good luck with money. While I couldn’t finish my serving I made sure to go back after midnight to have one more spoonful…couldn’t hurt!
As the clock neared the final minuets they turned on the tube and tuned into their version of New Years Rockin Eve. No ball drop but an excited crowd gathering somewhere in Italy to countdown the final seconds of 2009. 3…2….1….
What? no midnight kiss? There were at least 4 couples there and no one brought the New Year in with style. Hey I wasn’t expecting any love, especially with this beautiful catipilliar that is blossoming on my upper lip, but I was a little depressed to see that this was not a universal tradition. Lenticchie is good and all but who doesn’t like a buzzed spit-swap to start your next 365?
The food coma was winning its battle with me. I was ready to bow out and leave but the group was adamant that I stay. Again I couldn’t let America down and be the NYE weenie…so I stayed. Little did I know that I would be letting down the country big time before the hour was over.
The universal consensus is that USA is greedy and only concerned about global domination. Well everyone is way wrong, its ITALY! This is at least the third party where someone has busted out RISKOLA, better known to us as the board game RISK. They love it over here, and they were more than excited to play 4 against 1 vs the American. I will spare everyone the pathetic details but the blue soldiers covering the map might have been the first to disappear.
Board games and no kiss…not my normal NYE but hey I’m up for anything! That’s what this is all about and I’m loving every day!
-Bus #10
NOTE: For some reason it is not letting me add any photos anymore, so until I figure it out you get the privilege of painting your own with your mind…Luck you!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Imperia
Monday morning was hell. 6:00am. I wanted to throw my alarm clock as it alerted me to start my day. I would rather hear nails scraping a chalkboard for 10 minutes then hear that initial “bleep” of the clock in the morning. Following my initial loathing of my alarm clock was the realization that my whole body was in tremendous pain. The two year break from snowboarding was paying its toll now. Everything from the arches in my feet, up through my back and to the top of my neck was screaming at me that anything but staying in bed for the next 2 days was ill-advised. As much as I wanted to comply I had to get ready and meet the team as we were taking a road trip to Imperia for a day of training against their squad. Somehow I got myself to the rendezvous spot and instantly fell asleep on the bus. While I was far away and safe from my alarm clock I ended up snoring so loud that I woke myself up…I just couldn’t win.
Imperia which is located at one of the farthest west regions of the country is right near the border of France. It is a town that starts up in the hills and flows down through the valleys till it hits the sea and a very nice little harbor. The indoor pool was amazing and located right at the edge of the docks. After our morning training we walked all around the harbor and coastal part of the town until we hit the beach. While most of the guys were not that impressed by the town, I thought it was beautiful and made a mental note to return when I had the time.
I was excited to scrimmage with this squad because they have one of the few Americans that is playing over here, Jeff Powers. While I don’t really know him, I’ve been playing against him since I was 16 and was looking forward to finally speaking some normal English with someone. Powers is a stud, a very talented center who was a huge contributor on the USA silver medal Olympic Team. I haven’t played against him since I converted to a defender and was curious to see how I’d stack up. Unfortunately for me returned to the US for the holidays and wasn’t there.
They were a strong team and gave us a pretty good beating in our session. I don’t think it helped that Cano (or goalie) and I couldn’t move our legs from the day of boarding before. I thought I could swim through it and loosen out but it never happened. I was exhausted and sore the whole time. There were some moments of nice play and even a little fight between me and their other center stopped play for a while as we had to be separated. I was happy to see that Andrea (Captain) stepped in for me right away and had my back. You never really know where you team stands with you until something like that happens.
After our second training session of the day we left the Imperia and stopped in Savona for a very nice dinner. We have two players from Savona and it was really nice to see a little of their town. Andrea and Alessio ordered the food and it seemed like the dishes kept coming. The full and happy stomach put me right to sleep as I didn’t wake up until we were all the way back in Bergamo regardless of my snoring.
-Bus #10
Imperia which is located at one of the farthest west regions of the country is right near the border of France. It is a town that starts up in the hills and flows down through the valleys till it hits the sea and a very nice little harbor. The indoor pool was amazing and located right at the edge of the docks. After our morning training we walked all around the harbor and coastal part of the town until we hit the beach. While most of the guys were not that impressed by the town, I thought it was beautiful and made a mental note to return when I had the time.
I was excited to scrimmage with this squad because they have one of the few Americans that is playing over here, Jeff Powers. While I don’t really know him, I’ve been playing against him since I was 16 and was looking forward to finally speaking some normal English with someone. Powers is a stud, a very talented center who was a huge contributor on the USA silver medal Olympic Team. I haven’t played against him since I converted to a defender and was curious to see how I’d stack up. Unfortunately for me returned to the US for the holidays and wasn’t there.
They were a strong team and gave us a pretty good beating in our session. I don’t think it helped that Cano (or goalie) and I couldn’t move our legs from the day of boarding before. I thought I could swim through it and loosen out but it never happened. I was exhausted and sore the whole time. There were some moments of nice play and even a little fight between me and their other center stopped play for a while as we had to be separated. I was happy to see that Andrea (Captain) stepped in for me right away and had my back. You never really know where you team stands with you until something like that happens.
After our second training session of the day we left the Imperia and stopped in Savona for a very nice dinner. We have two players from Savona and it was really nice to see a little of their town. Andrea and Alessio ordered the food and it seemed like the dishes kept coming. The full and happy stomach put me right to sleep as I didn’t wake up until we were all the way back in Bergamo regardless of my snoring.
-Bus #10
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