Two Weeks:

9/12/10

Two Weeks:

I’ve been in Spain for about two weeks so far, and for the most part it has been great. The first couple of nights it was hard to get adjusted to being away from home and not being able to communicate regularly with my family and friends, due to the fact that my club has not put internet in my house yet, and I can’t use my Spanish phone to call home. So every time I want to use the internet I have to go outside to the park behind my house and steal a WIFI connection. I draw some attention in the crowded park speaking English talking on skype…it’s pretty funny.

Other than the whole living in a new country, things have been pretty normal. My team is in its first year in LEB Gold, which is the second division in Spain. It’s has historically been a very competitive league, and I think it will be pretty strong this year as well. As a rookie (especially coming from such a small school) it’s a really good opportunity for me. There are two other Americans on the team. They are both older, and have been in this league for quite some time. They have been such a big help getting me adjusted. The basketball part has been pretty easy, it’s a lot like what I’ve done in past seasons as far as training. We have two practices a day, every day! It’s getting kind of old, but I have been promised after the pre-season the workload will diminish a little. A typical day normally consists of weights in the morning, which can be a little “different” as a lot of times we end up doing different types of aerobics…then we have our first morning practice. This practice is mostly for shooting and working on our plays. Then we come back at night and practice for about two hours, it’s a little more intense. The best part about our practices is that we don’t have to run a million sprints! Unlike the past four years at Guilford (thanks coach Parke!)

So far we have had two pre-season “friendly’s.” The first friendly was against an ACB team, which is the top division in Spain. It is commonly thought of as the best European league in the world. I didn’t start the game, but soon after it started, the coach called my name. Typically, I’m not someone that get’s nervous (especially for basketball), but I have to admit I had some butterflies going. It felt like the first time I stepped on the court for Guilford. The game went pretty well, it was close the whole way, but we ended up losing. I had nine points and nine rebounds in about twenty-five minutes. I received a very positive reaction from the fans and media. The next week we played a team in our own league, and I STARTED! It felt like things were back to normal, and I played that way. I felt comfortable on the court, and was able to play my game. The highlight of the night was a put-back dunk I had over another player. It was such a great feeling, and I was happy to know I could still jump after my body had been beaten for the past two weeks full of two-adays, not to mention a practice the morning of the game. I ended up have a double double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Here is the link to the article in the paper:

http://www.noticiasdenavarra.com/2010/09/12/deportes/otros-deportes/el-grupo-iruna-se-lleva-la-primera-victoria

Other than basketball I keep myself busy with a lot of naps. I love naps, and Spain is the perfect place for people who love naps. Every day from 2pm-5pm everything shuts down for “siesta” time. Sometimes it can be annoying because I have things I need to do, but normally it’s really nice just to relax during this time. The club gave me a mid-2000 BMW, which has a manual transmission. This typically can be a problem, because I normally stall out at least three times a day in downtown traffic. I’m pretty sure I’m the most hated driver in Pamplona. Another problem with the car is it’s too big. Yes, a car, too big for me. In Pamplona, parking is miserable, not to mention that my parallel parking ability is not so great. Having a big car just adds to the problem. So normally I end up parking entirely too far from the gym or any other destination that I’m going to just avoid parallel parking. Other than that, I really have no problems here. I bought a slingbox, which I recommend for anyone who is going to be traveling to a foreign country and wants to keep up with television at home. You just hook it up to the cable box at home, and it sends the connection to your pc wherever you are…it has been a big help in me keeping my sanity.

This week we have three more pre-season games. Hopefully I’ll perform well in all of them. I have been so blessed to have this opportunity, and I am going to continue to try to make the most of it. I miss everyone back home, and it’s really hard sometimes to think about not seeing my friends and family for so long. However, I just look at this as an opportunity to continue my dream and I get to play basketball for a living, it doesn’t get much better than that! Next month my Mom is coming to visit, and I’m really excited for that. It’s going to be nice to have her around for a while. It’s going to be fun to share some of my adventure with her!

God Bless!

You can keep up with me and my team at basketnavarraclub.com and please send me your skype contact information at tyler_sanborn. You can also email me at sanbornmt@guilford.edu haha ok I’m done!