Sept. 30, 2009
TRYING TO LAY OFF THE GAS
Hello Redbird Country! First off, I want to give a little motivation to the Redbird basketball team, which is in Boot Camp right now. I know the seniors - Dinma, Lloyd and King O - will lead the team through a successful camp. I also want to thank the coaching staff for instilling in me the work ethic to be successful in my professional career. Last, but not least, a thank you to the fans and all of Redbird Country for your support.
Life is good right now in Germany, as I play for a good organization in a great city. The adjustment to a new culture has been different. The younger Germans speak basic English, so they are able and willing to communicate with me. It is hard for them to understand me though because I speak with a southern accent and a country slang. When I first got to Germany and met my teammates it was good to see everyone was eager to meet me and talk to me. It is different here because back in the states whenever a person walks in a room that individual doesn't have to say anything. You can just quietly mosey on with your business. Not here! When I first met my teammates at practice, they all walked up to me and greeted me personally. I was a little frustrated because I just wanted to mind my own business and listen to my iTouch as I got ready for practice. But here, every person always greets everyone else one-by-one as they enter a room. My coach told me it is kind of rude to come in and just listen to my iTouch and not say something to everyone. He didn't understand that I use my iPod for energy and focus, so now instead of having both ear pieces in I just have one. I guess you can call it a little compromise.
Outside of playing ball on the court, I was able to go to a few places with my teammates, coaches and other team management, and I was able to see how they live. We went to a restaurant and I quickly had my German roommate tell me where the chicken was on the menu. I love chicken, LOL. The first thing I noticed was when we ordered our drinks was that the selection of drinks here are scarce. Not like in America where I could order fruit punch, lemonade or other non mainstream beverages. Instead, I was forced to select from Coke, Sprite and water. I don't normally drink soda, so I took a water and a Sprite. Once my drinks came I was presented with two warm beverages with no ice. In shock and dismay, I just started laughing. On top of that, the water is not regular water, it is tonic water. I spit that out all over the table. The team laughed. They told me that I have to ask for water with "no gas." I still haven't found out how to say that in German. I also found out after four or five drinks that restaurants don't have free refills. That might have hurt more than anything. I was shocked to see that all my teammates and coaches ordering beer and smoking cigarettes. I couldn't believe it. But, that's just how it is here. We went to a nightclub together later that night, but that's a different story on a different day ... LOL.
Being a professional player has its positives and negatives. Of course some of the negatives are being away from home and being in a different country, but I also learned to appreciate the little things the ISU staff did for me. Here we have to wash our own practice uniforms and we don't have our own locker room, so we constantly have to carry our things to the court. We haven't traveled to an away game yet, but they say we don't travel in luxury like I did back at ISU. We ride vans and sometimes team members drive. I don't drive because of my pride, j/k. I don't drive because I don't want to and because all the vehicles are stick shifts.
Despite the negatives, the positives are grand. Since I been here, I have done more photo shoots than I think some models probably do. I took pictures for calendars, merchandise (t-shirts with my name and picture on them) billboards and other things. Me being the person I am, I definitely loved that part. I also like the crowd here because they are able to do things that the great fans back at school can't. They can bring drums and sing chants with English cuss words. It's crazy! LOL. The people here embrace you. They want to get to know you and hangout with you. That can, and has been, a little frustrating and annoying at times, but it's better than not being noticed and admired. So I like it.
All in all, I get to experience a lot of different and wild things here that I wouldn't have back home. Everyday has something else to laugh or be frustrated about, but they all make for good stories. So depending on relevance, I will surely be glad to tell those stories as time comes. Go Redbirds!
E
Former Illinois State men's basketball player Emmanuel Holloway is in his first season playing professional basketball in Europe. He is playing for the UBC Hannover Tigers in the Germany-Pro A League. Holloway will providing GoRedbirds.com an exclusive look at international basketball, and the adjustments an American player has to make in a foreign land.
