Beginning of December...

Ciao Famiglia e gli amici! I hope everyone is enjoying the best time of year. The weather is a bit chilly but the days are beautiful. We've had clear skies the past couple weeks, which has been great for Lele and I because we've been out and about. The Christmas lights are up in the city, there is an ice skating rink in the town square, a huge Christmas tree and little wooden shopping stands all around 'em. It's approximately a 15min walk from our apartment to downtown and we get to walk right along the lake. I feel very fortunate to be living in such a great place in Europe. I'm certain there are a lot of players out there who wish they had a place to live like Lugano, Switzerland.

A few days ago I took Lele to Bellinzona to see the castles. After visiting 2 castles in Poland the castles in Bellinzona are as of right now my favorite. Lele loved them too. Although, I think the highlight of her trip was the crepe we had in the square of Bellinzona. Similar to Lugano but a lot more stands, probably because we went on a Sunday, there were tons of merchandise to be had. While looking gifts for family to take home with her we stumbled across a crepes stand served with jelly or Nutella. Good thing we went with Nutella, Man oh man was it delicious. We stopped at a coffee shop to enjoy our crepe with a nice warm cup of coffee. Lele has been practicing her Italian and ordering for us now.

December 13th is my Dad's birthday so I like to do something special if I can. Woke up by playing my favorite song "Just the Two of Us" - Will Smith to get the day started off right. Lele and I decided to hike Mount Bre to get a little closer to him. It felt really good up there too. I shared a story with Lele about him as I do so often with her because she never had the opportunity to meet him but I know she has a pretty good idea of what kind of person he was now. He was and still is the world's greatest husband, Dad, grandfather, friend and person. We had a coffee at the top of the Mountain to warm up because it was a bit chilly. I know my Dad can do a lot of things but making it warmer might have been stretching his strengths haha. On that note, I had practice later that evening and I don't think I could of had a better practice. I knew for a fact Pops was helping me out. RIP Pops. I love and miss you so much. NFA

Last night we had out 5th Euro-challenge game and one convincingly by 22. The team played great and I unfortunately again had to watch from the sidelines. We needed this win to stay in the hunt for advancing to the next round. In order for us to advance we need to win the next game against Lukoil of Bulgaria and we need Benefica of Portugal to lose to T/U Rock of Estonia. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I'm hoping to get some PT in the game against Lukoil, I'll keep you posted. We have 2 more games this week one Thursday and the other on Saturday. One is a League Cup game and the other is a Swiss Cup game. Both games are against my old team SAM Massagno. Our goal for the last five games before Christmas was to go 5-0 and we got two knocked out of the way so far. Wish us luck!

I hope all is well back home. I sure do miss you guys. This time of year is great but being over here makes me really want to be back home with family and friends. Good thing I have Lele here to share the Holidays with. Until next time......................................................... Love

"Enjoy the Journey"LoveBud

11-1 LNBA 1-3 Euro-challenge

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last blog. A lot has gone on since then. Basketball wise we've lost our last 3 games. Extremely disappointing but it's a long season and a lot of things can happen from now until the end of the season. We lost our first league game of the season in a derby match with Vacallo one of our rivals because they live in the same province as us. I got my first start of the season in this game but I did not play the way I would of liked too. It was an extremely frustrating game we couldn't seem to get into a rhythm and they seem to be in a groove. It was just one of those games you're glad is in the past. Our last game was a Euro-challenge match with T/U Rock in Estonia. I didn't get to suit up for this one, which is difficult to deal with because I want to help make a contribution to the team and unfortunately we lost this one too. We were up by double digits and lost in overtime by 3. That's kind of been the story of the season for us as we seem to let teams get back into the game when we should be putting them away. We got 5 games left until Christmas and the goal is to go 5-0.

Outside of basketball things are going well. Lele arrived safely on December 1st but a little later than expected. Because of weather problems, the last portion of her trip she had to lug around two 50lb bags and take a train from Zurich to Lugano. I was pretty impressed that she was able to do this all by herself and not to mention it was her first time using a train in Europe, which can sometimes be confusing especially in Switzerland where 3-4 different languages are spoken. The first few days I showed her around Lugano and all the places I used to and currently hangout. She approved of my studio flat and the tub that came with it. I think even last year it was tough for her in Poland trying to shower in my small cornered shower. As much as I hyped Lugano up I think the small town of Ticino has already received her stamp of approval. Carrying on, because the the month of December is a busy month for basketball and it's hard to make time for trips, we're trying to make the most of the month and 10 days she has. The best part is obviously getting to spend time together and the trips are a bonus. That being said, I would like to mention we just booked our reservations for PARIS! Her and I are both are overly ecstatic about getting to visit there over Christmas. See the Eiffel Tower, Arc of Triumph, Louvre, etc... We've already visited Milan, Italy got to see the Duomo and the shopping sector of the city. I'm hoping we can make it to Venice & Como, Italy. I'd like to show her the singing tree in Zurich and lastly the castle in Bellinzona. If we have time I'd also like to meet up with my close friend from college Anna in Munich before Lele leaves. If not I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze that end before I leave in May. May WOW! That's a long ways away. Good thing I'm living in the moment and enjoying every second I have here and get to share it with someone I care about.

I hope everyone is enjoying this time of year. It's a special time for everyone and should be celebrated and enjoyed with family and friends. Happy Holidays to all! I love and miss you back home. Until next time........................................................... Love

"Enjoy the Journey"

Love

Bud

P.S. The first photo above is compliments to a very generous Kenyan man who offered to take a picture of Lele and I while putting on bracelets. The funny thing is we posted this photo on Facebook and people that have been there before commented on our picture letting us know they were hit up by the Kenyans too. He then preceded to take more than one and get all pro photographer on us. All the while in the back of his mind he only did it to get money from us. I can't knock his hustle, he took great pics and I am very grateful. I know now is the time of giving, which is why I am admitting what I did. I only had 70 cents on me other than two 50euro bills so I gave him that and we were on our way. I felt really guilty and if I had more change I would have given it to him. So to make up for it I made a small donation to the poor in the Duomo. I hope this act doesn't put me on the naughty list and my redemption deed puts me on the nice list.

11-0

It's an incredible winter day in Lugano, a cool 45 degrees, sunny, with the trees no longer a mix of warm fall colors but bare and the Swiss Alps covered with snow in the distance. We got back late last night from Boncourt after celebrating our 11th victory in league. It wasn't a pretty win but a win is a win. We got one practice tonight and tomorrow we have our 3rd Euro-challenge game. I'm hoping I'll get to make my first euro-challenge appearance tomorrow but who knows. It's tough being the position I'm in, coming in late, having 7 Americans on the team (meaning one has to sit out each game) and they've been winning and playing well. They brought me in to play point but things have been going well so why change anything. Time will tell though, we got a talented team and a good group of guys.

Tomorrow's game will be against the top team in our group Lukoil Academic of Sophia, Bulgaria. Roster wise they boast a lot of talent. They're the only undefeated team in our group and a win tomorrow will really increase our chances of advancing to the Final 16.

I can't believe I've gone this long without mentioning that Lele will be here on the 1st. I'm truly more excited then I was last year when she came to visit. Our relationship really grew the 3 months she was in Poland with me. Surprisingly our bond grew even stronger over the summer, which probably explains the feelings of excitement I have about arrival. This year she'll only be visiting for a little over a month because she starts the CNA (Certified Nurses Assistant) program next semester. I can't wait to show her around Switzerland, Italy, France and hopefully Germany too. So far we have a Paris trip planned for Christmas and a trip to Venice a few days before New Years. Exciting times ahead!

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving and got everything they wanted on Black Friday. Until next time....................................... Love

Pictures:

1st: Me holding our dog Izzy on my head

2nd: Me, Taylor & Lele after the EHS v. WV game

"Enjoy the Journey"

Love

Bud

Lisbon, Portugal

We arrived in Lisbon, Portugal on Monday and the weather was great, partly cloudy and a temperature of 61 degrees. One of the administrators from Benefica met us as we walked out the airport and escorted us to our bus (double decker with the opposing team’s name on the side so we got plenty of honks in traffic on our way to the hotel). The hotel we stayed at was a 4 star hotel just outside of Lisbon. The only complaint I had was we were outside of Lisbon so it was difficult to get any sightseeing done. Fortunately, there was a strike at the airport and we were forced to stay another day. We changed hotels to a much more satisfying location, one that had multiple areas to explorer.

Day 1:

A majority of the time we spent at the hotel. We had practice later in the evening to loosen up from the flight and go thru some of their plays in preparation for the game. At practice I found out I would not be playing in this game, which is understandable seeing as how they have been winning, so why try and fix something if it isn’t broken. It was kind of a bummer because my shot felt great that night and I was really looking forward to getting an opportunity to play. I’ll live though we have 4 more games.

Day 2:

Again we spent a majority of the time at the hotel. One of the great things about this trip was the food though. We may not have been able to sightsee but the food made up for it. It was phenomenal and more than plenty to go around. We had a morning shoot around at noon and spent the next 6 hrs waiting to leave for our game. The 9pm start time just added to the difficulties of playing away in a game like this. Sitting in your hotel being bored, outside the states you have a limited number of English channels to choose from. My roommate Matt, teammate Derek and I spent a good couple hours on the VH1 channel here. The episode was called “Guess the Year” so we had contests on who could guess the year of the video of the song that was being played. When we arrived at the gym I was expecting there to be a lot people there because one of my teammates read on Eurobasket.com that they were hoping to have a sellout. Needless to say they didn’t make it, the stands were a little over half full at best. We started out the game in typical fashion a little slow but had a lead after the first. The second quarter is when we made a run that led us into halftime with a 9 point lead. At this point the shirt I was wearing was starting to get a little moist under the armpits from cheering LOL. The start of the second half we let Benefica back into the game. They had a guy hit three 3-pointers in a row and went on a run that saw their lead reach 7 at one point. We weathered the storm & the crowd and managed to keep it close to the end. We got the lead back and it changed hands a couple of times before a few mistakes on our side allowed them to get the W. I could really since the frustration of my teammates after the game knowing they played as hard as they did. We really played well enough to win this game and I wish I could have contributed my services to the team but sometimes this is what happens and all you can do is move on, learn from it and bounce back.

Day 3:

The day after the game we had breakfast and a shooting practice before changing hotels. When we arrived in Lisbon we already had an idea that we may be staying an extra day so our President of the club made plans for us to try out this Brazilian restaurant. Our trainer and assistant coach both of Portuguese decent said the chicken at this restaurant was amazing. We spent the 3^rd walking around checking the sites. I would have posted some pictures but my camera unfortunately fell out of my jean pocket when I was in a cab (Bummer). On top of that we had to spend Thanksgiving day in a plane but we were blessed to be served Turkey as our in-flight meal.

That’s all I have for you today. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I love and miss you all back home. Until next time………………………………………………….. Love

"Enjoy the Journey"

Love

Bud

Finished Product & SMART Car

Ciao tutti! I wanted to show everyone the finished product after my nose got fixed and give everyone a good laugh because my car is in the shop right now and they gave me a SMART car to drive around until it gets fixed.

We have a game Saturday against Geneva and take off for Lisbon, Portugal Monday for our second Euro-challenge game. Both games are important for us. We only beat Geneva by 2pts the first time we played them and it would be great if we can pull out an away win against Benefica. Wish us luck and I will keep you posted on the outcomes.

I'd like to send props to my nephew. He made the varsity team at alma mater (Enterprise High School) as a sophomore. I am really excited for his opportunity to improve his game and become a better player. There is nothing in this world that I want more than to see him excel in all his endeavors. I just wish I could be there to witness it. Best of luck Baboon! Until next time................................................. Love

"Enjoy the Journey"

Love

Bud

9-0 in LNBA & 1-0 in Euro-Challenge

Ciao mi amici e la famiglia, it's been about a while since my last post. Mainly because I have been out of commission. Yesterday morning I had my nose fixed and spent the night in the hospital. I'm supposed to be out for 10 days but I'm hoping to make my return sooner than that. I can start practicing in 5 days and I get to remove all my bandages tomorrow. So, so because of my injury I have missed the last 2 games but fortunately for us they didn't need me. We won both games convincingly. Yesterday was our first Euro-challenge game against TU/Rock of Estonia. They also play in the Baltic league. This was a very talented team but played extremely well forcing them to take tough shots, which resulted in a low shooting percentage for them. Offensive we executed well and with a good crowd turnout we had a lot of momentum when we made our runs. I sure wish I could of been out there playing but my role last night was a supporter on the bench. I was actually just happy I made because originally the doctor was going to keep 2 nights in the hospital but I told them I was too "God damn tough minded" (Coach Davey) to stay another night.

Our next game is Saturday @ home against Geneva the 3rd place team in our league and very talented team. I will miss this game also as I am still recovering from my injury. The picture above is right after the surgery when I woke up. I hope all is well back home. If any of you get a chance, my mom just had surgery on her eyes and is recovering at home for the next 2 weeks and could probably use some TLC. So, if you have some free time pay her a visit or give her a call. You all know the phone probably won't get picked up it never does even when we are home so I recommend going over there LOL. Until next time.................................................... Love

"Enjoy the Journey"

Love

Bud

7-0

We got a great road win this weekend against Fribourg. It was a well balanced team effort in a newly built gym (it is by far the nicest gym in Switzerland that I've come across). If you guys didn't notice from the picture above "The Green Hornet" or as some of my Swiss teammates labeled him "Zorro" made an appearance at the game. He jumped in and out of character between timeouts and halftime LOL. At times he seemed a bit winded like he was only breathing out of one nostril but managed to help contribute to his team's victory.

On the way home we had a traditional road trip victory dinner in Europe, McDonald's! I don't know what it is but when I am in Europe I eat more fast food than I do in the states. It truly is unbelievable. In all honesty I try to avoid fast food with the occasional In-N-Out Burger here and there. I guess it's because it is opposite for them as it is for me, they want what they hear so much about in our culture and I want to try what we hear so much about in their culture.

Lastly, I see a specialist tomorrow about my nose and we have a game on Wednesday against a team from Monthey. I hope everyone back home is doing well. I love and miss you. Until next time.......................................................................................... Love

"Enjoy the Journey"

Love

Bud