Pete Strobl's Blog
Pete Strobl grew up in Los Angeles, California and went on to play college basketball at D1 Niagara University, New York. After graduating with his Master's Pete began playing professional basketball in Europe and has played in France, Austria, and Germany. This season Pete is Player/Assistant Coach for Merry Monk Ballina. He writes a weekly blog for Streetballireland.com on basketball, life and his experience in Ireland.
Blog # 10 - When in Rome (or Ireland)
Growing up in Southern California I never really experienced a great deal of cold weather. I never really even experienced seasonal changes in a true sense because our typical year-round weather was simply "warm". That all changed when I went to school at Niagara University and was sandwiched between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Anybody who's had the pleasure of visiting the Niagara Falls area during the winter season with the wind whipping off of those two lakes knows how challenging it is to simply keep your face from actually freezing and falling off. I vividly remember times when I could no longer talk because my lips had simply gone numb from the sub-zero temperatures. Seriously, it gets that cold!
Thus far, Ireland doesn't appear to have any distinctive seasons. The year-round weather forecast here would probably be something like "mild, with likelihood of precipitation". When I first arrived it was raining and the next few days were nothing but sunshine. Then it rained again for a few days, then a few more days of sunshine. Then, there was a month or so of a complete mixture between the two and I never quite knew what to wear outside! Maybe it's a good thing that there aren't pots of gold buried at the end of the rainbow because there would be too many places to dig! Somewhere along the way, I noticed that I was the only person using an umbrella. One day late in November, the wind joined the rain and I soon realized why I was the only person using an umbrella as the wind violently blew it backwards in one quick gust. I'm a stubborn guy, but I soon figured out that catching the rain in my "up-turned" umbrella didn't help me a great deal. Another case of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".
Ireland is indeed a very unique place. It's amazing that so many great writers came from such a relatively small geographical area. The list of famous Irish authors is long and impressive. A short list of these literary giants includes such icons as Jonathan Swift, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Bram Stoker, and Oscar Wilde. It seems that the rain must be conducive to great crops, green fields, AND great writing. Hopefully some of the magic rubs off on yours truly! When I started writing this blog this morning there were large dark clouds in the sky and I would have bet money that rain was on the way, but as I look out my window now I see a beautiful blue sky. I guess it's a good thing that I don't gamble. However, I've been here now long enough to know that if I wait long enough ...... it will eventually rain!
I've received a lot of feedback and emails about my blog and would like to thank all of you that have written in. If any of you have any questions about my time in Ireland, basketball, the States, Austria, or anything else ............. please send me a quick email as I'd love to do a "Mailbag" blog to answer some of them. I look forward to hearing from you!
Pete Strobl
petestrobl@gmail.com