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.
Diary 2 05/11/2007 - Welcome to Ireland
Flying is always an interesting experience for me just because of the sheer difference of opinion between myself and the airlines as to what classifies as "leg-room". Being a tall guy, I'm generally used to squeezing into things. I grew up wearing long-sleeve shirts that ended 3 inches from my wrist and know too well the feeling of bumping my forehead on a doorway. It's always great fun for those around me, but isn't necessarily my idea of a good time. Through basketball, I've been extremely fortunate to have seen some amazing places. That means that I've been in my fair share of airplanes and always try to get to the airport as early as possible in order to ask for the treasured "Exit-Row" because it has the most leg-room. I know the routine though and don't even get vexed anymore when I see some tiny person sitting in the exit row. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't. That's life and pretty much sums it all up anyways doesn't it?
Well, when I flew to Ireland I had a rather long layover in Newark, New Jersey. I saw this as a great chance to get my precious leg-room sorted out as well as have some time to sit in the bookstore and continue getting to know my future surroundings in Ireland. The point guard that Merry Monk Ballina signed was also scheduled to have a layover in Newark so we would have the chance to get to know each other before our flight to Shannon. I asked the manager to email me his name so I could google him and do some research to learn what type of guy I could expect to play with for the next 6 months. When the manager responded with "Puff" I thought it was a misprint. Turns out the guys given name is Lawrence Summers, but grew up slightly pudgy so his family nicknamed him Puff and it stuck! I asked the team manager where Puff's flight to Newark originated so I'd be able to find him and the answer in my email in-box simply said: "Look for the short black fella". I knew right then that if anything else, my time in Ireland would prove to be interesting!
Upon arrival at Shannon Airport we were met by a member of the basketball committee and we set off on the trek up to Ballina. The drive started normal enough as we sped through small country roads and random roundabouts. It seemed that we must have been miles away from the highway because all the roads were in fact small country roads. I finally asked the committee member how far we were from the highway and he said "this is the highway, it is". So, either this guy had a great sense of humor or we were in for a really long trip. Turns out that both were true as the really long trip was actually pleasant because of the continual joking the guy did. Although there was a bit of rain, the drive was absolutely astounding. I could open up a thesaurus to search for all the words that mean "beautiful" and use them all and it wouldn't do the landscape justice. I'm sure people from Ireland are so used to seeing their surroundings that it doesn't jump out at them anymore, but for me it was ....well, it was astounding. All the stereotypes from the travel guides were true: green fields, sheep, green fields, stone walls, green fields, cattle, green fields, and horses. Did I mention green fields yet? Green beyond belief! What a difference for a guy from the desert-like climate in Los Angeles which basically only grew to such an amazing size because they figured out a way to pump water to it.
I knew I'd have a great time exploring the countryside here if I could possibly find a way to get through the rainy season (which according to locals only lasts about 363 days a year)!
Pete Strobl
petestrobl@gmail.com