Matt Bauscher

I'm BACK

2011-12-27T18:59:00.002+01:00

Why do we have to walk past them? The ticket cost $1,200, yet you feel like a peasant. You can’t help but stare as they’re getting complementary wine, almonds and warm towels for their hands. This is my eighth time boarding a plane from the USA to Europe and the feeling never changes. I’ve flown business class before but kind of wish I never did…can’t miss something you’ve never had. However, I can think of a few things I’d rather spend $2,000 on then upgrading my seat. That’s about $200 an hour to upgrade…I’d sit on the toilet next to the stewardess during the flight for $200 an hour.

It’s been 196 days since my last blog. During that time I was asked where I would be playing this season 5,869 times. You try to remain polite, but sometimes it just gets old, real old. My job has the highest highs but with that comes the uncertainties. Uncertain what country you’ll be living in. Uncertain who your coaches and teammates will be. Uncertain when you’ll be leaving America. Better get used to it because uncertainty becomes a way of life. My off-season lasted longer than usual this time around. The past three years I’ve been on a plane by August 22nd, this year it was November 28th. That’s an extra 2,304 hours of uncertainty. Most people are uncertain if they’ll be off work by 5 or 6. With us, it’s what part of the world will we be living in? One day it’s I’m going to Poland. The next it’s Israel or Cyprus. Just when I start thinking about packing sunglasses and swim trunks, I hear this Ukraine team wants me. Then it’s a team in Spain, but the next morning I’m convinced I may be eating waffles in Belgium. It’s a roller-coaster that sometimes you don’t know if it’s going to stop, go faster, upside down or make you puke. If players tell you they don’t think about it much, they’re lying. Sure it’s a business, but it’s your life. During the summers it’s simple, you need to do two things. Stay in great shape while working on your game and have fun with the people you miss all season. This summer was great for me. Bam Jam continued to grow as Idaho's largest 3 on 3 tourney, we had over 300 teams this summer! Visited San Diego and Vegas but mainly enjoyed my new house in Boise with friends and family.

It was 4:46PM on Saturday, November 26th when my phone rang- my agent Gerrit was calling from Europe. Every single time the phone rings from June on…you’re hoping it’s your agent. No offense to my mom, sisters or Lindsay…but it’s the truth. “What’s up man?” I said. “Bausch- there’s another team in Germany and I think it may be a good fit for you”…”I’m listening.” He goes on, “The team is Goettingen (Gut-eh-gun), really nice and clean city of about 130,000. The team is struggling right now, but they have a rich tradition and history- they won the Euro-Challenge in 2010.” A silent pause for the longest 10 seconds ever... “When would I leave?” He goes, “well they would want you on a plane within a day or two.” Some conversation went back and forth for the next 12 hours and the next day I was on the plane. Not much time for good-byes but that’s the way I like it. No matter how many times I leave, it’s always going to be sad to say good-bye. For everyone who’s been reading my blog for the past few years…I bet you’re asking, “HOW DID THE FLIGHTS GO?” Got to the Boise airport Monday morning and first flight to San Fran was delayed…thinking to myself…HERE WE GO AGAIN! As we touched down in SF, we were notified by the pilot that we would be waiting for an hour because there wasn’t an open gate for us. Sweet another hour on this dinky little plane and the dude to my right must have either ran a marathon or been flying all damn day because he’s got B.O. At this point, I’m thinking wonderful- I will have 37 minutes to sprint across the airport and make my flight to London. To make a long story short, 11 hour flight to London was okay, wish they wouldn’t have showed Idiot Brother, maybe the worst movie ever. We were delayed in London for 3 hours and finally made it to Frankfurt. It was 7pm TUESDAY and traffic was a nightmare…3 hours later I arrived in GUT-EH-GAN…only 30 hours, 9 minutes from door to door.

Last season in Groningen, Holland, Lindsay was able to come out and visit for 2 months. This season we’re lucky that she’s able to stay until the season is over. Having her here makes everything better. It was the first time we haven’t been home with family for Christmas. Lindsay and I have explored Goettingen and really enjoyed the Christmas market. They go all out here for Christmas. Lights everywhere like back home, but the Christmas market is something the states need to copy. They sell this warm wine that tastes amazing, every kind of food and desert you can think of. The smell in the air will make you hungry regardless if you just ate.They sell all kinds of decorations and even have rides for the kids. Our time here so far has been great. We’re both doing school online which keeps us busy. With the amount of free time we have over here, figured I might as well get my masters degree. We took our first German lesson last week as well. It’s a tough language no question, but nothing is impossible. I wish there were English sub-titles on the TV because we don’t have a single channel in English. A great TV show or movie will come on and right when we start to get excited…the voice over occurs. I wonder how the voice over for Jim Carrey would sound when he goes, “ALLLLLLLLRIGHTY THEN!”

Basketball wise, I’m enjoying it here. Our team is young, but we’ve showed times where we can be really good. At other times we just haven’t been consistent enough. We won our first home BBL game and the atmosphere here was incredible. The fans erupted after big plays and we felt their energy. Even though our team has been struggling, the fan support has been great. Both home games we’ve had since I arrived have been packed with seas of purple in the stands. There is still 4 months of the regular season left and if we can start putting 40 minutes together- good things will happen.

One inch

2011-06-10T13:43:00.000+02:00

One inch. It’s the distance between my elbow and the man next to me on this long flight back to America. I'm on the worst plane ever, only 6 TVs for like 100 of us economy seating peasants to share. Plus I have to go Amsterdam to Philadelphia to Phoenix then to Boise. This is one day after traveling back from Ibiza, Spain to Brussels, Belgium...then four hour drive to Groningen. Oh yeah and right now I don't have an I-ANYTHING...no iphone, itouch, ipad, ipod... so no music for these glamorous 25 hours. Should I just put headphones on anyways and pretend? I need some sleep...did I mention yet we just ended our 9.5 month season? One inch, one phone call, one meeting, one jump shot, one rebound....it can be the difference. During our two seasons with the Gas Terra Flames, there were 600 days- maybe 140 games and about 500 practices (with double days). When you put every ounce of energy, effort and heart into something it can be dangerous. The easy thing to do is not be completely committed. It’s safer to be single and casually hang out with a bunch of different women. You never have the risk of having your heart ripped out of you. Sure it would sting if a girl you care about hurts you, but you would know deep down you never gave her 100%. With this team there were no members who had one foot in and one out. There was no grey area, we wouldn't allow it. We knew there was a risk of being heart-broken but we were going out with our heads high.

4 points can happen on a single play in basketball. I never thought as a professional that 4 points could make such a difference. In 2 seasons we were 4 points away from winning 2 Dutch Cup Titles and 2 Dutch National Titles. To me the most annoying person in the world is the SHOULDA (won four titles), COULDA (played better), WOULDIF (Haryasz, Ellis and Turek didn't foul out) man. Nobody wants to be around someone who constantly complains and looks back instead of forward. I will forever cherish the two titles I have won so far in my professional career and I'm gonna use the one inch we fell short as motivation for future challenges this crazy world tries to throws at me.

March 15th, 2008 and May 29th, 2011. Those are just two random dates to the normal person. To me those dates will never be forgotten. Both were championship games. Both were on the road for a chance at making history. Both televised and played in hostile environments with sold out crowds. Both were played less than 24 hours after a must win victory. Both came down to 3 OVERTIMES, 55 minutes of action. Both will impact me in a positive way until I pass away. One was like marrying the woman of your dreams and one was like having your family taken from you. One you feel like the king of the world, hundreds of texts, phone calls and pats on the back. The other, hundreds of Facebook messages with "proud of you anyways" sympathy words. If you put in all the effort in the world, you should always receive the ultimate reward, right? As soon as the buzzer sounds, whether it’s a WAC Championship on ESPN or game 7 of the finals with a million Dutch citizens watching on national TV… you can’t explain all the emotions. One I wasn’t getting paid and the other I was. Never in my life have I thought about life more then after losing the toughest game of my life 12 days ago. For those of who you are not familiar with the two games. In 2008 we won 3 games in 3 days- beating Hawaii in the quarter finals and Utah State in the semis. After 3 OTs and in front of over 14,000 New Mexico State fans we ended up claiming the title 107-102.

The Boise State win to me is like getting married to your best friend, the woman who you always wished to find. The Broncos hadn't been to the NCAA Tourney since 1993 (I was 8), so to be senior on the team that got back there is special to me. With the Flames this year, we took zero short-cuts. We lifted on off days. We dove on the floor during practice when we maybe didn't have to. Coming into the season as the champs, we knew the bulls eye was going to be huge. Every game teams would come out swinging, trying to get the upset. We gave everything we had and on May 29th, 2011 we came up one point short in the 7th game.

I was real excited that my cousin and two boys were able to make a trip to Europe to see me during the playoffs. We’ve been boys since grade school and it was their first time across the pond. I've met thousands and thousands of people in my lifetime so to stay close throughout all the craziness the world throws at you is a pretty unique thing to me. You can never forget where you came from because that’s really who you are. What really means the most to me about their visit here was how welcoming everyone was to them. They were given great seats to games 4,5,6 and 7 of the finals. They were allowed to ride the fan bus. Families opened up their homes for all of us to come over for 5 course meals. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH FOOD THAT IS?! Every visitor I've had in Holland over the years came back saying the same thing, "you have some amazing and caring people around you."

So now to the question that I've been getting, "what are you doing next season?" Most people have jobs that last multiple years, sometimes decades. Our jobs are unique in the fact they're normally only one or two year contracts. As much as I would have loved to stay in Holland next year with the Flames, right now I'd have to say it won't be happening. I've met people in Groningen who have touched my heart and it makes me sad to say I won't be a Flame next season. The club, the city and the fans have been nothing short of amazing to me, my family, my friends...and for that I will be forever thankful. As I was packing up my apartment in Groningen, I started to tear up...thinking about the last two years. I spent thousands and thousands of hours hanging out in this place...that I'll probably never see again. It's not always about being fancy. My apartment in Groningen didn't have a dish-washer, granite, hard-wood or a huge bathtub like I have now...but that place had character and memories that can't be taken away. I will remember the awkward 3 kisses. I will remember my name being called last...as I run out of the tunnel, fist pumping my chest...the goosebumps running up and down my skin...fans looking me in the eyes yelling at the top of their lungs. I'll remember all the countries we visited as a team. I'll remember the minute/circle of silence before every SINGLE practice that took over a full day of our life. I'll remember people coming up to me at the movies, "I like your blog!" People coming up to me at the grocery store, "ILYB"... in the city- "ILYB." I will remember the traditions we started in Groningen. The walk around the court and doing high-fives after the games. The interaction with the fans. I will remember the community events- Walk For Life cancer event, childrens hospital, different schools we visited...and most of all I will remember you all...the supporters.

One inch can be everything, it can be the difference between life and death. Need proof, just ask DJ Tim Westwood who says "the bullet missed my heart by an inch." Cherish every single day because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

CUP CHAMPS, PARENTS and PLAYOFFS

2011-04-29T17:10:00.005+02:00

Some things can be useless. A bikini in Kazan, Russia. A Yorkshire Terrier on a hunting trip. A pea coat in Phoenix. A four wheel drive truck in Holland. Having a GPS or cell phone on a trip by yourself to Barcelona, Spain...wait what?! It was the week leading up to the final four of the Dutch cup. Friday we were playing Nijmegen and a win would punch our ticket into the title game Sunday. To prepare for the weekend games in Almere, we practiced at Almere's arena Wednesday night. About 45 minutes into practice I jumped for a rebound and came down on a teammates foot. My first thought was, "DAMMMMMMMMMN" that hurts. Within 3 seconds, my immediate second thought as I was hitting the ground was, "I WON'T BE ABLE TO PLAY IN 2 DAYS..." As I elevated and iced my swollen ankle for the remainder of practice, I thought to myself... might as well be a lil Yorkie right now...

Thursday would be icing, elevating, ultra sound, and eating Advil like they Skittles. As I watched practice that night, coach Marco asked me- "well Bausch how's it feel?" It had been a whopping 23 hours and my ankle felt like a fat mans stomach after leaving the all you can eat buffet- SWOLLEN. "It's not as bad as I thought it'd be" is what came out of my big mouth. I woke up Friday morning and had forgotten about my bum ankle, had to tweet "woke up and jumped outta bed, ouch." When Lindsay was here she couldn't believe how my alarm would go off and I'd just jump outta bed. My thought is, even if you're Superman- it sucks getting out of bed. You're all warm, cozy and comfortable under the sheets...so when is it going to be "great" to get out of bed...3pm? People over here don't seem like morning people as much as in the states. For example, the health clubs/gyms don't even open here until 7AM...how are you suppose to work out if you have a job at 8am? Also, working out in the morning is much better for you than at night, just google it. With this golf ball attached to my ankle, I had to factor in the adrenalin, which can be a huge boost. Adrenalin is a crazy thing, something as simple as a chest bump can give you a little extra energy. As stubborn and competitive as I am, there was no chance I was playing Friday. I would be a cheerleader (without the annoying laugh) from the sidelines for the first time in awhile- and we were good enough for the 84-74 victory. Saturday I got up some shots and did more rehab for Bergen Op Zoom, our opponent Sunday in the final. Sunday we'd decided that I would play no matter what.

The title game in Almere began and our offense didn't look very good early. Our crowd made the 90 minute drive in hopes of celebrating the clubs second Cup title in history. After 20 minutes we were down 8 heading into the locker room. The second half we would rebound and defend like we always do- dominating them on the boards and outscoring BOZ 40-20 in the last 20 minutes. As the horn sounded, the crowd erupted. Looking into the eyes of some of our fans, the sounds in their voices...you could feel how proud they were. It had been years and years of supporting Donar, buying tickets, all the gas money for traveling to away games...often coming up short of the title. It's humbling to us knowing that some of our fans go to work in the morning looking forward to watching us perform at night. Some fans have told me they haven't missed a home game in decades. Today was our day. By our, I don't mean just the players and coaches- I mean the entire Donar community.

Since my last blog, my parents have come and gone already. My dad stayed 9 days, while my mom was able to stay 12. That may sound like a long time to some people, to me it went by about as fast as my Christmas vacation back home. What I don't understand is how you can chill and not do much- but time flies when you're with the ones you love. It's not important where you are, it's WHO your with that matters...I should write cards for Hallmark. I've been so lucky to have my parents come out all three years I've been overseas. My mom still tells me the stories where people would ask what I want to do when I grow up...I was so damn stubborn. I told every single person, "I'll be a pro basketball player for sure." Every time I would get the "Matthew, that's a good dream but what if that doesn't happen?" My parents never said no to their son who had dreams that were almost as big as his bifocal glasses. They are the reason why I'm here and for that I'll be forever thankful.

When people visit Europe, they don't consider Groningen, Holland a hot spot. Same thing goes for Boise, Idaho. 99% of every European I talk to want to visit the same two cities... New York City and LA. Americans visiting Europe always say Paris, then it varies London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, etc...depends on the person. This summer while in Las Vegas, my friend Taner managed to get me into a VIP party hosted by LeBron James. There were about 2500 people waiting in line, we walked straight to the front, didn't pay a dime and were in. I told him, if you ever come to Holland...I'll hook you up. I say that to friends, but no one is coming to Europe and if they do...they sure aren't taking a train up to Groningen. Sure enough my man Taner and his girl Danielle (who has Dutch roots) made the 5,400 mile (8,600 km) trip from Vegas and caught a basketball game! It was great getting to show them how I'm living out here and get a perspective on the lifestyle.

Things are really heating up over here since the playoffs started last week. We won game 1 at home and then had a set-back on the road Tuesday. The quarter-finals are best of 3...meaning game 3 last night was win or go home. Whenever you play in an elimination game, the stakes are increased dramatically. The thought that my season could have be finished yesterday made me sick to my stomach. We know we have a huge bulls-eye on our back on the race to go "Back to Back." I have my cousin Brett coming over again in May, along with my boys Joe and Eric- whom I've been close friends with since we were 7 years old. They've never been to Holland or Europe so I can't wait to show them what my country over here has to offer! Semi-finals begin Sunday, should be fun.

Barc-ALONE-a

2011-03-29T01:43:00.003+02:00

Have you ever had that moment of helplessness? The moment where absolutely nothing seems to go right and no matter what you try to do, nothing changes. How about that feeling happening in a country where people only speak Spanish, "NO HABLA INGLES!" Damn, well EXCUUUUSE me for asking. Coach Marco decided to give us the March 18th-20th weekend off to rest up before the final four of Dutch Cup the following weekend. Three days off in a row for us is like seeing a Chevy Suburban in Holland, might happen once or twice a year. Unfortunately my girlfriend Lindsay was randomly leaving that exact day March 18th, Haryasz and his family were going to London (been there). Ross and his to Paris (been there), Dourisseau to Germany, Bostain to America (just kidding), Ellis' fam to Germany, etc. I wasn't spending all three days in Groningen when there's so many places in Europe to see. I narrowed it down to either Rome or Barcelona... I know what you're thinking...you can just go to a foreign country all alone? Won't you feel kinda like a loser, a loner? I would never go watch a movie alone, but when it comes to seeing one of the most beautiful cities in the world- I'll branch out of my realm I guess. My Boise State teammate Reggie is playing in Barcelona so that made the decision easy.

Lindsay was flying back to America 3 hours before me to Barca (this is what the cool people call Barcelona). I decided to be the good boyfriend, get to the airport a million hours early so we could go together. Ross was driving early to Amsterdam that Friday morning, so we decided to save about $70 dollars and hitch a ride. We'd be getting there super early so he was dropping us off in the center of Amsterdam so we could walk around a bit and find a good restaurant. Anyone who has driven in Amsterdam, knows it's like driving on Grand Theft Auto...but if you hit something it's real life. There are bikes by the thousands going in every direction, buses, taxis, cars, trams...people walking...just typing this I'm getting anxiety. After going the wrong direction on a one way and just swerving to miss the old man biker, I could tell Steve was getting slightly stressed. So we get to the huge traffic light outside central station and I go, "we could probably jump out right here." After 5 silent seconds, he responds, "yeah that's a good idea!" So we jump out of the car, I quickly grab Lindsay's 52 pound suitcase, her carry-on that contained bricks and encyclopaedia's- plus my carry on. The traffic light had now changed and cars behind us seemed to notice. I hurry, get to the curb and yell, "THANKS STEVE, HAVE FUN IN PARIS!!!" He speeds off and roughly 45 seconds later, I check my pockets and begin to have a panic attack. You know that feeling when you can't find something and your heart begins to race? Well I check my pockets again, then my coat pockets...NO CELL PHONE. "Linsday! HOLY S%#T I left my phone in the car!" I immediately thought, how am I going to reach Reggie when I land? Then I thought, how am I going to check Facebook while waiting at the airport for 6 hours? Lindsay cleverly suggests we go to a taxi ...so we go to the cab driver and he calls my cell phone- PLEASE PICK UP STEVE! Steve at 30 has never owned a cell phone, not while playing ball at Santa Clara, not while back in Canada during the summers, NEVER. He doesn't understand how to text, even answer an iphone. No answer. Call again, no answer. Just great.

"It's going to be okay Matthew," this is Lindsay being supportive and trying to lighten the mood. Easy for her to say that while I'm about to be stranded at the airport in Barca all alone, probably have to take a $100 euro taxi to the city and another $300 for a hotel (I silently think to myself while nodding my head at her). We got to the airport, I wrote Reggie an email saying "I HAVE NO CELL PHONE, I'LL BE THERE AT 7;45PM, WAITING BY THE CURB, I HAVE NO WAY OF GETTING A HOLD OF YOU SO PLEASE PLEASE FIND ME!" Lindsay and I talk about how fast these two months went by and say our good-byes. As I'm waiting for my 5:45pm flight, the time is going by like I'm in church or school. Well at least I can listen to music, oh wait my phone also serves as my music source- so NO MUSIC. Well I'll take a nap since we got back from beating Eiffel Towers at 2AM this morning, wait my phone is also my alarm clock, so NO SLEEPING. After 27 minutes of fiddling my damn fingers, I decided I'd buy a magazine. Maxim is $13 dollars a year (12 issues) back home. At the airport I pay $18 dollars for the March issue. After a few hours, I board the Easy Jet flight to Barca. Easy Jet makes Southwest seem like Air Force 1. No leg room, no free soda, not even free peanuts. I'd have a better chance of falling asleep at a punk rock concert. A little over two hours later, I'm in BARCA! I get off the plane, get to the curb outside, que hora es? I took two years of Spanish in high school and seem to remember almost nothing except for that. "Siete cuarenta cinco"...after saying gracias and then thinking for about a minute I figure out it's 7:45pm (clocks are rare in Spain I would realize). 20 minutes later, I'm still waiting on the curb...it feels like 9pm already. "Que hora es" to another person- it's only 8:05pm. 8:45pm comes- no sign of Reggie... beginning to get flustered. After an hour of looking like a punk on the curb, I pray this black dude speaks a little English. "Is this is the biggest airport in Barcelona?" He looks at me, "No, Terminal 1 es mas bigger den this." I take a bus 10 minutes to T1, rush to the curb...no Reggie. I race downstairs, no Reggie. I ask everyone I see with a phone, if I can borrow it to "write him on facebook" since he has no Spanish cell phone. No one understands what I want or is willing to let me use their phone, so I find the business center, pay to use a computer for 15 minutes. I miraculously get a hold of Reggie who has picked up wii-fi in the airport and after 15 minutes of what looked like searching for your lost Golden Retriever I spot Reggie, "REGGGGGGGGG" I yell across the whole airport. By this time it's about 9pm or so and I've never been so happy to see another man. After swamping stories (Reggie is frustrated as me I'm sure) we head to dinner downtown at Hard Rock Barcelona.

I wake up Saturday morning feeling great as the sun hits me in the face. His apartment is a par 3 from the FC Barcelona stadium. Reggie has a game today so he's going to sleep in, while I proceed to see as much of this historical city as possible. After asking "que hora es" I find out it's only 745AM. He's going to get up around noon, go to the beach and eat lunch with me- so I got tons of time. I have no watch, no phone but I do have a camera and money. I learn the underground subway system after a little bit of head scratching and eventually find myself outside the famous Sagrada Familia (pictured above). The construction isn't going to be completed in 2026 but let me tell you this church is breathtaking. I toured Guell Park, visited the shopping district, Guadi museum, FC Barcelona Camp Nou, the beach...think I saw quite a bit considering the time given. Reggie and I were talking at the beach about our good ol' Boise State days. Getting BSU to the big dance for the first time in 15 years, the road trips to Hawaii, New York, Canada, Cali- setting school records with wins, etc. As we're both starring out into the sea, I go, "what if I told you back in 2006 that in 5 years we would be chilling on the beach in Barcelona and getting paid to play basketball?" He looked at me, "I woulda told you that you're crazy as hell!"

Reggie asked me if I wanted to go to his game that night, the chance of me ever seeing him play again is slim to none- so I was down. He told me I'd have to follow the bus in his van (had to take a pic for my blog lol), which seemed easy enough. We arrived at his practice facility at 4:15pm and they were leaving in 10-15 minutes. Unfortunately Reggie didn't have any gas, so he quickly tried to explain where a gas station was (take the first round-about left, go up the hill and hit another round-about...), how to open the gas thing...keep in mind his van has no GPS. I eventually made it to the gas station and back in about 20 minutes, the bus had left me. Two Spanish guys were waving me down as I pulled up, oh thank the lord they were waiting for me. One of them is on the phone speaking fast Spanish, he tells me that Reggie left his bag in the van (with his game shoes, jersey, etc.). He grabs the bag out of the van, while I quickly ask, "can I just ride with you two?" They say no- that I must follow them. Wait, what if Reggie would have remembered his bag, I would have been S.O.L.! This game is an hour away Reggie said, hope he has a good CD in the car. First 25 minutes go smooth until we hit a toll station. The guys in front of me swipe a card and speed off like Vin Diesel on Fast and the Furious. I swipe my Dutch bank card...gate doesn't open. I try it with the card facing right, then left, then upside down. My heart is now pounding out of my chest. Reggie's driver side window doesn't roll down, so my door is open and I'm hanging out of the car. The cars behind me are pilling up, I pull out my Wells Fargo American bank card, swipe it about 15 times and eventually the gate opens, I peel out in the van like a mother of three who is late for soccer practice. I proceed to drive 160 KM per hour (100 mph) for 10 minutes on a gorgeous highway that reminds me of Pacific Coast highway in California. Finally I spot their car up ahead, I get right on their tail just to let them know how much I appreciate the little bitches trying to leave me. We drive another 5 minutes before hitting another damn toll station! This time my cards again don't work- I finally have to back out and proceed to a different station where I luckily have enough cash on me to get by. I'm at least 5 minutes behind those two Spanish pricks by now, so I again speed up to 160 kmph until I see a police car up ahead. I slow down to the speed limit (120 kmph) and after 15 minutes of driving realize they have lost me. I have no GPS. I have no cell phone. I don't know who or where Reggie is playing.

It's like I have a devil talking to me on one side and an angel on the other. "YOU ARE SCREWED! You're a dumb ass American who can't speak any language but English, no GPS, you're a tard who left your cell phone in Steve's car! HOW you gonna get back to Barcelona!?" Instead of yelling every curse word imaginable, my good side says "don't panic, you're good Bausch. You are the man and you will figure this out!" I drove into Salou, Spain and parked the van. Outside of Barca, they don't speak a lick of English...but I managed to find a computer with internet. "How many people can say they have been to Salou, Spain" I thought chuckling to myself. I got onto Eurobasket.com, checked out his team website- they were playing in Tarragona, Spain. I went to mapquest and hand wrote the best directions I could find. After driving for about 30 minutes and asking roughly a half dozen Spaniards for directions I was in Tarragona. With roughly half a million people living around the city- the first five people had no clue who the basketball team was. I managed to get this Spanish guy in the van, to take me to the arena (tons of pleading believe me)- offering him $20 euros for his work. He would say, "izquierdo" and "derecho" quite often and for those like me who should have paid more attention in high school- it means left and right. He got me to this small elementary looking gym and I go "THIS IS IT??" He says "SI, SI, SI!" I'm praying he's right... I walk into the gym to witness a 7th grade volleyball game...SI MY ASS! As I begin to freak out this guy comes walking up, I knew he was about to be good luck. I asked him for help and he spoke a little English...he agreed to drive his car to the arena with me following...after a million turns he were there! I repeatedly told him thank you and gave him the $20 euros, but he wouldn't accept the money. He drove me 10 miles and gas is $6.65 a gallon (Holland is $8.80). I couldn't believe he wouldn't take the money, what a great man- good karma coming his way I hope. I walked into the gym to see Reggie make a 3 pointer at the buzzer just before half-time. My stress level has now decreased, he walks onto the court for warm-ups before the third quarter when I yell "REG!" He looks at me, "DAMN WHERE THE HELL YOU BEEN?" I shake my head, if he only knew...

His team went on to win the game and he had 15 points and 5 rebounds. I followed the bus home and avoided getting ditched during the tolls. We went out that night with a few of his teammates- all great guys. The line to get into the club was probably 100 people long...good thing these guys don't have to wait. We had a great night and wow Spanish people party even later than the Dutch. People go out from like 2-5am in Holland, Spain is more like 2-630am...crazy people down south. I was able to wake up early Sunday as well and explore some more. Flying back to Holland I thought wouldn't be too bad- can't have any more bad luck right? I get into Amsterdam at 8pm, only to find out the train system has been messed up all day. I had to take a train to Utrecht and finally got home at 12:15am...I guess luck comes and goes they say.

Stay tuned for another blog about the Dutch Cup...also the parents get here Wednesday and I can't wait!

POOR JIMMER

2011-03-06T19:27:00.000+01:00

I'm a 6'9, 240 pound sophomore at Brigham Young University. In high school I was the big man on campus- literally. School has always been important to my family so I made sure to get excellent grades. At Provo High we won games...a lot of them. Sophomore and junior year we won the Utah state championship. My stellar play didn't go un-noticed as the recruiting process was pretty hectic. I had dozens of shoe boxes full of letters from schools wanting me to sign. I had full-ride offers from Penn State, Cal, Gonzaga...but decided to stay close to home at BYU. My freshman year took some adjusting which I was told would happen, managing 15 credits and being a D1 basketball player is no joke. We would leave Wednesday for a road trip and get back Sunday...missing three days of class. I continued to work hard and earned the team academic excellence award, not bad while also playing in 35 games. Oh yeah and the winning ways continued. We went 30-6 and I played in my first NCAA tourny!

After working hard all spring and summer on the court, in the weight room. My game feels much improved from a year ago. This sophomore season honestly couldn't be going any better. We have the best player in the nation on our team, Jimmer! This dude's game is so dirty sometimes I wipe my eyes to make sure it's not a dream. Jimmer torches everybody, dropping 30 or 40 on teams like it's nobody's business! Did I mention my dude is a white boy? I was glad he came back for his senior year and didn't go into the draft last summer. I didn't know how big my role would be after my freshman year, but I'm very happy with the way I've been playing. I'm starting at center, leading our team in rebounds and scoring well. Our team is killing and I mean DOIN WORK! I'm wondering if things can honestly get any better? We just beat #4 in the nation San Diego State and we are sitting at an astounding 27-2 with Digger Phelps talking about us being a 1 seed in the NCAA TOURNY!

BREAKING NEWS: BYU STARTING CENTER BRANDON DAVIES DISMISSED FROM TEAM FOR REST OF THE SEASON.

The news of the dismissal of BYU starting center Brandon Davies from the team is sweeping the nation. People who are basketball junkies like me...well basketball has basically done everything for me up until this point in my life. When Growing up I went to school every single day so I could go to basketball practice that night. My parents said, if I'm too sick for school then I'm sure as hell too sick to practice. In high school I had dreams to play college basketball like everyone else and their dog, so my motivation and grades were always at a very high level. The truth is without basketball, I have no idea where I would be...I am so thankful for everything the game has done for me. From helping pay for college and earning my bachelor degree, to allowing me to visit dozens of beautiful countries...to the new house I'm buying in Boise-- basketball is to thank.

Being a former student-athlete and now professional basketball player...nine times out of ten, I'm probably going to back up the player. For the 12 people out there who haven't read about this already, Davies was kicked off the team for admitting to having sex with his current girlfriend. He allegedly got her pregnant and as a scarred 19 year old, he turned to his basketball family for help. This man has fought for BYU for 2 years now, why won't they fight for him? Why dismiss him for the rest of the year? I am a firm believer in rules and he broke one of them and should be punished. He didn't break any laws, he had sex with his girlfriend who he's in love with. Get him some counseling, some community service speaking with teens about abstinence...but don't end his season. Here the BYU honor code

Be honest
Live a chaste and virtuous life
Obey the law and all campus policies
Use clean language
Respect others
Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and substance abuse
Participate regularly in church services
Observe the Dress and Grooming Standards
Encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code

"Students must abstain from the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal substances and from the intentional misuse or abuse of any substance. Sexual misconduct; obscene or indecent conduct or expressions; disorderly or disruptive conduct; participation in gambling activities; involvement with pornographic, erotic, indecent, or offensive material; and any other conduct or action inconsistent with the principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Honor Code is not permitted."

I highly respect BYU's strict guidelines and honor code. I've played in the Marriott Center a couple times and it's one of the best basketball atmospheres in the nation. Are rules more important than anything? How do they determine the severity of breaking one of the rules? Is saying a curse word and drinking a beer the same punishment? It says "observe the grooming standards," so if you smell like sour body odor while going to class are you going to be suspended? Not only do I feel bad for Davies, but what about Jimmer? He turned down the money to return for his senior season and BYU had a legitimate chance at making a final four. Without their starting center....probably no chance now. BYU's honor code almost praises getting married too young. Had Davies signed a legal document with his girlfriend, he would still be playing on one of the hottest teams in the country...now he is a stressed 19 year old with a new one on the way.

SMILE

2011-02-28T18:15:00.001+01:00

February can be like the dentist office for basketball players overseas. It's the hardest month to get through normally with younger players sometimes starting to hit the wall. Their accustomed to 5-6 month seasons and a 9-10 month season can be a grind. Most people aren't thrilled about going to the dentist but the disciplined people with great smiles don't seem to mind. Positive energy is the greatest thing in the world. Something as simple as a smile can be extremely contagious. Nobody likes being around a Debby Downer, so sometimes when you're tired or don't feel like it, just smile and get through it. After February it's smooth sailing... normally. Players who are on teams with no legit chance at winning the title start to make countdowns on their calender, "45 days til America!" In March the weather starts to get better, April is the start of the playoffs...and towards the end of May one team is celebrating and popping bottles. Difficult part is getting through the tough months and coming out with no cavities and a bright smile.

Wait a month to write a blog and quite a bit can occur over here in Europe. Thanks to coach giving us a few days off between long stretches, I've been able to take a few trips. I always say that one of the coolest things about Europe is how close everything is. When we get two days off in a row, you can do one of two things. A) sit on your ass and chill or B) go see some amazing city in Europe. Living in Groningen, you can jump in a car for 3 hours, drive south and all of a sudden find yourself in the diamond capital of the world (Antwerp, Belgium). Although I didn't buy my girlfriend any bling bling, she did get to see a beautiful city along with some famous chocolate to take back to family in Idaho. A few weeks later four of us jumped in the Seat Ibiza and drove 3 hours northeast to Germany's second largest city, Hamburg. Henry, Joanna, Lindsay and I had a blast exploring the massive and historical city. It was the perfect trip for Valentines Day and it's going to be hard to top it next year.

It's always nice having people visit while you're abroad. Lindsay has been here for awhile now and the time has flown by. Everybody who visits really loves Groningen and rightfully so. Normally the winter months overseas tend to go by slow especially when it's so dark and cold outside. However, tomorrow is already March and I can't help but wonder where the past two months have gone. My parents are coming at the end of March which is exciting. Basketball wise, we have been playing well since the new year. We're 26-3 in league so far, with a few games cushion for the top seed in the playoffs. It's huge for us to get the top seed because of home court advantage and sell out crowds. The past two years we are now 59-6 in league... a .910 winning percentage- which is basically unheard of. We also have qualified for the semi finals of the Dutch Cup which will be at the end of March. We play on the road this Thursday and Saturday...then our only remaining league game in March is the 17th and again on the road. We DON'T have a single home game in the entire month of March...but don't worry we will find other things to smile about.

FC GRONINGEN GAME

2011-02-06T23:01:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Noorderport, Lindsay and I were invited to watch the FC Groningen game in the box suite. WE WON 7-1!!!

LIFE

2011-01-21T18:58:00.013+01:00

Life isn't fair...mom and dad have told me that more times then Lindsay Lohan has gone to rehab. When times get tough, you have to work even harder. Life is like a nude beach, it's a game of "GIVE & TAKE." Getting VIP, skipping the line of 200 people on New Years was "take" but waking up on New Years Day at 10am, lifting weights and then doing defensive drills for an hour was "give." Never will everything be crystal clear and perfect. Sacrifices have to be made in order to be successful. I graduated from Boise State, but I've learned more from life experiences than any Biology class. I hate being around people who blame the system or others for their mishaps. "I should be playing overseas but the coaches I've had were always hating on me." I just nod my head and say yep...when I should recite what one of my favorite coaches once told me, "you want sympathy, you can find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary." There is no such thing as an "out" with our team here in Groningen. Nobody enjoys getting up at 7am to lift weights, but it could be the difference between making things happen and watching things happen.

I can speak for about every pro hooper overseas when I say the toughest thing about our job is being away from family and friends. Over the years the people who you know the best are typically the people who you spend the most time with...which in our case is teammates. The sad part is you go to war with these guys day in and day out...then the majority of the time rarely see each other after. Kevin Steenberge who I spent almost every single day with in Leeuwarden...I haven't seen once since that season. My Boise State teammates who I shared so many memories with I rarely see, even the two who are playing in Holland. Last weekend after we played Bergen Op Zoom, Tiedemann stayed in Groningen and Mark Sanchez made the drive over here. We were able to all three get together for the first time this season. These moments you really have to cherish because they don't come often.

The Memphis Grizzles had to make it a rule there would no more gambling on team flights. OJ Mayo apparently owed Tony Allen some money, the two got into a fight and Mayo got touched up. Every time we play hearts, spades, hold-em or monopoly deal we always have money on it. You have to play for money to make it more interesting. It magnifies the trash talking, competitiveness and energy. We don't play for huge amounts but after winning the college football regular season AND bowl games...it's pretty safe to say I've won more than double of anyone else on the team. It's just like a basketball game, we will do whatever it takes to win. You see the window in this picture...John will act like he's stretching his neck and then look at the reflection to see my damn cards! RUTHLESS out here.

Basketball is going good over here, we are unbeaten in the 2011 and still in first place at 18-2. We are one win away from punching a ticket into the semi-final of the Dutch cup in Almere at the end of March. The Dutch Cup is not as meaningful as the championship, but winning both this season would be special. Lately, we've only been playing one game a week which means more practices. Players hate one game a week because it tends to make the days go by slower. Coach is good about giving us time off to rest, as long as we continue to go 100% in practice. Europe is much different than America in the amount of games you play during the week. The NBA started their regular season one month later than us and as of today...we've played 20 league games and they've played 41. There are some benefits to less games, more time to hang out with teammates, possibly travel a little bit. Also we can lift weights four days a week, which is nice. We only have two games left in January and both are on the road...this Saturday in Weert and then Thursday the 27th in Amsterdam.

Back to America

2010-12-31T20:31:00.003+01:00

It’s been an up and down last 5 weeks since my previous blog. Our euro-cup away games didn’t go the way we wanted. In order to win on the road at that level, you have to play almost flawlessly. In a 10 day stretch we had been to Italy and back…then Turkey and back- plus Dutch games. We dropped another road Dutch game without Hype or Roye playing. There’s nothing wrong with losing, as long as you can learn from it (Coach reminded us). Playing in these euro-cup games has taught us different things. The Euro to Dutch league has many differences. 1) Officiating. It’s night and day different. One example is everything in Holland is a charge; very seldom do they call blocking. This leads to consistent flopping and it slows down the flow of the game because of the whistle constantly blowing. 2) Size. You won’t see a Dutch team with multiple quality players who are 6’10 or taller. It’s much easier to get a good look over a 6’8 guy versus a footer with arms as long as a tree branches. 3) Offences. These teams will dissect defenses through ball movement, coming off screens and pick and roll execution. You rarely see a bad shot taken. 4) Experience. It’s very common for these top teams to have players 33-35 years old. If a player has a career of over 10 years, they’ve seen and played in more situations then the younger players. The picture above demonstrates two things- size (the one guy is 7'1) and experience (look at their hair lines).

Dec 22nd – I’m sitting on the plane heading to Chicago from Amsterdam and can't help but stare at the monitor that says how far we've traveled. This morning at 5:30AM Hype and I were dropped off at the Groningen train station by MO. We met Tiedeman at Amsterdam airport for a quick breakfast and then said “HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS, TELL YOUR FAMILIES HI” and parted ways. I asked the United Airlines lady at the desk if there were any exit rows, empty business class seats…she looked at me as if I’d asked her for a million dollars and said, “Sorry sir, full flight.” 29H would be my seat for this 9 hour flight. An aisle seat next to a tiny Asian chick, this might be alright. After getting situated, I noticed my overhead light turned on. I looked down at my right arm rest and pushed the light button, it turned off. After two minutes, it turned back on- shining in my eye. I looked around as if someone was messing with me (considering the plane was dark and people were trying to sleep). I again turned it off. After the seventieth time, I had to inform the male flight attendant who was a tad bit feminine. “Oh I’m soo sowwy sir, this must be a silly technological malfunction. “ Okay I thought to myself, this guy’s obviously gay maybe I can flirt a little bit and get upgraded to a business seat (I saw an empty one while boarding). I have no problem with my sexuality, I’ve gotten drinks bought for me before by a gay guy. I try to drop a line, “Sir, we had a game last night, I’m dead exhausted and this light shining on my face every 100 seconds isn’t helping the cause.” He would ask what kind of game and small talk lead him to offer me a voucher for $25 off my next flight. “No offense, but I paid over $1300 for this flight, $25 won’t cover my train ride to the airport!” This guy clearly had no pull, but I did manage to get a free Baileys which would have been $7. So I sipped on my free drink while watching “The Town” which a Donar fan graciously burned for me, along with “Modern Family.” By the way I know this is way off topic but DAMN we got some amazing fans. Normal fans go to games and cheer for their team. Our fans offer home cooked dinners, rides to the airport, among many other kind gestures.

Dec 22nd- Well now it’s 2:30pm (Boise time & 8 hours earlier than Holland) and I’m currently sitting on the ground in Chicago O’Hare Airport. I can’t hide the smiling, all I can think about is Boise and my family there. Normally I smile a lot, heard it’s good for the body and mind. However, I bet the dozens of people gawking at me right now are wondering why I am so overly cheerful. I answer the phone calls with my cell that has been turned off the past 4.5 months with a “WHAAAATS UPPPPPPP!?” The last two Christmases were nightmares trying to get home. I spent time in Amsterdam, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Francisco to name some. I remember hundreds of adults crying. I didn’t want to hear Christmas music being played at the numerous airports I managed to be delayed in. I was the Grinch who wasn’t decking the hails with bells of jolly or however you say it. This year has been different, third time must be a charm because it says on-time with my flight to Boise in about 5 hours.

Dec 22nd- Well I spoke to soon damnit. We were supposed to leave Chicago for Boise at 8pm and needless to say that didn’t happen. We boarded the tiny, crappy, old United Express flight at 9:45pm and at 1:08AM we eventually took off. That is as long as our longest bus ride in Holland and I was on a stuffy, non-moving plane. It was a joke, first they made 4 passengers get off the plane because we had exceeded the weight limit. I was wondering if they were going to kick off the fattest 4 or how they were going to decide this one. Those four people who payed the least for their flights were thrilled, especially considering there wasn’t a single flight from Chi to Boise until Christmas Eve. I was going to give up my seat to this older man but...haha who I am kidding if they would have chosen me- I would have made the police get me off that plane! By this time I didn't know what time zone I was in or what time it was...the time was passing by soooo sloooow. Next they had to take our entire luggage off the plane. While waiting on the plane so long, the flight attendant had managed to exceed the amount of hours she can work a day- saying on the intercom "this flight may be cancelled if we can't find another flight attendant asap". That almost gave me a heart attack, literally I don't know if I could have stayed in Chicago two nights. Fortunately an angel came in on another flight at midnight and saved the day for us. We then took off and 4 hours in the air later I had arrived in Boise…at 3:45AM Thursday the 23rd. It turned out being a little over 30 hours from Groningen to Boise. None of that mattered the second I walked through the doors at the Boise airport and was greeted by my dad, mom and two sisters. “Do you want to go see your new house or wait until tomorrow” my mom asked. I sort of just laughed because they all knew that answer. The house is everything I had envisioned and more. Even though I’ll only spend about 3 months a year in Boise, it’s nice having a place already.

Dec 29th- I’m now chilling in a window seat flying from Denver to Frankfurt. The man next to me who keeps glancing over at my computer screen doesn’t speak a lick of English- he’s from Poland I think he said or maybe not. My seat was the aisle seat where my broad shoulders would have been bumper cards with the attendants the whole flight, so I jumped into the window, put on my headphones and played dumb. The past six days soared by like a Ronaldinho penalty kick. I have some unique friends back home. My closest boys back in Boise I have been friends with for 18 years now. Two of which are hoping to make a trip to Groningen in May. This week off allowed us to re-charge the batteries and we’re eager to bring another championship back to the city of Groningen. I hope everybody had a great Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

TRAVEL

2010-12-01T21:10:00.010+01:00

You are as comfortable as sitting in economy can be. You gotta window seat, shoes and seat belt are off, your seat is tilted back that extra 6 inches and you remembered the neck pillow this time. Noise cancelling head phones are playing peaceful Jack Jackson, deep sleep has miraculously come. All of a sudden my stomach gets the ‘I’m riding on Splash Mountain at Disney Land’ feeling. I quickly wake up to realize I wasn’t dreaming I was on a roller coaster, this is real life. Our plane had lost control to say the least. You know the feeling when you’re taking a peaceful nap then someone scares you? You quickly wake up- EYES WIDE OPEN not knowing where you are for a brief second…the second I woke up startled… pulled off my headphones, probably should have fastened my seat belt but instead for some reason grabbed Hypes wrist. I heard dozens of people screaming for their lives. J El was praying out loud, like really loud. The man in front of me was yelling for his life in some foreign language...maybe Greek. John Turek instead of yelling, remembered he forgot to sign his life insurance papers for Suzanne and Kaleb. The right and left wings of the plane were moving back and forth like a teeter tater. The turbulence didn't stop quickly, it seemed to last longer than the entire 15 weeks I've been here. Our plane had dropped 300 meters. Normally the flight attendant can calm down the passengers, but her voice on the intercom had fear in it like I've never heard, "EVERYONE neeeeeeds to remaaaaain seeeaaaated!" After things died down, a man made a run for the bathroom and the stewardess yelled at him, "SIR YOU NEED TO REMAAAAAIN SEATED!" The entire plane felt the tension. The man looked at her, rolled his eyes and vomited with the entire plane observing. 50 is the Vegas over/under line for how many people sharted during the near crash on this flight. It's no coincidence there were 40 people waiting to use the bathroom after the scare was over. The older flight attendant told us after working for 35 years this was the worst flight she ever had! I just wish the KLM Airlines had the picture service option you have after riding Splash Mountain...

Normally when we go on trips, we get to do a little sightseeing. When you Google image "Greece photos" you get gorgeous views of the country. This picture below couldn't be FURTHER from the truth. I think I can speak for the team when I say this was the worst trip we've ever been on. Monday morning began at 4am with a long bus ride to Amsterdam, then waiting there until the 3.5 hour "memorable flight" to Athens, Greece. After arriving in one piece, we grabbed our bags and got onto a bus for another 2 hour in route of a small town in Greece where we would be playing. 12 hours and 5 mins it took from door to door, we ate some soup and then had practice that evening. After practice we had a light meal and it was lights out. Tuesday morning we woke up grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to shoot around. After that it was lunch, nap time and pre-game meal. I wish I could say we came in and took care of business but instead we played the worst game of the season. We shot 0-17 from three point range and yours truly couldn't throw a ball into the ocean. After the game heads were down, we played some cards at the hotel- slept a few hours. Some got up early to see the city, "was it worth it" I asked? Within seconds, "NO. You guys didn't miss anything, kind of reminds me of Mexico." You know it's real bad when you don't even have pictures that you can put on Facebook. We got on the bus for Athens and fortunately had a normal flight back to Amsterdam. We arrived back in Groningen at about 10:30 PM Wednesday night. Quick 66 hour trip.

Thanksgiving is my second favorite Holiday of the year, only behind Christmas. It's a time where we spend with family and are grateful for everything we have in life. This year I was lucky enough to have my cousin Brandon and Liz visit me in Groningen. Thursday night the three of us cooked up a pretty big feast and spent some quality time together. Even though we weren't able to get an American style turkey, we made due with what we had to work with. Unfortunately Friday night I would end up getting a real bad virus that still hasn't gone away completely- it's now been 5 days. They came last year as well, so they know Groningen quite well by now. Sunday the whole team had a special Thanksgiving party and the two sick boys Steve Ross and myself were unable to attend. Some girls would be jealous I've lost 8 pounds but I can't wait to gain it back.

Our Dutch league games have been going very well, we are off to even a better start than last season. Instead of 11-2 at this time last year, we are a perfect 13-0 with a tough road game tomorrow night in Den Bosch. We played Saturday, Tuesday (euro-cup), on the road (tmrw) Thursday, Saturday and leave for Italy Monday morning. Our Dutch game last Saturday we had 4 main players out (me playing on fumes) but still managed to win. Last night we hosted Cantu Italy in our third Euro-Cup game. In 2002 I was playing for Vallivue High School in Caldwell, Idaho. We hosted a tournament and in the championship game we played a team from Redmond, Oregon. On that team was a guy by the name of Maarty Leunen. He went on to play at University of Oregon and Boise State of course for me. 8 years later we meet up in Groningen, Netherlands for a Euro-Cup game...crazy how coincidences happen. After playing hundreds of games you often forget, but both of us remembered that tournament years ago, he is a great player who was huge for them last night but so far I'm up 2-0 in the win column haha.

The next three weeks are going to be pretty hectic. We have four Dutch games remaining and 3 Euro-Cup games. We fly to Milan, Italy next week and then Istanbul, Turkey the following week. On December 22nd I'm flying back to Boise for Christmas, but the next 20 days of hoops should be exciting. Let's just hope with all this flying I'm about to do- I DON'T get stuck with a middle seat!

IVERSON arrives in Turkey

2010-11-09T11:32:00.002+01:00

Allen Iverson signed with a euro-cup team based out of Istanbul, Turkey. There are two euro-cup teams representing Istanbul and we just happen to play the other one. Here is footage of his arrival yesterday.

October highlight reel

2010-11-02T00:39:00.001+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3VWu1Tyrso

Russia n' Sweden

2010-10-22T22:06:00.000+02:00

I've been traveling to places I'd only read about, playing a lot of basketball and having a good time in between and during. The past 36 days since my last blog have gone by like an hour on Facebook (yeah EVERYBODY who has a facebook account is shaking their heads right now). We had our Euroleague qualifier, played 5 league games and took a team bonding trip to Stockholm, Sweden. I have people tell me all the time, "do you realize how lucky you are?" To me winning the lottery or marrying Megan Fox is lucky- it's a one and ten million chance- not working hard for 20 yrs and becoming a pro. However, after doing a little research only 0.01% of basketball players will make it professionally...okay maybe lucky is the right word.

For the many who don't understand the differences between euro-league, euro-cup and euro-challenge. The best 24 teams in all of Europe compete in EL. These teams can have budgets surpassing tens of millions and individual players making well over six figures per MONTH. 22 teams were already penciled in and we were 1 of 16 teams given a chance for those last 2 spots. We were matched up with Kazan, Russia. The two major things they had on us was experience and size. They have 5 players over 33 years old, we have 0 over 30. They have four guys over 6'10 (one being 7'7) to our zero. We knew it was going to be a difficult test that would include a home game on Tuesday and a road game in Kazan on Friday. Playing at the EL level is something every overseas player strives for. The game at home went back and forth- until they gained a lead on is in the third quarter. We ended up losing the game by 12. Normally you wouldn't think how many points you lose by matters...but with this the point difference determines who advances- meaning we would need to win by 13 in Russia to advance. Six hours after the game (4AM-Wednesday), we jumped on a bus to Hamburg, Germany where we would fly to Moscow and then Kazan. About 17 hours later we had arrived in our hotel in Kazan.

It's hard to describe Russia without experiencing it for yourself, but I'll tell you this... it reminded me how FAR from home I was. I never really get that feeling in Holland, but Russia was a different story. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?" I snapped at Hype after I felt his sharp elbow in my ribs. "WOW Bausch, look at her!" As I slowly glance, acting like my neck hurts to avoid obviousness... I notice a girl 22 years old, long dark hair, legs for days and absolutely drop dead gorgeous. I was wondering if I was on reality show because this 60+ year old man with a gut like Homer Simpson was all over her- kissing her neck, his hands all over her hips. He was definitely doing it for the 12 professional basketball players next to them and frankly more power to him. The city has 1.2 million people our long winded tour guide would remind us a half dozen times. NOBODY really spoke English in Kazan and I mean they didn't know words like 'food' or 'party'. Attractive girls would be a theme on this trip, everywhere we went we saw the women all dressed up to impress. Even the ugly girls carried themselves like high class hot ones. It's almost like their society is set up for the women to really take care of themselves so they can marry a successful man...bad part for them is the Russian men we saw weren't going to be posing in GQ anytime soon. I never in a million years would have thought I'd travel to Russia- sometimes I can't help but pinch myself to make sure this is real life.

The game in Kazan we would play much better, even taking the lead in the 3rd quarter. Being up by 1 however meant that we were down by 12. Eventually they once again pulled away with some timely shots and we had lost the series. Two of our supportive fans actually made the long journey to Kazan, something that was not only time consuming but also very expensive. The loss means we are competing in EC this season. After the top 24 EL teams, the next best 32 teams play in EC- which includes teams in top division Spain, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Italy, etc. Our draw came out last week and we will have a home n' home series with GALATASARAY (Istanbul, Turkey); CANTU (Italy) and PANELLINIOS (Athens, Greece). We couldn't help but get excited knowing we get to compete against some of the best teams in Europe and the ideal locations was icing on the cake.

Coach sensed how hard we had been working since August and gave us the only free weekend we will have until Christmas. We all used this as a chance to explore beautiful Europe. J-El, Turek and Henry all took their families to different parts of Germany. The remaining 9 of us booked flights to Stockholm, Sweden...however Aron hurt his hamstring two days before leaving which meant he couldn't go. The trip would be eventful to say the least. We left our apartments at 2am for a 730am flight outta Brussels, Belgium- your probably asking WHY we flew out of Brussels, good question will NEVER do it again. Our flights were only $50 euros round-trip, but believe me YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Steve-a-RENO drove Hype and I in his car and then the other 5 went in Sanders parents van. After an hour outside of Groningen, Steve's car basically shut down. Anybody who knows me, knows I don't know a damn thing about mechanics. Steve who is my senior by 5 years has never changed the oil himself and HYPE well let's just say he is a good basketball player. The manual was in Dutch and it was 3AM so we began to panic slightly. Steve was upset, "WE ARE GOING TO MISS OUR FLIGHT!" I tried to add some humor to mood, "WELL we can always take a train to Paris for the weekend..." After stopping at the gas station and buying oil we were convinced that was the problem. The van at this point is probably 30 miles ahead of us. Steve was driving 100kph (62 mph) and by this time the GPS read "time of arrival" 645AM. We were starring at that GPS the way you stare at the taxi fare meter while sitting in the back (seems every second you check that thing, it's going UP). Ryan-air has a policy that if you aren't checked in 30 minutes before you can't fly. We finally decided the only way we could make our flight is if the van pulled over and all 8 suitcases and LARGER than average men packed in. We packed that van full like we were trying to get across the border. After speeding through Belgium, missing a couple turns- by the way CAN NOT stand when the GPS is a few seconds behind so you miss the exit! We parked the car at 6:48AM and ran towards to terminal- it was literally like the scene of Home Alone. After dripping sweat from the .7 mile sprint, luckily there were only 6 people in front of us at the line..."you guys made it by 2 minutes" said the guy at the counter.

Once the flight took off the trip was stress free. We booked our flights to Stockholm not expecting much but we knew anywhere we went with this crowd was bound to be a great time. It was the cleanest city I've ever been to. The people were extremely friendly to us and spoke very solid English. It was also the most expensive city I've ever been in- more than even Paris, London or New York. For lunch one day I had beef pasta, bread and a vitamin water and it was $33 dollars. Magazines at 7-Elven were $14, vodka red bull was $19, Robby spent $70 on a taxi ride less than 2 miles...however the trip was worth every penny. We toured a church that was built over 700 years ago...things like this are hard to fathom. The water surrounding the city left us speechless, at moments all 8 of us were dead silent just starring and taking it in.

48 hours later the trip was over and it was time to get back to Groningen to take care of business. We had home games Tuesday and Thursday...coming out victorious in each of them. We are 5-0 in league so far with a game in Amsterdam tomorrow night. I talked to a friend on Skype the other day for the first time in a month....they asked "how you been the past month, what have you done?" I nonchalantly replied, "things are going good, went to Russia for a game, just got back from Sweden...we are undefeated in league so far." They looked at me and said three words, "I. Hate. You."

GET THE POPCORN READY

2010-09-16T21:45:00.005+02:00

You're an investor with a nice suit but don't have a dollar to your name. An enthusiastic teacher with no students. A surgeon who has become blind or a taxi driver who lost his car. Imagine you work your ass off in law school, graduate with honors but can't find a job. Perhaps, a basketball player who has put thousands of hours of hard work into their game, but can't see the light. I don't know if I'm speaking for all professional basketball players right now, but when I'm injured I feel worthless. Depressed may be a bit strong, but when you're sent to a country to do something...and you can't do it- you feel useless. My body is my basketball career... let's be honest if I didn't have my shooting hand I wouldn't be in Europe right now. I recently strained my calf which is a very minor injury, I was out for 9 days...but missing 3 exhibition games almost felt like Christmas with no presents. Days go by slower and watching practice can be brutal. I have no clue how people do it for months at a time, luckily I've never had a serious injury... as I'm typing right now I'm also knocking on wood if you were wondering. People throughout the world without jobs right now must be extremely frustrated. Everyone back home waiting on a bball contract overseas, keep working your ass off and most importantly stay positive.

As many of you know BOISE STATE has four guys playing in Holland this season. It seemed like 2005 was yesterday when Coach McClouskey said, "BAUSCH, we have a recruit coming into town, pretty boy from Cali." I looked back shaking my head, "and...." Coach Mac seemed to think I had a way of persuasion unlike anyone else. One of these days I'm going to prove him right by selling a juicy steak to a vegetarian, a bible to an atheist or maybe some bling bling to a red-neck. Coach then snaps back "AND BAUSCH, Tyler Tiedeman, he was drafted as a pitcher outta high school, signed at Arizona, blew out his arm, went to junior college and can shoot the piss outta the basketball!" Whenever I hosted a recruit it meant getting free dinners, showing them a great time, maybe introducing them to a girl or ten and ultimately hoping they would commit to our school. Being a Boise guy, I knew about half the city...so I got quite a few of the recruits. To make a long story short, he signed at Boise State, we lived together, won a WAC championship together and now this season will be competing against each other at least four times. Jason Ellis (The Warrior) has re-signed with us and Mark Sanchez signed with the first team I played for in Leeuwarden. NCAA football season has begun and OUR Boise State Broncos just happen to be #3 in the entire nation. That means bragging rights to say the least. No matter the start time in the wee hours of the morning, there's a high probability the four of us are staying up and skyping each other during every big play!

Our pre-season games have gone well despite some injures. We beat a really good first division German team and a couple first division Belgium teams. Pre-season basketball is kind of like going to the movies or foreplay. Since the former is slightly more appropriate I will elaborate on that one. Ideally, you would like to show up one or two minutes before the actual movie begins. However, you need to get there early so you can get good seats together (assuming you are not going alone). Since your early, you must watch the previews and advertisements before the flick begins. Sometimes after watching a preview your like, "DAMN I WANNA SEE THAT MOVIE (alley-oop dunk and 20 point victory)," but then every once in awhile your like, "THAT is either a red-box or a rental... definitely not worth my $10 bucks (9 assists and 26 turnovers)." The main feature is about to begin on Tuesday when a powerhouse from Kazan, Russia comes to town for euro-league. No more previews or ads, get the popcorn and a great seat because the show is about to begin!

I recently did a two hour photo shoot for professional photographer Ewoud Broeksma. One of the photos was going to appear in a large newspaper here in Holland. At first I agreed...then I realized the majority of his photo shoots all lack clothing. Instead of bailing, I went through with it and said what the hell. After the article was published, you could say I took the wrath of some jokes. From friends laughing calling me Zoolander to even our normally quiet GM Albert having something to say. "Hey Matt, I have gotten a dozen calls today from Gay magazines wanting you to do photos!" I admit, it's pretty gay of me but when I'm 50 years old, drinking a Budweiser on the couch while watching tv...I will be able to smile and say, "hey 25 years ago I was actually in shape."

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN

2010-08-22T20:33:00.005+02:00

I lay my head in bed tossing and turning because I can't fall asleep. Living alone in Europe gives you an infinite amount of time to think about life. I blink my eyes and wonder where the time has gone? It's my third year overseas...just yesterday I was a freshman at junior college in Spokane. My two months this summer flew by like a Boeing 747. During my short time this summer in the states, I managed to get a lot accomplished. Spending time with Mistie, Megan and my parents was much needed. Went to Spokane, Washington along with Las Vegas a few times and a spent a few days in LA. While in Vegas the last time, I was helping coach Idaho Select in the nations biggest high school basketball tournament. We went 3-1, saw some of the best high school players in the country along with every big name college coach. I always get asked, "So Bausch what are you going to do when this basketball gig is over?" Maybe I'll play 3, 5, 7 more years who knows, but as the time passes I'm getting more of an idea of what I want to do... pretty sure I can't play until I'm 54 years old like Brett Favre. I'm always open for suggestions, so if you have a job idea for me please feel free to let me know...

My flight over here was pretty boring, only a delay in Philly so from door to door it was a measly 25 hours, 7 minutes...plus they didn't even lose my one bag (gotta pay if you wanna check a second bag now- cheap ass airlines). This is my third professional season and I'm excited to be in this situation. Normally when you're coming overseas for a job you have this huge anxiety feeling. You don't know much about your coaches, your teammates, the city, the people, your apartment, etc. Coaches can make your life living hell if they want to...luckily Coach Marco and Coach Hein only do this some of the time. We knew exactly what we were getting into this season in Holland. We went 33-3 last year, won the championship, re-signed 10 out of 12 guys as well as both coaches. Groningen is not a revolving door for players which is pretty unique for teams in Europe. Our two new guys John Turek and Henry Bekkering fit right in with the teams outgoing and blue collar personality. Everybody is excited here because we have a chance at Euro-league and if not then the next best in Euro-cup. We play Kazan (Russia) on September 21st here and then go there 3 days later. Traveling to Russia to play basketball seems surreal considering where I came from. The only time I thought I'd be in Russia was on the Xbox 360 playing Call of Duty. Our first practice was Monday and the fans came out to support, I think we had about 500 fans attending "PRACTICE...not a game, but PRACTICE!"

This summer being in Vegas and LA, I was able to see some big names- Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Rajaun Rondo, Derek Rose, Amare Stoudamire, Coach K, Jersey Shores's 'The Situation' and 'Paulie D', Andy Roddick, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Goldberg, among many others. I met up with Jayme Miller (former Holland teammate) at Tao in Vegas...a party that King James was hosting. The KING is a MEGA-STAR, 2500 people waiting in line trying to get in, a guy flying out of the ceiling wearing his new Miami jersey...heard he was betting $10,000 a hand playing blackjack- must be nice. I don't blame him for going to Miami...look at the help Kobe has in LA. Lamar Odom, the 6th man for LA, was better than any other player not wearing #23 on the Cavs!

Two weeks ago was the third annual Bam Jam and it keeps getting bigger! We had almost 240 teams on the streets in downtown Boise and the feedback we've received has been very positive. SLAM magazine flew out Ryne Nelson from NYC and will be publishing an article on Bam Jam in their next issue. He couldn't believe the basketball support in Boise, Idaho...he told me he thought the only thing we knew about was potatoes.

I've wasted no time getting back into my routine here in Holland. We've been having double days and weights...but my nap game is back on point as well. This weekend we had two amazing BBQs. Some of the fans put on the one on Friday and our major sponsor Gas Terra (Broenink family) had one for us on Saturday! It was gooood food all weekend long. As hard as it is saying good-bye to everyone we love back home, it's sure nice to have so many considerate people here in Dutch country!

BAM JAM in SLAM MAG!!!

2010-08-10T17:43:00.001+02:00

http://www.slamonline.com/online/media/slam-tv/2010/08/a-perfect-beginning/

Summa TIME!

2010-07-13T17:28:00.001+02:00

From the time we won the championship on May 24th until now...it's honestly been a complete blur. I'm not sure where the time went but it's flown by! Throughout the season our team adopted two theme songs...Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" and David Guetta "Memories." We would sing these songs in the shower after wins, shout the lyrics in the club, while lifting weights, in the car, on the bus after a road victory, etc. Normally songs get old fast, but these two never did. Hype and I rolled the dice and booked our flights for Ibiza, Spain back in April. Had we lost before the finals, we would of had 3 weeks to do absolutely nothing...good thing we didn't lose. I believe in coincidences but some things just baffle me. We stayed 4 nights on the island of Ibiza and it just so happened one of those nights BOTH David Guetta and Will I Am (Black Eyed Pees) were the DJs at a club called Pacha. Saying that night was expensive is a slight under statement. Taxi to the club-$20 dollars. Cover to get into club- $80 dollars. Skipping the long line- $50 dollars. Vodka Red Bull- $24 dollars EACH. Bottle of water- $10 dollars. Having one of the best nights of my life-priceless. The trip was unreal and not to rub it in with my other Gas Terra teammates...they MISSED OUT!

Being back in Boise feels amazing. Instead of getting on a computer to talk to my mom, I can call her and say "let's get lunch today." People make fun of Boise all the time, saying it's so small or a farm city. Boise in my opinion is the greatest city in the world, so Hype decided he wanted to find out for himself. He flew here last month. During his time here, we also jumped on a plane to Spokane for the biggest 3 on 3 basketball tournament in the WORLD (over 7,000 teams). After that amazing trip, we flew back to Boise for a few days. We worked out at Boise State, hit up the beautiful lake, he met some of my friends/family, etc.

After about 10 days in Boise we flew to Vegas for 4th of July weekend. Meeting up with us would be Steve Ross and Matt Otten. The weekend was off the charts. We talked about events that occured during the season, laughing probably 65% of the trip. I've had some pretty amazing vacations, but this one will also go down as one of my favorites. One night we were partying next to celebrities and the next day we were at the pool getting a tan. Our suite at the Palms was the nicest room we'd ever stayed in. Every where the four of us walked, people would ask us "are you guys basketball players?" "Where do you guys play?" It was fun to be with my Holland teammates and once again the others MISSED OUT.

Bam JAM is my summer event in the Boise community. It's Idaho's LARGEST 3 on 3 basketball tournament and takes place right in the heart of Boise August 6th and 7th! I try to get sponsors and fundraising with the benefits going to local charities. Believe it or not, I actually landed a SPONSOR from HOLLAND! Obviously a company in Holland probably won't be getting a ton of more business off sponsoring an event in the states, but Jaco Heijkoop and his law firm stepped up and are giving back. The law firm logo will appear on two hoops at 2010 BAM JAM! I have about a month left in the United States before flying back to Holland...

TV STORY ON ME ABOUT HOLLAND n BAM JAM!

2010-07-06T23:43:00.001+02:00

http://www.kboi2.com/sports/local/97599139.html?tab=video

ROCKSTARS

2010-05-31T11:39:00.001+02:00

My younger cousin Brett had never been to Europe. He'd never watched a game in Martini Plaza. The date he selected for his trip turned out to be decent timing. What he didn't know was that a city in Holland called Groningen was about to rock his world. This past week we were living in a dream world. The world where you walk the red carpet to be greeted by the major. A place where you're given fancy watches, flowers, t-shirts, etc. A world where the only time you are running into the cops is when they give you a police escort. The world where you walk into the club through the back door. The world with bottles on ice were waiting upon your arrival. A place you're given VIP passes to the parties, signing autographs and taking pictures. The world where you are taken out to fancy restaurants or invited over for amazing home cooked meals The world where you get free shopping sprees. The world where you get people pulling up next to you on the road yelling "CHAMPIIIIONS!" Place where your back hurts from all the pats it's getting. 1982, 2004 and 2010 are the only three titles we have but this city knows how to embrace champions. Brett couldn't help but say once or twice, "THIS IS THE BEST WEEK OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!"

After we won the title, I had dozens of fans asking for my jersey or shoes. I frame my jersey every year so that request was out of the question. My shoes however were a different story. I can't believe people wanted my not so great smelling kicks. After hearing the story of my new friend Geert...the shoes were definitely his. Hearing his story and how I can make his day gave me the chills. He made this cool shrine of the shoes I had signed for him (see picture above). I don't see myself any more important then the person next to me...but to see the ear to ear smiles that we give to people is a blessing. B-HOP (my cousin) said the only thing he was getting tired of was the number of girls approaching him...I said riiight. We recently went to a nice clothing store called "Okay" and it's name would be an understatement. JH owner of 31 clothing stores in Holland hooked me and Hype up before our vacation. I don't think it bothered B-HOP either when JH told him to pick out whatever he wanted.

The people are what make the town of Groningen so special. For a country not known for it's basketball, one city up north sure gets excited about it. We were greeted by thousands of fans in the Grote Markt in the center of the city. Thousands sang "We are the Champions" and "I Gotta Feeling." I will be playing with my grandchildren in 50 years and look back on this year with a huge smile. Going to Prague with the fellas, the bus on road trips, arguing and laughing... I will remember it all. I was recently named the Player of the Year for Holland...but it's like going to the Playboy Mansion and picking the hottest girl...you can't really go wrong with whomever you chose. After this week, it's kinda crazy to think we are leaving tomorrow for Ibiza, Spain....

GROtE MARKT!!

2010-05-30T22:45:00.001+02:00

THANKS ROGIER for making this video!!!

2010-05-30T22:31:00.001+02:00

DUTCH CHAMPIONS BABY!!!!

2010-05-26T11:43:00.004+02:00

GLAMOROUS

2010-05-23T19:32:00.005+02:00

People who have never played a professional sport sometimes don't understand the shit we go through. They see us on TV, in the news papers, they see the attention we get from people, they see us at the club.... BUT they don't see us working our asses off day in and day out. I've been in Holland for 286 days this season, with many of those including double days, weights and games. We have some of the best jobs in the world, but everything isn't glamorous like one might think. We aren't staying in five star hotels, flying on private planes, getting daily or even weekly massages, daily catered meals or anything to that extent. Our hard work is paying off, we're currently up 3-1 in the FINALS, with game 5 at home Tuesday night! Here is a brief schedule of how our day went on Saturday- game 4 of the finals.

655AM- alarm goes off, damn it's early I say to myself.
705AM- showering while blarring "ALL I DO IS WIN" by DJ Khaled
715AM- making breakfast, while packing my bag for the road game.
755AM- leave my apartment, driving to the bus station in Groningen.
828AM- depart Groningen (north of Holland), for Bergen Op Zoom (south of Holland)
937AM- Are we there yet? Decide I might as well take a nap...
1029AM- Wake up, we there? Eat some pasta and try to relax...sometimes I just hate sitting, maybe I have ADHD.
1155AM- Arrive in Bergen Op Zoom, the sun is out finally
1230PM- warm-up, strech, etc
145PM- game begins
345PM- we lose by 2, damn no celebration yet...thank god we coming HOME for game 5!
430PM- depart Bergen Op Zoom for Groningen
814PM- sit down on my couch exhausted...reflecting on the past 13 hours

Instead of celebrating on a Saturday night in Groningen, I spend the night watching a movie and kicking it with a few teammates. Can Tuesday please get here! People see Kobe Bryant, Jay Z, Denzel Washington and all they think is GLAMOROUS. Of course they aren't with Kobe while he is lifting weights or icing his body at the wee hours of the morning. They see Jay Z preforming,partying,on the cover of Rolling Stones but nobody talks about the thousands of hours he spends on the road or in the studio.
Denzel on the red carpet, the big screen or giving acceptance speeches is when we see him. Who's on the set of his movies grinding away for 4 straight months? Those three are some of the best in the world at what they do, millions want to be like them- but very few are willing to go through the day to day. You can't want the rewards without going through the battles...the blood, sweat and tears.

INDOOR SOCCER CENTER commercial

2010-05-20T00:11:00.001+02:00

Shout out to Klaas the owner of Indoor Soccer Center Groningen and provider of all my basketball shoes here!!!

WE TOOK GAME 1

2010-05-17T23:08:00.001+02:00

GOING TO THE SHIP!!!

2010-05-14T12:42:00.005+02:00

I'm hoping to win my second championship in three seasons!

Here is a link to the blog I'm doing on Eurobasket.
http://www.eurobasket.com/Holland/basketball.asp?NewsID=190868

Don't think I've stopped this blog because I haven't. My blog on there is much shorter then this one. The finals took all five games, but we got the last one...heading to the ship! Tomorrow night the fun begins here in Groningen...a best out of 7 duel. Our entire goal since arriving in August has been win the title...four more to reach the goal!

ON TO THE NEXT!

2010-04-25T20:29:00.003+02:00

First round was best out of 3, we won last night on the road to advance to the semi finals. Game 1 is Saturday at Martini Plaza!

Was a great 25th birthday today! Thanks for all the birthday wishes! We have great fans and now with my birthday present I should be learning great Dutch in no time!

GAME 1 of the PLAYOFFS

2010-04-24T10:53:00.003+02:00

Here is video from game 1 of the playoffs!
type this link into your browser-
mms://wm1.gemgron.jet-stream.nl/oogtv/Nws_Andre_23_04_10_628k.wmv

Congrats to Jason and Christine Ellis on their second son, Cooper J Ellis! Game two is tonight, we are hoping to end the series!

RECORD BREAKING SEASON....

2010-04-18T19:49:00.002+02:00

Cheap. Stingy. Frugal. Conservative. Tight-wod. All of these words have been used in our locker room this season. My father is a selective coupon cutter. I grew up "smart" with my money. After playing on this team, I seem flamboyant with my cheddar. I'm not going to mention any names and throw people under the cheapass bus, BUT I will share a couple stories. YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHEAP WHEN you steal toilet paper out of the locker room for your apartment! YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHEAP WHEN you get a "water" cup at a fast food restaurant and put 7-UP or soda in it.
You park in the parking garage and walk a mile (make your teammates wait 20 minutes) while you go get money out of the ATM because you don't want to be charged $2 bucks from your American bank. You call somebody and let it ring once and then hang up....because you get free incoming calls. YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHEAP WHEN you see drinks getting ordered at the bar and you magically always appear with perfect timing. One of my teammates asked why can't you take $10 Euros out at the ATM...gotta take out $20 geezus! I've done cheap things in my life...I used to call my mom collect and when "you have a collect call from" would play I said "MOM donewit practice comegetme!" I've snuck candy into the movies. I've stayed and watched 2 or 3 movies while paying only for the first. There is a line when it comes to being cheap... don't think I'd bust out a coupon on the first date but that's just me.

Steve Ross has been playing professional basketball for 8 seasons now. I could see the extra zing in his eyes when his parents arrived here. It was the first game they had watched him play since senior night at Santa Clara in 2002. They had visited previous years while he was in France, but always during Christmas when no games were being played. He was a kid (well old kid at 29) in a candy store that week, singing more in the car on the way to practice, laughing more, etc. Hype had his parents here last week and it was basically like having family here for me as well. Got along so well with them I may go to Page, Arizona for a few days this summer. When your away from your family for 9-10 months a year, it's pretty special when they get to come over. People who aren't in our shoes sometimes don't understand what we go through. I haven't even been able to skype video chat with my family in 2 months because of computer issues. I'm not even going to start about what happened this time...next season I may bring over 3 laptops NO JOKE. It's great when loved ones come across the pond, so they can experience the city we call home and the people who you constantly joke about. Now when Steve or Hype tell their parents a story that involves "Bausch" they will get a MUCH better understanding...

The All-Star game was April 11th in Amsterdam. They had it the day after we beat Rotterdam so everybody was a litle tired from the weekend. It's always fun to play with guys you're normally battling against. I definitely feel some of our team got overlooked with the voting...normally you would think the best team in the league would get the most recognition. As far as our team goes, we have been rolling. We got beat by 3 in the Cup Semis which was disappointing but we haven't lost since. We won our last 15 league games and 24 out of our last 25. We ended the regular season at 33-3 (.916), the best record I've had since going 14-0 in the 9th grade. I mean the 96' Bulls went 72-10 (.878). We've been battling a few injures but the team bond won't let it affect us. Thursday night is the first round of the playoffs against Weert, should be fun.

INTERVIEW, ALL STAR GAME TMRW!

2010-04-10T23:12:00.004+02:00

Great article with me written by Fred Roggen of Eurobasket.com

http://www.eurobasket.com/Holland/basketball.asp?NewsID=188551

We won tonight, our last home game until the playoffs (we're 31-3). I was voted to start in the All-Star game tomorrow in Amsterdam, if any of you voted thank you so much. I didn't want to post a "VOTE FOR ME" on my blog because then I knew people who say I had an unfair advantage....but THANKS for real! Things are going great here in Groningen, the weather is even improving! I will post a new blog soon I promise...

SUN IS SHINING

2010-03-24T17:46:00.001+01:00

It's late March and I can feel the energy beginning to change here in Holland. March is one of the best months of the year...for two reasons. #1) the weather starts to change as do the smiles on peoples faces. Flowers are blooming and people tend to be even more friendly when the sun is out.
POSITIVE ENERGY IS CONTAGIOUS, it's that simple! More doors are being held open, more dank u wels and alstubliefs (thank you, your welcome), more smiles, more small talk on buses, in lines, at the grocery store, etc. #2) NCAA March Madness is here and for this years college tournament we all filled in a bracket with $10 euros and winner takes all! That's going to be a month supply of food to the lucky winner and sadly it won't be me. So many crazy upsets, but being from Boise State (mid major school) I'm rooting for the St.Mary's and Northern Iowa's.

When we have road games, lot of team bonding, debating and laughing occurs. We had a road game at Zwolle a few weeks ago and there were two things that really stood out. The first was that they had 1 official Spaulding ball for us to warm up with...the other balls had either been used outside, used as a soccer ball or came from Pizza Hut for buying a large pizza. We would laugh in warm-ups because everyone wanted to use the good ball, not the Pizza Hut ball. Not only was the PH ball all rough, but it weighed more like a medicine ball and also had been pumped up one too many times. Then the other thing that stood out was the smell in the bathroom…just to give you an example of the smell. MO walked in there before the game, smelt the bathroom…gagged and then actually vomited! Not sure if Big Bertha took the biggest dump in the world 10 minutes before we arrived or what? I had to use the bathroom as well, so I used an old trick I learned back in the day. When I was 15 years old I worked at my cousin Brett Bauscher’s veterinarian clinic. My job was to make sure that the 20-40 dogs got food, water, a walk and clean kennels. The smell of those kennels was brutal; dog shit has its own distinct scent. While working there, I learned to breathe out of my mouth for up to an hour at a time. Luckily going to the bathroom in the visitors locker room, I only had to hold my breath for 40 seconds. We also debate, the LeBron/Kobe argument, whether we could average 50 points a game if we were a senior in high school, etc. I honestly think if I went to Vallivue High School this year I could average 50! Not sure if any of my teammates would enjoy playing with me, but I would be getting buckets.

America tends to celebrate holidays just for a reason to party hard! Halloween is a huge party, Cinco de Mayo, St. Patricks Days, among many others.
In America St.Pattys day is huge, everyone wears green and people tend to get crazy. Hype and I stepped out but very few in Holland were wearing green, bet Ireland is a different story. You are probably wondering why Hype is sporting the ugliest mustache ever in this pic. J-El came up with the idea to do "Mustache Madness" for the month. A few of us lasted 3-4 days, some don't grow facial hair (Tim, Steve, Bas Aron, MP, Saunder) and some actually lasted the whole time- J-El and MO. Robby, Hype, JD think they lasted but they definitely trimmed their 'staches.

In a recent blog I teased Coach Marco on his clothing style. Not sure if he flew to Italy overnight or what happened...but since that blog he pulled a 180. The brown corduroy coat hasn't been seen, but instead tailored threads. No more giving him crap at the back of the bus and I gotta give credit where it's due.

All we heard from the fans was that, "Groningen hasn't won in Nijmegen since 2006." We wonder how our team has anything to do with those previous teams...considering we have different coaches, different players and even different sponsors. It's not an easy place to play, but I guess the extra hype may have served as extra motivation. We played a solid game beating them on their home floor (80-71) and recorded our record setting 11th win in a row. With 8 days between games, Coach Marco realized that time needs to be spent resting our bodies. He gave us a few days off and we were fresh Sunday at Den Bosch. We'd won 21 out of our last 22 games and that one loss came to Eiffel Towers, the 2nd/3rd place team from south Holland. Coming in we knew it would be a physical battle among two of the league best teams. We felt we had control for most of the game, hit some big shots in the 4th quarter and posted a 81-73 win. The victory means we won the league (28-3 league), have home court advantage throughout the playoffs with still 5 league games remaining. This weekend we have the semi finals and finals of the Dutch Cup...we are trying to punch our ticket into European competition next season! It has a March Madness feel because one game is all that matters... losers are done and winners advance. Should be a fun weekend in Almere...

Commercial that aired back in Idaho

2010-03-16T17:00:00.002+01:00

I shot this commercial while home during the summer. It aired in the treasure valley and is trying to promote the Reading Foundation.

8 DAYS OF PARADISE!

2010-03-12T21:02:00.004+01:00

Normally I'm a pretty lucky man, except for when it comes to two things: computers and traveling. It's been almost a month since my last blog and so much has gone on over here it's hard to narrow it down into a few paragraphs. The reason for the delay is that my computer spent 18 days at the shop until I had to call to "find out" that they couldn't fix the back light.
It was a coincidence that I found out two days after my parents had left. So as I am typing this blog, I'm using a back-up to a back-up of a computer. My older sister Mistie is using my nice HP (built in web-cam) at law school. I am using this Compaq laptop that I think my dad used back in college...ok so I'm over exaggerating but the "A" button just fell off today (NO JOKE) so I'll try to AAAvoid using too many A's during this blog.

My mom and dad recently made a trip across the pond to visit me! I was fortunate they also came over last season in Leeuwarden, now I wanted them to see Groningen. They only had 8 days they could get away from work...so they chose a time where we had 4 games (in 8 days).
I say 8 days lightly, but for a School District Superintendent to get away from work for an entire week in Feburary is equivlent to Santa Claus taking off a week in December. They stayed at my apartment and those 8 days soared fast like Sven Kramer (the Dutch speed skater who should have won the gold metal and world record). We visited to city, went to a movie, dinner a few times, played cards...and just charished getting to sleep in and talk about the past 7 months that I've been away. They were very impressed with the club here in Groningen, from the hospitality to the fans. Everyone seemed to really make them feel at home and they left with a great feeling knowing their only son is being taken care of in a foreign country.

As far as the Gas Terra Flames are concerned...we are currently 26-3 in league and 3-0 in the Dutch Cup. As of tonight we have won 11 in a row, with a big road game tomorrow night in Nijmegen. Later this month we will play in Almere for the Dutch cup- the semi finals are on Friday and the final is on Sunday.
If we can win those two games we will secure our spot in European competition next season. Speaking of next season... my April 25th birthday came early when I learned HYPE resigned with us! We popped a few bottles to celebrate the fact we will be in Groningen for 2010-2011. I'd been talking to him during negotiations and hate to brag but I think my lawyer skills really helped persuade him in his decision.

So sometimes bad things happen to those who are just trying to be nice. There are some stray cats that prance around our neighborhood, they may have owners but from the looks of them I doubt it. Robby thinks this one particular grey/white cat is constantly thirsty...so he graciously gives the nasty cat water. I hate cats that roam around in neighborhoods, if you own a cat, cool- please just keep the thing on a leash. After cooking one day, Robby left his balcony door open to get some air in.
Keep in mind he lives on the third story. He returned from practice, opened his door and knew something was wrong. The disguisting cat then ran out of his apartment. Startled...Robby went to see if the cat had peed anywhere. He then found his bed covered in nasty cat hair...poor guy. That cat was just laying around in his bed for who knows how long...lesson of the day- don't give a stray cat food or water.

Guys on the team give me shit because I go to dinners more than anybody else. So far I've met some amazing people from these dinners, and it's a lot more fun than cooking alone in my apartment. My thought is...you can never have too many friends. There are so many amazing people in this world with different stories, cultures and backgrounds. Every family is so much different and that's what I love.
Recently I met Ronald and Cora who were not only great fun but they also introduced me to sjoelen...a Dutch game sorta like shuffleboard. I hope they invite me back because all I'm going to say is I must of had some beginners luck. A group of us went over to Hans house for the Hockey Gold metal game- USA vs Canada. Steve's the only one who actually watches hockey. He's the Canadian who grew up with a stick in his hand and learned to skate at a young age. The only skating us Americans typically do is at Roller Drome or maybe to impress a girl for a date. This was the first FULL hockey game I'd ever wathched and is was suprisingly exciting...congrats to both teams- they made hockey revelevant in America for a few days. I normally take a teammate or two with me when I go and thanks to my blog I met Michiel and Gwenny...as did MO. This week after dinner at their place Gwenny gave us paintings she had made. The amount of hours they took is crazy, after hugging her I asked... "couldn't you have made my muscles a little bigger?" Hopefully I get to meet more genuwine people out here and continue to soak up this adventure...

WHY DOESN'T OUR COACH DO THIS?!?

2010-03-07T18:08:00.002+01:00

Watch this quick video...don't think I would ever see Coach Marco, Coach Hein, Coach Pete Miller, Coach Graham at Boise State or any coach I've had do this....

I'll do another blog this week, my computer never got fixed which has my format for my blog...so it's been a lil frustrating.

Giving back.....BAM JAM SPRING VERSION

2010-03-02T21:46:00.002+01:00

I get home from an intense practice. I'm pretty damn exhausted but still spend 30 minutes slaving away in the kitchen. The TV is turned on to the basketball game. My boy back home Clint is chatting with me on the computer and just as I get comfortable on the couch...there is a knock at my door (ahhhhh damn I don't wanna get off my ass is my first thought). In our apartments out here you have to buzz from outside in order to get in the common area. Since there was no buzz but instead just a knock on the door...I automatically assumed it was J-El (the only teammate living in my building). I leave my warm lausagna on the table and open the door. As the door swings open a girl about 20 years old appears. I'm not wearing a shirt and when the door flings open she seems a little suprised. I look at her as if she has the wrong guy...and then she pulls out a handful of pamplets. After hearing her 15 minute spill...she is trying to get donations for children who are deeply in need. Some people may tell her that it's dinner time, I have no money, I'm not interested or attempt speaking a language she has no chance of comprehending. I was a little annoyed at first (I'm not going to lie) but the fact that she is out busting her tail, swallowing her pride and trying to raise money for a great cause is something I deeply admire. It's the people like her who make the world a better place. I realize I'm fortunate that I can afford to eat whatever I desire, but what's really special is the impact we can make for the kids who are less fortunate.

Every summer I help out with Bam Jam in downtown Boise. The streets are closed off in early August and dozens of courts are set up. We've done it two summers in a row now and both basketball tournaments have been a great success! Bam Jam has given thousands of dollars to non-profit charities in the Boise community.

I've had people ask me, "Bausch after such a long season overseas why do you help out with these kind of things...don't you want to just relax?" I'm definitely no celebrity or anyone special, but if I can help raise money for organizations because of my basketball "skill" then it's more than worth it. This year they're doing a Bam Jam Spring version held in Taco Bell Arena where I played my college ball (Boise State). . The 3 on 3 tournament already has over 100 teams registered for the March 13th event! This Friday is the deadline to get your team in the tournament so sign up online at (www.bamjamboise.com). If you live anywhere near Idaho, you have to play in this tournament! Not only are you getting to play, but in a way you are also giving back. It's a one day event at an amazing facilty, great prizes, dunk & 3 point contest, PLUS they'll be playing NCAA March Madness games over the jumbo screens all day.

I'm fully aware that a large percent of my readers don't reside in Idaho. You could probably give a rats ass about a charity basketball event that occurs in Boise, Idaho each year. That's what I thought at first when the young girl was telling me about children in need who reside outside of the United States. However, if you are interested in sponsoring this event please contact me. Whether it's $40 Euros, $500 pesos or $100 dollars...everything helps. BAM JAM summer version will be held the first weekend in August in downtown Boise.

That young girl made my dinner cold, but she also made my day.

Video Highlights for the last few games!

2010-03-01T12:26:00.000+01:00

This highlight flick was made by Pepijn!

Battle at Kruger (THANKS HYPE) for video of the week!

2010-02-24T17:45:00.003+01:00

This video is unreal! It has over 50 MILLION HITS and I can see why! I just showed it to my mom and dad....my mom was worried at first but really liked it. CHECK IT OUT! You need sound because it adds a good extra feel.

Saturday nights game vs. Amstedam!

2010-02-22T18:53:00.002+01:00

Saturday night my parents arrived in Groningen and attended our home game versus Amsterdam. The game was back and forth the first half, before we pulled away (winning 86-71). The win makes us 23-3 overall against our Dutch competition.

Video of the week!

2010-02-18T13:40:00.003+01:00

This video was created by Simone...a local Groningen student. Her purpose was trying to promote the sport of basketball to her classmates. Pretty good choice of music if you asked me....

"It's THE BEST SPORT IN THE WORLD"

Crazy sleeping, Valentine's Day, Team bonding....

2010-02-15T15:01:00.002+01:00

One of these nights I'm going to set up a video camera and tape my entire nights sleep. I'm constantly told that I talk while sleeping. I shrug and reply...at least I don't snore. I may spout something about basketball or lord knows what in the middle of my sleep. Sometimes while I'm sleeping I see a basketball falling in front of me, so it's natural to jump up and try to catch the ball...causing quite the "flinch." The other night this basketball was coming straight at my face, so I tried to catch it...my laptop which happened to be on the bed next to me was the victim. I knocked my expensive computer onto the floor...for not falling very far it sure created a loud ass sound. I woke up, "please turn on, please..." The Sony Viao fired right up so I let out a gasp of air (sighing some relief) when I noticed nothing was appearing on the screen. I immediately drove to the computer shop where I was informed that the back light had broke...for about $150 euros they can have it fixed in two weeks. Two weeks you gotta be shitting me? Me with no computer is like a fireman with no hose. I'm currently using JD's back-up computer...it's a brick of an HP probably was bought before Y2K. I have no web-cam, but beggers can't be choosers. I actually had a few people offer me other computers out here...gotta love the Dutch people! I'm lucky my dad and mom are flying out here on Friday and bringing my other laptop...my parents are always clutch for me.

Our streak of over two months without a loss came to an end last Saturday against Eiffel Towers. They have an experienced team and shot the lights out against us. The game was live online, so my friends and family back home really enjoyed actually getting to see me play. The game was our biggest croud of the season, so we got a slight preview of how crazy our arena will be come playoff time. We had to bounce back quickly because our next game was on the road and a battle with Bergen Op Zoom for first place. Their city is almost on the Belgium border (20 minute drive to Antwerp). I left my apartment in Groningen at 1:30pm for the 8pm game. At 3pm we were still on the road...4pm same story. 5:30pm I hear Big Hype (Matt Haryasz will be referred to as Big Hype for now on) laughing hysterically. He's reading "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" by Tucker Max. My Boise State teammates and I went through that book years ago...I guess Stanford guys read more intellectual material. 6:30pm comes and we are still stuck in snowny traffic. When 7pm hits I proceed to take my jersey from our equipment manager Luuuuuu (my nickname for him) and get butt ass naked while the stopped traffic next to us probably wishes they had a camera. We walk into the locker room at 7:15pm...if your a math major that's 5 hours and 45 mins of traveling. We play in 45 minutes and my legs feel like some roman noodles that were left in the freezer for a couple hours. We started the game down 12-2 but were able to bounce back and play a really solid game. Behind the great performace of Big Hype we pulled out the road victory...2 games of cushion now for first place. The bus ride home was head over heels better then the one there. We played spades and OUR GAME(Questons, Rhymes, Categories or Jive). Coach Marco and Hein were really proud of how we handled the travel issues and gutted out the dub. I think they might be having as much fun as we are...which is a whole helleva lot this season!

Valentines Day this year was almost like any other day of the year. The Dutch all use the words "Commerical Holiday" and I couldn't agree more...if you love somebody then why only celebrate it one day a year? What is the point of your Anniversary then?
If you read my blog last season ("A 10 Day Rollercoaster"), you know how I feel about Valentine's Day. I spent this year's Valentines Day doing what I've always loved...playing basketball. Thanks to my family, I fell in love with the orange ball at about 2 years old. Basketball is like a relationship for us...we have to sacrifice a ton to make it work. It's the longest relationship we've ever had...mine being about 20 years longer than any girl I've ever dated. People who aren't in our shoes sometimes don't realize the committment. My cousin Brandon (who visited me in Groningen this season) got married Saturday night...guess who couldn't attend? Not sure while I'm posting this picture because I look like a ra'tard but it reminds me of the good ol' days with my family! Family birthday parties now days...I'm lucky if they all gather around the computer and call me on skype. This Valentine's Day we had a hot afternoon date with Zwolle...for the quarter finals of the cup. At first we treated our date very respectable, not scoring very often. In the third quarter we would have been arrested for domestic assault...scoring 29 points and giving up a record of only 2. We ended the game with a great team output of 80-39, with none of us scoring more than 11 points. We've won 2 straight now and play at Amsterdam tomorrow night. Us teammates get along like a bunch of school girls on the playground. Half of the time we are laughing...it's special because it takes away any homesick feeling. The team announced they resigned JD, MO, Aron, Mark-Peter...plus Robby, Steve and I were already on 2 year contracts. It's only Febuary and hearing they would like everybody back is like hearing my mom say "Matthew get out of bed, it's Christmas...come open your presents!"

VIDEO of the week & 100,000 hits

2010-02-10T17:59:00.001+01:00

My teammates and I constantly tell each other about certain youtube videos we need to check out. Throughout the year, we've seen hundreds...starting today I'll try to have a video of the week for the blog. Since Wednesday is half-way through the week...I feel it fitting to do it every Wednesday. Some videos may be funny, some serious, some inspirational. Todays' video is amazing...I'm sure many of you have already witnessed it. This song is played in Holland more than any other song I've ever heard in my life. We've sort of adopted it as the song for the season...

Also I want to thank all of you for reading this blog that I created. Somehow it hit the six figure mark last week...not sure how. Stay tuned for another blog towards the end of the week

PRAGUE!!!

2010-01-31T21:10:00.007+01:00

Time flies when your given days off and winning ball games. We were sitting on the bus on a road trip to Leeuwarden when Coach Marco approached the back like he always does. Normally we rate his outfit...telling him if it's fly or ahhh decent. He claims he's sporting Italian threads...sometimes we beg the differ. Coach then asked us if we would rather practice on our off day (making 10 straight days with practices or games) and then take the whole weekend off since we had no games. We all looked at each other and modestly nodded our heads yes. Deep down I was wanting to jump up and start doing the Tiger Woods fist pump! After beating Leeuwarden and practicing the next two days- the weekend had arrived! 8 of us teammates booked a flight out of Eindhoven, Holland for PRAGUE, Czech Republic! Normally when planning a trip, 3 or 4 guys is about the max who are willing to commit. Our team is extremely close, so it didn't surprise me 8 of us were up for it. I've been out in Groningen since August 11th and hadn't taken a leisure trip until lately. In the past two weeks, I've seen Berlin and Prague now... I mean who does that? If you would have told me in October (while I was exhausted during a running drill) that I would visit those two cities, I would say there's a better chance of Bas hooking up with a supermodel. It's crazy how rewards happen, you bust your tail long enough and eventually they always seem to follow.

After sitting on the what could have been the loudest plane ever for 75 minutes we were touching down in Prague! I'm glad I'm only 6'2 in some cases...like when Tim looks like a folding chair on the plane and I look normal. Our adrenaline was rushing as none of us had visited Czech before. We stayed right by Wenceslas Square and the National historical museum. Steve Ross was the MVP of the trip because he had planned everything...right when we landed we saw a Czech guy with a sign that read "Gas Terra Flames." Ok I made that up, it read "Ross"...but you get the picture. We were driven in a huge van taxi straight to the hotel. We got four hotel rooms, I roomed with Haryasz. The thing we love is how far the Euro goes in Prague. We got settled in our hotel and then hit up a nice restaurant. We said "PROOST" (cheers) to having a great 6 months so far and forming bonds that will last a lifetime. We all ordered huge meals and drinks and the average bill was only about $8 euros.

We played a game all weekend where there were 4 options each person could choose. Rhyme, Questions, Category or Jive. For instance if I chose "category" and said NBA players taller than 6'10. You only get 5 seconds for an answer...so Tim Blue would say Kevin Garnett, JD would say Tim Duncan, Matt Otten would say Elton Brand....and then the 7 of us would argue he is only 6'9. The game was a hit, as was the weekend. We hit up the town, the sites, the restaurants...it was one of the most memorable trips I will ever have. We all bonded in a way that isn't typical with a basketball team. Normally a few guys hang out but never normally everybody. Don't get me wrong, during practice I'm sure my teammates get upset at me sometimes because of my vocal personality- but off the court it's all gravy. The trip was spent laughing about half the time, my abs literally felt it. The weather was very cold, much colder than Holland...and that was literally the only complaint we had. The St. Nicolas Church, Charles Bridge, the worlds largest Castle, old town share...the list goes on. In this picture we were on the Charles bridge along with a European carnival which was nuts and the castle is in the background. Don't ask me what Haryasz was thinking when he bought that hat...? I will never forget this trip with my teammates, it felt like I was a kid again in Disney Land.

After getting back from Prague, we had a week of great practices. You can tell those days off were good for the bumps and bruises. Tuesday we hosted a clinic of what seemed like 200 Dutch youngsters. I lost my voice yelling during my shooting clinic...and I'm positive only a small percentage even knew what I was saying. The kids learn English here at about 12 years old...so they would laugh in confusion while I was yelling "shoot the ball."

After getting the entire weekend off, we all talked about how we really wanted a strong showing on Saturday against Weert. It had been 12 days since our last game and that can really mess with your rhythm. Coach tries to simulate game situations in practice, but it's not the same. I've played with guys who are practice all-stars...making shot after shot- but once those BRIGHT LIGHTS turn on...they pee down their leg. The game started and our timing was off a bit at the beginning. Once the second quarter rolled around we were hitting on all cylinders.

We ended the game with 113 points (113-76) the highest of the season. The win keeps us in first place and we ended the months of December and January without a loss. Next game is Saturday at home against Eiffel Towers. They are a talented team so it should be fun...hopefully we will get our first sell-out of the season at Martini Plaza!

Today, Sunday, is an off day. Normally I sleep in and just relax in my apartment. Maybe watch a movie on the couch or play xbox live- Call of Duty with friends. However, today JD, MO, Matt and I went to "Edge of Darkness" and then had an amazing gourmet dinner at Humphreys. Tomorrow...alarm goes off at 745AM, back to work.

Online Dutch Basketball Magazine article on me

2010-01-30T12:10:00.005+01:00

http://www.powerforward.nl/interviews/de-coach-is-een-perfectionist-net-als-wij/

Nice article about me written by Michel Kriek. In case you can't read Dutch...it talks about how I really enjoy my teammates on and off the court. Coach Marco is a perfectionist just like us players, etc.

New blog coming within 48 hours stay tune!

BERLIN, BOWLING & BASKETBALL

2010-01-20T22:49:00.001+01:00

It's been 16 days since my last blog and the spirits are very high here in Groningen. WE are playing together as one, mixing right like peanut butter n' jelly. On some teams when certain players need the ball in their hands to be effective other players simply turn into statues. With our team, everybody is involved which is golden for a teams chemistry. We haven't lost a game since November 26th, which is almost unheard of. Against Dutch teams we're now 18-2 with a long break until play resumes.

In a former blog I jokingly called myself "MR.191" after beating the whole team in bowling back in September. I guess I didn't realize how many people read my blog. Our announcer calls me Mr.191 during introductions, t-shirts were made, etc. Nothing against Mr.191 but I prefer just BAUSCH. I know that I got lucky that day bowling considering 191 was the highest score I'd ever gotten. Well the fans thought it would be a great idea to challenge us players to a bowling duel. After months of planning, they arranged the entire bowling alley to be reserved, along with a superb dinner. It was about 15-20 of us versus 15-20 of them. As competitive as we are, we were eager to dominate them because frankly we think we're the best thing since sliced bread at damn near everything sports related. Some of the fans are in bowling leagues- bowling weekly...I go about 3 times a year and normally am more worried about the beer rather than my bowling technique. We all bowled two games and the person with the highest

average was awarded a gift. I got on fire, like in the zone ON FIRE! I felt like the Big Lebowski, bowling 5 strikes in a row... and if it wasn't a strike I was getting a spare every frame. I finished the game with a career high 209. Coach Hein I think was the most impressed because he bowls weekly, I'm just happy I won a personalized coat. It has "Bausch" on one shoulder and "15" on the other. As for the players vs the fans...we murdered them winning by hundreds of pins!

After beating Rotterdam to open up the new year we've recently posted victories @ Leiden, Zwolle, @ Aris and Nijmegen. The match-up against my former team was basically like any other game. We've now played them four times (one being a Cup game) so the weird feeling has gone away. We were a little short handed these last two games with Robby and Matt out with injures. We have been fluent on both ends- averaging 95 points. Keep in mind our games are 40 mins NOT 48 like the NBA.

When talking with players from opposing teams they all seem to say similar things like "you guys go hard" or "YOU GUYS HAVE SO MANY (insert bad word) WEAPONS!" Nobody is scared to dive on the floor for a loose ball or jump into the stands for a ball. We have so many different people who can go off at any given moment, like the 30-4 run we had at Leiden.

After beating Zwolle, we had 8 days until our next game with Aris. Coach gave us Sunday and Monday off which was music to our ears. We were debating where to go and the weather was beginning to scare us a little bit. Boise gets snow, so I think of myself as a good driver in slick conditions. However, the Dutch people in general don't have very much skill in that category. One day after practice it took us 1 hour and 30 minutes to drive home, a 4 mile journey.

They aren't use to snow and sure as hell can't drive in it with the majority of vehicles not made for it. A Smart Car isn't going to handle as well as a Ford Explorer. I decided on Berlin but learned at dinner at Wilma's that my car didn't have snow tires which is a hefty fine in Germany. Damn, what now? Luckily Bob, Dutch friend of mine, volunteered his work truck for Ashley and I. The drive there took me 6 hours and the roads were slick- some highways were even shut down in Germany because of the snow. At times it felt like I was playing the Wii- Mario Cart. I had both hands on the wheel like a Grandma, but at least I didn't wreck.

The city of Berlin was pretty amazing. We saw just about everything possible...from Checkpoint Charlie to Reichstag (Head of Germany government), Brandenberg Tor, Kaiser-Wilhelm church (pictured). I have German roots, so it was extra special for me and I soaked up the experience. Growing up I never in a million years thought I would get to visit Berlin...but crazy things can come true if you put your mind to it.

HAPPY 20-TEN!

2010-01-04T12:20:00.000+01:00

For those of you amazing and intelligent followers who read my blog...I'm going to describe where we live. The neighborhood we live in is called Beijum (BUY-UM)...and people from Groningen tend think of it as a rough area. It's their version of... the HOOD, the PROJECTS, the GHETTO. The people from Groningen who have never been to Beijum, have no reason to go. When people ask where we live, I reply "Beijum" and they say "Oh, I'm sorry." One time we were hoping to share a taxi when I asked the guy next to me, "you live near Beijum", he quickly spouted back- "HAHA-hell no." You never know what the day will bring in our hood. One day J-El and I dodged a used baby diaper that was just chilling on the sidewalk.

You always have to look down while walking the mean streets because there's enough dog shit to fertilize the Garden of Eden. People must not believe in cleaning up after their pets and sidewalks seem to be pretty convenient. If you forget to look down while you walk, you may be left with a nice smelling surprise on the bottom of your shoe. The amount of stray cats is quite impressive and their good at going through trash. Not too many business men live in our neck of the woods, but you can only imagine the diverse population who reside here. It's very common to hear fire-works year round, we call them gun shots. Nothing is more pleasant then waking up in the middle of a nap to a loud POP-POP! The delinquents here don't stop with fireworks they recently decided that lighting things on fire is entertaining. Shopping carts, bicycles and beer bottles were the victims.

WARNING: The following video contains material that may not be suited for a youngster. Please do not try to reproduce or recreate the actions in this video. The charming photographer wishes to remain anonymous. If you are Groningen Law Enforcement and want to take action on this self-proclaimed bicycle thief...please don't contact me...I got enough going on- like writing blogs and playing basketball. Another day in the BI- grab some popcorn and enjoy.

The truth is, the neighborhood isn't really all that bad. People from Holland are about as dangerous as a farmer in Homedale, Idaho. They wouldn't believe what goes on in Compton or Brooklyn...but neither would I. As a big macho pro-bball player, I've never been scared for my safety here and my car hasn't gotten broken into...yet. Our neighborhood has personality and I'll leave it at that for now.

My journey from Boise to Groningen on December 27th was pretty boring. Ashley flew back with me and I warned her of my good luck when traveling. We left Boise on time and were in Chicago 3 hours later. We were delayed about 2 hours in Chicago, but made it to Amsterdam without a guy trying to bomb the plane. After taking the train to Groningen, the total time traveled was only about 20 hours...nothing to brag about. However the 64 hours of travel that week was a little stressful. Ashley is enjoying Holland and heads back to the states on the 18th.

We played our first game since the holidays Saturday night again against Rotterdam. It was the second time playing them this season and the result was good for us with about a 40 point victory. One of the coolest things of the evening (actually gave me goosebumps) was what happened during the introductions. Lil JD (Jalen Dourisseau) and Q (Quincy Ellis) were given the spotlight and let's just say it was a Hallmark moment! When you blow out your opponent, it's nice because some of the guys who work extremely hard in practice get more minutes on the floor. The win makes us 13-2 and still in first place. We play @ Leiden (4th place team) on Thursday and home against Zwolle (9th place team) on Saturday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS all over the world!!

2009-12-25T12:35:00.002+01:00

My favorite question when traveling comes from the border patrol people. “What is your reason for being in Europe or What do you do for a living?” I grin and then say “I play basketball.” The normal reaction is a glance from my feet up to my knees, up through my chest and eventually to my eyes. They examine my figure like a perverted man would a blonde who is curvy like a Coke bottle. Without actually saying the words, it’s clear they are thinking “sure white boy ….”

SATURDAY DEC 19th
We have a road game at Rotterdam and I couldn’t fall asleep last night. I don’t know if it’s because I’m so excited to go home or what…but it was 4:30am before I finally crashed. This is not the ideal game for our team. We are playing the day before a break, the arena is close to freezing as I can see my breath, their team is in last place and there's probably 80 fans total. We just know we have to take care of business in these situations. We played a horrendous first half of basketball leading by 8. Second half we flipped a 180 and ended up winning by 28 points. I scored a whopping team high 14 in 22 minutes of action. It was the last game of 2009, we ended 12-2 in conference (8-2 pre-season, 1-0 Dutch cup). Matt Haryasz and I were the only ones going home for Christmas and were fortunate to catch a ride to Amsterdam with Michiel and Gwenny (two fans/friends) after the game. Once in Amsterdam...it was so cold, it hurt. We were attempting to find a hotel/hostel but lugging our suitcases around in downtown Amsterdam was blistering cold. Our noses and ears were numb. ”Matty are we in Russia, because I've NEVER BEEN SO DAMN COLD!” After negotiating for $35 Euros each we had a room right downtown. We were told our room was on the on the 4th floor, 82 steep steps later in a hostel/apartment type thing. My R.O.M. (RAGE-O-METER) will be kept during my trip home… right now it’s a 1 out of 10 because of the lack of feeling in my fingers or toes. If it gets to a 10, I will be ready to murder or at least strangle someone. After we had decided 35 euros wasn't too expensive, the guy told us that since it was a Saturday night everything was booked except for a 1 bed room…we were desperate (ROM 2 outta 10). When we walked into the room, the bed was small and the smell was funky to say the least (ROM 2.5).

SUNDAY DEC 20th
Since I might be the most frustrated person not only in Holland, but in the entire world right now I’m going to take all the negative emotions that are flowing through my blood stream and put them into words. It began with a 7:45am wake up in a smelly Amsterdam hostel where Matt and I spent the night. After a few beers the morning came quick and we trucked our suitcases through snow and made it to central station where we took a train to Schipol airport. I have the worst luck so I was crossing my fingers all the flights would go as planned. The minute we arrived, I checked the screen and scrolled through the long list of flights…..”Frankfurt 11AM- boarding 1030” YESSSS (ROM-0). Matt and I grabbed some breakfast and then went our separate ways “have a safe flight and a great Christmas with the fam!” After approaching the passport control I couldn’t help but double check my flight status because I tend to get paranoid. Before taking a nap, sometimes I check my alarm two or three times.

I glanced up to see “FRANKFURT- DELAYED 1200” my heart sank and began to pound. “Please no…HELL NO...WHY ME?!” So I tried to remain calm but inside I was panicking, the layover in Frankfurt was exactly an hour before off to San Fran and lastly flying HOME to Boise. Jordan Collins (NC State, Bergen Op Zoom) and Michael Flowers (Wisconsin, Nijmegen) joined me in the frustration line also waiting for their 10AM Frankfurt flight. After an hour the lady announced “I’m sorry but there is nothing we can do” over the intercom (ROM-5). “Damn…I JUST WANT TO HEAD WEST, HEAR ALL ENGLISH!” Collins and Flowers felt the same pain as me both being abroad for over 4 months now. Lufthansa completely cancelled their flight and literally told them to go retrieve their bags and contact their travel agent. Contact their travel agent? I got my ticket on Expedia. Trying to find a flight now a few days before Christmas…you have a better chance of getting home in a time machine. You can see the disbelief on people’s faces as they wait and wait…all wanting to get somewhere in the world to see their loved ones for Christmas. Grown men are crying, some are pacing back and forth…I’m sitting, waiting, smiling and avoiding the stress thinking to myself that I’m blessed (yeah that rhymed). I can’t even get internet, so I can’t call home. Miraculously Rob our team manager called me and I told him to call my parents. He got a hold of them but for sure reason they still haven’t called my Dutch cell phone? My dad answered the phone said oh he’s delayed and probably 7 to 8 seconds later was snoring in his warm bed. I’m listening to Gary Allan... I’m just sitting here watching airplanes pass me by…As bad as it sounds I just want to get on a plane for 10 hours…anything is better than sulking at an airport with a bunch of other pessimistic travels. I think I know of a way to get really rich! There should be amusement at the airport, some sort of entertainment. A movie theater maybe? People singing Christmas carols probably wouldn't work because people aren't in the spirit when delayed. Spending 4 to 12 hours at an airport isn’t glamorous…however ‘people watching’ passes time fairly fast. Last year heading home for Christmas was a fun journey that lasted 41 hours…Amsterdam to Phily to Vegas to Reno to BOISE. Can’t be that bad this year, right? What happened to my Christmas spirit, it’s the most wonderful time of the year right? Sleigh bells ring, are you listening… because I know the incompetent airline lady isn’t. My flight to Frankfurt now reads 1330 (1:30pm). At about 1300 I hear a girl say that the flight is no longer on the gate screen. I look around and people are now leaving….WTF? Turns out the flight was cancelled, they just forgot to mention it to us… things are ran pretty professionally over here (ROM-6). I proceeded to find a help desk, unfortunately about 1200 others beat me to the spot (ROM-6.5).

I had to get my luggage that was just chilling on the floor by the baggage claim (with hundreds of others)…good thing nobody is in the grumpy, stealing Christmas spirit. I heard the line was going to take approximately 5 hours...super news considering there is nothing worth waiting 5 hours in line for. Not the world's greatest roller coaster, not U2 concert tickets, nothing(ROM-7). After waiting for 2 hours I had moved less than a turtle with a broken leg. Jordan and his team manager Renate soon appeared from nowhere- I hadn’t seen them for about 4 hours. They were waiting in the wrong line…ooops. I told them to cut up with me- avoiding the 400 people behind me. Jordan doesn’t really standout in an airport…he’s black and 6’10. After he jumped in with me, I noticed up towards the FRONT was Michael. I told them to hold my spot and bag while I go fake bullshit with Michael and try to skip about 500 more people. I went up there acted like I had a few things to say and after 90 minutes of waiting we were up at the very front.
There were 3 workers trying to re-connect roughly 1200 people….now the 7 hour line makes sense. I’m not a math major but if the retarded airline company would get 6 people that would possibly cut the line to 3.5 hours.

While the waiting game was still going on… a lady behind the counter told us that “there are no available flights to America before the 24th of December. Everything is booked, sorry” (ROM-9). All 3 of us (Jordan had cut in line with us as well) looked at each other and silently cried inside. Turns out this lady is not the sharpest tool in the shed, so I was booked onto a NW flight to Seattle tomorrow at 11AM…I had 17 hours to wait. MVP was definitely Flowers who we cut in line with…he couldn’t get a flight until the 22nd and they are making Collins fly to Houston when in reality he wants to get to DC...? They put me up in a pretty nice hotel and gave us a free dinner that turned out to be edible but terrible. Some of it looked like cat food…happy holidays to myself I thought (ROM-5).

MONDAY DEC. 21st
Woke up at 8am wasn’t going to even risk a chance I missed my flight. The airport was a zoo like I had expected. Last year Leeuwarden paid for my flight, but our team here doesn’t pay for a flight home during Christmas hence the reason only two of us attempted to go home. $1200 for 6-7 days isn’t cheap. When you spend a fortune for a flight, why do you still feel so non-important flying coach? I flew business class once last year and wish I never would have….it is 1000 times better. I check in for my flight, look at the departure screen 11 times and it still reads “ON TIME.” I don’t have a single naïve bone in my body- I’m expecting the worse. I assume I’ll be sitting in a middle seat either next to an overweight person, a screaming baby, maybe a person who is allergic to deodorant…who knows. When the lady told me, “Mista Bowsare you are flying Business Elite class.” I looked up and said, “huh…you sure? THAT’S THE BEST NEWS I’ve been told in a long time (ROM 2)!” The lady looked at me and smiled. Was my luck beginning to change? Was I getting me a break because I didn’t panic and give up the idea of going home?

I got situated in my oversized lazy boy of a chair. After kicking off my shoes and getting into relax mode, I heard “the plane will be idling for an hour, we thank you for your patience.” So you’re telling me that my two hour delay in Seattle is going to be at most an hour…meaning I won’t get through customs and get my bag in time? (ROM-5). I again tried not to freak out, instead enjoyed my seat for the next 12 hours. The man next to me had been in Rome on business, he's from Seattle, no children, married 32 years, has worked for Boeing for 22 years, never went to college, invests in gold/silver...yeah it was a long but pleasant flight. After we touched down in Seattle, I sprinted off the plane pissing off everybody in my way. After getting through border patrol I realized my bag I checked hadn't came so everybody I bull-rushed by had caught up to me...my hustle was worthless. Coaches would call this 'fake hustle' which is like diving for a loose ball when you have no chance of getting it. Missed my flight to Boise (ROM-8). By this time, I smell awful. I would pay 50 bucks to take a shower... they should offer showers in the airport. Luckily got on stand-by and finally arrived in Boise at 8pm!

Hugging my family that night made the personal record of 44 HOURS of traveling more than worth it. The last few days I've been in heaven. You never realize how important family and friends are until you never see them. I'm blessed to be in the situation I am, where I have family here and also great people in Holland. I've attended a Boise State bball game, watched 'Blind Side', got jump shots up and most importantly spent quality time with the ones I love. I want to wish everybody a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Commericial here in the city on the Flames

2009-12-16T13:38:00.002+01:00

This video is rated "R" for inspired.

http://www.spotgroningen.nl/nl/spotjes/topbasketbal-in-groningen-bij-gasterra-flames

Bergen Op Zoom vs FLAMES- last nights game!

2009-12-13T14:04:00.002+01:00

The crowd was amazing last night and we gave them something to be excited about! We had 23 assists, shot 61% from 3 and played tough d. The win puts us in first place at 11-2 with Eiffel on our heels at 11-3.

RED CARPET TREATMENT

2009-12-10T21:39:00.000+01:00

Wednesday night were invited to a movie premier here in Groningen. The film selected was "Brothers" and we didn't know what to expect, so we dressed up a little bit. When I say dressed up, I mean jeans with a nice button up shirt instead of the daily sweats and long sleeve t-shirts. At the movies in the states, it costs about $9 for a popcorn, $7 for a soda, $6 for candy, etc.

We all agreed that it would be brilliant to get some candy at the grocery store before the premier to save a few bucks. We stuffed our pockets and approached the red carpet. We were given free movie tickets. Free popcorn. Free white wine. Free red wine. Free beer. Free cookies. Free chicken nuggets. Free croquette (similar to cheese sticks). Free gift bags which included free Christmas ornaments. Free hats. Free magazines. You get the picture. Instead of rolling up in a stretch limo like Robby suggested, we piled four to car in our Gas Terra Flame cars...nothing says big ballers like four guys crammed into a tiny car.

Why get a stretch limo when you can watch a guy 6'9 put his knees up by his Adams apple? The movie was very good and intense, although the ending was a little disappointing. All in all we had an amazing night and can't wait to be invited back!

With only a game a week, time can go by slow if you don't keep yourself busy. We decided that going paint balling would occupy some time! "If Call of Duty has anything to do with paint balling, then I'm amazing" said MO. Getting hit by a paint ball stings like a bee and can even leave welts. Like on the playground we had 11 people and the captains selected their teams one by one.

While they were picking teams, I was using my wannabe lawyer skills on the owner- trying to get a discount. After stating my valid points, he agreed and we all received 10% of everything that was purchased. I saved about $40 euros on the total bill and then patted myself on the back afterwards. We had 5 people on our team if you count Tim's girl. I hate to be harsh- but she contributed about as much as alcohol would at calming a fire. We won the first game and they won the remaining three..."you guys had 1.5 more people, I would hope so" was my response to their trash talking.

We haven't had a league game since my last blog but we did beat my old team Leeuwarden in the first round of the cup. Steve was out with an injury, J El went to the hospital in the 3rd quarter with a gash in his forehead and big Matt fouled out. The game was close, but we ended up securing the 90-83 victory. Our next game is this Saturday against ex Bronco Bryan Defares team who are in second place behind us. Should be exciting and we're looking forward to the challenge!

Leeuwarden to Groningen...story on TV network here

2009-12-08T01:53:00.001+01:00

3 MATTS @ a PRO SOCCER GAME- caution 1 bad word

2009-12-05T21:33:00.004+01:00

I was asked to attend a soccer game and have the tv crew film us. I chose the other two Matt's...just so it would be humorous when we were introduced to people. "Hi I'm Matt, I'm Matt, and I'm also Matt." Our seats were great and we had a blast...although it ended in a 2-2 TIE. Please excuse my language...I didn't know I was wired the whole time haha.

HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO- thank you for making it!

2009-12-02T17:23:00.003+01:00

This video is pretty damn cool if you asked me. We got the best fans and I'm privileged to be a part of this team!

GOBBLE GOBBLE

2009-12-01T22:00:00.001+01:00

My Thanksgiving dinner was slightly different from the typical American this year. I ate two sandwiches, neither of which consisted of turkey. Sandwiches out here are different from what we're used to. The first one I grabbed was two pieces of bread, a single cucumber and piece of cheese...total calories- 12. The second one had a tomato and a thin slice of deli ham. Happy Thanksgiving I thought to myself. We left Groningen at 3pm, got stuck in traffic and got to Nijmegen around 645pm (45 mins before tip off). We played decent, they put a run on us in the middle of the 3rd quarter and we never got the momentum back. It was our first road loss of the season. The refs call the game MUCH MUCH different than they do in the states. J-El is trying to adjust- he is always stronger than his guy but gets called for the foul no matter what, if he has his hands straight up.

Not sure if it was because we lost or because it was Thanksgiving, but the bus ride home was painfully long. I kept replaying certain things I could have done differently on the court...finally we got home at 130am. Back home playing for Boise State I was just spoiled. On Turkey day I would drive out to Caldwell after practice and spend the day with dozens of my family members. Thanksgiving dinner back home, there is virtually every edible thing you could think of.

We have quite a few Americans on this team, so we decided to have our own “Thanksgiving feast” yesterday- a day off. J El wife, Christine, organized the event. Everyone was responsible for bringing something. Tim being the over contributor he is, brought paper cups, knifes and spoons… "man…they didn’t have plastic forks at the store.” Eating salad with spoons will be fun I thought to myself. I was in charge of the green salad. I went to the grocery store bought cucumbers, tomatoes, caesar, italian, ranch and thousand island dressing. I didn’t have any serving plates at my apartment... I contemplated bringing the salad in a normal pot or pan. I splurged and picked up two serving bowls. They don't sell large Turkeys out here so Christine did tasty chicken instead. Steve brought 3 cakes and ice cream. Everybody else brought different dishes such as sweet potatoes, lasagna, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, corn, rolls, etc. When it was time to eat, unusual of myself, I went last. Normally the second somebody says "time to eat" I'm first in line with my mouth watering. While I was in line getting food I couldn't help but notice my salad...which had gone UNTOUCHED.

I was steaming inside. I've never understood why women get so offensive when people don't eat or like their food. Now I understand why. These salads took me awhile to prepare and literally not a single person took any. I wasn't really craving salad, but I ate some anyway. Steve bought 3 cakes for $24 euros and NOBODY touched them. Marc brought tiramisu so that was what everybody ate for dessert. We become the joke of the evening..."Bausch good thing you brought 5 different kinds of dressings." I quickly turned the laugher at Steve, "$36 American dollars you flushed done the toilet Stevie boy!" All in all...it was a great dinner and I will be eating salad this entire week.

We beat my former team last week at home. The game was fairly close until the fourth quarter- we ended up winning by about 25. We play them again this Thursday for the first round of the Dutch cup.

Coach Miller before the game peeked his head into our locker room and said "Bausch, aren't you in the wrong locker room!?" After the game I was able to hang out with Jayme and Tristan in Groningen which was nice.

We also had a road game Saturday night (Nov 28th) in Weert...a nice 3.5 hour bus ride each way. We played well and got the road win by 15 points- making us 10-2 and in first place. There is a video of our game in the post below. The ride home was very interesting because a handful of us decided to roll the dice and ride home on the fans bus. Our fans are dedicated and enjoy drinking adult beverages. Some of them enjoy singing. Some of them enjoy yelling. I fit right in because I tend to be loud. I couldn't help but join in when they were chanting "DONAR, DONAR!" Other times they were mainly just singing Dutch music...words we had no clue what they meant.

We listened to Dutch music blaring the entire 3.5 hours. We kept pleading to get some American tunes over the speakers, but I think they played the "I can't hear you card." It was different to change it up and spend some time with some die hards. I'm even considering getting one of the custom coats that they all wear...

Video @ Weert

2009-12-01T21:50:00.002+01:00

Skip to around 1 minute and you can see me running out while smacking my gum. Big Matt had to make jokes of their court before the game..."Bausch you are going to do great, it's like your smurf turf back home."

LOOK-A-LIKE's

2009-11-22T20:20:00.002+01:00

Mr. Tim Blue and rapper Lil' Jon have a few things in common. 1) They were both born and raised in the south (Florida & Georgia). 2) They both enjoy wearing sunglasses, even when they are indoors.
3) They both wear the same hair style...dreads. Also did you know Lil' Jon is in the Guinness Book of World records for owning the largest diamond chain ever. It weighs almost 12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) and features 73 carats of diamonds – with 3,756 round-cut white diamonds. The diamond pendant has been valued at about $500,000. Hopefully our Timmy Blue spends his money more wisely.

Last years teammates Rein van der Kamp and Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilinko look more alike than the Santa Clauses at the mall. They both possess extra long arms and a similar build. AK47 stands 6'9 compared to RK9 at 6'7. I'm not sure what Rein makes, but AK47 will make over $16 million this season. I highly doubt that AK47 has as good of a personality as RK9...because he is one of the funniest and nicest guys I've met.

Our assistant coach Hein Gert is a legend here in Groningen. He was known as a hard worker who helped bring a championship to the city of Groningen in 2004. After watching the classic "Me, Myself and Irene" we can't help but compare his looks to famous actor Jim Carrey. In the movie Carrey plays Hank or Charlie (depending on the mood), so we like to give Coach Hein a hard time by calling him one of those two names. Coach is always smiling and nothing ever seems to rattle him.

Robby Bostain or Steve Blake I mean. These two have numerous similarities. They were both raised in smaller southern cities, both are about 6'3 180 pounds even though Robby tries to say he's 6'5, both play the point guard position and both like country music. You won't be seeing a baby in Robby's arms though anytime soon.

Last but certainty not least..our GM and one of the world's funniest actors. Albert is the man behind the scenes here who helped bring all of us non-prima donnas together. He comes across as all business, where as Will Ferrell couldn't be more opposite.

Will stands 6'3 compared to Albert at about 6'6. Albert played pro basketball in Groningen in the 90s, Ferrell played basketball in the movie "Semi-Pro." Ferrell lists of movies is too long to mention- Old School, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Wedding Crashers, Elf, etc.

I hope you liked these 5 look-a-likes. Please feel free to help me with additional ones. I tried to think of one for myself, but none came across close enough in my opinion.

BASKETBALL...from the stands

2009-11-17T23:32:00.001+01:00

Basketball games is what I've been doing lately...and I'm not even talking about playing. My butt has been in the stands quite a bit considering our one game a week schedule. I attended my first EVER women's game in Holland. I would say professional, but when only one girl on a team gets money I'm not sure what you call it. I went to the game with Tim and Aron and we were expecting a slow paced, turnover happy game. However, the game was quite exciting...the girls play in a small gym but it was packed with very enthusiastic fans. The girls were very aggressive and unselfish. As a fan, there is nothing I like to see more than a great pass. Saunder has a sister on the team and her last name should be Rodman because she got almost every rebound.

Speaking of Dennis Rodman...he was just in Holland playing in a Legends basketball game against our very own assistant coach Hein! Tim Hardaway, Muggsy Bogues among others played against the DUTCH legends. We were going to attend, but tickets were $45 dollars...and I'm not going to watch an out of shape Rodman for that kind of money. Here's a pic of Hein nailing a 3 pointer while Timmy Hardaway is watching. Back to the game...our girls were up by 2 with 15 seconds left in the game (we had the ball) and the opposing team didn't foul...? We were laughing hysterically because our girls just passed the ball around the last 15 seconds until the buzzer rang...and the win went to Groningen! The womens teams here in Holland generally pay one American player and the rest are Dutch girls. These girls may be students or full time employees...they are playing the game because they love it...which is something every fan can admire.

I also attended the most fundamental game I've ever seen. I've watched the Lakers, Nuggets, Suns, Jazz, Pacers, Spurs, Kings and Hornets play live...and none of them compared to Real Madrid when it comes to fundamentals. About a dozen of us took a oversize van or "small bus" we joked to the game in Oldenberg, Germany. Even though it's Germany and sounds sooooo far away...it only took us about 45 minutes to cross the border.

Real Madrid smoked Oldenberg (last years German champ) and was nearly flawless in the game. Madrid has a budget of $40 million euros (highest in Spain) and they have 7 guys on the team older than 30 years old. Even though it was a blowout, I think we all learned from watching the game. Look close at you can see me at the game!

We also took in an under 20 game here in the city. The team decided to adopt "buddy" program where each one of us Gas Terra Flames players takes one younger player under his wings and sort of guides him to becoming a better player. Ruben is the guy who I am mentoring and so far I only see one thing wrong him...his ugly tattoo.

We are looking forward to helping them and getting to know them better throughout the season...and hopefully they can learn something from us "old" guys.

I also played in a game myself. We played at Zwolle Saturday night and we were a short-handed. It was a long week for us...Darian and the team parted ways on Wednesday and you could say we were a little shocked. We aren't out here playing just to be playing...it's a business. The team has a board, sponsors, management, etc. Us players all have agents, contracts and all that.

We are going to miss Heavy D but everything happens for a reason and something great will come out of it for both parties. Tim was out as well with his back giving him problems...so we were much smaller than normally. We were trailing at halftime and finally put on a 4th quarter surge that earned us an 8 point victory! We're now 8-1 and in first place...with my former team Aris coming to town Saturday night.

YANKEES, NAPS and our first loss

2009-11-09T13:43:00.006+01:00

Shopping, George Bush, techno music, the New York Yankees....either you love them or you hate them. The Yankees are the most published, most popular, most dominant pro franchise in the world. They spent $209,000,000 on players JUST this season. The franchise is estimated to be worth billions. They paid $1.5 billion on a stadium like it was just another expensive dinner. They are a monopoly and now just won their 27th MLB title this week.

Although I... like 200 million others own a navy blue Yankees hat...I wasn't excited they won it again for the first time since 2000. I'll be honest, I can't sit down and watch an entire Baseball game on tv...it's too boring to me. I normally rout for the underdog, not the bullies. At least now ESPN won't be showing Baseball highlights for a few months.

We take naps like it's nobody's business. I don't mean a casual nap once or twice a week...I mean taking naps religiously! Nap is defined as "a brief sleep, often during the day." I should probably change the word nap because "brief sleep" doesn't do justice. After morning workouts, Robby, J El, Steve and I drive home and plan everything around our nap. We look forward to our nap. I rush up the stairs of my apartment building, just to get a few extra seconds that can contribute to my daily nap. Sometimes I feel so comfortable I'm sleeping like a baby!

The second we get into the car heading to the second workout of the day...we don't even have to ask...because the first question is always "how long was your nap?" Steve will jump into the car and spout "2.45!" In nap lingo that means he slept for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Then Robby says disgracefully "1.30". The three of us look at him like we're disappointed. I think Tim or Bas holds the record for almost 4 hours.

The truth is...the amount of working out we do...we require more sleep than a normal person. "We know that sleep loss is going to create significant detriments in performance," says Mark Rosekind, PhD, president of Alertness Solutions and a former NASA scientist.

"There are lab studies that show that if you're an eight-hour sleeper and you get six hours of sleep, that two-hour difference can impact your performance so that it equates to how you would perform if you had a 0.05 blood-alcohol level." I know that we're not alone...almost every player in the world looks forward to the same thing.
So with that being said, we will continue to get our nap on!

After 15 days with no game...we hosted Leiden Sunday afternoon. They were coming in at a solid 5-2 and we were 7-0. The crowd was amazing like always and they saw a nail bitter. We played pretty flat and flat out missed too many open looks. Leiden deserves credit- they hit some real tough shots. We got 21 steals and beat them on the rebounds by 11, but our defense wasn't where it needed to be.

Despite a huge 3 by JD to put it into OT, we ended up losing for the first time this season. Coach wasn't happy but he reassured us that it's a long season. Nothing can come between this team, we will remain in positive spirits. 6 months from now we will still be in Groningen fighting for a championship.

Coach said we need to peak in April and May...and to keep working hard. What happens in November will be lessons for the season. Today after our 9AM workout, coach told Robby, Aron and I we needed to watch the entire game after practice. The entire team decided to stay and watch it as well- that just shows how dedicated everybody is to getting better. The tough thing about this Dutch league is the games are so spread out. J-El and Darian (who have played in the NBDL) said too bad we don't have another game sooner. In the D-League they play about 50 games in 4.5 months. We only play twice in the next two weeks. Looks like it's going to be a lot of practicing and a lot of naps.

THE AMAZING RACE- GRONINGEN!!!

2009-11-03T12:56:00.004+01:00

Whenever United States has something on tv about Holland I'm very interested. Americas Top Model did a thing in Amsterdam and recently "The Amazing Race" stopped in Holland and EVEN my city of Groningen! They prenouce the name so funny and I shouldn't laugh because it's still hard for us to say it right. Here is two clips of the episode there are more on youtube. I've never done farmers golf or farmers dance...maybe it's a good thing. The Martinitoren in downtown Groningen looks great and now I know that there are 62 bells in the tower!

TRICK OR TREAT

2009-11-01T00:04:00.005+01:00

Happy Halloween everybody back home! Take lots of pictures, want to see all the costumes. Brandon and Liz are here visiting and I'm in heaven. We went to the pancake ship today, a Dutch friends house for an amazing dinner this evening, watched Boise State kill San Jose State 45-7! It's been a great day so far. Here is a video that Pepijn made for everybody to see! We don't have a game until next Sunday...can't wait!

HOME...SICK...NESS

2009-10-29T13:30:00.003+01:00

Homesickness is defined as "the distress or impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from the specific home environment or attachment objects." This could mean missing your girlfriend, your parents, a specific thing back home like maybe food. I've heard dozens of guys I know who play basketball abroad and say they can't take it anymore...they are too "homesick!" I got two really bad "homesick" feelings last season- one when I woke up after my first night in Leeuwarden...I opened my eyes, I was in my apartment so far from Idaho it wasn't even funny and it really hit me- there's no turning back. I was in Europe for the first time, no family or friends around...how in the world was I going to live like this for an entire season? After meeting the team and realizing how embracing everyone is over here, the feeling went away...until my computer went out for an entire weak. No internet=depression.

JD and I recently went to the Reilmans for dinner here in Groningen. The dinner was beyond delicious, but the really cool part was seeing their family all together. Their daughter and then their son- his wife and their two adorable little kids. Well, I thought they were adorable until they began attacking me and attempting to tickle me to death...it reminded me of my little cousins back home! Seeing Bert and Els with their family doesn't make me homesick because I miss mine so much, but instead it gives me a sense of belonging. It was very considerate of these families to invite us into their homes. MO and I were invited by a family for dinner a few weeks ago- Gwenny, Michiel and their two boys. The boys are avid xbox 360 players and boy do they have a great set-up. Comfy couches and a huge LCD tv makes you feel like you are actually fighting in the war (on the video game). After eating some tasty Indonesian food, MO and I proceeded to beat the youngsters at Call of Duty...2 games to 1. It wasn't easy losing that first game to some kids who weren't even born when the Nintendo was popular. If I mentioned Larry Bird, MacGyver, The Brady Bunch...life with no cell phone, no caller ID, etc....they would be looking at me crazy. All in all- another great day that makes time fly here in Holland.

This has nothing to do with being homesick- but MO sent me a youtube video last night and it had me crying on the floor laughing.

It's like someone like LeBron James can't fart! He's too perfect, his shit shouldn't stink right? A gorgeous supermodel...all of us men immediately assume that she never goes to the bathroom, especially #2....AND don't bother telling any of us otherwise!

http://www.eurobasket.com/Holland/basketball.asp
Also check out Fred Roggen's article about three former BOISE STATE BRONCOS! BD, J-EL and I thought he did a great job interviewing us!

7 DOWN, alot to go!

2009-10-28T12:26:00.000+01:00

As I tried to promise, I'm hoping to do a shorter blog every day this week. That may be difficult considering Brandon and Liz are coming back to Groningen tomorrow night and staying through the weekend. They attended my game last Saturday against Amsterdam and although the score wasn't very close (we won by almost 40) they had a great experience! They were able to get great seats, they saw the very classy Business lounge and even bought some Gas Terra Flames merchandise. We got home from Bergen Op Zoom at about 230am on Friday morning, I picked up Brandon and Liz at the station at noon and then we had practice that afternoon. Practice wasn't easy, but coach didn't have us go real long which was good on our legs. We got some rest and took care of business on Saturday night in Martini Plaza. The thing us players can't understand is HOW do we have 15 days without a game?! Having only 1 game a week, like NFL football is frustrating enough...but 15 days? It should be nice to have guys who have little nagging injuries get a chance to get back to 100% and coach has mixed in some good days off for rest.

Liz and Brandon couldn't believe how enthusiastic our fans are here in Groningen. It reminds them of Boise State football...where our team is currently one of the best teams in America and the last five years every game has been a sold out- 38,000 fans bleeding blue and orange! We are hoping for some sellouts at Martini Plaza this season! We know we just have to keep working as hard as possible and take it one game at a time!

This is a video recap of our game Saturday night against Amsterdam. Although I can't understand much, except for when D is talking...it seemed pretty interesting. "MY KNEE IS FINE PEOPLE" had us rolling! For everybody back home who is wanting to see the highlights of me, here you go. @ 2min/38sec and 2min/55sec they show an assist but I must warn you nothing special, I wipe my face with a towel @ 3min/9sec @ 3min/21 secs you see me from downtown!

This is a 20 minute recap of our game vs Amsterdam...it was shown on nationality TV here on Sunday. I must warn, it's pretty long...hopefully I can get somebody here to edit a highlight reel for everybody to see!

ROAD TRIP against a former BOISE STATE BRONCO

2009-10-27T11:00:00.001+01:00

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

As I sit on the charter bus driving back to Groningen, I have three words... What a day. It began with me waking up at 5AM drenched in sweat. Nothing is more attractive than a puddle of sweat below me, my head on fire and my body aching. I threw some Advil in my mouth and attempted to get some rest…it was after-all a huge game in Bergen Op Zoom today. At 6AM I woke up to a freezing shiver. I had blankets all over me, but my body felt like I was naked standing in Russia in the middle of December (never been to Russia but I can imagine). 7AM head has a heartbeat. 8AM forehead is warmer than Mexico in July. 9AM my mouth is as dry as the desert in Arizona. 10AM check my email…23 new emails, but reading them makes my head want to explode. We were leaving for the bus at 2PM, so I thought to myself…sleep it off. I tried to eat cereal, but my stomach didn’t think that was a good choice. I really needed to clean up my apartment because my cousin Brandon and his fiancé Liz were arriving in 24 hours. Decided to postpone the cleaning, I’ll do it later. 11AM I was taking Advil like it was candy. I throw my bedding in the washing machine and laid face down. What if I can’t play tonight? Normally I have the most energy in the room, what if I'm a Debbie Downer the whole time my visitors are in Groningen? We departed Groningen at 230PM, I leaned back my seat and closed my eyes. The team here provides pasta and sandwiches on the road which is real nice. After four hours that seemed like 2 months... we were pulling up to the arena in Bergen Op Zoom.

Bryan Defares, former Boise State Bronco was on their team. It’s pretty crazy that three Bronco alumni were playing in Europe, let alone the same country and league. We all small talked and then before we knew it we were closing our eyes in the locker room while Coach Marco had us envision the game. The game began very physical, but somehow I found myself on the bench with two questionable foul calls. Down 6 with about 5 minutes to go we heard the crowd yelling- DONAR, DONAR! That’s right. I would say we had 50 fans that made the long journey down south. Now that’s dedication if you asked me. A Thursday night, I mean I probably would have just read about the game in the newspaper and saved the gas money. Back to the game, we made some clutch plays down the stretch and pulled off a thrilling 71-69 victory. We were now 6-0, while Bergen Op Zoom dropped to 5-1. After watching The Negotiator and The Bucketlist…it’s 137 AM and we still haven’t made it back home. I need to clean my spot and go to the grocery store before 10 AM tomorrow. 215AM I walk into my apartment, my body feels better and I think it’s going to be a great next few days!

THE only TIE I approve of...is one that goes around my neck!

2009-10-26T16:56:00.000+01:00

We went to my first soccer game of the year here in Groningen last Sunday. We had the day off and some free business club tickets were offered, so we jumped on the chance to see a game. FC (means Futbol Club, learned that at the game)Groningen was playing Utrecht, which was irrelevant to me because I was going for the experience. The stadium where our team plays at is very nice! Before taking our seats, we were offered free coffee in the business lounge, which I took full advantage of. The fans were piling in with the game about to begin.

Americans haven't caught onto the whole soccer thing and I don't think we ever really will. There are multiple reasons WHY we won't ever catch up to the rest of the world when it comes to passion about soccer. For instance, I was looking at the scoreboard and instead of the time going down, it goes up. So there is no game winners where it goes 5, 4, 3, 2, .....1! Instead it starts at 1 minute and goes all the way up to 45 minutes each half. So I was thinking well there could still be some suspense, at 44 minutes 50 seconds, we could start the countdown at 10, 9, 8, 7....etc. WRONG. For every injury, penalty called....they don't stop the game clock but instead there is time added onto the end. Nobody knows HOW much time is being added! I had literally no clue when the last ten seconds were. "Who keeps the clock, Casper the ghost" I asked. Our Dutch point guard Aron didn't know exactly who has the stop watch.

The athleticism and foot work of these professional athletes is something we can all appreciate. I'm looking forward to learning more about the game because quite a few things confused me. Why does our crowd cheer when we miss an attempt at a goal? One of our players would shoot and miss and our crowd would applaud. I don't hear anybody clapping for me when I brick a 3 pointer. Some older men behind us were in their 60's or so. They were speaking Dutch throughout the game. For all I know they could have been talking about the annoying guy in front of them who wouldn't put away his digital camera. Fortunately, Aron was sitting next to me so he translated. The older men were saying how terrible Groningen was playing. The easy kicks they were missing. The lack of fundamentals. I asked Aron if it was Ronaldinho or Beckmans father behind us? Then I got thinking about basketball fans. When I'm in the stands I often hear..."Make a lay-in! It's a FREE...THROW! WIDE OPEN 3 pointer he missed!" I wonder a few things...is it still a lay-in when there's a 7 footer attempting to throw your shot into the 32nd row? It's still a free-throw even when you are exhausted and there's thousands of people watching. A great 3 pointer shooter makes about 42% of his shots, that's a GREAT shooter. So if a GREAT shooter misses 58%...there's a chance he will miss some open ones right?

I don't know much about soccer, BUT I know that FC Groningen dominated the majority of the game. We missed far more shots than they did. They didn't even get to many clear looks at the goal. However, with 90 minutes of play completed the score was 0-0. That's right nothing to nothing. I was disappointed we didn't get to chest bump after a G-OOOO-AL!!! But I was still excited to see the shootout! On all the movies, you see the high intense shootout. On the Mighty Ducks there was a shootout- that's Hockey but still. Once again I was wrong. There is NO shootout in league games. They ended the game 0-0. In Major League Baseball there once was a game that lasted 25 innings until a winner was announced. In college basketball, I played 3 overtimes in the WAC championship. There would be NO Fiesta Bowl Boise State excitement if it ended when regulation was over. Competitive people don't do ties. If you asked the pro soccer players what they prefer- I bet they would say shootout! If you asked the soccer fans what they would like to see...I'm guessing they wouldn't say, "0-0 games that end in a tie are my favorite." All in all, the game was great..and this weekend I think I will be attending pro game #2...THAT hopefully won't end "nil nil."

Game video from us vs. Eiffel Towers Saturday night!

2009-10-20T11:15:00.004+02:00

The game Saturday night was a great atmosphere! Eiffel Towers is year in and year out one of the best Dutch teams and they were coming into town. Martini Plaza wasn't quite sold out, but the crowd was very loud and we fed off their energy. We finished as a team with 25 assists and got the win- making us 5-0 so far.

"Pain in the ass"

2009-10-15T07:46:00.001+02:00

I played several times against Reggie Theus when he was coaching New Mexico State...a member of the WAC. He isn't talking about me in this video I hope. I want to thank Tristan Blackwood for doing this interview...

The BEST thing since sliced bread!

2009-10-12T22:27:00.003+02:00

Awkward. Strange. Uncommon territory. Those were some of the feelings I had when approaching the game against my former club on Thursday night. It wasn't only Brett Favre facing his old team this week...the match up over here just didn't get quite as much media attention. A few thousands miles east of Favre I was playing against several teammates from last season. I've played basketball since I could walk and I've never once played against a former team. The weird feeling began right when I stepped off the bus, walking into my...I mean THEIR gym. The custodians from last year began pushing me outside their doors saying in broken English something to the likes of... I'm not welcome...they were just kidding (I think). Then I walked into a locker room I never once stepped into last season. Began taking warm up shots on the opposite end, our bench was on the right not the left...everything seemed so different. Heading into the game we were 1-0 and they were 0-1. I actually went to their first game in Leeuwarden against Leiden. Darian, MO, Bas and I drove out there and witnessed a crazy ending. Aris was up 1 with 2 seconds left when Leiden threw up a 60 footer that banked in! It reminded me of our tough losses last season and I felt sick to my stomach. Back to the game- after warm-ups it was the introductions. I didn't think I would get booed but was still anxious to see how the Aris fans felt. I think if I treated basketball as only a job and didn't have any emotional ties...it would have just been another game. However, our experience over here is much more than just basketball. I made some great friends in Leeuwarden still keep in touch with Keith, Jayme and Tristan, respect the club that Gert built and in a way owe them for taking a chance on me out of college.

They didn't boo me but instead gave me a very nice applause- classy Dutch fans. It's just 6 months later, same 6'2 white kid from Caldwell, wear the same #15 but different logos, same Kalverdijkje arena but different sides, same two handed lay-in...although the pictures look like I was dunking! The game went well- they played very hard against us and the game was back and forth until the fourth quarter.

There were a few times would Coach Miller would yell, "COME ON!" I would look over as if he is yelling at me...but then remember only Coach Marco yells at me now. We ended up winning 76-66, I had a productive game with 16 pts 7 assists/1 turnover and 4 steals.

Two days later, Saturday night we hosted Matrixx from Nijmegen, Holland. Our crowd was great, they opened up the top section of the arena because of the amount of tickets that were purchased. They have an athletic team and started the game off very well against us. We found ourselves tied 48 all at halftime and we were very displeased about our overall team defense. Coach told us to keep on running and stay positive...a word we need to remember this season is POSITIVE! When times get tough, whether it's on or off the court...staying POSITIVE makes things so much better. Internet goes out- stay positive. Miss ten 3 pointers in a row- stay positive. Step in cat shit- stay positive. We stayed "positive" in the second half and our defense put hand cuffs on them...they only scored 20 pts after the break and we won 89-68!

The week ended and we're 3-0- with two games this week. We play tomorrow night in Weert...about a 3.5 hour drive each way. I'm bringing playing cards, laptop and a pillow. Then Saturday night we host Eiffel Towers who Groningen lost to in the playoff semi-finals last season...it's at our place and should be a great game!

Hans invented the best thing since sliced bread! It's called Dinner Club. Every professional team over here should really adopt this program. The club has families who are willing to host two or three of us on a random night. They make a great dinner and it's an opportunity to get to know the families/fans better. Some members of the club asked me if I liked the idea? I said "OF COURSE!" As lazy as this seems, after practice us professional basketball players are really tired. We don't feel like cooking all the time. This night we don't have to cook and the meal they make is head over heels better than anything I could have prepared. Eating homemade meals gives you a feeling of being back home. We rotate, so no family gets too sick of us. We also have a chance to meet the sponsors/fans after the game, but it's not as efficient as Dinner Club.

After home games we go up into this very nice Business club lounge area where I'll maybe have a beer and talk a little bit to the sponsors...but it can be intimidating for both parties I think. Don't get me wrong, I'm talkative and outgoing...but I'm not going to walk up to a group of successful businessman who are standing in a circle talking Dutch and say "Hey! I'm Matt Bauscher- u know numba ONE FIVE, the shooting guard...how u guys doing?" This week Robby, Bas and I went to Ruurd and Wilma's home. They also invited over some other friends and we had a great Dutch meal along with some great conversations. It's so intriguing to me to find out how other people go about their life. They had some funny questions for us...like "do all basketball players in America get free tattoos?" I slowly say nooooo..."why do basketball players have so many tattoos then?" My grandma back home is wondering the same thing.

Yesterday we had the day off and we went to the Pancake ship for Steve's birthday! He is 29 and the number 30 will probably be here before my cabinet gets put back onto the wall. That's right- this Friday will be the 4 week anniversary of my cabinet falling off the wall...still isn't fixed. People travel the entire world in 4 weeks.

After an amazing 2pm breakfast at the Pancake ship, J-El and I drove out to Leeuwarden to eat dinner with Jeanine, Cor and their son Jean Luc. Jeanine said it was so weird seeing me on the other team Thursday night...she said she clapped for me when I scored...I said YOU BETTER haha.

My little sister Megan says she misses the yogurt in Holland and I just tell her...your only a few flights away!!!I really hope they get time to fly across the pond! My cousin Brandon and his girl Liz are coming to Groningen on the 24th of October and I can't wait! They are coming to a home game and I'm looking forward to showing them everything Groningen has to offer!

Video of introduction

2009-10-08T09:31:00.001+02:00

MY take on the BOISE STATE!

2009-10-06T16:18:00.003+02:00

So the debating isn't only occurring in Idaho and the United States... we're debating it over here in a country called Holland. Should Boise State be #6 in the nation? "They don't play anybody good. They are in a terrible football conference. They would get killed by an SEC team. They aren't athletic enough to play with the big boys."

Boise State is the WINNINGEST football program in AMERICA...since 1999! Kornheiser said on PTI that we're no longer considered a mid-major. The biggest debate is over our opponents. We're like a bully on the playground...nobody wants to fight us. Oregon, Oregon State and BYU learned the hard way. We're above playing only away games. You don't see any other elite program getting punk'd...having to play on the road without getting a return home game. Let's say Gene Bleymaier (BSU Athletic Director) calls up Joe Alleva (LSU AD) and states his interest in scheduling power house Louisiana State for a home and home series. BSU wants a tougher schedule and adding LSU would definitely accomplish that. Mr. Alleva would laugh...because until pigs fly there's no chance the Tigers will consider playing in Boise. For starters, BSU doesn't lose at home! In the last five years we are 38-1 on the Blue Turf...64-2 since 99'! Fan support in Boise couldn't get any bigger... fans wear orange or blue depending on their seat location...now that's not only creativity, but also good organizing. LSU already has a nightmare of a schedule in the SEC...playing Alabama, Florida, Auburn, etc. They make so much money during home games- traveling for a non-conference game is like burning money. They paid Tulane $700,000 to avoid having to play them on the road. An SEC stadium typically holds over 90,000 fans! I admit the WAC isn't a prestigious football conference, but you can't fault us for dominating who we play. In hoops, Gonzaga does it in the WCC along with Memphis in Conference USA. We own the WAC. 61-4 in the WAC since joining back in 2001. Getting ranked at the end of the season means we are beyond beating mediocre teams. We have FINISHED in the TOP 15 in the nation 5 out of the last 7 years...now that's just ridiculous!

Eating GOOD in the neighborhood

2009-10-03T16:43:00.001+02:00

We've been here for 2 months now and one of the things Americans miss the most while over in Europe is the food! Luckily we have very generous people out here who make our food withdrawals kept to a minimum! J-El and I have driven out to Leeuwarden to eat dinner at Jeanine and Cor's house. Not only is Jeanine's cooking phenomenal but the conversations is what I really enjoy the most. Cor is Dutch and Jeanine is British ... they are the perfect couple who has become sort of a second family out here. Our dinner tour didn't stop there. J-El, Robby, Bas and I also made a drive out to one huge Donar supporting family- Koos and Gerda. Everybody who cooks for us always asks the same question- "what do you guys like?" I always answer with the exact same answer "we love food, period." Koos showed us the Donar dvd of when they won it all in 2004! Coach Hein was on that team which was cool to see. While watching the championship game, I couldn't help but noticed the electric atmosphere in Martini Plaza. It's too early to even begin thinking championship but that is what we're all striving for. Gerda cooked one amazing dinner that night and somehow managed to leave all four of us stuffed. Their son Yannick was trying to speak English to us, even though his English is getting pretty good- Bas was there who speaks perfect English and Dutch to help out.

I had another dinner last week at Willeke's. Willeke (I say it Vill-ah-ka) is a lady who we met right when we arrived in Groningen, she actually drove me to my first physical. She's very sweet and helps out a ton with the club. She invited J-El and I over for dinner...well actually I got lucky and took Matt Otten's (we call him M.O.) place. Willeke does it all! She worked all day, then prepared dinner for J-El and I...plus her son and daughter. Her daughter is 12 and has quite the jump-shot as we found out while playing PIG in the driveway...well she didn't really understand PIG so we just shot around. Then after the great dinner Willeke made, we watched a little bit of "Rebound" with Martin Lawrence...movies out here are luckily in English with Dutch sub-titles.

Since eating a good dinner is probably the best thing ever to us...our carpool group (Robby, J-El, Steve Ross and I) decided we were going to host dinner nights. Last night Steve and his fiance Merrin hosted us for some amazing grub! They made fajitas with homemade guacamole, etc. So far, I've been eating pretty good...and all this talk is making me hungry!

My blog getting love from a major basketball blogger!

2009-10-02T11:18:00.003+02:00

http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com/2009/10/we-have-found-prototype.html

First game at home against Zoelle

2009-10-01T22:33:00.000+02:00

OKTOBERFEST

2009-10-01T22:30:00.001+02:00

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I have decided to give up basketball and retire from the game. I love basketball and all it brings but I feel my true calling is....a Chippendale dancer. After seeing that video ...I think that is where my talent is needed. LMAO!!!

On to more serious things...I had a question on the comments section of my last blog. They asked "what was the hardest part about playing basketball in Europe and the best part of it?" That is a great question...that I possibly will write a book about some day! Playing basketball in Europe is so unique it's tough to gather words for description. Thankfully I'm decent with words, pretty out spoken... so I will attempt to answer this question. Each step you take as a basketball player is also a step as a man. As a young kid my dad helped coach our AAU team. He rebounded jump shots for me in the driveway. My mom would drive me to practice...whether it was at 6am or 8pm. In high school, you had to work hard on the basketball court...but my parents still supported me. My parents did everything for us. My mom cooked and did our laundry. They went to the grocery store. They paid for my basketball shoes, my cell phone, my vehicle, etc. When I went to Prom or the Homecoming dance...they paid for my pictures, tuxedo and overpriced dinner. My family attended every game and when I came home after a long day...it was to my parents house. When I left to play in college...I had to figure out how to independent. Do I wash the whites with the colors? Some college athletes stay on campus, so they don't need to grocery shop and cook. I wasn't one of them. How long do I put the potatoes in the oven? I no longer lived with my family....so when I realized there was no toilet paper it was on me. No clean towels it was on me. No clean forks- on me. It was 2am and I better get to sleep on my own or school and practice were going to kill me the next day. I sometimes had 14 hour days- and if I missed class, practice or weights....it was on me.

In order to play basketball in Europe...you have to be independent. You have to be strong

mentally. There are times when you are going to get frustrated, maybe a little home-sick. People see us signing autographs and living a great life over here, but it wasn't easy to get where we are. Thousands and thousands of hours of basketball got us here. Like any professional (doctor, lawyer, etc.) you must sacrifice many things in order to get to the level where you want to be.

Being so far from home can be tough on some people. I don't have my parents here. My two sisters are my biggest fans...but they are thousands of par 5's away. Thankfully my family and friends stay in touch through two things... Skype and Facebook. So in a few words- the hardest part is being away from everybody you have come to love over the past 24 years. The best part? I play basketball and make a living. I played in the driveway at the age of 4...dreaming of this to happen. When teachers asked us- "Johnny ... what do you want to be when you grow up?" I would say a basketball player or a lawyer. When I said basketball player- everyone would look at me like I had three noses. I

know basketball isn't going to last forever...I will eventually need a "real" job...but in the meantime I'm going to soak it up and try to enjoy every day, month and year of it!

We've now had opening day and our first regular

season home game which was last night. The opening day is a celebration where we are officially introduced to the fans. The day included all kinds of events for the kids- face painting, jumbo basketball hoops, etc. The dance team was preforming for the fans, when we snuck up the stairs to the business club lounge. All the lights were turned off up there, so no one was aware of our location. When the dance team concluded...all the lights shut off and music started playing. "GAS TERRA FLAMES!!!" With the crowd dead silent in antipation...the spot lights turned on. There

we all stood- up above with the lights shinning on us....and when I say shinning, I mean shinning. We were literally blinded. We couldn't see in front of us and the lights were hurting the eyes to be honest. It was very creative though and I think the fans really enjoyed it...besides forgetting our sunglasses we loved it! Then before the game against a Belgium team- we all gathered in the tunnel for our names to be called. Coming out of the tunnel for the first time gave me goosebumps! The game was good- we pulled of a win and were glad the pre-season was coming to end. Overall, fan day was awesome. We signed a lot of autographsand met some of dedicated the fans.

Last night was our first regular season game against Zoelle- where Robby played the last two seasons. Before the game I was pretty pumped up. Marshall Major who I worked with at Moffatt Thomas law firm had emailed me on Monday saying that his family was in Amsterdam! I quickly responded that they should take a train to Groningen and catch the season opener. After a few emails back and forth- it was confirmed that they were attending my first real game as a Flame! Crazy to think how small the world is and how I was going to have 4 friends from Boise all of a sudden at my game! Along

with them coming to watch, was also some friends back in Leeuwarden. Coach Pete Miller, Gert, Johann, Pieter, Kanneman and Otto were making the drive over. It's so good to see

familiar faces. I've driven to Leeuwarden a few times and love seeing everybody that made last year so special. Anyways- back to the game. We started and finished very well. From the jump ball- we dominated offense and defense. Everybody played very well for the first game and it was nice to put it all together. Coach Marco and Coach Hein were pleased along with all of us. We scored a 113 points, getting scoring from a variety of different players!

Before the tip-off last night, I heard "HEY MATT BAUSCHER!" I glance over and see a t-shirt that reads "MR. 191."I couldn't believe that these fanatic Donar fans had actually made a shirt! These guys aren't your typical fans who show up, cheer and sometimes wear a t-shirt. They have supported Donar basketball for many years and aren't going to stop anytime soon. After the game, I was given a Donar scarf, along with a Donar/Bausch15 hat AND the customized Donar/Gas Terra Flames/"Mr.191" t-shirt! I made them take a picture, so I can show everybody reading this in the states the great fans we have over here! Speaking of great fans...our next game (October 8th) just so happens to be against my former team Leeuwarden....so stay tuned.

FAN DAY

2009-10-01T14:06:00.001+02:00

Leeuwarden jersey from last year

2009-10-01T14:00:00.001+02:00

MURPHY'S LAW

2009-09-25T13:16:00.000+02:00

So, it's been 24 days since my last blog....I hope you've been waiting and wanting it. I was attempting to be the girl who is trying to make the guy wait for (insert word). The last 24 days have been eventful across the pond to say the least. The saying "time flies when you're having fun" must mean that we're all having fun because the days are soaring by. Last season in Leeuwarden I didn't buy many home decor things for my apartment. This year I've decided to spurge and get my place looking a little more stylish. Bas and I are actually plan to do a Dutch/Donar Cribs version of my place for everybody who follows my blog....so you can see "how I'm living."

SEPTEMBER 5th, 12:04AM

I’m sitting on the bus on the ride home from Perpinster, Belgium. We are going to have dozens of hours on this bus together given our upcoming travel schedule. I’m out of the poker tourney and instead of re-buying for my third time….I’ve opted to swallow the $15 euros, pull out my laptop and work on my blog. This team is real close, we play all kinds of games on the bus- spades, chess, poker, hearts, etc. Friday we left Groningen around 3pm and made it to Apeldeen, Holland around 5ish for the 7pm tip-off. We started the game decent but then hit a scoring drought finding us down 16 points at the half. Coach came into the locker room and we were preparing for an absolute ass-reaming. The locker room was silent as the door opened….Coach Marco came in and calmly stated his feelings. No screaming. No yelling. No finger-pointing. The third quarter we buckled down at both ends and took control of the game. We were up about 8 for most of the 4th quarter, until their last surge. Somehow we found ourselves down 1 with 25 seconds left. Our pg calls my number, I get a good down screen….had a little bit of room and knocked down the three-pointer at the top the key. They came down and had the ball inside the paint, but we got a huge steal and JD throw a dunk down for the exclamation point beating them 71-67. Even though we came back and got the victory…we knew we played nowhere near good enough. The good thing was

we were playing the same team on their home floor the next night! We ate some dinner and rode the bus to Belgium for another three hours that night. The hotel we stayed at was very nice. J-El and I roomed together and noticed the beds were abnormally small and very close together….like 6 inches close. We were so tired it didn’t really matter, but I guess not tired enough to avoid talking in my sleep. When I woke up, J-El goes

“Hey…did you know you talk in your sleep?” I said…”yeah forget to mention that.” I guess I was sleep-talking about poker and how Saunder is the luckiest player ever (he took first for $50 Euros, and I settled for second $15 Euros). Saturday we woke up, ate a real good breakfast and had a noon shoot-around. We worked on the things we didn’t do well and watched a little bit of film. We really wanted to set the tone from the start and that’s exactly what we did. We were connecting on all cylinders and I even made my first ever half-court shot at the end of the first quarter. We ended up winning 91-58….and six of us scored in double figures which shows our depth. Now, I’m on the bus on the way back to Groningen…3 hours left.

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We went bowling again as a team (for the second time this season) and the teams were divided a little more equally. JD, Tim Blue and J-El were the 3 team captains and they began picking like we were in grade-school and on recess. I wasn't picked first or second and was beginning to feel deja vu from back in grade school when my bi-focal glasses would fog up while I was waiting to be picked. As I was remembering 3rd grade, standing alone just hoping to be selected...J-El realized the diamond in the rough was still available! I yell, "LET'S GO BOY!!!" I hate to brag when it comes to things like bowling, table tennis, monopoly, etc. but I decided to bowl a career high so it's worth menitioning. I bowled a 191! That's right. 191. Every single frame was a strike

or a spare except for 1....I guess you could say I was in the zone! We put little bets on everything and this was no exception. Betting pushes the most competitive people to the extreme... if that's possible. Put $5 euros on something and guys get nervous. As you can imagine our team dominated and the others heard about it and heard about and then heard about it so more! I told everybody here to stop calling me "Bausch," but instead "Mr. 191."A bunch of us also play a board game called Risk, it's a fun game but after getting 5th place and 3rd place...I complained "this game involves too much luck with the dices. I'm more of a skilled oriented board game player." We also play NCAA Football 2010 on XBOX360 at my place. Tim Blue is pretty good on the sticks, but lately he can't win on the BLUE TURF! JD is close behind, but won't even play with his school Nebraska....and J-El well let's just say I beat him one time 63-12...

We've had 8 pre-season games so far and we are 7-1. Our lone loss was to Atwerp, Belgium by a

few points at their place a couple weeks ago. We beat two top league Germany teams in Duesseldorf and Quakenbruck (Artland Dragons)! We went to a tournament in Cuxhaven, Germany and despite not playing very well offensively we won both games and were awarded the Cup. The trip was fun and we were able to walk around on the beach before our game on Sunday. Normally it's tough to see the city because we bus in right before a game and head back home directly after. The hotel, I mean motel... in Cuxhaven we stayed at Saturday night was definately the funniest part of the trip. The rooms were small like every place in Europe....but the beds were akwardly tiny. They were romantically placed together so Bas and I couldn't help but be almost side by side.The length ofthese beds were less than 6 feet because my legs were hanging....Bas at 7 feet

had a rough night. After maybe 5 hours of decent sleep I hear..."YO Bausch man... you talk in your sleep...." I smirk and mutter back "Are you serious? Had no idea...." That morning we ate a light breakfast and took a picture with the owners of the motel....they were a nice couple- even came to our game on Sunday. Then we sat on the bus ready to head into the city when Darian said, "man our bed was so damn small!" I sort of glance around and chime back "our bed?" Darian goes "Yeah. J-El and my bed." "What. Wait. You two had to share one of those beds?" As we all begin to laugh Darian snaps back "you guys had your own?" I would have paid money to take a picture of that sight....and SHARING a midget bed- 6'10 265 lbs with 6'7 230 lbs. J-El has an upper body that looks like a yield sign...Coach Marco told him he should be on the cover of Mens Health. Back to the bed cuddling- I then question them, "how was it physically possible with

your shoulders?" Darian put his head where J-El had his feet and vice versa. I guess that's those Arkansas and Boise State degrees are starting to come in handy.

I was having a bad few days over here. My internet was more on and off than a celebrity relationship. My cable some-how shut off and was non-existent. No signal. No channels. Me not

having either of those is like a teacher not having a classroom. My sink got plugged up. Garbage

disposals in Holland are about as common as recycling in the United States. Dishes and dishes

stacked up. My toe is bruised and I am

unable to play. The entire reason you are 6,000 miles from home is for basketball...so when you can't play you feel worthless, helpless, useless- and any other word ending in "less." Can't play basketball. Sink smells like a sewer. No internet. No cable. I decide well....it's game day and we don't leave for 3 hours- might as well take a nap. I fall asleep and luckily the bed doesn't break. However, I wake up to LOUD shattering- broken glass sounds! I slowly get out of bed, look around the corner wondering if someone has shot a gun into my apartment. As I tip toe through the living room and set my eyes on the kitchen... I see broken glasses and a cabinet that's hanging off the wall! I don't scream. I don't punch a wall. I smile, take a picture and text message our dedicated manager Rob. "Rob. Big problem. Call me." By this time, Rob is sick and tired of

me. Rob my internet doesn't work. Rob I can't get ESPN America. Rob the sink is clogged... need a plumber because I can't do dishes. Rob can I get a new pair of shoes. About 10 minutes go by and no call from Rob. I wonder if he has quit the job. Ziggo the cable company is the reason our internet/cable is horrible...not poor Rob. About that time, the door rings....it's Rob and Coach Marco. What's the problem Matt? Well... follow me. Ohhh man you have shitty luck! Yeah, first the internet, then cable, my sink, my toe and now the cabinet? Coach Marco looks at me and says "MURPHY'S LAW!!!"

I realize there are some things you can't control. Getting pissed off about something isn't going to make the cups go back into the cabinet and onto the wall. There was a tiny hole in my bathroom door-I said "this was here when I got here just so you know...it doesn't need to be fixed I'm just letting you know." The team sent over a guy to install a brand new door. Manfred one of the hard workers for the team came over and fixed the sink. The internet is now somehow up and working. The cabinet still hasn't been fixed, but things take a little longer to get done over here compared to the US. The club is making sure we have great resources. When I was injured- they sent me to four different doctors to ensure I was getting the best opinions for treatment possible.

This weekend will be busy tonight we play against Oldenburg...the most talented team

we will face the entire season. They won Germany's highest league last season and have 8 of their best players back. Saturday is opening day in Martini Plaza so the fan's get their first game/look at this years team! It should be fun to meet some of them and play against a Belgium team- our last pre-season game. 5 days until the REAL season begins! If you have any questions for me-feel free to ask them in the comments section below and I'll answer them.

SEPTEMBER has arrived....

2009-09-01T08:09:00.002+02:00

What's life all about? It's about dreams, ambitions, family, friendships...without those I don't know how I would get out of bed every morning. Exactly 10 years ago, it was my first week of school as a nervous, paranoid freshman at Vallivue High School. My 135 pound frame was trying to avoid getting a swirly (head dumped into the toilet) by the seniors when I remember a friend asking me..."So Matthew where do you want to be in let's say 10 years?" I recall saying something like, "...I'm 14 years old...how should I know?" I can't believe it's already September of 2009...the song by Kenny Chesney "Don't Blink" comes to mind (go to bottom of my page to play music). I tend to think I'm an unlucky individual when it comes to certain things. When playing poker, I always get screwed on the river- although I won my first tourny in Groningen the other day (only $50 euros but still). When flipping a coin, I lose 70% of the time. When traveling, I lose luggage or get delayed about half the time. If I get a car wash...it rains. However, when it comes to living in a good city, I'm pretty damn lucky! Boise, Spokane, Leeuwarden and now Groningen...! I've met amazing people in all of them and have memories that will last a lifetime.

The people here in Holland are literally unreal! If you read my blogs last season, you know the stories I said about the special people in Leeuwarden. Well, the same holds true so far in Groningen. Jason Ellis (J-El) and I were following 3 cars of teammates to get up shots one afternoon and I was the one driving. I didn't want to speed and get another ticket, so consequently we got left behind. With no cell phone yet and no general idea of the city...we were screwed! We knew the place was called something like "Alo." Just as J-El and I look at each other like there's no use...let's just drive home- I think "what the hell." I drove up to a man in a car and rolled down my window. I said "excuse sir, do you have any idea where we can find Alo...it's a place where there is a basketball gym?" He looked at us and then starred into the sky for a moment. J-El and I think....there's no chance in the world this guy knows what us dumb Americans are talking about....a very long 20 seconds later he says back, "I think I know what you talking about. It hard to explain, I will just drive there. Follow me." I go "thank you, thank you sir." We follow him through a maze of streets, until finally we reach the gym Alo. We say thanks again and I look at J-El and say, "I TOLD YOU MAN! THE PEOPLE OUT HERE ARE SOOOOO NICE!" J-El was working out with me this summer and I kept hyping up Groningen, the country of Holland, the people, etc. I told him it's a great place to raise a family, play ball, etc....and now it's September and we're teammates.

My luck didn't end there. It was Sunday and finally a day off....so JD, Bas and I went to the steam room and then decided to go get some KFC in the city. As we were sitting there eating, in comes about 7 black guys speaking ENGLISH. We all go, "woah they are Americans!" About a minute later, JD goes..."MAN, that's Bobby Valentino." Bas and I said NO way in hell Bobby Valentino is in Groningen, Holland and at the same KFC as us on a random Sunday. For those of you who don't know Bobby, he's a million dollar R&B icon. They saw us and knew we were basketball players and Americans as well. We talked for awhile- they were touring Denmark, Holland, Norway and London. Bobby (I can call him by first name now haha) said he would run the point guard and not to let his height fool us..."I drop dimes" he said. We laughed, took a picture and were on our way!

For people who have been asking about web sites over here. http://www.eurobasket.com/Holland/basketball.asp is a great source- Fred Roggen actually just did his third part of the Boise State interviews. Jason Ellis, Bryan Defares and I all were apart of it, which is pretty neat. http://www.gasterraflames.nl/ is our main web site and then also http://www.donarbasketbal.com/arbasketbal.com/bal.com/ is an amazing source for basketball news...however it's in Dutch.

We played our first pre-season game this past weekend. Pre-season games are good for timing and getting a feel for each other on the court. They don't count towards our record, seeding or anything like that. The game was played about 25 minutes outside of Groningen in a place called Leek. A German Pro-A team drove about 2 hours to play us. Although the gym was fairly small, our fans showed up to support! We all had the anxious feeling getting out there for the first time. We played pretty solid beating them 76-61. We're no where near where we will be in April because it's only been a few weeks together. The picture at the top of this blog is Yannick in the Boise State Broncos sweatshirt! Not only did they buy a sweatshirt off ebay, they also made an amazing IDAHO/Bausch15 flag that I was shocked to see!

MY team is soooo damn funny! Two days a week we do speed ladder drills with our strength/speed coach Nitzan. The first few weeks it was dead silent, so we all suggested bringing in a CD to play while we worked out. We all have different tastes of music so Nitzan said maybe everybody could pick one song? Robby said he would just burn a CD that we'd all like. It's Tuesday morning and as we're all vigorously working on our footwork drills when "I kissed a girl and I liked it....taste of her cherry chap stick"comes blaring on! Not only is that song terrible and over-played but it's also over a year old now. I was thinking maybe there would be some country (something I love) because Robby is from Georgia, but then "you shake my nerves and you rattle my brain...goodness gracious, great balls of fire" comes on... The look on our faces, especially the guys who prefer hip-hop was priceless. Everybody has their own unique personality. Steve Ross has never owned a cell-phone....EVER! My little cousin Connor who's 12 has one and he can text as fast as anybody. Steve's fiance was at dinner with a bunch the other night and she kept trying to convince him to finally get one. "I've survived this long... I'm NOT getting one." J-El's driving is improving...he'd never driven a stick shift his entire life. Today he only killed it twice on the drive home..nothing was funnier than when he would kill it a few times and then we'd miss the light, along with the 12 cars behind us. Our whole team decided to go bowling the other weekend. Us, being the competitive people we are, decided we had better put a wager on it. Nobody knew anything about each other's bowling skills, so Bas and Tim Blue were captains and they picked who they THOUGHT could bowl. On my team was JD- who had a good motion, but tried spinning the ball like a PBA guy or something...result was gutter more than we would have liked. Darian- 6'10-260 lbs...let's just say height doesn't help in bowling. He would bounce the ball off the lane like he was playing ping pong or something. Bas and Saunder were also on my team...I wanted to ask if this was their first time. I'm no pro don't get me wrong, I got like a 130 or something. Jason Ellis, Tim Blue and Matthew Otten were the pro's all getting 150-180. We got to hear about it the whole night...

The weekend should be exciting. We're practicing Monday through Thursday and then we play a good team from Belgium Friday night in central Holland. Practices have been very competitive. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we've had double days which can be exhausting. Coach has kept the practices very intense, but a good length where we aren't dying. After the game this Friday we're driving down to Belgium to play them again on Saturday night. We're staying in a hotel Friday night and then driving back home after the game Saturday. We'll probably get in around 3am on Sunday morning- and that will be our next day off.

INTERVIEW with EUROBASKET!!

2009-08-22T04:25:00.002+02:00

http://www.eurobasket.com/Holland/basketball.asp?NewsID=169949

MY NEW HOME...I HAVE ARRIVED to GRONINGEN!

2009-08-19T00:05:00.003+02:00

Well, I left Boise a week ago...I'm getting settled into my new home in Groningen, Holland. Leaving the states wasn't any easier this season compared to last. You would think all of us macho pro athletes would just pack our bags and that would be it. It can get a little emotional and I absolutely HATE good-byes. It's 10 months before I will be living in the states again, I say 10 months because I plan on being in the Dutch finals!

I flew into Amsterdam 3 times last year, two of them being smooth (one a disaster) so I was hoping this time would be nice and easy. My flight left Boise on time, 90 minutes later was in Seattle waiting for my flight to London Heathrow (the busiest airport in the world). Waiting in Seattle, it really hit me that I again said goodbye to my sisters, both of whom will be up at University of Idaho (Megan as a freshman and Mistie last year of law school). I'm really going to miss my family and all of my close friends...but I'm living my ultimate dream- playing pro basketball. About two hours later, the lady on the intercom says that their missing a part for the plane and the flight will be delayed. 6 hours later....I'm still in Seattle. While waiting and waiting...I look at my ticket and see that I'm seat 31B. Knowing my luck, it's probably a damn middle seat.....after going up to the counter- it was indeed a middle seat. The lady at the desk said it was a full flight. As I was walking down the isle of the plane I see my open seat and the two people starring at me while thinking to themselves, "damn I hope that guy isn't sitting between us!" I jam my huge travel bag into the cabinet above and say "I think this is me." The guy to my right immediately pulls out his iphone...I'm guessing he changed his facebook status to "you have got to be shitting me, sitting next to Mr. Broad Shoulders for a 10 hour flight from Seattle to London!" Finally we board and we're off to London...despite my shoulders the man to my right but have popped a few sleeping pills because he was knocked out. I got up one time during the entire flight. Then, 9 short hours later I'm across the pond and in London.

Of course I missed my flight from London to Amsterdam and coincidentally all the remaining flights that day were booked. I had no cell phone. The lady with British Airlines, gave me two options. 1) Stay in a hotel and get the first flight out in the morning (it was only 3pm local time). 2) I could attempt to find my luggage, go through customs, get on a bus across the entire city to London Gatwick and get on a flight leaving in 4 hours. I said I'll take door number two. After going through the maze of an airport (about 1200 times the size of the Boise airport) I was able to find one of my two suitcases. Only lost one of my two suitcases- my luck may be getting better! The lady asked for my Holland address...I reply with "ahhhh....don't know it." She then asks "phone number to reach you?" I again say, "don't know that either."

I take the bus to London Gatwick- rush hour in London is something I highly recommend. 4 hours later I get on the plane and after a 50 min flight arrive in Amsterdam. Not sure as to who is picking me up (if anybody) considering my delay....then for icing on the cake I was questioned by Dutch customs for another 25 mins... NO CLUE why I didn't just tell them "here visiting." I then get my bag, walk through the gate and see a man holding sign that reads "BAUSCHER." FIRST sigh of relief this entire 25 hour journey...thank the lord, I got a ride to Groningen! It was a pleasant ride to Groningen with our statistician Henk , but I couldn't help but dooze off a few times during the 2 hours it takes to get to Groningen from Amsterdam.

My apartment is a nice place about 15 minutes from the Martini Plaza (where we play all our home games). It's 2 bedrooms, a large living room and on the third floor- not as many stairs as I had last season on the 4th floor. I think I'm going to buy an LCD tv considering the amount of time I will be spending in my living room! I have my digital picture frames set up I won last season during the all-star game and my Xbox 360- which I won't be frying this season I hope!

The place where we will lift weights is also at Martini Plaza. It's very nice like Leeuwarden Healthclub last year- has multiple lifting machines, running machines, a sauna, etc. Thursday night I walked in with Robby Bostain and one of the guys working came over to me and told me that I had to wear a shirt with sleeves. I was wearing a Nike cut-off....so I had to borrow a bright yellow extra smedium t-shirt. I was curious as to why cut-offs weren't allowed so about 45 minutes later I asked him. He told me that "we have members at ar club of all shapes...some larger den other...so tha guy who maybe fatter may not want to see the guy who looks like all muscles." I smiled and said "fair enough." Ps- Golds Gym would simply go OUT OF BUSINESS if they tried to implement this policy.

MONDAY NIGHT was the first practice and it was held at the Martini Plaza! I've never practiced in front of hundreds of people...so Monday was very unique for all of us. The crowd was there- and they were having a good time! Since Groningen has a new sponsor this season- Gas Terra Flames...we got a brand new court! After our practice they hosted a Business club dinner- where all the members were there for a "meet and greet" with the new team. The VIP area above is real nice and we will go up there after every home game...I made Bas take a picture of the view from the lounge to the court! Bas is our technological and geographical wizz. When you think computer wizz/geek...you think of small, nerdy, glasses and suspenders. Bas is a big 7 footer who is Dutch, but went to college at Robert Morris. He helps us Americans out with everything...from setting up our Dutch bank accounts, to showing us where we can get wireless routers, a good pizza, etc.

I'm real anxious for the season. Our team has the potential to be very good, but Coach Marco isn't going to let us get big heads. After we break in the huddle we say, "NO PRIMA DONNAS!" Coach reminds us that we don't need to look pretty...on the court that is haha. The guys on the team all seem real cool- it's amazing that Jason Ellis (Boise State) signed here as well. He lives one floor below me and we car pool everyday...gotta save money on gas because it's currently $7.39 a gallon! Here is a picture of my car with Jason about ready to go for to practice. Steve Ross (Canadian, Santa Clara) and Robby Bostain (Furman) also car pool, so four of us in these cars is packed...but at least we're saving on gas.

LAST BLOG in the USA...2 days until I take off

2009-08-09T18:37:00.000+02:00

So the summer has basically come and gone for me. I can't believe it's already time to hit the hardwood for professional season number two. This weekend was Bam Jam...despite the rain on Friday we pulled off an amazing tournament! It was a ton of hard work but well worth it!!! I had Jason Ellis as one of our celebrity judges for the Gatorade Slam Dunk Contest! He leaves Wednesday for Groningen, Holland. The tournament is also growing...had around 230 teams this year! I am starting to pack my bags as we speak...the room is bare and I'm on the floor typing away. I better get some work done, still have to work out today and begin putting my two bags together that can only weight 50 lbs each. Our first practice is August 17th and I'm excited for it! I'm really going to miss all of my family and friends out here, but hopefully I come home for Christmas! Stay tuned, I'll be blogging much more often in Holland!

24 days until HOLLAND!

2009-07-20T04:56:00.005+02:00

This has been a very busy month for me. I've done quite a few things that have been fun...and the time is literally flying by! I went to Seattle to help coach Idaho Select...an AAU team of players 15-18 years old. I went to a Kenny Chesney concert and somehow managed to get front row. It's nice having mega-star concerts at Taco Bell Arena...where I played at Boise State. I'm heading to Las Vegas and LA later this month for Idaho Select as well. Despite helping out with the youngsters, my own jump shot feels better than ever.

I've been putting in a lot of time on Bam Jam bamjamboise.com since I got back from Holland. This event is going to get bigger and bigger each year! Bam Jam is Idaho's largest basketball tournament and will take place August 7th and 8th in the streets of downtown Boise. The proceeds from the event go to charity, which is something very special! We've been grinding it out, trying to make the 2nd Annual Bam Jam a major success. We've been getting the word out...from a Boise Hawks game (minor league baseball), to Alive After 5 (social gathering in downtown Boise), to various different radio interviews, as well as setting up dozens of meetings with potentional sponsors. We are really looking forward to this tournament and although I won't be playing because I don't want to risk injury...I will be there working.

Workouts have been going solid- I'm weighing about 200 lbs and feel really healthy. I want to make sure that I don't have any injuries when I get to Groningen. It's such a long season and staying healthy will be key for us this season! I'm very excited our team signed Jason Ellis...he is the hardest working man I've ever played with. The Groningen fans will love his rebounding, defense and all that- plus his character. Our team should be amazing this season- so many great players with everybody bringing something different to the table!!! 24 days and I'll be in Dutch country...

PHOENIX, ARIZONA & SPOKANE, WASHINGTON (HOOPFEST)

2009-06-30T00:51:00.008+02:00

I flew down to Phoenix, Arizona to meet up with my former teammate Seth Robinson. We played together at Boise State and also lived together during those years. I was in his wedding last summer, so I hadn't seen him for about a year. He had a lot of good workouts for me while I was down there. It was fun to play against other guys who play professionally! I think I did more than hold my own- had quite a few people asking where I was playing this season. I also met up one night with Gerald Punch- who's from Arizona and I played against him in Holland this year. The five days down there flew by and before I knew it I was flying back to Boise.

I've worked a few basketball camps here in Boise and am working out with the Boise State players and a few Idaho Stampede (D-league) guys. I played in a charity/celebrity bball game too. Bryan Defares is often working out with us as well- he will be playing for West Brabant (Holland) this season- so that should be fun. I am also helping out with Bam Jam (bamjamboise.com)- Idaho's largest 3 on 3 basketball tournament. See a youtube video of the event (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s85QYhFLqcU).

This past weekend, I flew up to Spokane, Washington to witness the WORLD'S largest 3 on 3 basketball tournament. The tournament had 6,600 teams, 27,000 players and 250,000 in the streets of Spokane to witness the madness. I met Kareem Abdul Jabbar- the NBA's all time leading scorer, AC Green and Hersey Hawkins- all former NBA greats! I'm back in Boise working out for until July 10th- when I go to Seattle, Washington to help coach Idaho Select (idahoselect.org).

VEGAS and Hilton Head, South Carolina!!!

2009-06-02T22:04:00.007+02:00

My new team (Gas Terra Flames) have been very active already in the signing process. I've excited for who we've signed so far and am anxious to see who else they bring in.

I've been trying to get some vacation and relaxation in preparation for this upcoming season! College players in the states don't believe me when I tell them that our season is 9 months long over here...in college it's about 5 months. I've been finding a healthy balance between having a great time and still working out!!! My family and I are currently in Hilton Head, South Carolina enjoying the Atlantic Ocean. It's really warm and beautiful out here- peaceful as well! Stay tuned for another blog- I'll be going to Spokane, Washington later this month to witness the world's largest 3 on 3 basketball tournament- over 6,600 teams (26,000 + players). I'll also been in Seattle, Washington in July...along with Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California helping out with Idaho Select Basketball.

WENT WITH MY HEART... FEEL THE HEAT!

2009-05-18T10:18:00.000+02:00

So in case you haven't heard the news, I've signed a contract to play basketball in Groningen, Holland! When making my decision on where I wanted to play...I put a few things as my priorities. I wanted to play for a winning/championship calibur team. I wanted to go to a city where they really supported basketball. I wanted to go to a team where I could possibly see myself finishing my career. Don't let me already jump the gun because I'm barely 24 years old but I could see myself calling a city like Groningen home. It's not about who offers the most money, but instead where will feel like home. I'm also really lucky that I'll only be 45 mins from Leeuwarden, which will be nice! Make the drive to watch my former teammates play when we have off nights or dinner with the amazing people I met.

I read through the comments from Donar fans and got goose bumps. I'm so excited to contribute and work my butt off for such devoted fans! I played at the Martin Plaza twice this season but also watched a few more games there. The atmosphere is great and I remember looking at the Groningen players and being a little bit jealous they got to play some many home games there. The second I put that Gas Terra Flames, Donar, Groningen uniform on it will be a special feeling. I know a few of the players just from talking a little bit during last season and am looking forward to going to work with them! Torey the point guard called me the other night to say congrats- August 17th will be here real soon!

THIS SEASON I.....

2009-04-22T10:05:00.000+02:00

Since August 2008... flew over 36,000 miles back and forth from America to Europe. Walked 5700 flights of stairs. Scored over 1,000 points in 50 games. Paid $24 for a club sandwhich in Copenhagen, Denmark. Walked into a coffee shop in Amsterdam and actually ordered coffee. Won over $200 Euros for first place in a poker tournament at a Dutch bar. Signed autographs on kids foreheads. Signed kids shoes. Signed kids arms, legs, hats and shirts. Led the league in assists per game. Had my hardrive on my computer crash. Lost my luggage for 3 days. Watched my Xbox 360 not work....twice. Picked up 6 amazing people at the airport who visited me. Finished in the top 5 in steals per game. Went to the very top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Danced in the shower after winning against Eiffel Towers-Den Bosch. Toured the one and only Oxford University...realized the lawn was in better shape than any golf course. Watched a parade outside of the Buckingham Palace.

Paid $16 for a Baileys and coffee in Brussels. Paid 50 cents to take a pee in Amsterdam. Saw a tall blonde hair women in Sweden. Ate two choclate Belgian waffles in Belgium. Got lost for 2 hours while driving through Germany. Was named "Shooting Guard of The Year" in Holland. Attempted to speak Dutch. Pulled a hamstring. Pulled my groin. Attended a professional soccer game with Mistie and the team. Went to the 007 movie and sat next to a big guy chugging Heinkeins. Got a handfull of speeding tickets...handful meaning 5. Played pitch putt golf with the team and thanks to Coach took first. Toured the Anne Frank house with Kevin & Ashley...with Kevin deciding to leave a special scent for people all over the world to take in. Locked myself out of my apartment. Got a plaque and roses for winning "Statistical Player of the Year." Instead of asking what time it was, I looked up at Big Ben. Walked through the Red Light District multiple times...key word is "walked." Never attempted to wear wooden shoes. Won MVP of the All-Star game and got more roses. Lifted weights 4 times a week while thinking of my Grandpa for extra motivation. Ran thousands of kilometers on a soccer field...glad I was here for basketball. Took a cold shower. Took a hot shower. Saw the London Bridge and thought of more than just the Fergie song.

I've learned a thing or two over here. They don't go use American English. Holiday means vacation. Lift instead of elevator. It's a flat not an apartment. When you leave you can't say bye once...it's "bye bye." You greet people with 3 kisses on the cheek- left, right and then left...it can get awkward. When your done eating don't say "can I get the check?" A check is something you write, it's called a bill. "Sir where is the closest gas station." It's not called gas, it's petrol- gas is something in the air that you don't want to breathe in. Americans always call it chicken, they sometimes say "I'd like some cock please." Instead of 4:30, they would use "half past four." They don't use miles, fahrenheit, gallons, ounces or feet...s0 get used to the metric system. All in all you learn and you grow.

After 2.5 amazing days in England- it was time for the trip back home. I’m going to give a brief description of my traveling day(s) getting back to Boise. I will do everything in Mountain Standard Time (-7 hrs London, -8 hrs Amsterdam).

2PM- (Mountain Standard Time) - Laughing, joking and enjoying England on a Monday evening (9PM London time).
2:30PM- Harper, Jess, Rich, Jo and myself are enjoying happy hour drink specials at a local pub. Enjoying another beautiful day in England and just starting to get a little buzz from pint #4.
3PM- Walk down to the train station to see how late it runs from Reading to London Luton airport (if only it was that simple).
3:10PM- We learn possibly the last/best option is to take the train leaving in 29 minutes.
3:13PM- Jump into an old school taxi and tell the driver “In a hurry!” The man looks back, “not a problem mate.”
3:23PM- Arrive at Harpers house, run up his 2 flights of stairs, grab my belongings and sprint back out to the taxi who’ s kindly waiting.
3:31PM- Get back to the train station, I tell Harper, “thanks man, I had a blast! GOTTA RUN…literally!”
3:39PM- Take a train from Reading, England to London Paddington…the various stops made it go by pretty slow.
4:32PM- Arrive at London Paddington and buy a subway ticket for London St. Pancras. The subway or “tube” they call it reminded me of Washington DC. With all the lines running in different directions, I still figured it out after a few minutes of second guessing.
4:41PM- Get onto the tube- yellow/circle line/zone 1. Heading towards King’s Cross/St. Pancras.
4:47PM- Guy to my left is a “tad bit dodgy”- in my British accent.
4:51PM- Old man to my right is “quite rubbish”- again in my stellar England accent.
4:53PM- The expensive and exciting buzz has vanished.
4:55PM- Get off the tube at St. Pancras.
5:02PM- Get a train ticket leaving St. Pancras to London Luton parkway.
5:37PM- Arrive at London Luton parkway.
5:41PM- Take shuttle to London Luton airport.
5:55PM- Buy a water and find a nice spot on the floor. It’s almost 1AM local time and my plane leaves in 5 hours…splendid.
11PM- Leave London Luton for Amsterdam….have to leave from there so I don’t get charged a $250 re-booking fee.
1:10AM- Arrive in Amsterdam.
4:15AM- Go through security again, through customs again…and now I’m on the plane heading to Chi Town!
12:55PM- Arrive in Chicago, turn on my cell phone…boy do I miss having a cell phone!
2:45PM- Leave Chicago for Denver- the flight goes by dreadfully slow…maybe the past two flights are catching up…
4:35PM- Get to Denver, one stop away baby!
5:55PM- Leave Denver for Boise (I’m currently writing my blog on my laptop, sitting scrunched on a window seat).
8:01PM- BOISE, IDAHO!!!! My mom, Megan and Ashley pick me up at the airport. This is officially the happiest I’ve ever been in my almost 24 years to be in Boise! 29 hours of traveling which included sleeping on a cold floor, getting a neck cramp, drooling on myself while sleeping on the plane, buying overpriced food, listening to babies cry, going through 3 different security checkpoints…worth every second.

Fun ride while it lasted...

2009-04-08T22:38:00.005+02:00

My dad flew in March 20th from Egypt, my sister Megan and mom on the 21st. It's April 8th today...and I'm still scratching my head wondering where the time went? We did quite a bit of things... like going to Paris, Amsterdam, out to lunch, dinner, playing tennis, shopping and of course my baskeball games. My dad seemed obsessed with the wooden shoes thing, so I made him get in one for a picture! Our team was kind enough to let my family travel to the away games on our bus- and the two games they watched were pretty wild ones. We played @ Matrixx and @ Leiden...two of the louder arenas in the country. Matrixx plays overly blarring loud music throughout the game and my sister left saying, "I have a headache." We played real tough and without Keith because of a concussion. We ended up losing by 6 but fought hard the entire 40 minutes. The game @ Leiden was also very loud- it was completely sold out- literally people standing along the rails to see the action. A loss to them would mean the playoff race is over...and we knew it was going to be a difficult battle. We really got after them from the tip- taking a 14 pt lead early. After it going back and forth for most of the game, they eventually tied it with 30 seconds left. Tristan then drove the lane and hit a floater with 5 secs left and a shot by there big guy missed at the buzzer! We were 2 games out of the playoff picture with 5 games remaining!

Just the word "PARIS" gets me excited. It's a city I've always wanted to visit and even with my poor geography knowledge- even in 2nd grade I knew Paris was in France. The four of us stayed in a hotel that was about a 5 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower. I like to just stare at things and take a deep breathe....while thinking to myself how blessed and lucky I am to be witnessing it. We had arrived in Paris and hadn't seen the Eiffel Tower yet...until Megan shouts, "LOOK THERE IT IS MATTHEW!" We all whipped our necks to the right and there it was... the most popular structure in the world. The view of the Eiffel Tower at night was breathtaking. We payed to actually go up to the very top of the Eiffel Tower...the view of the entire city lit up was a Hallmark moment. We didn't have much time there, but we were able to take a tour and saw The Louvre- home of the Mona Lisa painting. They said if we saw the entire museum it would take over 6 months! We saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, Opera House, the shopping district, etc. When we stepped inside the Notre Dame Cathedral, all I could think about was how much my Grandma would love to see this church and HOW much my cousin Darren and Tony love the Figthing Irish along with my boy Joe. I couldn't help but sing the Notre Dame fight song (cheer cheer cheer for old Notre Dame)...the asians to my left looked at me as though I was slightly slow in the head. The 20% tourist tax wasn't fun, I learned Paris is damn expensive...but worth it.

Of course I took the family through Amsterdam and we saw it all! They went through the Anne Frank house, saw Dam Square, Rembrandt museum... with all the distinct restaurants we had eaten at...many in which my family had difficult times ordering...we had to eat at the Hard Rock cafe- to get them some American food. I also made them walk into a "coffee" shop in Amsterdam. It wasn't like Starbucks or Moxie Jovie they soon realized. I also lead them on a walk through the infamous Red Light District! My mom was petrified...Megan was pretty shocked- couldn't believe it and my dad- well growing up in Fairfield, Idaho and graduating with 11 other classmates- he didn't know things like this even existed!

On a Thursday morning- Jayme, Keith and I volunteered to go speak to some teenagers during their English class. They had googled us and prepared us with some questions that they would have to ask in English. Do you like soccer? When did you start playing basketball? Do you like Holland? Can you speak Dutch? Does every house in America have a swimming pool? What is different from there and here? They were well prepared and we had a blast with them. There was no parity in their English speaking...some were real fluent and some not so much. One kid wanted to be a lawyer and two girls wanted to be on the MTV show- "The Hills." It was quite the morning!

Sunday (April 5th) was the Dutch All Star game held in Amsterdam. As you may know, I was voted in as a starter for the North team. The game was great, it was a real honor to be a part of! Coming over as a rookie from Boise State, I would have never in a million years thought the season would go like it did for me. The cool thing was that I got #15 for the game and also our team had orange jerseys which reminded me of last yr! I enjoyed playing in the All-Star game with instead of against some of the great players in this country. I played really well in the game scoring 16 pts and getting 5 rebounds. After our 1 point victory they named me MVP of the game! I was given a dozen roses and a nice towel inscribed FEB basketball. The cermonies didn't stop there, I was also given the award of shooting guard of the year and statistical player of the year! I walked on the red carpet and onto the poduim where I recieved two dozen more roses, 2 digital picture frames and 2 framed plaques. It was a little obnoxious with me attempting to hold 3 dozen roses and all the other things I was given...but I was very appreciative. I really wish my family could have stayed that day, but it is what it is. I'm just thankful they were able to come as long as they did!

We played Amsterdam last night- the top placed team. We played our hearts out the entire game but fell in overtime by 3 points. The loss means that mathematically we can't make the playoffs. The loss is very frustrating because it's been the theme of the season. We've lost 13 games by 6 pts or less. Coach told us after the game, "I'm so proud of you guys, I think the world of you! You never quit on me and you have HUGE hearts!" That meant alot hearing that from him...I mean I've literally given everything I have to this team and to not get the results we want has been tough on me. I want to win for coach. I want to win for our management and sponsors. I think I'm going to fly to London to see the city and my friend Harper. Then it's back to Boise for the summer! I wanted to fly down to Spain, but my boy Tieds recently ruptured his achilles and is back in California recovering. We have 3 games remaining and are looking to finish strong. Two weeks ago I was taking my sisters picture in front of the Eiffel Tower, in 10 days I'll be in London looking at Big Ben, then it's the treasure valley where I can see my girl, family and friends!

Pictures speak louder than my words!

2009-04-03T01:17:00.002+02:00

Video- HOLLAND n' BOISE STATE

2009-03-30T19:34:00.001+02:00

FINALLY the fam has arrived!

2009-03-24T23:52:00.001+01:00

Have a positive attitude Bausch! Sorry I talk to myself more than the average person. It started when I played singles in tennis and now that I'm Mr. Independent over here...it happens more frequently. It's hard sometimes not being negative...but then you have to put things into perspective. Thanks to James A. Naismith, I get paid to put a round ball into a hoop. Plus, nobody likes to be around a negative person... someone who is always nagging, complaining and bitching. A coach once told a teammate of mine, "YOU KNOW WHERE YOU CAN FIND SYMPATHY? Between SHIT and SYPHILIS in the dictionary!" When someone asks you- what qualities do you look for in a woman? Do you reply with "a girl who is a major downer, I love a girl who complains...someone who sees the glass half empty- now that's ATTRACTIVE!" Everyone knows that friend who is always full on life, fun to be around- life of the party! For every fun person like that, there are 3 Debbie Downers.

Do you ever get a compliment and it makes your day? Imagine you are a small business owner and someone who has been to the very top gives you a compliment. We hosted Amsterdam Saturday in the Dutch Cup Semi-Finals. They have a great team, first place in Holland...they have beaten teams in Germany, Cyprus, Belgium, France, etc. in the Eurocup. Probably their best player is Orien Greene. Orien is who I've matched up against the four times we've played them (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9a4iHcoTRY ube.com/watch?v=q9a4iHcoTRY). I didn't play good in our most recent loss to them. He came over and talked to me following the hand shaking. The words of praise and encouragement that he gave me were inspirational. I never thought a few words from an opponent could bring even more confidence to my game.

Both of my parents and my younger sister, Megan, are here now visiting me! Stay tuned for a blog after my mom and sister depart on April 5th (same day as the All-Star game I've been selected to start in). I'm trying take advantage of the time they are here, instead of being on the computer all the time- like always. The first game they watched was this past Thursday and we played terrible! The last game of mine they had watched was about a year ago... the NCAA tournament against Louisville (this years #1 overall seed) in Alabama. My home arena this season has been very different. The game Thursday was probably our worst game this entire season. Keith couldn't play because of a concussion and we got smoked. The majority of the game we were playing with only 2 Americans. I didn't shoot great, but played 30 minutes and almost pulled off my first ever triple double- 14 pts, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. While they are here visiting me, the time is going to fly by like the summers when I was in grade school. Ahhhh.....the good ol' days!!!

Starting SG for the North All Star team

2009-03-23T13:01:00.001+01:00

http://www.debasketballsitevannederland.nl/csm/content/view/1826/848/

Thanks everyone who voted, I led the voting by over 455 votes. The game is April 5th in Amsterdam!

2009-03-15T23:41:00.003+01:00