Sunday, April 13, 2014

The 6th Man

Welcome back to Overseas With A Carry On for all of my returning readers and 'Welcome' to my first timers. A lot has happened in the sports world since our last visit; namely the NCAA 2014 men's basketball champion was crowned.  The Final Four included Wisconsin, Florida, Kentucky and the University of Connecticut. UCONN defeated Florida and Kentucky was victorious over Wisconsin; both were great games. In the finale, the 'veteran' UCONN squad proved to be superior  and knocked off the young and talented Kentucky Wildcats.  I actually didn't get to watch the championship game because, well, I simply fell asleep trying to stay up into the wee hours of the morning for the game to be streamed online. Another quirky fact about the game: when I woke up the next morning, to find out who won the game I did not go to ESPN.com, Facebook, or Twitter; I simply checked my Instagram timeline. How about that - sports update via your photo sharing app.  The 'perks' of life in 2014.

Getting into the main theme of todays' entry, I'd like to discuss a huge part of basketball that we sometimes overlook. It's not a secret that teams are more victorious playing at home than they are while playing on the road. I'm sure there are a plethora of reasons for that: gym/rim familiarity, sweet spots on the court, maybe a spouse/significant other in attendance, etc.  Whatever the personal reason, I truly believe the collective reason is what many refer to as "The 6th Man."

No, not the J.R. Smith or Jamal Crawford award but the psychological idea that the next important player is none other than the fans.  The crowd. The spectators.  The ones who mindlessly shout chants of "D-Fence", roar at the sight of a string of good plays and shout "Boooooooo" to the opposing teams' best players. The group of people who make the arena so loud that opposing coaches cannot communicate tactics to players during timeouts and huddles.  These are the die hard fans that that give you the energy to feed off of when the game is deadlocked and you need a big defensive stop to seal the game. They undeniably play a large role in the psyche of players and coaches.

In college basketball, due to their success on the hardwood, many would argue that Duke Basketball has the most influential student section and crowd.

 Grant Halverson/Getty Images

These group of "crazies" are known as the Cameron Crazies.  The name is taken from the name of the gym where Duke plays their home games, Cameron Indoor Stadium.  These fanatics are active the entire game, dressed or painted in blue and make it a nightmare for opposing players inbounding the ball as they pack tightly into the tiny arena.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
I have never played at Cameron Indoor Stadium so I cannot comment on the effect of the Crazies personally; I can only go by what I've seen while watching countless games over the years and peers of mine who have played there.

One gym that I can personally comment on and in my opinion, is the craziest collegiate atmosphere to play in is The Spectrum of the Utah State Aggies in Logan, Utah.  These fans are such a well organized group of spectators.  From their chants, to their taunts to the fake media press release they have waiting for each person in attendance, these guys are clever as ever. They have been known to befriend you on Facebook only to steal an embarrassing picture of you, blow it up as a life size poster and have it plastered all throughout the stadium on gameday! Please watch the following videos because, well, pictures just don't do The Spectrum justice...




Well . . . As you can clearly see, this is not one student section to play around with. Under head coach Stew Morrill, the Aggies are 194-13 at home. Until a surprising early season loss in 2009, Utah State boasted the second longest home win streak in the nation behind Kansas.  During my tenure at Louisiana Tech, we came close but were never able to scratch out a win there. The Spectrum is a tough environment to play in, especially when you have this guy distracting you while shooting free throws.
Boyd Ivey


As far as crazy home court advantages overseas? One word, Partizan!

I hope you enjoyed that snippet. Though I have yet to play at Partizan, I do have a teammate who has. He sent me this photograph that left me in awe. Most stadiums prohibit the normal threats fans may carry such as bottles, beer bottle caps and things of that nature. At Partizan in Belgrade, these are what the signs outside the stadium advise you not to bring:

                                                       

I guess bringing guns and knives is not so unthinkable out there. Needless to say if I ever play in Belgrade, let's say a prayer now that I make it out alive! I think it's clear to see why it can be so difficult to win on the road and why big road wins count for so much more than just a win in the standings. A group of individuals went into enemy territory and overtook them on their own turf. Takes a lot of focus, discipline and resiliency throughout an entire game to pull off those kind of wins against top level teams. 

With that said, appreciate the fans and never never sleep on The 6th Man!

Olu
#OWACO





Sunday, March 23, 2014

It's Only Entertainment

*Royal Wave*

Thank you for visiting my blog Overseas With A Carry On! I am happy to deliver another detailed look into the life of an athlete living in kilometers - or miles 'por mi americanos' - away from home.  Before we dive into things I would like to congratulate every team, player, and university that has continued on to play in the post season.  Not only March Madness but on every level, not limited to the NIT, CBI, NCAA Division II, III, and all the others.  A special shout-out to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs who advanced past UGA in the 2nd round of the NIT tournament and big pat on the back to the Oregon Ducks who unfortunately fell to Wisconsin last night. 'Twas a great run!

In 2014, our generation is fascinated with technology, speed and selfies. We've become so impatient as a society that we even have a notification through iMessage (solely for iPhone users of course) that tells you that your recipient in is the middle of typing a response. Postal mail? Fax machines? Yeah right! You're better off scanning and E-mailing that document.  We've become fiends for instantaneous communication on all levels.  Let's take a look at what a typical player had to go through playing overseas before the WIFI era.

The pioneers who came to chase their dreams across the waters didn't have the luxuries of video chats and mobile devices like we do today.  They most likely had to deal with home telephones, calling cards and airmail. When's the last time you used a home phone? Better yet, how often do you see your home phone ring and you neglect to pick it up because, "That's not for me. If it was urgent, they would just call my cell phone."  I can remember my mother using calling cards to make long distance calls over the speakerphone when I was younger.  She would have to dial the access number, followed by the PIN code then an automated voice would tell her how much credit remained on the card.  Then she'd have to enter the phone number of the person she was calling and again the automated voice would tell her approximately how many minutes she had to make the call. All that for ONE phone call! Like Jay-Z said, "Aint nobody got time for that."

Writing letters has become a thing of the past. Ancient. Prehistoric even!  For my generation Y folks, the only time we wrote letters was back in grade school! Those paper notes passed through class were the first footsteps of todays' Facebook inbox messages or Twitter DMs. The majority of the ones I passed out were to girls in my class that read: Do you like me? Check: Yes. No. Maybe.  Needless to say, I had a 86.9% clearance rate of boxes checked "Yes".


On the side of entertainment, in the foreign countries I have visited, there were always a few channels in english. Usually something along the lines of international news coverage or the Disney Channel or something to that extent. Technology today allows some of the more mainstream channels to add sub titles to certain programs or even switch the voice-overs to english.  This is not available with every channel but progress is being made.  But to be honest with you, I never turn on my television, whether at home or in a hotel.  Thanks to wifi capabilities, all you need is your handy dandy laptop, tablet or even just your smartphone.  We can download the latest episode of Scandal or play levels upon levels of Candy Crush during road trips; our forefathers were stuck reading paperback books, listening to Walkmans or better yet, Discmans on their treks.

Last but not least, the pioneers didn't have live streaming March Madness games to watch. We're lucky to be able to view these games as if we were back home. I just watched fellow AAU teammate of mine, Dwight Powell at Stanford advance to the Sweet 16 and I'm currently watching another AAU teammate Kadeem Coleby at Wichita St. attempt to knock off Kentucky.  There have been a lot of upsets but that's no surprise if you're an avid college hoops fan. For all of those who filled out a bracket, better luck next year!  I'm terrible at brackets so I avoid the disappointment and just enjoy each game and usually cheer for teams based on their jersey/shoe colour combinations. . . Seriously.

Who will come out atop the 2014 NCAA Division I champion? Who knows, it'll be a team who's resilient, mentally tough and gets a little lucky in the end. Whenever it happens, with the right smartphone app, you'll get a bunch of notifications giving you every detailed stat of the game. Welcome to the fast life. Is it the life we chose, or rather the life that chose us?

Olu
#OWACO

Monday, March 10, 2014

Health is Wealth

Welcome back to Overseas With A Carry On!

I hope everyone has had a blessed week.  Things have been a bit up and down as far as hoops goes this side of the pond. Our starting shooting guard was sidelined for the rest of the season with what is believed to be a separated shoulder; he will be undergoing surgery later this week.  Our reserve stretch power forward has been out just over 2 weeks with a calf injury.  Luckily, we were able to pick up a replacement  veteran wing to help us for the remainder of the season.  He has provided a spark for us, not only on the court but with his leadership and experience as well.

On the brighter side of things,we are currently tied for 5th in the 18 team division.  We are pretty much a lock for the playoffs but that is not where our mindset is.  The higher seeded teams receive home court advantage throughout the playoffs so as a group, we have to keep fighting to rise in the standings and not only be happy with a post season birth.  The number 1 overall seed gets an automatic birth to move up out of the division which means they get a by for the entire playoff series.  In other words, they head home early and that leaves the playoff picture to be decided between the 2-9 seeds.

As the NCAA basketball regular season comes to an end, it is exciting to watch the conference tournaments begin and seniors play their last home games in front of family, friends and faculty. I can remember my senior night game at the University of Oregon. We took on the Utah Utes who were not one of the strongest teams in the Pac-12 that year.  We got off to a scorching 34-4 lead in the first half - it was unreal!  Fast forward to the second half, head coach Dana Altman called my play and well, I remember like it was yesterday, this happened...

Perhaps one of my best personal memories as an Oregon Duck.  Speaking of those Ducks, they defeated #3 ranked Arizona last night on their senior night. Not to be outdone, my alma mater, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs won the Conference-USA title last week! Their ticket to the 'Big Dance' has been punched. I'm quite proud of what they have built down there in Ruston, LA.

On the subject of post season, we stand at 19-14 with 11 regular season games.  The 44 game schedule is an increase from last years' 35 game schedule in the league.  Personally, it's a huge increase from the 26 game schedule from my days in Spain. Our final match will be on the road on May 2nd.  There will be approximately a week before the best-of-3 playoffs series' begin.  Our preseason training began way back on August 1st and for a successful team, you can find yourself playing well into the months of May or June depending on which country/league you play in.  That's a 10 long months of training, travel, practice and games; taking care of your body means so much more now than it ever did before!

My 5 Personal Injury Precautionary Actions

1. STRETCH - We all probably stretch before practice which is obviously important but many of us skip stretching AFTER activity.  Muscles have just been exercised and as important as it is for you to "warm up", it is just equally important for you to stretch and "cool down." Stay limber!

2. LIFT - Lifting weights keeps your body toned, under some sort of strain and continually has your muscles repairing themselves.  Without lifting, your muscles become softened or weakened. Your ability to take hits or minor injuries become reduced due the inactivity of your muscles working.

3. DRINK WATER - This goes without saying, flushing your body of toxins, waste and staying hydrated all have their benefits.  Drinking water will not directly avoid injuries, it will only improve your body in functioning properly which in turn may reduce the chances of you getting hurt.

4. REST - We all know the body repairs itself during sleep.  Enough said!

5. PREHAB - Rather than rehab after you've sustained an injury, develop strength and mobility in key areas in your body that are weak.  You know your body better than anyone else. Determine what little tweaks your body needs and start building durability today.

As we near the end of the regular season, remaining focused mentally will prove to be more useful than any physical attribute.  This is where good teams separate themselves from the mediocre group.  To all my fellow athletes going through the grind of the season, push through and stay healthy!

Until next time my fellow readers, thank you for reading! Please subscribe, share, tweet, etc.  The goal is reach as many readers nationally and globally.  Thank you for all of your support thus far.

Olu
#OWACO

Monday, February 24, 2014

Oh Canada/Shut up and Drive

Happy Sunday everyone!

I would like to start this weeks' post with a little song I like to call my national anthem.

*Ahem*

"Oh Canada, our home and native land. True patriot love, with all thy sons command..."

You know the rest - or at least you should! Today makes the second time you should have heard it as the men's olympic hockey team took gold over the Swiss in a 3-0 victory. Our women's hockey team also took gold against, our southern neighbours, the United States in a 3-2 victory just days before. Being Canadian, everyone else in the world believes that I play or played hockey and that I should somehow, be immune and enjoy cold weather.  Those are misconceived notions that I will live the rest of my life having to disprove. A little tidbit about todays' early morning gold medal game: the city of Toronto council voted and approved bars to start serving alcohol at 7am in the order for spectators to enjoy the monumental hockey game. Molson Canadian and Labatt Blue beers for breakfast? Don't you wish you were from Toronto?

Downtown Toronto, ON after the Gold medal game

Okay, enough gloating and boasting. Let's look at a few differences in regards to driving overseas and driving back home.  For starters, as mentioned in previous posts, driving a manual car in as opposed to driving an automatic will be an adjustment for many.  Prior to my first contract in Spain, my agent advised me in the months leading up to my departure to practice and at least get comfortable with the basics.  Needless to say, I was TURRIBLE. [Insert Charles Barkley voice.] Getting from stationary to first gear was the most difficult change of gears because it required the most precision, a delicate touch and a keen sense of balance between clutch and gas.  If you do not complete a smooth exchange of releasing the clutch and applying gas, you'll do what I did repeatedly: stall out!  Even worse than stalling out from being parked is stalling out on a inclined road...with angry drivers behind you...hooking their horns and perhaps screaming curse words in their native tongue at you. 

*Deep Sigh*

It happens to the best of us.  Last year in the small town of Càceres, Spain, I would go out in the late night to hone my skills. There weren't many vehicles on the road at that time so it was then where I was able to build my confidence and apply it to day time driving without any pressure. A few times of getting comfortable with the clutch, getting from 1st to 2nd gear on a hill and parallel parking - I think it's safe to say I'm somewhat of a pro these days.

Next on my rant is topic of size! If you think back to any old European film clips you may have caught growing up, I'm quite sure you remember seeing vary narrow lanes and/or vehicles that resembled more of a go-kart rather than a Ford Focus.

Evreux, France
Many roads like this would be an assumed 1-way street in most North American cities, but here this is a 2 lane road with bilateral traffic.  The sole reason why streets like these can allow for the 2-way traffic is thanks largely in part to the vast number of compact and economy sized vehicles.  Below I have gathered a collage of a few smart-car-esque sized cars throughout the city.


With the average price of gas in France being €1.52 per liter, you can see why such smaller vehicles are more common than typical large sedans or SUVs found stateside.  I see a lot of people walking throughout the town (especially the elderly) and many others using other means of transportation such as scooters and motorcycles.

Last but not least, let's discuss location and placement.  At many street lights in my town of  Evreux, street lights are not suspended high above but are placed at eye level on electricity poles. I understand the logic but when you're the first car at the intersection and you're looking up for a green light and the lane beside you begins moving, well you guessed it. You'll hear the sounds of horns behind you and you'll catch a few hostile gestures if you peek in the rear view mirror. You will receive this kind of treatment when 1) driving slow in a unfamiliar city such as Paris and 2) doing so while trying to locate street names.  For the most part, many street signs are not as they are back home and you will not find them attached to a pole. What you will find are signs with street names plastered onto buildings that happen to be on that particular street. Once again, I can kind of understand the logic but I would simply prefer things to be like they are back home in North America. But that's wishful thinking and that's what makes the experience of working overseas such a memorable one. Stepping out of your comfort zone, adapting to a new lifestyle, engaging in a new culture is all apart of the it - you just didn't see it written in the contract. U.N.E.N.O.


Until the next my fellow readers, 

Thank you for the support thus far.  Feedback is always welcome. Please leave any comments or questions below or feel free to contact me at oluash@gmail.com

Olu
#OWACO

P.S. I was dead on with my 2014 All Star Game prediction! The Eastern Conference took that in clean fashion but I did not foresee Kyrie Irving winning the MVP.



Monday, February 10, 2014

Fashionistas

Welcome back to Overseas With A Carry On!

In our short time together, I've been known to post a write-up every other Sunday but last Sunday was a little different. There happened to be this once-a-year phenomenon known as the Superbowl that took place. Everything plays second fiddle to this media frenzy and I, understanding the magnitude of this, decided to delay the update for a week.  With the previous Richard Sherman hoopla, the legendary Peyton Manning being apart of his third Superbowl and the NFL's best offense against the best defense left for much to write and read about. With that said, I watched the first half of the game and I remembered a few things: 1) I stayed up late to watch it and I do not recall any of the commercials.  2) The Broncos were shutout the entire first half and Bruno Mars is no Beyonce when it comes to halftime performances. Not so "Super" after all.

Back to business, when it comes to fashion, I'm no Maison Martin Margiela, Comme des Garçons or Alexander Mcqueen wearing type of fellow. At my size and with the length of my arms, often times I'm not left to choose my clothing.  It's more of, "This is what we have left in our big & tall section - good luck." As a collegiate athlete, typically the only events that required anything beyond sweats were end of the year team banquets. A few years back the NBA made a bold change that required a certain dress code when traveling to and from games. Some did not like the change; others praised it. Over here in Europe, some teams may or may not have a certain "game day dress code;" so you are at liberty to dress as you wish. With my particular club, we have a VIP session after each home game which is designed as more of a meet & greet for fans and sponsors of the team. We are required to wear something along the lines of jeans and a sweater/dress shirt/polo shirt.  Avery loose dress code if any. But, with us being here in France and perhaps our proximity to a fashion capital such as Paris, a few of my teammates seem to consistently outdo themselves.




Here we have 2 of top 3 best dressed guys on the team.  The top picture features shooting guard Kingsley with a nice ensemble of the dress shirt and a tie underneath the 'Bill-Cosby-esque' cardigan sweater.  On the court, he is a fearless player on both ends of the floor; he always provides a spark for us off the bench!

Next we have our reserve point guard Bryan who never fails to step outside of the box with his clothing here. Here we have a similar pairing of shirt and tie with Bryan goes with the ever so dapper bow tie.  It works well with his stocky frame.  He also chooses to keep the jet black cardigan unbuttoned and leaves the shirt untucked (quite the rebel). Finally, the handbag sets it all off. It gives him the look of having something important to do - don't be fooled. He was en route to the same place all the other underdressed gents (like myself) were headed to after the game! On the court he is perhaps the best defender I have played with.  He is an opposing point guards' nightmare the way he defends and picks up full court. Oh, hehe, if you're wondering what yours truly wears to post game affairs, you'll have to wait until I appear on the red carpet or at the ESPY's.

In other news, let's speak about the NBA All Star Weekend. We all know I like to dunk but I personally am not the best when it comes to slam dunk contests. I have a few tricks up my sleeve but the joy I get from dunking is not to show off my dunks; it's simply to hammer it down over top of a defender or defenders who have the intestinal fortitude to think they can oppose me. See below for a visual...


The Slam Dunk contest for sure has been under scrutiny over the past few years, that's no secret. In my opinion, it's because the superstars these days are reluctant to participate.  The most physically gifted player walking this earth named Lebron James is the one player that EVERYONE wants to see participate, but those cries have gone to no avail. This year features teams of dunkers based on conferences.  There will be no outright slam dunk champion, but a winning team and then a separate 'dunker of the night'.  The list of atrocities continue. You can view the complete list here. Finally, the All Star T-shirts, sorry, jerseys are simply an ugly idea. The majority of the players have admitted their disapproval of them. I hope they get phased out similar to the way introducing a new game ball did a few years ago.

I predict the East will win the All Star Game. Just my humble opinion. Don't go bet on it and lose 10 million like Floyd Mayweather!

Until next time my fellow readers! 

P.S. If there are questions or topics you would like me to touch upon, please leave a comment or send me an email at: oluash@gmail.com.  Feedback is always welcomed. Thank you.

Olu
#OWACO



Sunday, January 19, 2014

The OWACO Show

"Welcome to 'Overseas With A Carry On', where we are always pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm your host Olu Ashaolu. On today's show we're going to discuss the life of an international basketball player."

That would have been a great intro if I was a TV show host; perhaps something to add to my bucket list. Recently, a friend (and now a counterpart since I'm officially a "blogger") of mine better known as Can Ball Ray published a write up that I submitted about the hardship of missing out on family time during the holidays. A well written piece if I do say so myself *smirks*, but I'd like to quickly reiterate that here. Getting enough days off to make a trip back home is nothing more than wishful thinking in this profession, but for those who are blessed to make it back for the holidays, the less fortunate have a message for you: we wish you a Merry Christmas and a lost bag or two.  It's like the younger sibling who gets upset because the oldest gets the last piece of pizza, revenge is imminent!

Speaking of food, I have a passion for it. When hungry, I eat.  When upset, I eat. When food is around, I eat. I call it the Seafood diet.......................For those whose head the joke went over - See. Food. Diet. But to no despair, I do my best Gordon Ramsay impression in the kitchen - minus the Kanye-like rants.  Okay, maybe Robert Irvine is a better icon to emulate. Cooking for one leaves me often times with leftovers or searching a for quick and easy recipe. I follow numerous food-related accounts on Instagram and I stumbled upon a very quick and easy dish that I'd love to share with you all.




This dish was as simple as taking a single serving of either boiled white or brown rice (I prefer brown #healthychoice), frozen or fresh salmon (I used a frozen filet) and a few eggs (whole or whites is totally up to you).  I cooked the the salmon on a skillet until it was about medium to medium-well  while shredding it with my spatula. Once the salmon was cooked, I cracked a few eggs over top of the fish, added some salt & seasonings and cooked the eggs to a scramble. Then simply laid the egg scramble over top of the rice. You may enjoy your eggs a little runnier than I so adjust the cooking time of the eggs to fit your desires. Also, if you do not have salmon, canned tuna can be used as a substitute. Voilà!

In basketball news, did anyone else appreciate the slaughter of the Golden State Warriors that Kevin Durant displayed last week? He recorded a new career high of 54 points with 3, after, 3 after 3. What impresses me the most are the guard like skills he possess with his 6'10"-ish frame.  His right-to-left crossover, his pick-and-roll poise, his mid range pull up and his overall efficiency (54 points on only 28 shots) is staggering.  He is definitely a force to be reckoned with for a long time in the Association. And last but not least, I'd like to give a big shout out to my city of Toronto. Drake has lifted the spirits of Raptors with his recent Drake Night event against the Nets 8 days ago. I don't gamble but I can bet somewhere in Toronto, someone is attributing the Raptors winning 9 of their last 14 to the former Degrassi star.





Photo: E.K. Stoneall/ Lucas Oleniuk




Until next time,
#OWACO

Olu


Sunday, January 5, 2014

Introduction To O.W.A.C.O.

Welcome to O.W.A.C.O. 

Thank you for taking your time to visit my blog.  My name is Olu Ashaolu, I am from the great city of Toronto, ON, Canada but thanks to basketball, I have spent the majority of the last 10 years traveling to various other places in the world.  The idea for this blog originated over two years ago throughout my final year at the University of Oregon.  I began to fall victim to the oh-so-modern times and became more and more involved with online social networks.  I gained a bit of 'popularity' thanks to great collegiate student sections and their adoration for dunks. (Poor me).  Twitter is one of my favourite tools due to its simplicity and speed but with a 140 character limit and no longer in school, I was in need of a more spacious and slightly more formal way to express myself.  Blogging seemed like the perfect hybrid between a tweet and college term paper.  And with that, voilà , here I am today proud to present O.W.A.C.O.  From my high school adventures in Hotlanta, Georgia to post-graduate college classes out in rainy Eugene, Oregon to playing professional basketball in Europe, it has been an exciting roller coaster of events.  I plan to bring you not only the basketball experiences, but the social life happenings that my peers and I go through on a regular day-to-day basis.


I titled this blog "Overseas With A Carry On" because, that is exactly what life is for me 9-10 months of the year.  I can remember the very first night I slept in my apartment last year in Spain.  It was my first professional contract and I was playing in a small southern town called Cáceres.  I remember taking a look at the 'Maps' app on my iPhone and pinpointing my location and being in disbelief that I was actually on the other side of the globe.  As far as the 'carry on' part is concerned, you can always find my peers and I with our backpacks/book-bags.  Whether heading to practice, heading to a game, running errands or boarding a flight, it is just something we basketball players always seem to have with us. It's essential and has become apart of the culture - like Nike elite socks.  :-)

As mentioned above, these entries will not be solely basketball-centric, but also personal experiences, thoughts and everyday chit chatter on topics that may be of relevance. Anyone who knows me can tell that I am a huge Seinfeld fan; if you're familiar with the famous American television series from the 90s, you'll understand why perhaps I should subtitle this as, "O.W.A.C.O. - The Blog About Nothing."  All that's missing is a coffee shop, an ex-girlfriend-turned-best-friend like Elaine and an eccentric neighbour a la Cosmo Kramer.  Don't worry, finding a friend like George Costanza will be the least of my worries!

Until next time, 

Olu