Posts tagged ‘Fordham University’

Hi everybody!

Its been a while since my first entry and a lot has happened since then. We are now 6 games into the season and our record is 4-2. We lost a tough game last night when the center on the other team, Traiskirchen Lions hit a 3 point shot at the buzzer. We were up 2 points and missed a shot and they pushed the ball down the court and he was trailing all alone and hit the 3 pointer as time expired.

It was a tough road loss but we played good and will learn from it and come back stronger next time. Overall, we have been playing really good so we are just focused on improving everyday and keeping our eyes on the ultimate prize which is winning the championship.

Personally, I am focused on just getting better everyday also. I feel like this is an extra year of preparation for me after college to get to my ultimate goal which is to play at the highest level, the NBA. I think about that every day and keep it on my mind every time I go to the gym so I can push myself to become the best player I can be.

A very interesting situation happened to me off the court also. One day a few of my teammates and I were driving on the autobahn (the highway in the States) and all the lanes were cut off and you had to drive through a back way. There were at least 50 cops back there and they were checking every car that passed through. As we were driving through, they pulled us over and started speaking to us in German. No one in the car spoke German so we were trying our best to communicate with him.

Eventually we had to pull over to the side and he took all my information because I was driving and says that I will have to pay 300 Euros because I didn’t have an Austrian license or a Vignette. A Vignette is a sticker that you must have when you drive on the autobahn. No one informed me of this before this incident.

So we called some people and had to wait about an hour until they came to help us. I ended up having to pay 120 euros for not having the sticker but got out of the rest because the cop was lying about the required Austrian license. The rule is you can be here for about 3 months before you are supposed to get an Austrian license. I knew he was lying because what if a tourist was here? He was basically saying that they wouldn’t be able to drive a car for transportation.

When I told my other teammates the story, they were all laughing and saying this is the first time they have ever heard of someone getting stopped for that. Some of them don’t have it on their cars because they said that the police never check. This whole year is a big learning experience for me so this is just another situation where I am going to learn from.

Other than that everything has been good. They recently opened a hooters and a movie theater here so me and my American teammates had our thanksgiving dinner at Hooters!!!! The theater only shows movies in English on Tuesday’s but we have yet to go catch a movie. I got to talk to my family on Thanksgiving which was great but also put back in my mind how much I miss everyone and wish I was there to laugh and joke with everyone. I hope everyone had a great holiday and I will get back to you soon!

-Marcus Stout

www.pistonscast.com

Hello everyone. My name is Marcus Stout and I am a graduate of Detroit Renaissance High School and Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. I will be blogging about my experiences as a professional basketball player in Europe.

I played summer league with the Detroit Pistons and I am currently playing in Oberwart, Austria for the Oberwart Gunners.  This is my first year out of school and my first time ever being out of the country.  I have been here for about a month now and so far it has been a good experience.

Before I left I had to get everything together and I was running around to different stores and getting things that people told me I would need. I bought things such as a slingbox which allows me to watch the television at home on my computer while I am hers so I can keep up with everything thats going on. I bought a new computer, bulks of toiletries, and some of my favorite foods.  My father accompanied me to Best Buy to get a new computer and while I’m trying to decide which computer I wants he says, I think you should get the most expensive one!!!  I started laughing and thats when it really hit me that I am entering another phase of life because this time I wasn’t spending his money but I was spending my own for the first time.  The day before I left I stayed up all night packing because I wanted to sleep on the flight.

The overall trip took about 18 hours.  I flew to Chicago O’hare airport and had a six hour layover.  Then flew to Warsaw, Poland and finally landed in Vienna, Austria. The flight wasnt that bad because I am used to flying and I was asleep the whole time. Really the only negative was the food because I did not know what it was so I just ate the bread and left the rest of the meal alone.

One of the main reasons I choose to play in Austria this year is because one of my childhood friends, Jae Youngblood also plays here. He told me that it was a good opportunity and I knew that it would help me adjust alot better with him being here for 2 years already.  All the worries that I had before I came over here have not been an issue thus far.  I live in a house with Jae and have my own  car. I took me about a week to learn how to drive stick but I got it down now for the most part.  The food that I have eaten since I been here has been good. The restaurants that I have gone too have served mostly American food. There is a McDonald’s right down the street which didn’t suprise me because there is a McDonald’s on every corner in the States.

So far everything has been a good experience. I don’t want to write too much for the first entry because I have alot to talk about but I will get back to you soon with alot of stories to tell.

P.S- Wanted to give a shoutout to my mom, dad, sister and my girlfriend. I miss you all. I also added some pics of my house and car.

-Marcus Stout

www.pistonscast.com