VARSITY ATHLETICS

August 17, 2007

NEW CITY [SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS] AND THE LAST GAME

By Steve Young – Junior Guard – St. Louis, MO
Friday, August 17, 2007

This morning we woke up in our luxury sweet hotel rooms which consist of two kid sized beds and a bathroom barely big enough to fit two people in them. Americans are used having a lot of space at there disposal, where here, they conserve the space they are given and only use what is necessarily needed. Barely anyone here speaks English, which causes a lot of problems, but the most surprising thing is that nobody speaks Spanish either. Coming into this trip I thought I’d be able to communicate with about half the people by talking to them in Spanish. Many of the words between the two languages are similar, but when ever I mutter a phrase in Spanish they blankly stare at me as if I was speaking in English.

Brazil is a country that prides itself on the quality (and also quantity) of its food. I’ve enjoyed every meal that I have eaten even when I have no idea what I’m about to eat.

You can pretty much eye the food and tell whether it would be to your liking or not. Breakfast is unique in the sense that there is a ton of bread and meat, but no doughnuts, cereal, or drinks with ice in them. Even products that I thought I would enjoy tasted different to me. Coca-Cola has a lot less sugar, Gatorade has unusual flavors (no fruit punch or orange), even my favorite drink – orange juice tastes a lot less sweet. The guys on the team are trying to figure out how nobody in this entire country is overweight despite the fact that they eat plates full of fried meats, cheeses and bread. They also eat fast foods like McDonalds and Subway, but still, the people here seem to have a secrete to their health.

Listening to the media from the United States, I got the impression that the world hates Americans. I still believe this is true, but now I have a better understanding of why. On the bus rides through the country we have seen the houses that people live in and the poverty that exists in this country. They have so little to live off of, but somehow manage to appreciate everything they are given. They still have the mega shopping malls and clubs and beautiful luxury resorts, but the financial distribution is so uneven that the majority or the people have nothing. This “hate” that we hear about is more of an admiration for American culture and they resent the fact that we have most of what they want. Wherever we go, we get smiles from children, winks from women and the attention of the elderly – it is almost like we are a celebrity status. We obviously stand out from the rest of the crowd so it is easy to get their attention. They see Americans all the time in movies and music videos, but most Brazilians have never met an American before, so when they do, it makes those fantasy movies seem like a reality.

For lunch we went to a Western style restaurant, fully equipped with a petting zoo. We had a chance to pet a variety of animals like: pigs, goats, cows, horses, peacocks, ostriches, and rabies infected geese. They didn’t really have rabies, but they never stop honking and one of them chased me away with a devilish look in its eye like it was seriously considering eating me. So I left them alone. We had the traditional Brazilian style all you can eat meal, but our first taste of Brazilian Gatorade. My flavor was guaranja which is a fruity diluted pixie stick taste that taste nothing like Gatorade. Rob indulged himself with tangerine while John had a grapefruit flavored one. The highlight of the meal was when the entire table convinced David Klink to eat a blood sausage; a sausage that looked like burnt regurgitated sausage. Although he had no idea what he was eating, he had the audacity to show us up and eat an entire blood sausage in a couple bites. I think the look on his face while he was chewing it was the most satisfying to me. He was not happy after it was over. We had a good time teasing him after that.

Immediately following dinner Anthony Durr and Antwain Coward [pictured] went for a short horse around the parking lot, but because of my fear of horses I opted not to. We also got the opportunity to see three Brazilian police officers that resembled British police with the gray uniforms and the loaded magniums strapped to their sides, they don’t waste their time with pepper spray.

After a short nap at the hotel, we proceeded to the gym to play our third and final game. As we walked into the gym, many of my teammates commented on how it resembled Washington University – an underground rustic looking atmosphere with antique style baskets, different from the portable ones in our gym.

Chris, Brandon, Anthony, Antwain, and Rob started the game only to discover the increased tempo that the opposing team brought. Although we got off to a slow start, I thought they did a good job weathering the storm and they were unlucky with some easy misses from the start. The second wave came with a little more intensity and also our patented zone defense which confused the bombarding attacks of the speedy Brazillians. The key to coming back in this game was to pound the boards to ensure they did not get any easy buckets.

The start of the second half was almost identical to that of the first half. Consecutive turnovers in the offense and constant conversions by the Brazilians extended their lead to over 15 points. The great part about our team is that our attacks come in waves. With great shooting from the outside by Chris Deighan and effective defensive consistensity by the team, we narrowed the deficit to give us an easy opportunity to come back.

The fourth quarter started off in our favor because we carried the momentum from the third quarter. The difference between this game and the last games was that it was a lot more physical, a style that favored the more muscular Spartans. There were several lead changes but the game came down to free throws and they converted their charity points.

SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS 81, CASE 76

CASE POINTS: Antwain Coward 5; Steve Young 13; David Klink DNP; Steve Martin 8; Chris Deighan 12; Jonathan Radke 4; Brandon Bradford 2; Rob Skuski 6; Kevin Vick DNP; Anthony Durr 4; Brad Sutton 8; Mason Conrad 14.

After all is said and done, I took away a lot from these couple games. First, I really thought that these teams would be extremely accurate with their shooting. This was not the case; their focus was more on the flashy dunks and ostentatious alley-oops. Our guide, Pat, explained that this was because American culture was having a large impact on their style of basketball. Every Brazilian basketball player now envies the “And 1 World Tournament Tour”, a television program where several American players tour the country and show off their dribbling and dunking skills. This program is a shift from the fundamental style foreign basketball have prided themselves on. Second, their culture is more similar to ours than I thought. They had all our sports apparel and idolized our players; Nike and Michael Jordan are universally understood words. I think we could learn some things from their culture and try to adapt to the positive aspects off their lifestyle. Finally, after analyzing my lifestyle, I think that many times Americans can be pretty ignorant. A lot of times we were upset because nobody spoke English or Spanish in Brazil, but we had a year to try to learn their language and did not.

We have it great in America, whether we choose to admit it or not. A lot of people are upset at President Bush, terrified by the health care system, and intimidated by the stock market; but until we step outside the golden box we are living in and see the true struggle that others are having just to make a living, you will gain a respect for what we really have, rather than what we don’t have.

BIG HIT ... A picture of the Case Western Reserve men's basketball team is on the front page of the Cavs website until Monday. Check it out here.

Posted by: Creg Jantz August 17, 2007 02:56 PM | Category: Brazil

Posted by: cnj4 (Creg Jantz) August 17, 2007 02:56 PM | Comments (4) | Trackback