In order to give everyone the players' perspective of the trip, Coach Scott asked senior guard Kyle Lewis to write a journal. This is the final entry, although a recap of the entire trip is expected soon.
Assisted by Justin Coughlin
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - Day Eight - When Sleeping Doesn't Pay off
Cont.- As we continued on our trek to San Sebastian, we took a different route and cut through France due to the heavy traffic we ran into on the way. In one of the cities in France, we stopped for 45 minutes to stretch our legs and grab a bite to eat. Most of the guys ate a delicious plate of Lasagna to hold us over until we got to San Sebastian for dinnertime. Upon arrival at our destination in San Sebastian, we stopped by the hotel to drop our bags off and then we hopped back on the bus to head to a restaurant that served tapas; however, you could serve yourself and eat as much as you wanted. I thought of it as a Spanish version of a buffet with a ton of seafood. Afterwards, we walked around the downtown area of San Sebastian and stumbled across gold. Well, not actual gold but it was the next best thing, it the best Gelato ice cream place any of us had ever tasted before called the Gelateria. Which over the course of the next three days became the Pioneers' favorite hangout spot. The ice cream was absolutely unbelievable. After mingling around town for a while, we got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel for the night to rest up for our game the next day.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 - Day Nine - Game Face at the Beach
The next morning the team woke up excited for the full day we had ahead of ourselves. After a nice breakfast we got on the bus and headed into town to enjoy the sun at the beach and the beautiful city of San Sebastian. The beach in San Sebastian had the clearest water any of the Pioneers had witnessed before. We all quickly threw our shirts off and sprinted into the 65 degree water. The majority of the guys, excluding the Lewis and Hallam Brothers, took a swim out to the dock that had a slide and a diving board. It was a little too far for my preference. I don't have that kind of stamina to swim there, exploit all my energy to enjoy the commodities and make the swim back. After an hour, we decided to get out of the sun for a few hours and walk around town. Of course, we all went back to the Gelato place to enjoy the incredibly delectable Italian ice cream. After socializing amongst one another, we went back to the hotel to rest up for the nights game against Lagun Aro GBC. After a short nap, it was time for the Coach Scott special, Chicken and Pasta. Then we departed for the game at the bullfighting arena where, "there were over 11,000 seats but only 11 fans," according to Blake Foeman. Nonetheless, our "11 fans" were the loudest fans during all of our games; we appreciated them cheering us on the entire 40 minutes. It was an elite group of fans. Dan Van Ackerman and his wife, Beth; TaRhonda (Coach McKee's wife) and the Scott family (especially Jack and Ben, Coach Scott's sons) never failed to let the officials know when they failed to make the correct call. Although the Pioneers did not walk away from tonight's game with a win, we did walk away with a better understanding of the level of physicality it takes to beat a good European team.
Once we all showered up and got dress for dinner, we went back into town for dinner at an Italian restaurant. The food was delicious and the Pioneers enjoyed every last minute of it while socializing with each other and the coaches. Coach Scott decided that for the rest of the night the team would be hanging out on our own and could do whatever we chose in the beautiful city of San Sebastian. We took advantage of this time by walking all over the downtown area including the beach where some of the guys stopped to take pictures of the beautiful view. As the night went on we quickly grew tired and decided it was time to head back but not before we stopped for one more scoop of ice cream at the Gelateria.
Thursday, September 2, 2010 - Day Ten - A Free Day
After sleeping in and catching up on some much needed rest, we decided to spend our free day at the beach. Brian Stafford did some research and found a beach on the other end of the downtown area of San Sebastian that was more popular for the younger crowds because of the waves. It was a unanimous decision to spend the day at this beach, so we all boarded the bus and headed downtown. It was an overcast day and it could not have been more than 70 degrees outside, but that did not deter the majority of the guys to head full speed into the rough water. Brian quickly got the idea to rent a boogie board to ride the waves and to show off his Cali surfing skills that most of us did not possess. What a cool guy. Even though it was not extremely warm out, it was still a great day at the beach and we had yet another awesome time together. After we left the beach, we went to a small burger joint that Coach Scott had suggested to us the day before. We were all in need of some good American food and the Disco Burger did not disappoint. Once we had all enjoyed our massive burgers we headed a couple blocks down to the now famous Gelateria to get some of the ice cream we all loved. After a full day we were all ready to head back to the hotel and take a little nap before going out to dinner with the whole group. Having decided that the Disco Burger was an excellent choice for lunch, we went back there for a second serving. The only downfall to the restaurant was that they did not serve "Papas Fritas" (French Fries) to compliment their burgers. In order to fix this problem Pat Hoxsey, Mike Kennedy and Mitch Hyder went to McDonald's to order a side of fries to take back to the restaurant to go with their burgers. Most of the guys followed their lead, thinking that it was a brilliant idea. However, the owners of the restaurant found nothing "brilliant" about it, as he took offense to us bringing in food from McDonald's into his restaurant. To say the least, we ended up having dinner on the curb outside of the restaurant. After our unusual dining experience we proceeded to get some more gelato and board the bus in order to rest up for our fifth game the next day.
Friday, September 3, 2010 - Day Eleven- Fourth Quarter Lockdown
We had all enjoyed our three-day stay in the beautiful city of San Sebastian, but now it was time to move on. We left early in the morning en route to Madrid, where we would play our final two games and spend the remainder of our trip. The bus ride went by much quicker than expected because most of the guys slept the majority of the time. After an uneventful five-hour bus ride, we finally arrived in Madrid and checked into the hotel. We rested up a little bit before heading to our pre-game meal. Anyone want to guess what it was? That's right, you got it, the Coach Scott Special. We all enjoyed the meal then packed up and headed to the game against C.B. Illescas, which was another hour long bus ride from the hotel.
We arrived at the gym with plenty of time to warm up and get our blood flowing. A couple hours later we were victorious after a great fourth quarter, when we were able to tighten up our defense and hold the opposition to only six points. Spirits were high as we boarded the bus and headed back to Madrid for some food and a good night's sleep. Unlike any other night on the trip, it was decided that we would stay in that night and order pizzas rather than going out to a restaurant. The pizzas were great and we all went to bed content and ready for our second of back-to-back game that would take place the next day.
Saturday, September 4, 2010 - Day Twelve - Saving the Best for Last
On our last day in Spain, we had a free day to enjoy to ourselves before our 6 p.m. game. The team woke up relatively early in order to catch "el Tren" (The Train) into the city to do some last minute shopping and site seeing. While the majority of the group did not buy souvenirs for their family until the last minute, Alex Pickert and Blake Foeman were completely done with shopping and decided to go visit the Cathedral. After a day full of shopping and enjoying the scenic city of Madrid, we all met up at an Italian restaurant near the hotel for our last dish of the Coach Scott Special until November. Then we departed from the Hotel Charmartín to play our last game of the trip against Caja de Avila. The emphasis on this game was being able to prove that we have the ability to be tough enough to win on back-to-back nights. It was a fight until the final minutes of the game. The Pioneers pulled away with a four-point victory. It was nice to end the trip on a positive note, as many die-heart Pioneer fans know, we have not had too many plane rides home full of joy and laughter. Even our new spot up shooter, Chris Udofia, can enjoy this one since he shot a remarkable 100 percent (1-for-1) from three-point range on the trip. Better watch out B-Staff, we might have a new shooter on the team. Nonetheless, I was proud of the way the team handled this 13 day/six game journey and showed the maturity to play hard and learn from our mistakes as each game passed. We are a better team because of it.
After the game, we went to Garbo, the famous Italian restaurant where Andrew Hooper and Alex Pickert previously got lost on the way to dinner. We enjoyed a great meal full of stories and laughter. After we finished dining, we went out and spent a couple hours roaming the beautiful downtown area of Madrid and taking pictures of our last night on the trip. We had a great night and retired back to the hotel to pack up and rest up for our long day of travel ahead.
A Big Thank You
We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone involved in making this trip possible for us. It was truly the experience of a lifetime and without the support and generosity of our administration, boosters, coaches, fans and family it would have not been possible. The trip made for great memories on and off the court and it is something we will never forget. We look forward to the upcoming season and are excited to use this experience to our benefit. So once again thank you, and we will be seeing you in
