Kórnik Castle & Road Game at Szczecin - Blog #41 (Oct. 27 - Nov. 2)
- Patrick Cartier
- Nov 5
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 6
Basketball Update:
Our much-anticipated matchup against Szczecin was on Saturday. It was really cool to see Coach, Andy, Phil, and Fifi back where they won a championship three years ago. They did a nice tribute to them before the game and gifted them each a nice picture frame. We started out the game pretty solid. They slowly built a lead in the first half, and we were down eight going into the break. They blew things open in the second half and at one point led by over twenty. We fought until the end and wound up losing by fourteen, 80-66. They hurt us on the glass a bit and killed us in transition. They shot way more FTs than us too. They are a good team, but we definitely did not play our best. No one played particularly well, to be honest. Our next game is at home against the reigning champs, Legia Warsaw, on Sunday.
Leadership Lesson:
A good sense of humor is by far the most underrated leadership characteristic there is. I do not have any research, book, or podcast to base this off of, but I have just found this to exist in all of the best leaders I know. Coach Medved would tell me that he always made an effort not to take himself too seriously, especially outside of basketball. He said some coaches would give him a cold shoulder off the court, but he always tried to be light-hearted and make some jokes with his peers. Before the early, 8am AAU tournament games, my dad would huddle us all in and make us break the huddle by saying, "I love playing in the morning!" Of course, I thought he was being obnoxious at the time, but I think he was trying to lighten the mood while also waking us up a bit. A leader without a good sense of humor is just not fun to be around. It makes it much more difficult for your followers to feel inspired or work with joy. Having a good sense of humor makes you more likable as a leader. It also lightens up the work environment and enables people to feel comfortable and excel. It might be my favorite thing about my coach this year. He jokes around a lot, and it helps me to loosen up and just be myself on the court. Now, he is still as competitive as it gets and wants to win more than anybody. But, he still keeps things light and doesn't put unnecessary pressure on us. Humor is a powerful tool that should be used by all leaders.
Top 5 of the Week:
Wisconsin Cities (40k+ population)
Madison - I feel like somewhat of a fraud for picking this number one because I didn't go to school here, but I just have never had a bad time in Madison. Nikki and I have a lot of fond memories here from our college days. There is a great energy about the city that is unmatched in the rest of WI. Madison is unique in that the city is intertwined with the school. Most campuses are not like that.
Milwaukee - Overall, a very underrated Midwest city in general. I have not spent as much time in the city as you might think, but Milwaukee is great. There are a couple of awesome beaches, good restaurants, two amazing sports franchises, and great people. Lots to do and a great city.
Wisconsin Dells - I have not been in forever, but I have a lot of great basketball and childhood memories here. We would always play a tournament or two in the Dells, and we did a couple of family vacations too. It is interesting too because all of my teammates from the Midwest know all about the Dells which is not something I realized when I was younger. Waterpark. Capital. Of. The. World.
Green Bay - This is only because of the Packers and Lambeau Field. I haven't spent much time here, but I had to put this on the list.
Brookfield - Shoutout to the hometown! Nothing particularly special about the city itself, but I'll tell you one thing... Some of the best people in the world live in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
What Else Did I Do This Week?
One of our team sponsors is a sushi restaurant in the city, and they hosted us for a team dinner on Wednesday. It was solid sushi and basically all you can eat. It was good team bonding and was also funny to see my Serbian teammate, Petar, try sushi, ginger, and wasabi for the first time.
We got to Szczecin on Friday night, and my road roomie, Conley, & I walked around the city a bit. It is a much bigger city than Zielona Góra. It was Halloween too, so there were some people out trick-or-treating. Our hotel was in the city center, and we were right next to a big castle. There were some cool government buildings nearby. There is also a part of the city that is on the sea because it is a port town. It was nice to be surrounded by water again because that is what I am used to from last year. It is a beautiful city with a great fall atmosphere too.
Nikki is back and flew in Sunday, early afternoon. She came into Poznan which is about an hour and fifteen minutes away. After I picked her up, we went to a castle that is close to Poznan. It is also a little museum inside and is surrounded by a beautiful park. I was talking down on the fall colors in Europe a couple of weeks ago, but Nikki & I both agreed that they were some of the best we have seen in a while. A very diverse set of trees were in the park. Several of the trees are not indigenous to Poland, so it was cool to see some unique trees in the park. That made for some great colors all over. We also had a nice lunch next to the castle.
We drove back and made an awesome dinner. We made BBQ chicken wings, sweet potato fries, and carrots & celery. It was so good. My first time making wings was a massive hit. Will definitely do that again. Then, we watched a disappointing Packers L. Brutal loss and even brutaler to lose Tucker Kraft. Hopefully, that wakes the boys up.
Top Meal of the Week:
My top meal would have to be our sushi team dinner at Koku Sushi. As I said, it was basically all you can eat. At the end, they brought out sushi burgers and hot dogs. It was one of the more unique food experiences I have had. I don't really know how to describe it, but the outsides are fried with a regular sushi looking inside. Everything else was good too.
Cultural Difference in Poland:
The American version of Halloween is starting to get more popular all over Europe which is kind of cool to see. I mentioned this earlier, but we saw some kids out trick-or-treating and people in costumes. The center of the holiday surrounds people going and lighting up cemeteries for their deceased loved ones. Nov. 1st is All Saints Day which is a big holiday in Poland where people have off work and the saints are honored. I guess Szczecin has the biggest cemetery in Europe, but we did not have quite enough time to check it out. Apparently, it is a gorgeous site with all the candles lighting up the cemetery. Thanks for reading!
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