Being "The American"

Being an American playing overseas, you have great responsibility. The Americans are (usually) the highest paid players on the team and are expected to be the best players on the floor. You are held at a higher standard than the rest of the team and have to be sure to be on your game night in and night out. You can’t be late for practices or meetings and if you are, people start to wonder “What the hell is wrong with the American?”  Professional basketball is a cutthroat business, especially in Europe, and a couple bad practices or games and you can easily be fired and sent home. In Ireland, each team is only allowed one American, putting even more pressure on us. We are also the only ones getting paid and the teams do not want to waste the little money they have on an American who gives them 10 points a night.
It is important as the American to never give anyone a reason to mark you as the selfish, cocky American. This will not only help you stay on your current team, but it may help you get jobs in the future. It is amazing how much attitude plays a part in getting jobs overseas. The management does not want some asshole American and even if he might be slightly better than you, a good attitude may help you win the position over him.
 I am sure to always be respectful to players, coaches, referees (who don’t give any calls to us Yanks) and management. I make sure to do the little things, such as shaking hands and signing autographs after the game  A little courtesy goes a long way.
In conclusion DON”T BE THE STEREOTYPICAL AMERICAN IF YOU WANT TO GET GOOD JOBS PLAYING OVERSEAS

Intro

Hi my name is Cameron Mitchell. I am a 22 year old basketball player, currently playing in Limerick, Ireland for the UL Eagles of the Irish Superleague. This blog is meant to keep me in touch with my friends and family back home and to give a good insight on playing basketball overseas.
After finishing my career as a Willamette Bearcat, I was fortunate to be offered a job in Limerick. I found out about the job on the 27th of August and was on a plane to Ireland on September 2. I had only a couple days to get all of my stuff ready and say goodbye to everyone back in Oregon.
I live in a three bedroom apartment with two of my teammates. It is a nice apartment and I am very happy with the living arrangement. You hear horror stories about people living in tiny, crappy apartments, but I am very lucky with my situation.  As far as basketball, I have individual workouts Monday through Friday at noon. The team has practice (or training as they call it) every Mon., Wed, and Friday nights. We play one game a week, either on Saturday or Sunday. The team has been doing great so far and we are currently 8-2 in league play, good enough for 1st place in the Southern Conference.

While Ireland is definitely a country that loves its sports, basketball is not very popular in the country. Gaelic Football, Hurling, soccer, and rugby dominate the sports scene in Ireland. We get only about 100-200 fans for most home games and have the nicest basketball facility in the country.
For the first time in a very long time, I have a great deal of free time.  I usually am in the gym and weight room for a couple hours a day, but other than that, I have no obligations. In my spare time I enjoy reading and watching movies, along with writing. It's tough at times, because although I have accomplished my goal of playing overseas, I often get home sick and wish I could catch a flight home.  Well thats just a bit about my situation here and I will have updates coming soon.
Happy Holidays

Here is a few highlights from a couple games over here. I am number 5 in the blue/ white jersey