Austin Davis signs with Polish league team
https://twitter.com/anwil_official/status/1419376907850633219?s=21
He also just got engaged, so big week for the big guy. Team appears to be one of the better teams in the league, winning three recent titles.
Heck yeah, good for Big County!
Go Blue
Good for Austin. I've lived in Poland a few times throughout my life, and Włocławek is in the middle of nowhere. He'll love it though. Great country to visit, but even better to live in.
I’m glad to hear the area will suit Big Country!
The political situation in Poland on the other hand ???
HP invasion possible?
Hell yeah get those checks! Kind of surprising, because he was just in some of the Camp Sanderson videos/photos that were put out a few days ago.
He was assisting with leading conditioning this summer while working out for his pro career. Great news for Big Country.
Poland is making so good tv shows/series of late.
That's all I've got in Poland.
Congrats, Austin. What a cool opportunity to continue playing hoops and immerse yourself in a new culture. Just make sure to set the DVR to catch UM hoops this winter.
From the Twitter post, there is an article with more details. It is in Polish, and the translation is just fantastic:
Meals under the basket of Rottweilers – The Włocławek Basketball Club is pleased to announce that the new player of the team was the American center, Austin Davis.
- For Austin Davis, this will be his first season on the professional dance floor
- American is a graduate of the University of Michigan
- In Anwil Włocławek will play in the middle position
And from their coach:
Przemysław Frasunkiewicz, coach of Anwil Włocławek: Austin is a typical player of the basket zone. Strong, has mastered several maneuvers close to the rim, can play hard and dynamically finish the action with a dunk. He is a graduate of a very strong university and after talking to him I know he is determined to play at a high level. However, because he had never played professionally or played in Europe before, we signed an option. We'll give him time to show his skills and confirm that he can be an important player for the team.
It seems they think of him as a rottweiler who eats his meals in the basket zone. I, for one, would be happy for anyone to describe me as such.
He definitely has mastered several close to the rim maneuvers.
Definitely a typical player of the basket zone. All your zones belong To Austin Davis.
Does this give new definition to the term murderwolf?
Now he is Big Polish Country!
I know a dude who played professionally in Poland. He played with Laetner in HS. Guy ended up with a hot Polish wife.
Good for Big Country.
A lot of beautiful Polish, Ukrainian, Russian women.
Dobry!
Polish for "good," and according to my Polish pals, pronounced "dobe-shay."
BlueVet, FWIW, it’s pronounced “dob-reh,” but it does mean “good.” You’re thinking of “dobrze,” which means “OK” but is indeed pronounced as you stated above. (In Polish, “rz” makes a “sh” sound.)
There probably isn't a language on the planet that some MGoBlogger isn't fluent in. The MGoBlog Difference.
Lots of Polish heritage in SE Michigan as well.
Thanks, Joby. That makes more sense.
Pretty close! You would say dobe-zhay and it would be dobrze. (Dobry is another form of the same to modify certain nouns, pronounced do-bray with a slight roll of the r.)
I lived in Poland as well, seems well suited for him - down to earth people, very fair minded and it will be an amazing experience living in the middle of Europe as a young dude. I think D Walt also had a short stint in the Polish league if I'm not mistaken...?
Eric Piatkowski = "The Polish Rifle"
Austin Davis = "The Polish Double-Barrel Shotgun"
I love paczkis
Efficiency will be his ticket. I bet his teams win a lot because he doesnt need 15 shots to make an impact. He really is a solid player and may eat some guys up with that footwork. If it was 1988 I bet he would be getting a shot at the league.
I’ve been to some great cities, but Kráków has to be among the most memorable. The old city is beautiful, it’s extremely affordable by European standards, the food is a mix of traditional and modern, the beer is outstanding, it’s easy to walk just about anywhere, and the women are as beautiful as any you’ll find. I think Big Country will do just fine in Poland.
If he's going to live for a while in Poland, Davis is going to need to add several more consonants.
Austin Davischevsyski
Big Countsczveczky
Those names look Czech or Russian:
Austin Dawiszewski
Duży Kraj is Big Country
True, but my grandfather, who immigrated to the US at the age of 12 with an older brother, was born in the part of Poland formerly known as "Prussia". He's on the 1920, '30, and '40 US Census lists as being of Russian descent.
Thank you for the actual translation of "Big Country". I speak practically none of the Polish language---the very few words I used to know in my childhood have been long forgotten. My grandpa (he passed in 1969) spoke very little English, so my Dad would translate for us and I picked up on several Polish words as a child.
My Dad and his siblings were born with the common Polish last name "Kwiatkowski"; Dad and one of my uncles changed their last name to the English translation while the other brothers and one sister retained the Polish name.
Kwiatkowski is actually much easier to spell than most Polish last names. I grew up on the Polish west side of GR, I swear some of my classmates had names a dozen or more letters long with only one or two vowels.
Super fascinating family history. The borders of Poland over time have changed so dramatically that German, Russian, Czech, and many other cultures have had significant influences. Not sure if you've ever had a chance to visit, but it's a pretty amazing country.
This is the longest Polish word - speaking to consonants:
Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcionarodowościowego
It means "Of nine hundred and ninety-nine nationalities"
I'm hoping to someday soon travel both to Poland and also to the Westphalia area of western Germany, where I have distant relatives.
I've met several of my German kin who have traveled to the US a few times. The first time in the late 80s was a complete surprise visit: my uncle Frank and his wife of Irish descent had gotten interested in genealogy and had been able to trace and write relatives in Ireland and Germany. Once contact had been established the ball really got rolling when suddenly one day, someone knocked on Uncle Frank's door---three or four German relatives came over unannounced from Europe and spent several days in the GR area being introduced to many many relatives here. Over the decades since, several relatives have gone to the little German town of Dorlar to visit.
A second cousin of mine held enormous family reunions on his farm near GR in 2004 and again in 2019, the first with over 1200 attendees and the second with some 1600+. For both reunions, several have traveled over from Germany for the festivities. And I have a standing invite to come over and visit there any time.
In the meantime, another distant cousin has thoroughly researched the family tree all the way back to 1481 and Hans Brechtken of Dorlar. She's written several books, two of which delved deeply into the family history on both sides of the pond. Fascinating stuff.
OTOH, the Polish side of the family tree has been much more difficult to trace. Some on Dad's side of the family have been able to put together bits and pieces going back to the early 1800s. I think the biggest obstacle has been war destruction of records, related to the constantly changing Polish borders you mentioned earlier.
It's pretty fascinating. The wars indeed caused physical destruction of records, but also created total chaos, people fleeing for their lives, changing names/identities, etc., and then when borders moved - numerous times in western Poland/Prussia - people would leave because of the differences between Slavic and Germanic cultures. After WWII entire cities of German people left their homes in what was Germany and now western Poland to go within the new German border, and entirely new populations of Poles moved into emptying cities. The language, laws, property, everything was upended. Crazy times
Let's hope he Killbasas it there !