All Request Saturday # 2

Well it seems I'm a little bit more popular this week. Either that means more people are following along, or more people are giving in to me begging them to "please, read my blog!" Either way, muito obrigado (thanks a lot in portuguese). So I'll start things off in response to a comment from my little bro.

It could use a bit more comedic flavour. -Dustin Saxton

Well Dustin, to put it as maturely as I possibly can:
-I'll be funny when I wanna be funny, so there.
or maybe
-Your face is pretty funny looking, so I posted that.
Either response should adhere to Dustin's comment to his satisfaction. I hope nobody is turned off by the little bits of family teasing I post up here, and Dust, I hope you feel the brotherly love bud.

Now lets get to a few serious questions. Here's the first one I received:

How does knowing that you're representing Canada (i.e., both as an official Canadian player and as a reflection of what Canada and Canadians are to the spectators and officials at the event) when you play internationally affect how you prepare during your pre-match training and how you play your matches while on court? -Jay Nuttall

During the majority of beach volleyball tournaments, there are so many games over the course of a few days that it's hard to even think that I'm representing Canada. Every game against every opponent needs the same amount of focus as the last, or the next. The amount of preparation and motivation should be the same for every event. When we play, it's almost better not to act like what people would expect of Canadians. It doesn't always help to be the "polite pushover" that a Canadian is supposed to be. Sometimes we need to play with the "win at all costs" American attitude, or the all out "heart on the sleeve" emotional Brazilian style.
In short, I love being Canadian, and I'm proud to be able to represent Canada at every opportunity, but I don't really think it affects how I play or train for a match. It just gives me a little more to brag about afterwards.

The next question is a typical mom thing to ask:

What are you eating down there? Are you choosing from lots of options or take whatever looks good? Cheap to buy food? Mylene Saxton

Doing good, Mom.

I'd probably get an earful if that's all I answered with. While on the road, it's not always easy to get to a grocery store and pick up all the healthiest options. Fortunately for Jessi and I, we live very close to a restaurant that serves all you can eat lunch buffets with a really good variety. For breakfasts we've been having granola mixed with frozen blended acai berry, a very healthy fruit which I find pretty tasty, though it would be nice to have a little variety now and again. Dinner often consists of finding a restaurant thats affordable and has a decent menu. Along the beach in Joao Pessoa, finding healthy inexpensive food isn't overly difficult, just go to the nearest coconut stand. But once we get to the European countries, it can put a real dent in the wallet.

And now onto the last question:

Of all the places you have visited/trained in/competed at thus far, which has been your favourite and why? -Kristy Giacobbo

I know it may not seem very far and exotic. But my favorite places are the beaches of Southern California. First of all, it has nice weather all year round, who wouldn't like that? Next, it embodies the beach volleyball lifestyle, so much so, that every time I'm there, I never want to leave. Finally, the people speak English. No offense is intended to any other language, but I just feel a lot more at home when I understand what the people around me are saying. Though I must say, after going to the Cayman Islands a coupe weeks ago, Cali is still my favorite, but not by as much.

Last week I was worried I needed to stretch out my answer, this week I might have written too much. I might have to put a limit on how many questions I can answer per week. Please, keep sending them in though, I'll respond on a first come first served basis. If you don't see an answer right away, expect it the next Saturday. I will try to get to everybody in time (as long as it's PG rated of course).

Cheers
Ben Jammin

All Request Saturday #1

As promised, Happy Birthday Milou! You are officially old. And as long as you are older than me, I will consider you such. Aka. Forever. Enjoy :)

On to all request Saturday. I only received one question, so today's post is going to be short and sweet.

Ola hijo mio. Soy en Mexico ahora entonces hablo en espagnol. Mi pregunta para tu Sabado requisito es: Jo sais que tu nomalmente adivinar que es el mejor competicion para cada tournamiento. Que piensas par esta competicion. Los Mexicanos premiere tambien, ou outros?? Su padre.

After writing about the language barrier, and my struggle with Spanish, this question was conveniently written in said language. Thanks Dad. With a little help from Jessi (He and mom both say your spanish needs work by the way), I've managed to translate it as follows:

Hello my son. I am in Mexico so I will speak in Spanish. My question for all request Saturday is: I know that you normally predict who your strongest competition will be in most tournaments. Who do you think it is at this competition? Are the Mexicans strongest, or someone else? Your Father. - Don Saxton

First I'll fill everyone in on my dad's status. He is also currently at a NORCECA tournament in Mexico, coaching a Canuck Club U17 team. I don't have any info on their status, but good luck Canuck! Or in this case, good luck Canada!

Now, to answer the question, I have to say that the strongest opponents here are Cuba and USA. I'm not sure the reason, but Mexico did not enter into this event, or they would be up there as well.
Cuba consists of two tall athletic young athletes with good ball control. So far this tournament they have not faced any opponents who have challenged them. Puerto Rico should have challenged them today, but they had a little hiccup, and ended up losing earlier in the tournament.
USA consists of two veteran athletes from San Diego who play a little on the AVP tour. They're a scrappy team that will make anyone work hard for any point, and find ways to score even when it doesn't look like they will. We played the Americans today, and after a tough back an forth match, we pulled out the three set win to put us into the Semi Final tomorrow. I expect the Americans to battle back in order to face the Cubans tomorrow in the other semi final.

So far things are going well for us, we will still have a tough battle in tomorrow's semi against whoever we face. But I hope to see either the Cubans or Americans in tomorrow's final.

Cheers,
Ben

Crystal Clear

Allow me to clarify a few things. First of all, and probably the cause of the most panic in my friends and family, my last blog was written on April 1st, better known as April Fool's Day. I did not actually hurt my wrist, I was just having a little bit of fun. I didn't realize so many people were reading already. I'm flattered, and thank you all for your sympathy, but fortunately I am not currently in need of it. Knock on wood.

A second clarification, I was asked by my coach, Lennard Krapp, to clear up something I said in a previous post. Jessi and I were not calling audibles on our practice schedule BECAUSE Lennard was in Ottawa, we would have made the same changes had he been here. Even when Lennard isn't around there are still qualified coaches at the scheduled practices, namely, National team assistant head coach, Angie Shen, and Volleyball Canada technical director, Rob Dyba. I meant no disrespect to them, but at this point in our training schedule, we aren't looking for skill based practices, we need more game related practices, which have been scheduled on our own time. Hopefully that takes care of that.

The third and final clarification: Toronto's weather. Though it doesn't need me to clear it up, it seems to have done so on it's own. The last few days, the temperature has jumped to over 20. We even managed to get a training session outside at Ashbridges Bay, one of Lake Ontario's beaches. Now not only are Maverick and I no longer the only ones who've played outside, we're also no longer the only ones to get sunburns. There were a few very red-faced volleyball players by the end of the session, Mav and I not being among them. We're just the cool guys with wicked tans.
By the end of the summer, with all the travel and outdoor exposure, and as long as we don't get skin cancer (again, knock on wood), we should all be bronzed Gods. Or, as Lennard likes to call us, tourists.

I've decided that since there seems to be a few more people reading now, and since I'm sure there is more that people want to know about me and my journey (There seems to be a never-ending amount of questions from my family at least), that my blog will from this point forward have an all request Saturday. At any point during the week, please feel free to comment on posts, email questions to me at bsaxto@gmail.com, even send me facebook comments and messages, and every Saturday I will respond to everything to the best of my ability. This weekend, I cleared things up in response to people's reactions. Next week I hope to respond to direct questions and comments, because this blog isn't just for me, it's for anyone and everyone who wants to be a part of the journey.

Cheers,

Ben Jammin