Of course more news to report from back in Turkey. My club, Baskent, is threatening to file a report with the IIHF about my fiancee and I leaving Turkey the way we did. But I will be writing a letter to the IIHF myself about how horrible we were treated, the poor living conditions, the mess the TBHF (Turkish Ice Hockey Federation) has created; so I am confident that I have a better case than them! Not to mention I left for a family issue and they refused to let my fiancée come back with me because of the family issue.
Turkey is a beautiful country with very unique features and I highly recommend visiting Istanbul or the Turkish Riviera. I don't recommend visiting Ankara, one of the most boring cities anybody could live in! Eating in Turkey is amazing as the cuisine there is unforgettable. A majority of the people there are welcoming and helpful. However, I don't recommend going there to play hockey.
So on the hockey note I leave with this list of what not to expect when playing pro hockey in Turkey;
Don't Expect:
- to be paid on time
- to be paid at all! (keep credit card handy in case you get hungry, meals not guaranteed)
- to be provided with black mold free housing
- to always have running electricity (expect to go at least 4-5 days without electricity)
- to always have running water (keep at least 10 6 Lt jugs full for when club won't pay bill)
- to play more than 12 games for the entire season
- to ever know when those games are going to be played
- to ever have good officiating
- to have all the players show up to practice (expect only 6 to show up)
- to only practice with just your players (expect random players from other teams to drop by)
- to ever practice before 11pm
- a game to be shorter than 3 hours
- a game to ever start on time
- the Turkish Federation to know what hockey is
- the Turkish Federation to even care to learn what hockey is
- the Turkish Federation to know what marketing a game means
- fans to show up to games
- the rink to safe enough to play a game on
- the Zamboni to work
- the ice to be smooth and not have rolling hills
- the ice to cover the full playing surface (expect gaps by the boards showing concrete)
- to be treated fairly and as an equal (especially if you are female!)
- to finish the season without going to the hospital (especially import players!)
- to not be kicked by a player or goalie (like my d-man found out one game)
- Turkish players to be tougher than figure skaters (stretchers are as common as sticks at games)
- not to be suspended by saying anything bad about the Turkish Federation
- to have more than 3 pucks for practices
- not to be threatened to play a game or not take money (had a gun shown to me and death threats to my fiancée)
- to have a good season when you sign with any club EXCEPT Ankara University (STAY AWAY from ANKA SK and BASKENT YILDIZLARI)
But what you can expect is:
- to make friends with all the import players
- discover which Turkish person you can trust
- to have memories that will last a lifetime!
hey mate. I have a question about an import player you played with in turkey. He wants to play for my team and I have a few questions about him regarding his playing ability. If you could email me on vpatrol@aol.com, it would be appreciated. Cheers,Vince
ReplyDeleteTo work well in Turkey you have to remember some cardinal rules:
ReplyDeletea) do not critize Turks, it just gets them mad.
b) do not at any time criticize anything that reflects badly on the 'dignity' of the country - Turks take that uberseriously. Especially if you have foresight, insight, any sight into how to make it better, as that will be misunderstood, see (A)
c) In the West there is a saying, paralysis by analysis. In Turkey, it is the opposite. a little opaque comment, but I am in the Aegean now pal, figure it out. Schools in Turkey are great!
d) Turks in some parts of Turkey are very angry how the country has become so, well, money orientated (you get it I hope) and so are disappointed in their jobs and career prospects. But things are much better than before I hear from everyone around me. So therefore, practice makes perfect is a good thing. The barbers here are great, work very hard. What was your job again?
i want to say a few words as a turkish semi-professional basketball player.
ReplyDeleteevery sports federation in turkey sucks except the one for football, cuz everybody loves that lame game, like they are any good at it.
hockey is frightening turkish people cuz they (actually we) are not so open for new stuff, anything, from sports, to new life styles, you get my point.
the reason why federations suck is because of the lame-ass, liar government. they love politics so much, but when it comes to actually doing something, they just disappear, vanish. that's why turkish people are not good at so much sports, cuz we dont have any oppurtunities, cuz of the government. whatever.
turkish people like being called good names, and they are not very tolerant to bad names, dunno y, its our nature, lol.
hockey wont get any better in turkey because government thinks that they wont gain any money out of it. if they thought they could, they could improve the league and everything like abrahamovich did with chelsea fc, you know that i mean.
and ankara is better for students. no beach, no sea, no sun, numerous universities. not a good place to live after the age 23. yet we have good schools, barbers, restaurants and such.
now, i'm in debrecen, hungary. and believe me, this place sucks even more when it comes to hockey (not the country, the city). phew that was a long comment. to make a long story short (too late), you must be a football or basketball player to be treated good here unfortunately. no hope for hockey. last thing to say is;
go linköping!