It is impossible to describe the feeling of complete helplessness when you don't understand a word and nobody understands you... it is something everyone has to experience for themselves. I will try, however, to give you an idea of how I felt during my first day in Spain.

I was very confident in my language abilities after college (I was able to communicate in 4 different languages), so I didn't bother learning Spanish over the summer (clearly I had better things to do). The first doubts about possible communication problems occurred to me on my flight from Frankfurt to Madrid. All of the announcements were made in Spanish first (at least I thought it was Spanish; it could have been Italian or Greek and I wouldn't have known the difference), followed by the German translation. At the time I thought it was pretty funny that I couldn't understand a word, but soon I realized that the joke was on me.

Having a blog about a very specific topic, as is the case here, you can get people who have a specific interest in that topic to talk to you. This blog has brought you such prestigious interviews from the likes of the Hot Dog, Matt Mo the Afro and Chris Strub, men of honor and glory. The privilege of the interview from this blog explains why Kyle Whelliston of ESPN.com and Mid-Majority fame was begging me endlessly to be interview until I finally obliged out of annoyance from his insessant nagging.

That is a true story, that I just made up. The reality is I emailed Mr. Whelliston asking if he would discuss America East basketball, and he was more than happy to do so. The following transpired and is meant for you all to enjoy!

Luke Apfeld has given his verbal to the University of Vermont to play basketball as a member of the 2009 recruiting class. He joins big man Ben Crenca.

Luke Apfeld is a top recruiting target for Vermont. The Brewster standout is in Burlington, VT with his family this weekend. Click on the link to discuss and get the latest information on Luke's decision. According to Rivals.com, American, Lehigh and Holy Cross have offered Apfeld (in addition to Vermont).

A former high school basketball star will serve nine months to three years in prison on drug dealing charges.

Benjamin Brooks, 18, admitted he sold thousands of dollars worth of cocaine earlier this year.

When meeting with team officials, Rudi Johnson left his bags outside of CEO Matt Millen's office. When he returned, the bags were gone. That's when things got interesting.

Tatum Bell apparently took the bags to the house of a female acquaintance, who later said she had not seen Bell in months and he asked her to keep the bags for awhile.

Former University of Vermont Men's Basketball star, Chris Holm has inked a deal with the Sendai 89ers of Japan.

John Becker was promoted to assistant coach of the University of Vermont men's basketball team Friday and will replace Gabe Rodriguez, who left the program to pursue a job outside of coaching.

Becker spent the past two seasons as UVM's director of basketball operations. Before that he was an assistant coach for two years at Catholic University, his alma mater.

"I am happy to be able to move John up on our coaching staff," Catamount head coach Mike Lonergan said in a UVM news release. "I think he will be a great recruiter for us because he truly believes in what UVM and our program is all about."

Elena DelleDonne, one of the most heavily recruited and most honored high school athletes in Delaware history, has decided not to use her basketball scholarship to the University of Connecticut and may walk away from the sport that has brought her national acclaim.

In the summer before his senior year in high school, Wink Adams had plenty of college options. He was being looked at seriously by Florida, Arkansas and Connecticut, to name just a few schools.

But Adams had his eyes fixed on UNLV.

It was 2004, and coach Lon Kruger had just arrived and started to rebuild the Rebels' basketball program.

US sisters Serena and Venus Williams beat Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2, 6-0 to claim their second women's doubles Olympic gold medal on Sunday.

Soviet-era gymnast Larisa Latynina, in a note, wrote to say (regarding Michael Phelps Eight Gold Medals), "You have shattered all sort of records with truly inspiring Olympic character."

Vermont Basketball Coach Mike Lonergan has done it again. He has gotten Worcester Academy star, Ben Crenca, to give his verbal to attend the University of Vermont in 2009 to play basketball. This is a huge win for Coach Lonergan and the team, especially since he beat out the likes of Northeastern, Rhode Island, Bucknell and other bigger programs.

University of Vermont men's basketball assistant coach Gabe Rodriguez will leave the Catamounts to pursue opportunities away from coaching to start up a sports website - therivalrysportstour.com

The newest Yankee, outfielder Xavier Nady who came over from the Pirates, was inserted into the Red Sox / Yankees game in the top of the seventh inning.

In his first at-bat, Nady was hit with a pitch to get on base. Welcome to the team Nady!