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<\/span>Photo of Azevedo training at US Water Polo HQ courtesy Tony Azevedo<\/em><\/span><\/span>For those of you that followed our Olympic coverage last Summer you already know Long Beach\u2019s role- 15 athletes on 5 teams; 2 golds, 3 silvers- but even before those Olympics, if you\u2019ve followed the Moore League (or Pac-10) long enough you already knew that Long Beach is the home of the best water polo player in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n
With apologies to Billie Jean King, Willie McGinest, Chase Utley, Tony Gwynn, every Dirtbag, and of course Misty May, of all the famous (and wildly successful) athletes that have passed through Long Beach, Tony Azevedo might just be the best.\u00a0 <\/span>But while those athletes get to ply their trade here in the States, playing in front of their hometown crowds, Azevedo spends his life living overseas, playing in Italy, Croatia and now Montenegro. \u00a0<\/span>And while we get daily updates on most of those athletes (Kerri Walsh\u2019s son is almost 6 months old! Marcedes Lewis caught a touchdown on his mom\u2019s birthday!) Tony Azevedo is stuck a continent away, only coming back into our lives for two weeks every four years.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span> But for today, at least that will change.\u00a0 <\/span> What does the best water polo player in the world like to watch on TV? (America\u2019s Next Top Model.)\u00a0 <\/span> Is he still a beach bum, even in Eastern Europe?\u00a0 <\/span>(Absolutely) What does a day in the life of Tony Azevedo look like?\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s let him tell you. Tony Azevedo:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>I usually get up around 8:30 or 9 AM, for a 10:30\u00a0or 11 AM practice. \u00a0We normally practice two hours in the morning and one and a half hours at night- 8- 9:30 PM. \u00a0Right when I wake up, I put on SportsCenter and make myself breakfast, bowl of cereal with banana, and coffee- the Turkish coffee that they make here is really good. \u00a0Then I either drive to the pool, about 10 minutes away, or ride my bike if the weather’s nice. I come back home for lunch, and after that I relax at our house\u2014it’s right on the beach\u2014in a little suburb outside of the Old Town of Kotor. \u00a0Twice a week I take Serbian\/Montenegrin classes, and other days I try to study the language on my own as much as possible. \u00a0During my free time between practices I also read, or play with our dog Amos. \u00a0If I’m not dead tired, I’ll go get coffee in the Old Town or go grocery shopping or just go for a walk in the neighborhood. \u00a0 After my late-night practice, I come home to eat dinner and then end the night by watching an episode of Top Chef, America’s Next Top Model, or the Office. \u00a0On Wednesdays we only have morning practice, so in the afternoon I will usually go to the beach when it’s warm and then try out a new restaurant at night. \u00a0 RT: What do you do differently on game days?<\/em><\/strong><\/span> TA: <\/strong><\/span>Game days are different because I do nothing all day except rest and prepare for the game. \u00a0My fianc\u00e9e hates these days because I am absolutely useless and use “game day” as an excuse to do nothing and not help around the house at all. \u00a0After games we will go out to dinner with some of the team, and then usually all meet up to have a night out since we get Sundays off.\u00a0 RT: In the US, professional soccer players travel just like any other business traveler.\u00a0 <\/span>Airport security, uncomfortable seats, etc.\u00a0 <\/span>But in Europe, soccer players travel like NBA players do in the States\u2014chartered jets, the works.\u00a0 <\/span>Where do you guys fall on that spectrum?<\/em><\/strong><\/span> TA: <\/strong><\/span>As far as traveling with the team goes, I wish we were soccer players, because we usually just do whatever is easiest and most economical. \u00a0That means a lot of long bus rides to local destinations, and we just fly coach if it’s out of the country. \u00a0Occasionally if we need to go somewhere unusual we will charter a flight, but normally our traveling conditions are nothing special. \u00a0And this has always been the case even when I was in Italy and Croatia. \u00a0If an individual team has a lot of money, they might step it up a little, but the norm in water polo is just to travel like regular people. \u00a0 RT: Speaking of playing in Italy, Croatia, and now Montenegro\u2014why did you switch? <\/em><\/strong><\/span> TA:<\/strong><\/span> The reason I moved to Montenegro is because my old team (JUG) was having some financial problems and this team in Kotor had just acquired some funds and was looking to create a really strong team. \u00a0They won the European Championships last year and are a very good group. \u00a0Ultimately they were able to give me a better offer, and at this age, I need to go where I think is best for my game and my life. \u00a0I am very happy here so far and of course it’s exciting to see new places and meet new people. \u00a0 RT: Because water polo is a bigger deal in Montenegro, are you recognized everywhere you go?\u00a0 <\/span>Are you a celebrity there? TA:<\/strong><\/span> Water polo is extremely popular here and yes every time we go somewhere we are recognized. But as far as feeling like I am a celeb I still think that water polo is on such a different level. Soccer still dominates over here and though we are all known and liked, it is more like being in college and everyone is supporting their school. RT: What are the differences, in terms of actual play between the countries?\u00a0 <\/span> TA:<\/strong><\/span> As far as in the water, there is a huge difference. Over here they are much bigger, stronger and better. We play around 40 high quality games a year over here compared to 10 in Italy.\u00a0 RT: I know you\u2019re learning the language now, but is it tough to get along with your teammates?\u00a0 <\/span>Is the language or culture a barrier?\u00a0 <\/span>Where are most of the guys from?<\/em><\/strong><\/span> TA:<\/strong><\/span> I have always gotten along well with my teammates. \u00a0In Italy we had an exceptionally good camaraderie because the guys were from all over\u2014a lot from Italy, but different regions, so everyone was a “foreigner” in our city. \u00a0Our coach was a great guy and lots of fun, so the team always went out together, got to know each other’s families and hung out around the pool even after practice was finished. \u00a0In fact, our goalie there is now one of my groomsmen for my wedding. \u00a0The town where I played (Cremona) was small and very old-school so not many people spoke English. So I learned Italian right away and now speak it almost fluently.\u00a0 In Dubrovnik (Croatia), the guys were great but every single one except for two was from Dubrovnik, so they already had their lives and their families. \u00a0This made it a little more difficult to hang out together outside of the pool, but we still went out and got along well. \u00a0Most of them spoke English really well too, so communication was not a problem. \u00a0 Here in Kotor (Montenegro) the team is great. \u00a0They are mostly Montenegrin, but there are two Hungarian players–one who lives in the condo above mine–and a lot of younger guys who all go out together and get along well. Our coach is young and laid back too, which helps bring the group together. \u00a0They all speak either English or Italian so I can communicate, although I’m really trying to get better at Serbian\/Montenegrin. \u00a0 RT: Do you see a lot of your National team teammates while playing for your club team? TA: <\/strong><\/span>A lot of the USA National team guys do play overseas–but all over the place. \u00a0This year we have me in Montenegro, two in Croatia, one in Greece, several in Italy, one in Hungary and one in Spain. \u00a0Since there is no professional league in the US, our players are really forced to go overseas to train hard at a competitive level all year round. \u00a0 Come back tomorrow for part two of our Q&A with Azevedo! Tomorrow’s post will feature Tony’s thoughts on celebrity, Long Beach, and whether he was rooting for Chicago or Rio to win the 2016 Olympic bid. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ryan Thies has been conducting a Q&A from around the world with Tony Azevedo, the face of a sport and one of Long Beach’s favorite sons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2938"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=2938"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}