T H R E E : Poland

The week I spent in Poland was packed with unlikely characters and even more far-fetched turns of events. I arrived to find a team featuring Richard Dumas, Steve Wojciechowski and, as the starting center, a former Polish kayaking champion—a group you might expect if the casting director for Politically Incorrect were vested with the power of a G.M.

Mike McCollow, the American friend who was coaching Pekaes Pruszkow, let me observe his team from the inside. From that privileged position I caught a glimpse of what can happen when opposing cultures run up against each other. (I also witnessed what happens when essential needs and absent means run up against each other.)

After Mike’s firing he and his family moved back to Minneapolis, where they now run the Gear Running Store.

Here’s Mike, surrounded by his zloty-starved charges.

FOUR: SWITZERLAND