It's worth it.

Sports—it’s a risky business, and injuries, they are just another part of the game. Unpredictable and always tragic, they seem to be equally inevitable, especially the longer and the harder you play. I love the game as much as the next obsessed guy, but when you see a player, a teammate or a friend go down writhing in pain and reaching for an ankle or knee, it makes you question whether or not it’s worth it. Sadly, I witnessed just this in our first league game back against Herner. Roli went down with 3 minutes left in the game, desperately clinging to her knee in obvious pain. Tuesday she had surgery to repair a minor tear in her knee that will keep her off the court for another 3 weeks. Whether it’s a twisted ankle, a torn knee or a broken bone, we’ve all suffered something in the name of the game we love. Maybe you don’t get it, and that’s okay—playing a game so competitively isn’t for everyone. But you can’t tell me it isn’t worth the risk. Because the day you see a player, or a teammate or a friend battle back from a lengthy and painful injury after hundreds of hours of rehab, that day when you see their exhilarating smile the moment they can play again, is the day you’ll know, unequivocally, it’s worth it. I can’t wait for that day in 3 weeks when Roli is cleared and despite the risk, steps on the court again with the biggest grin.

Aside from the injury, which came after we had already established a comfy 20-point lead, the game was uneventful. The final margin was 25 and once again we were tied for 3^rd. I finished with 11-7-5 in a game impressively dominated by our posts.  The following weekend, however, we’d be traveling to Rotenburg who beat us back in October in one of our worst performances as a team. Even with Roli sidelined and even with that previous 4-point loss dangling over our heads, we strongly believed we were the better team. We began the game focused offensively, scoring 26 points in the first 10 minutes, but we were still far from perfect throughout the game, particularly on defense. Despite maintaining a 15-point lead most of the 2^nd half, Vlasti was frustrated with our defensive lapses and zone offensive woes. We won by 16 and Charmaine, one of our remaining German players forced to play more minutes in Roli’s absence, had a phenomenal game! She had 25 points and 5 steals and seriously made like 7-8 shots in a row at one point. I had 27 points 5 rebounds and 6 steals and was ecstatic we were able to secure another road win.

So Morty and I have sorta been bored lately. And not just your usual dose of boredom that naturally infiltrates anyone’s life from time to time, no no. I’m talking the hard stuff, the mind-numbing boredom that generates wall staring, excessive list making and promotes irrational snow shoveling ambitions. I realize that might sound…unreasonable, being that we live in Europe (you don’t have sympathy, I get it). Seriously though, there are days when, aside from practices and workouts, I don’t leave my apartment—my incredibly dull, yet strangely enticing apartment. You’ll be pleased to hear that instead of simply conceding to my boredom and moaning about it to you, Morty and I decided to be proactive! All that really translated to was seeking advice from German teammates about potential activities to engage our childlike attention spans. I was quite delighted with the list we compiled subsequently, and I think you will be encouraged as well. The list goes a little something like this: visit the zoo, visit the animal shelter, bowl, go-cart riding, and visit our library. Good right? I know I know, I was wildly excited anticipating my cured boredom. Numero uno on the list, and if you know me this was an obvious choice, was visiting the animal shelter. After some brief investigating, I discovered we could potentially become dog walkers there so we raced over to find out Monday. Naturally no one there spoke English, so I implemented my well honed gestures and, remarkably, was able to convey we wanted to volunteer as dog walkers.  Next thing I knew they were handing me a leash with a dog without so much as asking for my dog walking credentials (that’s right, I’ve got creds). Boom, I’m a dog walker, just like that. I’ve walked some really cute dogs so far, but it’s always bitter-sweet having to put them back in their cage. The zoo was next on the list, but I don’t presently have enough time to thoroughly elaborate on this experience, so I will have to save it!

Tomorrow we play at home against Donau-Ries. We are currently tied for 3^rd together. Donua-Ries has spent most of the season in 1^st place, but has lost their last 2 games, joining us in 3^rd. We sorta stunk it up against them the first time around, so I know we are all really looking forward to this opportunity.

Following the game Morty, Bri and I are flying to London! We decided we would take advantage of playing on a Friday and having the weekend completely off, and after significant deliberation we decided on LONDON BABY! I booked us this cool little hotel in Westminster just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the sites. I cannot wait to finally get the chance to use my fake british accent. I am kind of out of practice having never really needed it before, but I'm sure I'll totally blend in with it. I came up with this formula where you mix some "chaps" in with some "rubbish" and "bugger" and a sprinkle of "blimey" and "bloody" and you really can't go wrong. Obviously I would be remiss as a fake Brit if I left out their greatest addition to the english language--dodgy. It's just brilliant and I will be nothing short of brilliant this weekend repeatedly using it out of context. Good day, chaps!

Go big or go home.

Happy New Year! I am super pleased to report that I survived the super credible "end of the world" debacle and got to ring in 2013. I am not particularly fond of resolutions, but I do plan to love, laugh and learn more this year and I wish the same to you. I got you covered in the laugh department—I think we can all agree that my blog is the most amusing one being crammed down your throats via email each month. It’s my way of giving back, what can I say. On that note, let’s dive right into the first installment of 2013.

Perhaps you don’t recall, but when I last left you we were prepping for our final game of the first half of our season. This game went as poorly as it could have for us, unfortunately. I will say this, we worked our butts off and defensively, for most of the game, we were solid. Offensively, however, we stunk…we stunk something fierce. We couldn’t throw a grain of sand into the ocean. It was dreadful. Conversely, Marburg was experiencing some sort of collective “zone” and made everything, so it seemed. 

The bank wasn’t just open for them, it was giving them money and to players who didn't even have accounts. Might be the worst parallel I’ve ever offered, but I swear it works, somehow. We managed to keep the score within single digits for most the game, but we ultimately lost by 13. Adding insult to injury, that was the second home game of ours where technical difficulties disrupted our video feed and prevented any statistical input. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that our current jobs and potential interest in hiring us rely heavily on stats.

Following the loss, our team hosted a nice little Christmas party for our management, team staff, parents, and our closest group of fans that volunteer behind the scenes and typically travel to support us on the road. Customarily, I am just awful at functions like this, so the combination of my bungling social competence and the frustrating loss was wildly inauspicious. Still, I made the most of it, singing Silent Night with the team in German, English and Hungarian (with Morty at guitar) and passing out gifts to everyone. Seriously…everyone. We got gifts for Vlasti, the physio staff, the management, sponsors, our team doctor, the dude that provides us with cars, our team mom and even all the fans got shirts! Additionally, we had a team secret santa separate from this event which was delightful. We had to get our person something AND come up with a little rhythmic number about them to perform/say. I put my little diddy to the beat of the Fresh Prince opening song.

Needless to say, it was a hit. As was the Christmas party, which sort of doubled as a farewell party heading into break. We had 17 days off and aside from a haircut appointment and dental check-up, I had zero plans boarding my flight to LA. Somehow, without any real personal effort, I did more stuff in those 17 days than perhaps anyone has, ever. I know, surprise surprise right? What can I say, go big or go home and I was already home, sooooo, yeah. I think you are picking up what I am putting down (I went BIG, in case that was somehow out of your reach).

 Jan, lovely Jan, and her sister, my treasure of an aunt Kimmie, picked me up from the airport—I gotta say, hard to imagine a better pick-up crew. Also hard to imagine anyone more excited to see me, which I’ll be honest, felt good. My first day was calm enough, lots of lounging, catching up and getting settled. The calmness ended there. I dropped my high school basketball team off at LAX the very next morning at 5am and very nearly literally stayed in a car the remainder of my trip. UCLA men’s basketball game, Lakers game, San Diego Chargers game, Vegas, Santa Barbara, LAX two more times—it was borderline laughable how much I was in a car, but quite worth it. Here’s a brief play by play: in Vegas, Chris and I saw Seinfeld live which was phenomenal; San Diego reunited Mo and I (and we caught a Chargers game, but I ain’t braggin about that); Kindra visited and we met up with our college friend Matt in Santa Barbara; and after two years I got to see my old college roommate Preach, and my good high school friend Trevor. My mama and I spent some wonderful quality time, and I got to see a lot of the rest of my family too, which is rare that time of year. 

I had the best homemade chocolate chip pancakes made for me at my high school coaches house and played the funniest game of telephone and silent telephone during Christmas dinner with my second family. Finally, I was treated to Lakers tickets by my dear friend Dan and witnessed not only Wilkes’ jersey retirement, but also perhaps the Lakers last win of the season. I am leaving things out, sadly, but that is unavoidable I’m afraid. It was the greatest 17 days a person could have not planned, all thanks to my incredible friends and family. It was certainly hard to say bye, but after so much time I was itching to get back on the court with my teammates and get back to work.

My flights home couldn’t have been easier. Workouts started right away and so did the continuation of the Pokal series games. We played Sunday at Oberhausen, a team from our league who we had previously beaten, but who was now with a slightly different roster and a new coach. A win would put us in the final four. We weren’t bad, but they were better. Bottom line, they made more shots. Our defense was solid, but their shots fell and ours didn’t. It was infuriating. I finished with 23 points and 6 rebounds and fouled out at a critical moment in the last 2 minutes. We lost by 7. League play starts up again this weekend, and we are back home against Herner, one of the last place teams. Very big game for us in terms of starting strong, securing all must-wins and generating some momentum. My adrenaline is firing just thinking about it. God, I love this game.