As Mom would say, "...remain flexible."

Once again, it has been too long since I last posted - no excuses. As Joel mentioned, I did promise him I would post more so I will try my best to do just that. I would first like to express my gratitude to my buddy, Joel, for writing the past post. He said it absolutely beautifully, and I could not have done a better job. I truly believe he could have a career in writing if he goes for it. With that said it was unfortunate that I was included in this whole fiasco with Bruce Pearl, but what's done is done. It was negative attention that I did not want, but I hope it dissolves quickly. I really appreciate Joel for writing that flattering post.

As far as basketball goes, we started our regular season with a win in double overtime last Saturday. We had chances to finish the game many times, but we always managed to let them slip back into it. Although I wasn't particularly happy with the way I ended the game, I did end up shooting the ball well with 25 points. We have another game tomorrow actually. It was supposed to be this Saturday, but the gym was being occupied by that city's expo with events for the public. That is one thing that is different about venues over here. Many different groups use the same gym, where it seemed like I could always get into our college gym if I wanted to shoot. Our assistant coach said he coached at a city in Romania where 11 different teams and groups used the same gym. He said the gym was being used continuously from 7 am to 10 pm. I always wondered why my coaches here kind of gave me a strange look when I asked whether there was a time the gym was open to get in extra shots. Our gym situation isn't quite that extreme, but it still is occupied all the time it seems. Needless to say, I believe sports programs in the states are pretty fortunate for the most part. On a side note, I also found out that you can watch play-by-play of our games at http://www.frbaschet.ro/
I haven't tried it, but just in case you wanted to give it a whirl.

There is a zoo here in Oradea that Tyronn and I had wanted to check out before it got too cold. We had a nice day several days ago so we decided to see what it was all about. It was only donations to get in so that was nice, but after we walked through the zoo and were on our way out we decided to donate more. They had quite a few animals, but we could tell they just didn't have the funds or resources to give the proper space and living conditions for the animals. That was a little disheartening but it was still a nice change of scenery, nonetheless.

Well, I missed the October birthday party for my family this past weekend. Since there are so many of us it seems like there is always a birthday going on :) I sure miss being able to be there for events. That is the price I pay for being on the other side of the world I guess, although I missed many events when I was at school in Green Bay as well - such is life I guess. There are many things that we cannot control in life, such as what's in the media. There are also downsides we need to deal with while chasing our dreams. In such events, Mom's quote comes to mind: "In this life we must remain flexible."

Take care and God bless.