It's all over folks

Just like that, the season is over. We lost last night to be eliminated from the playoffs. We had a good home crowd too so it's a shame we had to got out the way we did. Even though they seemed to be hitting every shot, we just gave up too many points in the second quarter. We would cut the lead down, but then they would go on another run. It's a bittersweet end to the season. Yes, I get to come home, but I didn't want the season to end the way it did. I should be coming home to the states within the week.

Well, this is me signing off from the blogs for now. I hope you all enjoyed reading what I had to say. I cannot thank all of you enough for the support you have given me. I sincerely appreciate it!! I hope to see all of you soon.

As always, take care and God bless,
Mike

Another must-win game

Hey everyone,
Well, we are in the playoffs, but they have started on the wrong note this past week. We are down 2-0 in a best-of-five series. Needless to say, this is a must-win game or the season is over. The first two games were on the road and we just couldn't get clicking. The team we are playing is good, but they shouldn't have beat us four times this season by also beating us both times in the regular season. I think we are better than we are playing, but it doesn't matter unless we show what we can do. Saying and doing are two different aspects.

We play tonight at home so hopefully with a large crowd behind us we can get a win.

I hope all is well with all of you.

Take care and God bless,
Mike

Playoff bound

We won this past Saturday so we are headed to the playoffs. We came out really aggressive and took an early lead and never looked back. It was great to see us playing well together. The final score ended up being a lot larger margin than I had expected to see - 70-47. Giving up only 47 points in a game is great defense, in my opinion.

I believe our first playoff game is the 13th. We got the 6th seed so we will play the 3rd seed in a best-of-5 series. I'll keep you updated how it all goes.

Take care and God bless,
Mike

It's do or die...

Well, we lost our game last night. We were up until late in the third quarter and then they went on a run. We just couldn't regain control after that. This means that we have to win on Saturday for us to get into the playoffs. It's going to be a battle because the team we are playing needs this win to get into the playoffs as well. It will definitely be a good game to say the least.

I hope you all are doing great back home.

Take care and God bless,
Mike

In the home stretch

It is overdue to give you all an update on how the season is going over here. Since my last post we are 2-1. We had a great game against one of the better teams in the league on the 16th. We really seemed to be clicking all together that night and it helped that we had a nearly packed house and a loud crowd backing us. Our next game that following Saturday did not go in our favor, however. Although it was a long roadtrip we should have came out more lively. We were down early and never were able to get the lead. We kept it close until the end, but it just wasn't enough to get the win. Then we had a game against the last place team in our league. To tell you the truth, I kind of felt sorry for the other team. We were up in the first quarter 20 something to four. It was so bad that our crowd started to cheer a little when they scored. Now that has to be frustrating. I am blessed I am not on a team like that. I have been playing alright overall. I haven't been shooting that much, but I'm trying to be efficient with the shots I do get.

We have two games this week on Wednesday with a road game and Saturday at home and then that is it for the regular season. We have to win one of those games for sure to guarantee a spot in the playoffs. They will not be easy games because they are against some pretty good teams. Needless to say, it will be interesting how it all turns out.

I hope all is well back home. Love you all.

Take care and God bless,
Mike

It's a crazy, crazy world

I hope all is well back home. I figured I'd give you all an update on our last game and some other crazy experiences I've had lately. We lost again on the road. We just can't seem to get clicking together at the same time. We didn't give up that many points (in the 70s) but we just couldn't find a way to get the ball to fall - frustrating, but there are still five games left until playoffs start so we are still in the hunt. Tomorrow night we have a home game against one of the top teams in our league so it will be a good match for us.

There have been some interesting--to say the least--events I would like to share. First is when we were in the train station a couple weeks ago. I was walking to the bathroom through a crowd of people sitting down waiting for the train when I happen to look over at this woman breastfeeding. On a side note I should add that there was a lady outside the bathroom wanting me to pay to use the facilities even though I just wanted to get some water to wipe something off my pants. She got a little upset when I didn't pay, but it seriously only took 15 seconds) I had to double-take because this woman did not have anything covering her whatsoever. The baby was just going to town. It was just shocking because in the states women, well most I would think, at least put a blanket, shirt, anything to cover up when they are breastfeeding. Nope, not over here. This woman seemed completely fine without a cover-up while strangers were sitting right next to her. I told Tyronn what I saw and he said, "Man stop messing with me." I told him that I can't make up stuff like that. Wow...

Another event happened on our last road trip. It was on our ride home on the bus when the bus driver slammed on his brakes to find out he was a little too late to miss the deer that jumped out in front of us. That's not the crazy thing though. We stop and the bus driver proceeds to get out a garbage bag and take the deer with us. Okay, I know that it wouldn't seem crazy to us who live in Wisconsin for someone to throw a deer we hit in the back of a pickup truck, but it was just strange coming from our bus driver who clearly didn't have a pickup truck at his disposal at the time of the hitting. I just had to laugh a little bit and think well is he going to put it up top with us or down below with our bags. He put it down below just to let you know. But he wasn't going to escape some free venison.

I just had to share those with you and hopefully you got a chuckle out of it. It sure is a different world over here.

Take care and God bless.

Yes, I'm still alive

I saw my last post was February 22 - much too long ago. Not much has changed here. I just wanted to let you all know that everything is going alright and we are still in the hunt for the playoffs. We are 1-1 since my last post. We won our game at home fairly easily, but lost on the road to the team in first place in our league. We gave them a fight, but it just wasn't enough in the end. I'm not one for excuses, but a 12-hour train ride the day before the game probably didn't help much. I did some reading and watched a couple movies on my computer to help the time go by, but I felt like a little kid saying, "Are we there yet?". We have another away game this Saturday and it's a must-win to help us seal a playoff spot. It's only an 8-hour bus ride this time :)

In other news, it was almost 50 degrees today and the birds were chirping - just a lovely sign that spring is hopefully here to stay.

I hope all is well back home. I miss you all very much.

Take care and God bless

Ya win some, ya lose some

I thought I would give you all another update on our games since my last post. We lost one at home to a team that is 4th in the league right now. We held right with them until the last five minutes of the game. Finding a way to win in those close games will be crucial for us towards the end of the season and into the playoffs. Although we lost at home we got a win on the road against a team that is at the bottom of the league. Nonetheless, it was an important game for us to keep contending for the playoffs. The 6th place is still ours so that's a good thing.

Tomorrow we have a "friendly" game against a team from Hungary. We played them earlier in the season at their gym so they are coming here this time. I don't really know why we are having a game that doesn't count toward our record so late in the season. Maybe our coach is preparing for next month when we will have two games just about every week. Just go with it I guess.

I wish there was something else exciting to tell you back home. As it's said, "Same ol', same ol'". Well, I hope all is great with you all back in the states.

Take care and God bless,
Mike

Back to the games

I haven't talked about our games recently so I figured I should give you an update. Since we started up games after the holidays we are 2-3. We have hit some speed bumps, but we will be alright. We are in 6th place so we are still in the race for the playoffs since the top eight teams in the league play in the postseason. A few of the games didn't go too hot for me personally. Since I started the season off shooting well without any of the teams really knowing what I could do, they have caught on to me the second half of the season and have started to guard me closer. It's not surprising to me, it's just something I have to work around. We have another game this Sunday against a good team in the league so hopefully we can turn things around and get some momentum going in our favor.

On a different note, Tyronn and I have started eating our meals at the restaurant in the hotel instead of taking taxis back and forth to the other restaurant. It's great to get a little variety in our meals instead of having grilled chicken breasts and fries everyday. We asked the cooks if they knew how to make burgers and they looked a little hesitant at first, but we had them the other day for lunch and they were amazing. They gave us two big burgers and a plate of fries for under $5. It's tough to beat that. Plus, a little taste of home is priceless.

The weather has been overall pretty nice over here. We had a couple days in the 40s this week otherwise it's been in the 30s. I check the weather back home in the states and it looks like it's been quite a bit warmer over here. We don't have any snow either unlike the piles you all have back home.

I hope this message finds everyone well.

Take care and God bless

Anyone want a dog?

I have been here in Romania this whole time and I haven't brought up the stray dog situation here. Well, there is just about every mixed breed of dog known to man here simply walking the streets just like people. It really is quite strange. One of the guys on my team said there around 100,000 stray dogs in Bucharest, Romania's capital, alone. I believe it. We had a couple games in that city and there are dogs everywhere, of all shapes, colors, and sizes. There are a lot in Oradea as well. Three dogs actually seem to claim their territory right around the hotel where I stay. It's something different, that's for sure. I actually had a close encounter with a tough dog this fall. This dog has an owner and it is a good guard dog although it has a crippled front leg. I was walking back from the grocery store on afternoon and this dog is barking at me furiously. I was even on the other side of the street. He still didn't like it and he started to charge. I've never seen a dog with a bum leg move so quickly. I put my leg back like I was going to strike and he backed off, but it still got my heart pumping a little. The streets are rough out here - not with gangs, but with stray dogs haha. It's a different world over here - I am reminded of that every day.

I should also bring up the little airport in Oradea. We flew to Bucharest for our last away game and it was an interesting experience. The airport had one check-in desk, a little security checkpoint, and everyone that checked in was going on the same flight. Half of the walls were missing and replaced with plywood due to continued construction. But they had free wireless internet haha :) Good ol' Romania.

I hope all is well with everyone.

Take care and God bless,
Mike

Quality was more than quantity

I will give you a little rundown of my trip to the states and Andrea's visit to Romania although it's already been about a month since that has happened. Where does time go? Andrea and I went to Boston for a couple days to check out the city. It was quite cold when we were there, but it would be a pretty city in the summer. We went ice skating when we were there. It has been years since I have been on skates so I was a bit nervous I was going to fall, but I stayed up the whole time with a couple close calls. Andrea can tell you it looked pretty goofy with a guy nearly 7 feet tall on skates struggling to stay on his feet. It was a good time though. We also went to a Maine Red Claws game. They are an NBA D-League team that plays right in Portland. It was interesting and fun to see that level of play.

I felt like I was in America for about five days so it was great to have Andrea come to Romania. She got to see three games so that was great. Ten days she was here, but it went so quickly. It felt like we didn't get to do very much, but it was still well worth it. I showed her around Oradea and we got to see Budapest, Hungary, which we were really excited about. We rented a car and drove from Oradea to Budapest (about 3 and a half hours) the day before Andrea left. That is a really beautiful city and the architecture is amazing. We had our city map and we got to see everything we wanted to in one day.

While Andrea was here, I was also able to get my hands on one of my teammate's guitars. He asked if I knew how to tune it and I was glad to help. I had been really missing my guitar and wished I could have brought it over here with me. I got a lot of gratification out of playing again - playing music is something I really enjoy and I missed it more than I thought. The guy who covers our games for the t.v. wanted to do a brief story of Andrea and my relationship. I was a little leery at first because I didn't know what they were going to do. Plus I don't know what they are saying so it could be about anything to my lack of knowledge. I saw it and it turned out, how should I say, different. The camera angles were strange, but we got a kick out of it. It's a unique world over here, that is for certain.

All in all, the time flew by, but it was quality time.

I hope everything is well with you all.

Mike

Traveling - what a roller coaster

After much delay, I am back to the computer. First of all, I hope everyone had great holidays and are enjoying the new year. I will start with my flight back to the states before Christmas. It didn't go well to say the least. The flight was at 9 am so we started from Oradea at about 4:30 in the morning. The weather was foggy and the guy who was driving must have had x-ray vision because I could barely see 20 feet in front of the van. Plus he was trying to break a land speed record so that didn't help circumstances. Tyronn and I got to the airport to find out that our flight to Frankfurt was delayed and that no flights were going out at all. That is the last news we wanted to hear. We just wanted to get back to the states. We finally got on a flight six hours later, but we had to hurry if we had any hopes of catching our connections. Both Tyronn and I were sprinting through the Frankfurt airport in hopes of getting on our flights. Unfortunately, we both missed them. So now we had to wait in endless lines to try to get other flights. The weather was poor in Frankfurt as well so there was a log jam of people trying to get on flights. There were rumors from travelers that the flights were backed up four days with the amount of people that had to catch flights. My heart sank when I heard that. After running back and forth from service desk to gate and back again, I was finally able to get on stand-by with a hoard of people in the same situation. I was absolutely blessed when my name was called to get on that flight. I figured if I just got into the states, that was more than half the battle. I flew into Washington D.C. airport and had missed my other connection to Portland, Maine. There was a man in my same predicament and he said if I could get on the flight to Boston that he was on I could ride with him to Portland in a rental car. I know, kids don't try this at home. Riding with a complete stranger is not the smartest thing to do, but he was a small guy and I figured I could take him if things went awry :) So finally at 1 am I got into Portland and got to see Andrea. It was a sweet ending after all.

Traveling didn't go so hot on the way back to Romania either. This time Andrea was with so that made things better. The flight from Portland to Chicago went well and Tyronn was scheduled to be on the same flight as us from Chicago to Frankfurt. We took flight from Chicago and were just about to cross the ocean when we turned around and the captain comes on the radio saying we have to make an emergency landing in Toronto. Oh boy - here we go. They took forever to tell us what actually went wrong. As soon as we landed there were fire trucks on both sides of the plane for precaution. We were at first told that we had to land because of overheating brakes. I didn't know we needed our brakes while we were in the air :) I wouldn't be surprised if they actually had sensors telling them that info, but that wasn't the real reason we had to land. The captain comes on again and says that two of their three radios weren't working so they didn't want to cross the ocean with only one working radio. So by the time we got into Toronto it was 1 am or so and they at first weren't going to let us off the plane since we were in Canada and no one had visas to be in the country. They decided to block off a section of the airport so we could get off the plane and wait for another plane to bring us back to Chicago where we would stay the night in a hotel and catch a flight the next day. We got to our hotel room at 4:30 am and couldn't wait to sleep. What an adventure - wow. Besides waiting for a couple hours for our ride back to Oradea from Budapest traveling went well from then on so we were blessed about that. At least we were all safe and everything worked out in the end.

I will write more soon about my trip to Portland and Andrea's visit to Romania. I hope all is well back home and sorry again for taking so long to get another post up.

Take care and God bless,
Mike