Back to see the wifey :)

I went back to Maine to see Andrea for Christmas break.  The trip to Maine went smoothly and everything was on time.  We really didn't do too much during our time, but it was just great being together.  Even watching TV together is great when both of us are in the same room and not talking through a computer screen.  The simple things, I think I miss those most.  We did spend time with some friends out there.  It was great to see them and catch up.  Talking to a person face-to-face is really something to be valued.  There wasn't any snow on the ground Christmas Eve, but early Christmas morning the white started coming down and didn't stop until we had 15-20 inches (38-50 cm).  Andrea and I had fun shoveling out the car a couple times, had a snow fight, and made snow angels.  We were kids again. 

The trip back to Holland today had enough road bumps for me though.  The plane from Boston to Madrid was backing out from the gate when everything went black.  The lights turned off in the cabin, the engines went down, and there was silence.  This not only happened one time, but three times.  They went back to the gate for repairs and over an hour later we were in the air.  Despite me running off the plane to catch my connection to Amsterdam, they told me I was going to be too late.  So then I had to talk to customer service because my bag didn't show up and then get a different ticket to Amsterdam.  On top of all that, I couldn't connect with our team manager who was picking me up from the airport.  I felt terrible because she was running around trying to find me.  I tried contacting her in Spain, but I mustn't have had the country code in correctly on my phone.  Oh man...it was a crazy day.  I'm blessed I got here safe though.  Tonight I'm just laying low for New Year's Eve - try to catch up on this sleep.

I hope you all had great holidays!!

Take care and God bless,
Mike

Overtime...it's a love, hate relationship

Wow...it has been way too long since my last post.  I will first talk about our games.  We lost in double overtime back on the 16th of December against the team we are currently tied with for first place in the league.  It was back and forth the whole game, but we never seemed to start the overtimes very well.  Nonetheless, we hung in there and the guys made some big shots to keep us in the game.  The most controversial play came at the end of regulation when, with 1.6 seconds left, the ball got tipped around and an opposing player ended up tossing in a mid-range shot to send it into the first overtime.  A lot happened in 1.6 seconds, almost too much, but that's how it goes on the road sometimes.  We had chances to put it away and didn't.  The outcome didn't come down to a single play or even a handful of plays. 

Our next game after that was at home and that went into overtime as well.  This time we came out victorious.  It was great to have our crowd into it and at our backs.  There weren't really any ESPN moments during that overtime and created some distance within the first few minutes of the extra period. 

We ended up the season at home and played pretty well overall.  We ended up winning by 14.  They were a dangerous offensive team and we held them to 58 points so that was a great effort on the defensive end. 

My next post will update you all on the Christmas break.  Thanks for following :)

God bless,
Mike

More ball and yes...more stitches

This past week we had two more games, both away.  We played a team on the bottom of the standings this past Sunday and we just didn't play very well collectively for the majority of the game.  We finally picked it up in the fourth quarter and built a little lead to finish off the game.  Yesterday we had our first game of the Dutch Cup.  We had played this team earlier in the season at their gym and lost by two so we had our work cut out for us.  In the second quarter I fell on one of the signs on the sideline of the court and got a gash on the lower part of my hand.  I just got it taped up to play the rest of the game, but it wouldn't stop bleeding.  We were grinding out the game and ended up winning by about five points in a low scoring game.  It didn't help that I shot absolutely terrible, but my teammates had my back.  After the game I rode with a sponsor and our team manager to a hospital in the city we were playing and got five stitches.  I will be ready to roll for our next game on Sunday against the second place team in our league. 

Take care and God bless,
Mike

Ball, drums, and stitches

Hello everyone,
December is here already and since my last post we have had three games.  We won on the road against a solid team.  I played pretty well on both ends, but had to leave the game for part of the first half because I caught an elbow below my lower lip and had to get it covered up.  I returned to the game, but when we arrived back in Leiden I had to go to the hospital to get two stitches.  It's healing well so we will see if I have a battle scar.  Andrea says I'm still handsome so I guess that's all that matters haha :)  Our next two games were at home.  We didn't play consistently throughout the game after a good first quarter and we let our opponent hang around when we should have built up a decent lead.  We hung in there and finished off the "W".  This past Saturday we played the team in third place.  We lost at there place earlier in the season by two points so we needed this win.  We had a great defensive effort for the majority of the game so that was good to see and won the game.  To top off the night I got to get a little time on the drums.  After home games the team, fans, and sponsors go to a lounge by our gym to have sandwiches and drinks.  There was a band playing and as we were about to leave I told some of my teammates that I had to ask if I could play the drums.  I went up to one of the band members and he said I definitely could.  I was thrilled to play since it has been quite a long time.  I played one song and had a smile ear-to-ear the whole time.  It was definitely a great ending to the night.  I sure am blessed. 

We don't play until next Sunday on the road and then again on Tuesday on the road for the first round of the Dutch Cup so I will keep you updated how that goes.

Take care and God bless,
Mike