Cottbus vs Halle

I realize I really set myself up for a challenge in trying to write about a game that happened almost three weeks ago, but I like challenges so......

On March 21st, we traveled over three hours west in a cramped minivan to Halle, Germany. We arrived at the opponent's arena 30 minutes before tip off, so we really had a lot of time to get warmed up and stretched.

The first half of the game wasn't host to very much excitement. They switched to a zone 2 minutes into the game and we played a very methodical and rigid zone offense. That combination that led to us being down 3 at halftime.

The second half was a bit better. Even though we didn't execute against their zone well, we rebounded better offensively so we clung to a ten point lead late in the game. The officials tried their best to give the home team every possible chance to get points by calling phantom fouls, but in the end we made enough free throws to seal the victory.

Not only did we win, but the 1st place team in the league did as well. That meant the last game of the season would determine the champion.

I believe I finished with 15ish and 10ish.

That's all I got.

Auf wiedersehen, Deutschland

Seven and a half months later...

So my first professional basketball season has come to an end and I'd like to do a recapitulation of sorts; but, I am not sure that's possible in one post. If the sheer volume of of things to share in the last 10 days wasn't enough to make this post difficult, the roller coaster of emotions surely pushes this into multi-post territory.

It is with this in mind that I've decided to provide a table of contents for my next few entries:

1.) Cottbus vs Halle

2.) Thanksgiving...again!

3.) Cottbus vs Zehlensdorf

4.) Club Sound

5.) Thanksgiving the Third

6.) Last trip to Berlin

Hopefully this will help me cover everything important that happened with enough detail. Stay on the lookout!

Rocky IV

I won't even attempt to match Goldy's latest post. From perfectly describing the tension between not wanting to offend your host and actually wanting to enjoy eating to his alter ego bursting out in all its glory, his last entry is...I can't resist...pure Gold.

Much like the battle Mateo described ( of which I am anxiously awaiting the video ), my last game could bore many similarities to a Rocky movie. We weren't the underdog, really, but there was enough punching and blood to make a watchable movie.

I don't think I've gotten a technical foul in my career, and I still haven't, but I did manage to get a warning. This probably wouldn't surprise my former roommates because they think I'm a little crazy, but I assure you I am not. I am typically very patient, but I must admit I don't have much tolerance for disrespect.

All I know, is that guy guarding me decided it was a good idea to try to sterilize me. After he realized his first attempt was unsuccessful, he tried again. The choice between children and the offensive rebound is a no-brainer, obviously, so I continued to maneuver past him. He didn't like that very much so he elbowed me in the neck and tripped me.

I got up barking at him to never, ever, do that again, but the officials stopped before I could finish the ultimatum.

Anyway the game was close the entire contest. In a crucial possession where I was not-at-all fouled ( just randomly started bleeding and lost the ball ) on an offensive rebound, there was a tussle for possession on the ground. Not only didn't the official call a jump ball, he watched as I took a left hook to the chin from the same guy who had hit me earlier. Did the official blow his whistle? Yes! But to call a travel on me. That was cool.

Anywho, to make a long story short, I hit a step back, banked, three (would you believe me if I said it was on purpose?) to twist a dagger in their chests late in the game.

Twasn't my best scoring output ( 14 ) but I rebounded well ( 12ish) and we clinched 2nd place and kept out championships hope alive.

Pop Quiz: What's my favorite letter?

...think about it...think about it.

While you cogitate on that, let me update you on this past weekend.

Numero Uno: Congratulations to the 'Herst boys on another successful season. Truth be told, only two teams that make the tournament can end on a win and only one of them is happy. I know the season didn't end as you would have hoped but you still have a lot of things of which to be proud. Special Congratulations to the '09's for being the third winningest class in the Amherst history. Even special-er congratulations to Brian Baskauskas for making the 1st-Team all 'CAC .

T.I. (Terras Irradient)

Zwei: We had a game on Saturday. We won by about 20. I was pretty bad. I think the highlight of my badness was missing a jumper that barely skimmed the backboard, getting the offensive rebound, passing it out, getting it back at the high post, hearing "SHOOOT" from my coach (who obviously thought I shot an airball), and pulling a 360 degree-in-the-air-jumpshot. The best part was that the shot just lipped out- story of the first half. The second half was better, I decided that since I wasn't really getting quality jumpshot looks against their zone, I would try dunk everything I could. That method worked decently. I got a few trips to the line out of it along with a pretty ugly posterization of a defender who tried to block my dunk. Ultimately, I was able to crawl into the double digit point plateau (11 points). I was a little embarrassed about my personal performance, but I was happy that we won (what's my favorite letter again?) and that some younger guys played the best they had played all year.

Three: We thought we would have a tougher game on Sunday, but that turned out to be false. We only scored 86 points, but we had 38 in the first quarter and just under 60 at the half. This team also played a zone, so I decided to stick with the strategy from the previous game. That worked out well. I only ended up with 15 points, but I played much less than usual and 6 of those points were dunks. Never have I ever had more than 2 dunks in a game until yesterday. The "best" part came in the fourth quarter when I got a steal and outran my opponents for a break-away finish. Can you guess what happened? Yes, I flubbed it straight off the back rim. Not that it matters or that anyone cares, but I was trying to figure out which dunk I wanted to do and paid for my indecision. When I told my dad, he responded, "You have to plan ahead for these kinds of things." I think he's right.

Immediately after the game, all of my teammates and the fans chanted for me to do pushups for missing an open dunk. I've never done them in front of a crowd before, that was an experience. C'est le vie.

The one thing I did well in both games was rebound. I think had 40 rebounds this weekend. That's another first.

Could you think of my favorite letter?

Tschuss, Adios, Ciao, Bye, Aloha, and Fair thee well.

... another update

Last week we grabbed another victory. We played Aschersleben; a team that beat us earlier in the year (yeah up 11 with 2:30 to go).

Neither team played great defense to begin the game and as a result I had 9 points by the end of the first frame. That would be the end of that, though. For the rest of the game I saw waves of double teams (even the occasional triple team) when ever I got the ball. Naturally, I was frustrated, but I don't think I've been more proud of my teammates this year.

Our starting point guard was out with the flu and a few other reserves were injured, so we went in a bit thinner than we usually do. I was worried that Nick and I would have to put up surreal numbers; but thankfully, that wasn't the case.

Our back up shooting guard, who averages around 6 points/game, had a season best 22 points. He was really efficient and took what was given to him. The starting shooting guard, who got moved to point guard because of injury, had 19, and Nick had 18. Our "utility" player had his season best of 10 points also. All around it was great stuff.

I finished with my second worst point output of the season with 9 points (14 rebounds); but I'll take that every time if we get the same result.

This coming weekend, we have a NESCAC-esque situation because we play back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday.

Speaking of which, Amherst plays Gwenydd-Mercy tonight in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Let's Go Jeffs! Terras Irradient!

Oh yeah. Current Amherst Senior, Ben Kaplan, is going to chronicle this year's quest for the Walnut and Bronze. Give it a gander!

Battle for #1

So, this past weekend was "the big game". We played the first place team for sole possession of the top league spot. Usually, there isn't great fan support when we play in Berlin; but yesterday roughly 100 fans made the 2 hour trek to support us. Between the drums, chants, and horns this was the most exciting atmosphere that I've played in since Amherst/Williams and the NCAA playoffs. 

The game started in exciting fashion as both teams put up 10 or so points in the first minute. In the first 5 minutes, I had 7 points off of a pull up jumper, a layup, and an "and 1" step back jumper- then I got hurt. I am not sure how I landed exactly, but my knee gave out and I had to ask for a substitution. There was no trainor on hand, so I had to do my best self-assessment. I went out into the hallway and figured out the most effective way to mask my gimp and returned back to the gym. My coach let me play for about a minute, but he subbed me out to stay safe. It was the worst sitting there and seeing the opponents' lead swell. They were up as many as 16, but we cut it to 10 by halftime.

I was allowed to start the second half but I could tell I was on a tight leash. Fortunately, I made two quick 3's so my coach was too distracted to be worried about my knee. We really came out strong in the third quarter. I think Nick and I scored around 20 points combined to cut the lead down to 1 heading into the fourth. 

The game's intensity didn't waiver. We actually took the lead on a monstrous leaning tomohawk dunk by Nick. We ballooned the margin to as many as 6, but back-to-back threes quickly knotted the score. With 19 seconds to go, we had the ball for last shot. One dribble. Two dribbles. Then our shooting guard dribbles the ball off his foot and it rolls straight out of bounds. They have ball for last shot with 9 seconds to go but we played good defense and forced overtime. 

Much like the beginning of the game, the beginning of OT was a crazy scoring fest. I think I had 8 or 10 points in the first 5 minutes but so did the other team's guards. A banked elbow jumpshot by some donkey on the other team tied the game with around 3 minutes to go. Both teams struggled to find a rhythm in the end. Though I am trying hard not to be bitter, I don't know why my coach stopped giving me the ball towards the end of OT. Nevertheless, we have the ball with 10 seconds to go, game tied, for the last shot. Obvioulsy we lose the ball, because things never go right at the end of close games, and our point guard tries to recover it with 4 seconds left. 

He realizes that he can't get the ball, and decides to karate chop the guy. Let me make a few things clear. Not only were we on our side of the court, and  had guys sprinting back to defend  with 3.1 seconds left, but we were also in the double bonus. That means every non-offensive foul gets two free throws. The very last thing to do in that situation is foul. 

The story gets a little better. We have one timeout left, and the rule is if youuse one in the 4th quarter or later, you can advance the ball to half court. Instead of doing that, our coach calls it before the guy shoots any freethrows. The player makes both freethrows and we have to take a shot just over half court. It doesn't go in and we lose.  Cool. 

We now need Hermsdorf to lose two out of the 5 games they have left, in order to win the league. It could happen, but beating them would have made things much simpler. I finished with 30 points and 15ish rebounds. 

Victory!

As the title insinuates, yesterday (Saturday, February 14) we successfully defended our home court  in the first game played there in over 2 months. It wasn't very pretty, especially in the beginning, but at this point in the season all that really matters is the end result. 

The game was the highest stakes game that I've played in since last year's NCAA tournament. If we won, we'd be playing the following week for first place and the right to move up a league; If TuS Lichterfelde (TuSLi) lost, they would be forced to move down a league. Finally, we were playing for something we could actually see on the horizon. 

TuSLi signed two American import players recently to help them stay afloat: a 6'4 guard and a 7'0" center. The 6'4" guard walked into our gym and onto our floor in street clothes, took a ball that we were using to warm up, shot on our basket as we warmed up, and ignored our not-so-polite requests for him to keep it moving. I didn't know much about his playing style but his demeanor told me it'd be an interesting game one way or another. 

The first half wasn't my best work. We were down 3 points and I had only scored 3 points. Nick kept us in the game well with 20 pts in the first half, but other than him, no one really scored very well. Our offense was stagnant mostly because the 7-footer did a pretty good job early in challenging shots.

The second half was much better. A couple of offensive rebounds got me going and a few post isolations helped me to find my rhythm again. I had 16 points in the second half  including a stretch of 4 or 5 straight scores. The American guard decided to defend me in the 4th quarter and ended up getting two quick fouls. He responded by storming off the court and into the lockerroom for the rest of the game. There was no shaking of hands for him at the contest's end. 

I finished with 19 and 15ish. The best part is that the first place team, Hermsdorf, lost in overtime. This means that if we win the rest of our games, we will the league outright. No needing to score by a certain point margin or anything. Woo!!

Shout out the the 'Herst boys for holding down their homecourt on Sr. Day. I'm proud of them.

Hi there...

How are things? It feels like forever since I have posted. Almost an entire month later, I can finally give an update on basketball related events. I'll start there.

On Saturday, February 7, we traveled to Berlin to play the 4th place team our league. Even though we beat them by 30 at home, we knew it would be a tough game because we'd only have 6 eligible players. Between injuries and people deciding that practice was optional, I knew I wouldn't really have a viable substitute and would have to log 36+ (out of 40) minutes.

Just as advertised, the game was even the entire way. With :23 seconds remaining the other team was down 3 with the ball. We bore down defensively and corralled a long rebound as time expired to secure the win. In 37 minutes of play, I had 19 points and 10ish rebounds. I was prepared for bad officiating, so I wasn't super surprised that I didn't get the calls that I should've gotten. My numbers weren't spectacular, but I was satisfied with my play because I made some tough shots down the stretch. Nick finished with about 12 points and 8 rebounds.

The first place team lost last weekend so we have a chance to win the league without any outside help. I'll mention more about the particulars of that when the time comes; but for now, the focus is winning next week in our (insert triumphant music here) home debut of the new year.

In other news....

I am now an independent business owner. It was just a little investment and my short term goal is only to make some extra change to help with student loans, but other people have been able to retire after 5 years. I am going to start another blog that will go into more detail and I will link it to this one.

Oh yeah.....
GOOOOOOOO STEEELERS

..Back again.

Well, after a much anticipated break from German life, I've made my way back to Cottbus and life has returned to normal.

First off, We won two games between my last post and when I flew back to NJ. Nick was definitely the shining star in each of them. I think he had 30 points and 24 points respectively. My numbers didn't stand out as much, but I played well in both games. The opponents were definitely scheming to take me out of the offense so I had to defer a bit more than usual. I finished the first game with 18 and the second with 14.

On December 19th, I flew from Berlin to Newark with a short layover in London. After a brief interrogation by US Customs, I was warmly greeted by my parents, sisters, and Kim. It was such a relief to hear American music that wasn't Rihanna's "Bom Bom Bee Dom Bom Bom Bee Dom Dom." Exit 28 never looked so good.

My time home was filled with Christmas decorations, movies, food, egg nog, monopoly, and more food. I got to help out with MKA's boys' basketball and see some old teammates and friends as well. My second weekend home I got to see Kim's family. That was good stuff, too.

Kim and I spent New Year's Eve in NYC with all but one of my former roomates, Rachael (one of my best friends and aspiring singer/songwriter), and a bunch of other people from Amherst. It was great to see everyone again.

Unfortunately, I had to head back across the Atlantic on New Year's Day. Sadness.

After pit stops in Berlin and Amsterdam, Kim and I arrived in Paris. We experimented with the Parisian subway system enough to figure out how to get to the Eiffel Tour, the Louvre, St. Michel Notre Dame, and the Grand Arch.

After Paris, it was back to Germany for us. It was nice to be able to share my life over here with someone from home. It was back to work for me as I had individual work outs and practice all week long, but it was great to come home to a familiar face.

On Saturday, before my game, Kim and I did a little bit of sightseeing around Berlin with Yogi and Martin. It wasn't exactly my idea of getting mentally ready, and my coach wasn't thrilled with the idea , but that's okay. We saw some gorgeous architecture among other great sights (not including a scary Palestinian demonstration).

The game itself went well. For most of the game we had a 15 point lead. It was my first game wearing contacts since forever. It was something special to be able to read the scoreboard. I finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds with one of the best cheerleaders in attendance (I may need make a quick, shortlist to do everyone justice. Maybe that will be my next post.)

All in all, the past 3 weeks have been 3 weeks filled with countless memories.

I guess I'll have to start the countdown until I come home again.

Big gulps.

Happy Birthday to me.

Today is my birthday (woo) and I am 22 years old. Even though this is the first time I haven't seen my family on or within a few hours of my birthday, I refuse to be depressed. I have too many things for which to be thankful.

For starters, Thanksgiving Day turned out a whole lot better than anticipated. Many of the Germans whom I am around routinely poke fun at American culture, but Thanksgiving's feast is one they fully embrace. What started out as suggestions to try and thwart homesickness quickly became expectations of a gourmet meal hosted in mine and Nick's apartment. I've secretly fancied myself a pretty good cook but my only experience with preparing Thanksgiving dinner had been helping my mom snap peas and grate cheddar. Given this, I was excited to test my mettle.

After roughly 12 hours of work, Nick and I stood proudly and patted each other on the back for successfully completing our task.
In other news, despite playing blind for the past 2 weeks, we have picked up 2 more wins and I have been playing well. On November 23, we played our weakest opponents. We were only up by about 10 at the end of the first half, but we stretched it to about 30 by the end of the game. I think I finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
This past Saturday, we traveled to Berlin and played one of our tougher opponents. We raced to an early lead and finished the first half up by 11. During the beginning of the second half, our opponents stormed back to cut the deficit to 3. I hit a buzzer beating, step-back 3-pointer at the end of the quarter to squash their momentum and push our lead to 9 points heading into the final frame.
In the last quarter we outscored them 30-17 and won going away. I think I finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Happy Birthday to me!

Who knew I didn't have to see to shoot well?

The weekend before last, we travelled to Berlin (once again) to play a league game versus a below .500 opponent. We played them once in the preseason in a game that was far from exciting. This game didn't prove itself any different. I think we won by close to 30 points. I played alright, though I didn't get as many shot attempts as I would have liked. I think the "official" record has me down for 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks. 

This past Friday, I woke up with my eyes the color of ketchup. I had to wear sunglasses inside because light felt like a hit with a sledgehammer. I called the VP of the basketball club and scheduled an appointment with the doctor. They gave me eye cream, yes cream, that burned and didn't work. I went in for another appointment Saturday morning before our game. The doctor strongly advised me against wearing contacts for a while, so I was resigned to playing blind. 

We travelled 3.5 hours to play the Ascherleben Tigers. The car ride was a special experience because the new medicine they gave me dilated my pupils. The combination of the pitched  blackness of the country night and bright headlights on the autobahn meant lots of squinting and looking away. Thankfully, the lights in the arena didn't bother me. 

We were up after every period, and up 11 with 2:30 to go but still managed to lose. Our starting point guard left the game because he was "dizzy", our back up point guard had 4 straight turnovers that resulted in break away lay-ups, and we missed 6 straight free throws including  the possible game winning ones.  Daggers. I probably played my best game since being over here but it was wasted in a losing effort. The stats aren't official yet, but my coach thinks I had somewhere between 25-32 points and 15 rebounds..

Oh yeah. Amherst plays their first game next week! Let's go Jeff's. Terras Irradient.

like a raisin in the sun?

I think Presidential elections often give valuable insights into the disposition of a country. The notion of an African American being chosen as the candidate for a major political party prophesied that change was on the horizon, that the country was embarking on new journey. But what kind of beginning lie ahead? Would this mark the beginning of finding solutions to various social and economic issues that were typically divided over phenotypic differences or would this just be the final schism during a turbulent time? With last night's results, America authoritatively responded with the former. 

I wish I could have been home to feel the vibrations of triumph that resonated across the land or to take part in the collective sigh of relief when CNN officially declared Obama the victor. I can only imagine the gamut of emotions that must have swirled within different families. I wasn't emotional until I realized how not-so-far removed I was from different times. Times when my Grandparents had to provide for my parents during the Civil Rights Movement. How could they have imagined then, when race was a determining factor for everything, that it would become a cursory detail? And, wow, how amazing is it for my 10 year old sister? She doesn't have to dream about the day someone who looks like her is President. Pause. That's not true, but this must make that vision more than a dream deferred.

Change doesn't usually happen radically and abruptly. Typically, it happens step by step then one day you look back and see how far you've walked. Since its inception, America has been a beacon to other countries. And with this election, it can start to erase some of the stains that marred it over the past eight years. 

What else is changing in America? There is a saying I found on the internet that I kind of like:

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack ran so our children could fly."

In Harlem during the 1950's, Langston Hughes (famous African American poet, novelist, short story writer, columnist, and playwright) asked, "What happens to a dream deferred"? On November 4, 2008, an entire country finally answered. 

PS-

A dream deferred. (Langston Hughes)

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode? 

PPS- We won our last game and I had a double-double.

Okay, so as requested: 

The Cottbus White Devils are now 3-1. After last weeks disappointing loss, we responded with a decisive 34 point victory over an undefeated team. Since we had been struggling to score points, my coach started me at power forward, moved Nick to center, put in another a shooter at small forward, and benched our former starting center. 

I finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds on a pretty efficient performance. We put in a few new sets on offense that aren't really designed for me to score, so I did not get many looks early; however, I managed to sneak in a few offensive boards and put backs and a few transition post ups to get going. My defender started heading straight for the paint after that so I was able to get some trail three's also. All in all, I feel much better about my/our play than I have in a few games. 

Our team lacks some leadership and dedication, but I think this game did a lot to establish confidence. It's a lot easier to put in the hard work when there is a reward, so hopefully knowing we can win in this fashion will take us to another level.

I did split my lip a little bit, but it's healing quickly.

Wellps..

Our first L

Three games into the season the White Devils of Cottbus picked up their first loss. We were up 10 at half time but ended up losing by about 11. We gave up 72 points, so the problem was definitely more of our offense. I am pretty sure we only had 5 guys out of the 12 who played score.  I played well, but 12 of the 18 points I had came in the first half.  For some reason we were far less disciplined in our offense and the only person to get quality scoring opportunities was our point guard. Hmm. 

Perhaps as frustrating as the loss itself was the way my coach handled the adversity. Every timeout was incessant yelling. Not once did he ask a question; every sentence he uttered was an imperative command in a self-righteous tone. I am quickly developing a deaf ear for 90% of the things he says to me during games. 

The pinnacle of his attitude problem for me was when we were down 9 with 40 seconds to go in the 4th quarter. I asked him if we should foul twice (in an effort to prolong the game and hope we make some shots). Both times he sat with his legs crossed, arms folded, and pouted. He didn't even use his words, all he did was shake his head. 

Next weekend is another game, so we can't dwell on this one. We will also get the chance to play them again... I'll have that day circled on my calendar.

Wie geht es dir?

Here I am! Sorry I am late, I was caught in traffic on route 80. There was an accident. 

So, what's happened since my last blog? Well, let's see:

Two weeks ago, Nick and I started German lessons. Every Friday afternoon between individual workouts and team practice, a team manager comes over with a workbook and we try and gain a new "tool" to use in typical German life. The first week was pretty much about initial interactions with strangers. We went over how to ask what someone's name is, where they are from, their age, what they do for a living, how they are doing (that's the title of this post), etcetera. Our second lesson took us beyond saying "I would like to have..." at a restaurant. I am a picky eater, so asking if I can have something different than what is on the karte will come in handy. 

Lessons have been the only things recently to remind me of the cozy safety bubble of college life. Within the last eight days, I installed my own shower head holder, had to break my bike lock (twice), had a flat tire fixed, and deal with a vice president of a certain basketball club that wasn't forthcoming with important monetary information.

At the beginning of last week, I had to saw through my bike because some stranger broke their key off in my lock. I chose to think that someone got confused and tried to unlock the wrong bike. It helps me sleep at night. I obviously had to go to the store and buy a saw myself because that's what you have to do if you want to get things done. At the end of that week, I got a flat riding to practice and broke my own key off in the lock after practice.   I didn't even break it from side to side , I twisted it broken. Keys shouldn't be that malleable- especially not with finicky locks. 

The crown jewel of dealing with things myself happened yesterday when I received an email saying that I half of the recent phone bill would be deducted from my pay next month. I wrote a harsh email saying that I didn't use the phone equally, and that when I did use it, it was at no cost. So, that a pay deduction was unacceptable. Feeling pretty good about standing up for myself, I continued to keep it funky via email and said that it's unfair to make up some magic number that we have to start paying for when our contract said the club would be responsible for the phone.

She responded with a dagger of a response. Evidently the club is responsible for providing the phone- not the service. Real cool. I wasn't happy, but ultimately it was my fault. Live and learn.

Wellps, we play our second game this weekend in Berlin. I am excited to play another game that counts.  

Big gulps, huh?

Wellps, the first game came and went. It was a real barn burner, too. With 30 seconds to go we were only up 39 points. After the game, our coach expressed his disappointment to the media saying that we "should have won by 100" against our opponent. 

Please excuse my sarcasm, but my coach did actually say that. While on the topic of things my coach did, I feel the urge to make a list- 

My coach said:

When I am open to shoot the three on the ball reversal, to not shoot.  

When I catch the ball against zone defense to try and score.

Don't shoot the wide open three off of one pass against the zone.

Shoot a challenged jump shot, instead. (Mostly because it's about two feet closer despite it still being one pass against the zone.)

Don't throw a skip pass to someone for a wide open shot that wasn't a lay-up.

Don't shoot an open shot because we can get them whenever we want.

There are a host of contradictions that I'd rather not discuss at the moment. Talking about them right now will only put me in the wrong mindset for practice in a couple of hours. 

Tough times pass, tough people last. He can kiss my grits. 

Sorry about the typographical errors earlier. Haste makes waste. 

..game day.

..T - 4.5 hours until game time. I think it is still too early to start playing "lock-in" music.

Ahem.. let me clear my throat.

I need to get something off my chest quickly. 

I haven't taken an economics class since my sophomore year of college (and I didn't do as well as I would have liked to say the least, lol), so I'm not even pretending to be any kind of authority on the best solutions to America's current financial situation. That being said, something doesn't seem right about the bail out plan the American government is leaning towards.

Monetarily beneficial or not, I think ethics should be applied to the economy because something is wrong when the profits of speculators (individuals and entities who invest in stocks, property, etc) are kept private but their losses are paid for publicly. Smells like capitalism when the rich do well and socialism when they don't. Somebody wake me up when the government decides to pay for my student loans. 

That's all I got.

Internal squabbles

Shout out to one of my older brothers, Fletch, for reminding to diversify my posts. Everyone should check out his blog at: fletchsports.blogspot.com. While you are at it, everyone should also check out a blog that all of my older siblings [hopefully] and I will be doing together at keepinitlive.blogspot.com.

I took lots of good courses during my tenure at Amherst (and I few miserable ones), but one psychology class made such an impact on me that I almost want to call it a great class. Semantics prevent me from using the label "great" in describing the entire class, but I can say that at least its premise was great. In this class, the psychology of race, we discussed (to simplify) the nature of racism. A challenge that we continually faced as a class was classifying racism. It was usually easy to figure out whether a particular issue or occurrence "felt" racist but it proved much more difficult hammering out why exactly that was. 

After individual workout this morning, I had one of these internal conflicts while eating lunch with Nick, and Thomas (the best German player on our team). Before I describe the scenario and how it made me feel, I'd like to stress that I am not writing to pass judgement or to imply how others should feel. I'm simply saying what I think. I welcome and encourage anyone to respond. 

Anyway, during lunch Thomas mentioned American politics. The conversation started with his views on President Bush but eventually morphed into a discussion of the upcoming election. He said that he supported Sen. Obama because he seems to have a clue about foreign policy. Nick agreed with Thomas' support by saying, "Yeah. Black man for president." Thomas asked if Nick was for Sen. Obama just because he's Black. Nick confirmed that this was true. Even though Thomas expressed a little bit of resentment for Nick's views, he was polite and the conversation transitioned to a Dave Chapelle skit on race. The particulars of the skit escape me at the moment, but what stuck out with me was that Nick used the N-Word incessantly. What stuck out with me even more was that Thomas began using it just as much. What stuck out with me the most was that neither seemed bothered by the other's use of the word or in the least way hesitant to use it themselves. 

So, with my head cocked to the side the way it does when I am trying figure something out, I tried to resolve some issues:

On one hand, the word is extremely loaded with negativity and it's very mentioning calls to mind the terrible struggles and hardships many people sweat, bled, and died fighting to overcome. I also admit that being a Black American makes this issue much more salient to me and consequently sensitive to it. On the other hand , neither used the word maliciously or towards me. Nick being Black and using it sort of minimizes it's impact as well.

Ultimately, I think it's a step in the right direction when people of different backgrounds can speak openly about things that were once extremely volatile and taboo. However, I also realized through my discomfort that certain things command a certain level of respect. Prejudice of any form, whether it be based upon ethnicity, creed, or personal preferences is serious. It has been at the root of many of the World's greatest human disasters and should not be minimized. 

All in all, I think lunch was a defining moment for me. I realized that education and tolerance are as important to me as my faith, personal integrity, and family. That's quite the cocktail, haha. 

..'tis all I got.

7-0

Another weekend down and another three wins to add to the wins column. 

Yesterday everyone on the team who lives in Cottbus got up at the crack of dawn to head up to Berlin for a six team tournament. The way we piled into a minivan and drove for a couple hours reminded me of AAU- especially the way my knees hurt at about the 3/4 mark of the journey. We arrived about 10 minutes before tip-off so we really had to scramble to be ready.

Our first game was certainly our easiest. The team didn't have too much size, they weren't great shooters, they took quick shots, and played a zone. Amherst has suppressed my conscience when it comes to attacking zones, lol. I took two in our first two possessions of the game just to send a message. I am just glad they went in, haha. That makes the message much more clear than two quick clankers.  The quarters were eight minutes long (they are usually 10) and Coach tried to save my legs some so I didn't play as much as I am used to. I am not exactly sure what my stats were from any of the games this weekend, but I think I had 22ish and 7ish. I am find that it's a lot harder to get rebounds as a small forward when coach keeps telling me to get back.

Our second game was tougher than our first, but we were better than them as well. They had a center who was pretty good, but other than that they didn't have anyone special. The details of that game are kind of a blur. Being a psych major has taught me that primacy (when stuff happens first) and recency ( when stuff happens last) dictate what gets remembered well when something significant hasn't happened. Anyway, I think I had 24ish and 7ish. 

Our third game was certainly our toughest opponent. Before we played, Coach said all the things that coaches tell their teams when they are getting ready to play someone who is at least as talented as them: Stay in the moment, think about what we want to do, don't let them do whatever they want, yaddayadda. This squad had size in the post (one guy's arms were literally as big as my legs) and versatility on the wings. All of that being said, we were up 11 at half time. Coach, in his infinite confidence, says that we are "still in the game". I wanted to slap him with a wet sock.  First of all, don't say "still" like there will come a time when we won't be. There was nothing to indicate that at all. Stupid. And secondly, there was no magic or miracle that's allowed us to be winning. That's what we were out there to do, wasn't it? There should be no surprises. We are good. Period. Own it. Anyways, we won by 20 something. They got Wash U-ed. I had 30ish and 7 ish I believe. 

Overall I'd give my self a B+/A- for this weekend. 

What's up, Berlin?

So yesterday a few teammates, a couple others, Nick, and I travelled to Berlin and Bernau. During the 2 hour train ride, I saw a few noteworthy things. The first is the endless countryside. There is farmland for kilometers in between bigger cities. Sprinkled in there are lots of huge three-armed windmills. I also saw the tropical "island" about halfway between Cottbus and Berlin.  The "island" is pretty much an enclosed, man-made biome.  It has its own climate and everything- complete with weather, plants, and animals. I will have to put it on my checklist of places to go. 

A little later on, we passed the new arena called O2(as in oxygen) World. In an effort to promote the NBA in Europe, the Hornets will play the Wizards there in October. Hopefully I can catch that game.

Speaking of which, after we sight-saw in Berlin for a couple hours , we rode to Bernau to catch a 4th league team play a 1st league team. 'Twas pretty crazy because one of the American import players on the team from the 4th league  (one of Nick's best friends) replaced an American player who played for half a season  before moving up to the 1st league team...both of whom played D-III. Craziness.

Anyway, I walked away from the game confident that I can play at 1st league level. Seeing them play has helped give me a sense of where I need to be and I think it's a very attainable goal.

Good, better, best....