Maybe We're Getting the Hang of This..

I would first like to say that it's a lot easier to write blogs when we win than when we lose. Foreshadowing? Hmm you'll just have to keep reading...

Friday. We were just coming off of our first road win on Tuesday, and we were hoping to carry that momentum into Friday...boy did we ever. Now we have had a few 3rd quarters this year where we couldn't miss, but on Friday it seemed like we couldn't miss the whole game! We had 5 guys in double figures, and we ended up winning by 41! Wow. Sweet revenge too because the last time we played that team on the road they beat us by 30.

Now to Sunday. Another game that we definitely need to win. It was a hot day as usual during the summer. I had gone through my usual routine: I arrived at the same time I always do and I had gone through my usual pregame warmup routine. We then had our halftime speech. When we came outside to go back into the gym, I had realized that it was significantly cooler than it was before...too cool in fact. I looked up to the sky and saw lightning. Uh oh. 

I know you guys remember me talking about how the gym has leaked before during practice right? Well, up until this point we have been lucky enough that it has never rained during a game...let's just say our luck ran out. Before we could finish warming up it started thunderstorming. I mean THUNDERSTORMING. It was raining cats, dogs, chickens, monkeys, and I think I even saw a zebra fall from the sky. (Yeah I know that is a corny joke but as I told someone last week it's my blog and I'll do what I want) Next thing you know both teams had to stop warming up because the floor was covered in towels. I mean covered. There were at least 20 towels on the floor trying to catch the dripping water. We played with dripping water before here in Argentina, but on this court there was no way. There was a meeting between captains and coaches, and it was decided that we were going to wait as long as it took to play the game. 

After 30 minutes, the largest thunderstorm to ever hit Río Tercero (slight exaggeration but not really) finally subsided. They cleaned up most of the water, had spotters for the places where it was still dripping, and we got ready to play the game. The crowd was pumped to get the game started after that long delay, and apparently so were we! We ended up winning by 20 points, and I had a pretty good game: 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. I got interviewed after the game, and when the interview was over I received a bottle of wine! YES! Red wine this time too. I was a happy camper. 

I wasn't really hungry after the game so I decided to take the pizza I had ordered home to eat later. It wasn't until I got outside that I realized that carrying a pizza in a very thin cardboard box on a wet bike through giant puddles would be no easy task. I debated going back inside, but I was feeling good about myself and figured I could make it. Ok. Pizza in left hand, bike in right, I can make it. After wobbling for a couple of meters (metric system in Argentina) I caught my balance and I was on my way home. I'd say it's about 6 blocks total to get to my house from the gym. Right before block two I felt a familiar feeling...I felt the pole under my seat collapsing under my weight. 

Last time this happened I was able to stand up on my bike and ride it to the bike shop. However, this time I had an unstable pizza in my hand , my pedals were wet, and it was after midnight. I did the only thing I could do, I tried to lean forward as much as possible while holding on to the pizza and I prayed that a) the seat wouldn't fully collapse until I got home b) that I didn't drop the pizza c) that I didn't fall off my bike d) no cars came when I was at the intersection because I couldn't brake and the pizza and myself would get soaked e) no cars came because they would probably hit me. At this point I'm sweating about the same as I was during the game. I kept chugging along until finally my seat collapsed! Some kind of way I was able to jump backwards off of my bike while still holding on to it and the pizza and avoiding the car that was behind me and the puddle beside me. Whew! Luckily I was only about a block from my house and I walked the rest of the way. Here is the damage...

The guy at the bike shop called me fat :( 

All is well that ends well, I enjoyed the pizza and had a good night's rest!

I added links on the the right for you to easily access stats, pictures, and I even have a couple of games uploaded if you want to watch. Shout out to Jason Cain because I figured out how to set it up that way by reading his blog. On to the next one...

On the Road Again...

After our great start to 2011, he had a stretch of four road games. Now for those of you who have been following along, you know that we have yet to win a road game this year. But before I get to that I have something more important to talk about...

My buddy turned one and she had a party!

She brightens up my bad days
and spices up my good ones.

Unfortunately, I had to miss the party because I had practice. Boy I tell you if there were ever a day for me to play hooky, it would have been that day. But I went to practice and missed her birthday party :( I can't wait until she starts running around.




Ok. Back to basketball. First road game. Back to Buenos Aires! We came out in this game a little flat and ended up losing to a good team. The two Americans that played on the other team were actually former ACC players; one from Wake Forest, and the other from...from...from...he's a Hokie. Not only was he a Hokie, he was a HUGE Hokie. He told me he was 143 kg (315 lbs) and was easily the strongest person I've ever played against. I'm just happy I made it through that game in one piece.

Second road game. Big game! We were the third to last team playing the second to last team.
- Quick break to explain the playoff system. There are 16 total teams in this league. At the end of the year, the top 4 teams get a bye, the next 8 play in the first round of the playoffs, and the bottom four have their own playoff. The two losing teams of that playoff go down to the second division. Yeah, so this was a huge game. I debated about how I was going to tell the story of this game. I think the best way would be to say that we lost 101-99 in overtime, and for you to read this article that the league published. So, yeah. I think I'll leave it at that. I also rolled both of my ankles this game. My right one before the game, and my left one in overtime. I'll just say that it is rather difficult to walk when both of your ankles hurt, but I'm so glad that I wear ankle braces.

Third road game...mmm let's skip this one.

Fourth and final road game of this stretch. Huge game. Battle of the last place teams. It started off as a back and forth battle. In the second quarter we started to fall behind a little due to foul trouble. No comment. However, we came out from halftime and had one of those "nothing can go wrong" third quarters which gave us the lead and we sustained it for the rest of the game. First road win! It felt good. Now we just have to continue at home and try to move up to at least the 12th spot.

Toe update:
You remembered when I broke my toenail? Well it's been dead for a while and as of yesterday it looked like this...

Hope you aren't eating anything

I figured since the dead toenail was raising off of the skin it was time to take it off. So after my shower, I went to work and pulled most of it off. Don't worry, it didn't hurt because most of the toenail is dead. But now it looks like this. Well, hope you enjoyed it, until next time.

Hmm...I'd say the year started on a good foot

After a long week of practice, Friday came and it was game time! I had a few more butterflies in my stomach than usual because it was the first game after a long break, and I was a little nervous that I was going to be rusty... but mmm not so much.

Rewind. Before the game I went into the locker room and I noticed the jerseys looked a little newer than normal. The first thought to come to my mind was, "I bet my name is misspelled." Sure enough...

It was the extra jersey...

No sweat. By now I'm a pro...literally hehe

On to the game. I actually knew one of the Americans I was playing against because I had played against him during one of my summers at UVA. Small world. The game came and went and at the end of it I had 30 points (with a few vicious dunks), 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks and we won by a little over 20. My first 30 point game since high school, and boy it felt good. I guess you could say there wasn't a lot of rust that I had to shake off haha.

After the game, however, I was limping a little bit. I already knew what it was because I've had that feeling before...my toenail got pulled back and it was going to come off. This is the fourth time this has happened to me, but this one was BY FAR the most painful. I had a constant throbbing pain until about 4 am. I wanted to cry, but I'm a man so I toughed it out. Here is a shot of my sock on Saturday; the day after the game.

I would show you the actual toe,
but I want to keep this blog PG

By Sunday the pain had subsided; just in time for our next game. The game didn't start off well for us, but in the 3rd quarter we exploded! We scored 34 points, and everything that could go our way did; finally, to be on the receiving end. How did I do? Well, it was hard to follow up my previous performance, so I only had 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks...but we got the win and that's what matters.

But you know what, I have some serious beef that I want to get off my chest: I DIDN'T GET ANY WINE. They teased me with wine at the beginning of the season, and now I don't get any! That's like the only reason I play hard at home, to receive my wine bottle in a brown paper bag with a little green ribbon tied on it. They better be lucky that we don't play at home for two weeks, because I was seriously considering toning it down until I got some wine! I'm just kidding...a little.

Seriously though, I attribute my performances to the day that we had to practice in the gym with no lights. I mean hey, if you can shoot in a gym with no lights, when the lights turn on it's easy! Haha.

I think that's it for now. We head back to Buenos Aires this week and we need to pick up our first road victory. Until next time.

He's Baaaaack

Finally Jerome has come back to Rio Tercero!

I had a great time at home though. It was great to see my family and friends and to celebrate my birthday with them. Here are some highlights of my trip home.

  

 

I wanted to do a caption for each, but it would have thrown the pictures out of alignment so I'll just comment on them here. The first is a picture of my friends gathering at Parrains for some seafood; boy was it good. The next...let's just say I won't be on American Idol after my basketball career. The third is a pic of my buddies and me crammed in the back on our way to another friends Pre-New Years party. Fourth is the tree that gets burned at the party every year. Fifth...if you look closely you will see that 6 people formed a human pyramid on Bourbon Street on New Years...people will do anything for beads! Next is a picture of my birthday cake they gave me at church. Last is a picture of my friend holding another friend's new born baby, who was born on the same day as me :)

Now back to Argentina. New year, new teammate. As all ways I wish my old one the best, and I hope my new one gets to hang around. But anyway I'm happy to be back and playing basketball again. We start up again this Friday, and of course I'm excited!

I was able to wear short sleeves while I was home because the temperature was in the 60s and 70s; now back in Argentina its' in the 90s. Sheesh! But I can handle it, being born in Louisiana has trained me well. What Louisiana has not trained me for is the cold showers I've had to take! I'm currently on number 4 with no end in sight because my gas heater isn't working. You'd think every cold shower would get a little easier, but it doesn't; it doesn't at all.

Well that's all for today, I'll tell you all how this weekend's games go.

P.S. I just got a Mac after fighting it for so long, I just wish I had gotten it sooner. I love this machine!