Chiming In

I will start this post with a quick recap of our season. We are doing very well and just finished up our first run through of all the teams. Overall we are 8-4 sitting in 2nd starting the second round. The second round will be a little tougher for us because a majority of the games will be on the road which is always hard. But if we maintain our confidence and keep working we should end up in a nice spot when all is said and done.

Now down to what I really wanted to write about. I have been sitting back trying to get a grasp of what has been going on in the College sports world lately. The child abuse/molestation cases that have been brought to light make me absolutely sick. Having been an athlete my whole life I have been through all levels of sports and had some extraordinary coaches of whom I owe a great deal. Outside my mom and dad I have to say that these coaches helped mold me into the player, but more importantly the man, I am today. When you are a young kid coming up in the sports world, your coaches become a very important part of you life whether you like it or not. Some coaches may not even know it but kids see everything and hear everything. A coach is looked upon with respect and trust. You look at your coach as someone who you think knows everything and will guide you on the right path. You give them respect, you give them your effort, and most importantly you give them your trust. You trust that during practice they are giving you skills to become a better player, in practice you give them everything you got to make sure you don't let coach or the team down, and finally trust. You trust that coach has your best interest in mind and would never lead you in the wrong direction. Of coarse no one is perfect and coaches will make mistakes but you trust that in the end coach was trying to do the right thing. Coaches wield a lot of power to influence their players and in my experience, and for many players I know and have played with, there has been at least one coach that without him/her they wouldn't be where they are now.

Having said all that I turn now to the atrocities that have unfolded at Penn St and Syracuse. These coaches used ALL the trust and respect that kids put in them and used it to do unspeakable things. Allegedly of coarse and I do believe full heartedly in "innocent until proven guilty". But some of the acts that have been brought forth don't leave much doubt in my mind. A coach who has the gall to use their position to put children in such a terrible situation is inexcusable. We have become so lost in the moment of sport and records and image that we look past the fact that children had their innocence ripped away from them by someone they thought was their guide, their coach. I have nothing but disgust for anyone who would take advantage of a child in any way, shape, or form. Children have one thing that makes them better then us grown ups, innocence! This world is way to tough and sometimes evil to have to force a child out of innocence and into the real world too early. My deepest prayers and sorrow go out to ALL victims of abuse and molestation of any form. We must try to preserve innocence as long as we can, there is plenty of time to grow up.

Here's Winter

Hello Mr. Frosty. Yep winter just came in nice and fierce in the last few days in Wloclawek. When I stepped off the bus after our long road trip at 5am this morning the weather had definately decided to kick into winter for real. Cold, damp air wiping up your your pant legs is no bueno. May be time for some long john's. Well we got our butts kicked in Turow yesterday. It was just an all around bad game, couldn't throw it in the ocean offensively and they didnt miss ANYTHING in the first half. We have been on a bit of a slide since our 6 game win streak and dropped our last 2 in a row. We got away from playing together and spreading the court. I had a nice double double last week which felt really good and I need to do that a few more times. I am struggling a bit from 3 right now which has really been affecting our game plan. When I am on from outside it really takes pressure off our 5 man and opens the floor WIDE. Makes it harder for the other team to double down and allows our guards to penetrate from every where and dish the ball. We will get right back to where we need to be, top of the Polish league. We are that good and will be at the top at the end of the season.
On a side note I am going to step up on my soap box and preach a bit. I have been following the lockout in the NBA, as a lot of us European players have been, and I must say it doesn't look like there is an end in sight. I am proud to say right now that I am a Profesional Basketball player and Kobe and Lebron are not, hahaha, NICE! I have also read a few articles about players from the NBA who have tried to play over here and all they say is that the living conditions, travel, and lifestyle is terrible. Well you have to be mentally tough and have heart to play over here! The fans are ruthless, refs terrible, and gyms smokey and small. But we love it over here, we play for the love of the game not the money. We play to try and support our families the best we can. I have been given many great things and opportuinties from basketball but I have also given up precious time with family and missed many important events back home but I love and respect this game. I play for the love and I hope that people understand that while it has been great, it is also hard, but the hard makes it great!