Bonne Annee

Happy New Year everyone!!
First to start off I would like to pay respects to my dear friend, uncle, and crazy guy Jim "Uncle Buck" Ford. Jim passed away the 30th of December. I was fortunate to spend a little time with him over the Christmas holiday while I was home and I am so glad I got to see him one last time. He truly was a great friend to our family and in his own special way left an impression on every one of us. I will miss him a lot.
Secondly we also found out that my mom's cancer has really started to rear its ugly head. She is really in a fight now but you would never know it. She looks amazing and has that same amazing outlook on the whole situation. Her smile is like the rays of the sun, it lights up any room and anybody that looks at her can't help but smile back. Also I dont know if anything will compare to a hug from my mom. They truly are one of a kind. We had a great time over Christmas break with her and the family in Arizona. I am really anxious to get back home and spend more time with her. Love you mom!!! (please send happy thoughts and prayers to her every day)
Personal update, I am really getting used to this city. Strasbourg is a truly amazing place. I think that Christmas was created here. The spirit of Christmas in this city from mid-November until New Years is like nothing I have ever seen or experienced. There are Christmas markets set up in all the common squares around the city and you truly feel like you are at the North Pole in Santa's Workshop. Awesome. Also when visiting a Christmas Market you must indulge in Vin Chaude and crepes. Tres Bon!
Now down to Basketball. We have been struggling as of late but I am trying to bring the extra something that the team needs to get to the next level. I am working extremely hard in practice and have been preparing for games like never before. The team is now coming together after a rough start and turnover of players. Now with the second half of the season upon us I believe that we will catch our stride. My time is now and I am doing work!!! Decide Dedicate Deliver

Bon Jour

Ok everybody I have some news. I recently left the team I was with in Greece and signed with Strasbourg in France. Yes that is right, the Lewis's are back in France. We were having some problems with the team in Greece that of which I do not want to get into too much. I really liked Greece and wanted to stay there to finish out a great season but No Pay No Play. And that's all I have to say about that. (in my Forrest Gump accent)
So now we move forward in France with SIG Strasbourg. The team is located near the German boarder, basically find Paris on a map and go right and barely down a bit (due east and south for the more sophisticated reader). It is the same league that I played in last year so the transition will be very smooth as I know a lot of the players and teams out here. The team is very stable and the organization is awesome. They moved us right into an apartment and had everything set up for us upon arrival. Jessica, Zeus, and I all traveled and arrived safely 2 days ago and had a great Thanksgiving with our new teammates last night.
It is another stepping stone for me and I cant wait to get out and start Kickin Ass starting tomorrow. Getting a little better everyday!!!

New Team website: www.sigbasket.fr

This Week

Well the official ruling came in and we were penalized 2 games for our crazy fans 2 weeks ago. We will now play the next 2 homes games in an empty arena, minus family and press. So it should be very interesting. We will for sure miss having our crazy fans behind us! It will be a very different atmosphere then we were expecting but we will for sure play hard and work for a win tomorrow.
Some other big news this week was that our head coach quit Tuesday. Yep walked into the locker room Tuesday for weights and coach called us in and said he was leaving the team. It was needless to say a big knock and surprise to me. So now we are playing under our assistant coach who has been doing a good job getting us ready for our big game tomorrow. All this means is that I gotta step my game up to another level and continue to kick ass. I am actually feeling really good and put in a hard work week this week getting ready. But I must say it has been a very trying week with all that has gone down. The great part about my job is that once you step between the lines nothing else that is going on matters. The game goes on and you get to put foot to ass for 40 minutes!
I will have Jessica take some pictures of the empty gym and I will post them next week. Thanks to all the followers that have sent messages and enjoy my writing. Keep coming back.

Empty Gym Video

The link included is the play and reaction from the crowd from last weeks game you have all been asking about. It's a little long but shows just how great our fans are!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzryuZJsKkY

We have a big game tomorrow against local rival Paok. I'll update next week Allez Iraklis!!
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