Thanks for stopping by. Take a look around and sift through all the awkwardness that is living and playing basketball in Germany. You get to experience everything without the awkward turtle. Consider yourself lucky. Enjoy!

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Friday, December 19, 2008

Barcelona

Anna and I made it to Barcelona after we almost missed our train and Anna almost took out at least five people with her rolly suitcase. As I am writing this Anna is making baby noises trying to make fun of me because she adores her rolly suitcase and gets offended when I make fun of it. The five and a half hour train ride was non eventful and we found our hostal fairly easily. Anna wanted me to add thanks to her great navigational skills. The hostal is nice with a large kitchen.

Well I just wanted to let everyone know we made the first leg of our trip. I hope to post some pictures tomorrow. Now its time to see the lovely city.

Adios
TJW

Thursday, December 18, 2008

I'm Off

Well I finally have some time off and I am headed down to Spain to meet up with Anna and do a little touring of Southern Europe. I actually leave here in a bout 6 hours for about 2 weeks.

My internet access will be sketchy throughout the trip but I will try and pop on and give everyone an update when I get the chance. If not, I just want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love from across the big pond
Trevor

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

SVD Dortmund

93-63

We got our final win of the first half of the season in fashionable style. To make a long story short we went into Dortmund and took care business. The game was close for probably the first quarter but then after that we had a 10-20 point lead the whole way stretching it to 30 by the end of the game.

The young guys stepped up again for us. Marko although takes the cake from everybody as he had his best game out here. He played very well and finally with lots of confidence. If we get this kind of contribution from these young guys we are going to be hard to stop in the second half of the season. Marko finished with a game-high 19 points.

After the first half of the season the league breakdown looks like this
1. Munster - 1 loss (to us)
2. Hagen Haspa (2 losses)
3. Luddenscheid (2 losses)
4. TV Werne (3 losses)
5. Paderborn (5 losses)
6. Recklinghausen (5 losses)

After finishing our last two games strong we have set ourselves up for a run at the championship. It should be an exciting second half.

We taped our last game too so I may be able to put a highlight film together and put it on youtube but we will see if my software starts working.

My statline for the game: 19 points (3 dunks), 12 rebounds, 5 assists

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Game Day - Dortmund

Today we are playing away at Dortmund (which isn't really that far away). This will be the last game before Christmas and a little much needed vacation time. I most likely won't be able to post the score after the game so if you NEED to know the score check out one of these two websites:

http://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/lokales/welo/wesp/Sport-in-Werne;art945,433228

http://www.wa-online.de/sportwerne.html

I don't leave for Southern Europe until the end of the week so I will post a game analysis on Monday.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A Day at School

Well I just got back from a morning at one of the schools in town.

So I was in the weightroom yesterday jamming out to my tunes when this lady approaches me right before a set of pull-ups. I take off my headphones to start saying I don't speak German but she starts speaking English. What a nice surprise. She asks me if I can come to her class and teach basketball.

Granted I had to get up a few hours before my normal wake-up time but I thought why not. After finally finding the school, then finding the RIGHT school I made it to gym class. The kids were great. They did a great job listening and trying to speak English. The kids were in the ninth grade. It was a fun class, we learned how to do lay-ups and how to pass then played some games.

One thing that I found very interesting was how diverse this group of kids are. I met kids from Turkey, Poland, Lebanon, Russia, ect... The German school system is set up very interesting. When kids finish grade school they test out into three different schools. The top school is called gymnasium followed by realschule and then halpschule. The school I was at was the lowest school.

It felt good to get involved in the community even if it was only for a few hours because my other than basketball life was getting a little monotonous.

Thought for the Day:
Get involved in something no matter how small and step out of your comfort zone. At first in may be hard and uncomfortable but thats all part of the experience. Afterwards you will look back and thing "wow" I really made a big deal out of nothing. A change of pace in life will rejunvenate the mind and body.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Paderborn Game Analysis




Hello and welcome again to late night or should I say mid day with T. On tonight's show we have a great guest for you featuring TV Werne Men's Basketball.



How ya doing TV Werne long time no talk. How have you been?


Well T I have been better. We have had a tough last couple games but made it back to the good side this last Saturday against Paderborn. This last game was definitely a must win for us and for our jobs. Not only does it keep us in the championship race but it also keeps the Americans here for another week. The way I see it, if we aren't competing for a title there is no need to have so many foreign players on the team. So I guess we live to play another day. In this business nothing is really guaranteed.

Wow, it sounds like you have been really busy lately. Tell me a little more about your last game.

Well it was a shoot-out right from the start. We started fast and got out to a nice lead early in the game. We got out to a five point lead by the end of the first quarter. We went with a smaller quicker line-up for most of the game so Wittwer had to play the four thus leaving us with only one real true post of the floor. Wittwer managed to stay out of foul trouble only picking up two in the first half. With styfiling shooting and aggressive defense we were able to take a ten point lead into halftime.

Thats a good first half, what happened with the second?

Well P'born came out hot in the third quarter. They cut the lead down to single digits a few times in the 3rd quarter. At the end of the third quarter we only had a ten point lead. Finally in the fourth we really turned it on and finished them off winning 101-83. Conboy scored the final two points to push us past the century mark with a couple free throws with 1.5 seconds left.

How did the team play?


I felt we played very well. Our energy was better, we did a better job on the boards and our defense is improving. We had 5 guys score in double figures and a few guys on the team had the best games of the season. It was good to see a bunch of guys get into the double digit scoring column. Now if we can just keep improving we will have a real shot at the title. The unofficial stats for Wittwer have him with a triple double 21 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds, 3+ blocks, and a few steals. In case you were wondering no he did not keep track of all this in his head. One guy on the team J has been hurt and keeps the other stats. Tremaine had 18 points. Tom had 14. Marko had 4. The box score will be posted at the end of the article.
Thats a nice win, so where are you sitting now in the standings?

We are currently tied for third place. Munster (the team we beat) is in the lead with one loss, followed by Hagen Haspa with 2 losses and then Luddenscheid and us with 3 losses. If all the teams win out as they are expected to the after christmas special (aka the second half of the season) could be very very interesting. 4 or 5 teams are within striking distance of the title.


So who do you have next?

We travel to Dortmund next week who will definitely prove to be a worthy opponent. That will be the final game of the first half of the season and we will have played all the teams and now have a short 2 week intermission and then the second half of the season kicks off in early January.

Well it was great having you on late night/mid day again. Until next time take care.

TV Werne BB - Paderborn II 101:83 (27:22, 28:18, 22:26, 35:17)


TVW: Aaron (18/2), Meinert (17/2), Mersch, Docenko (13/2), Manske (6), Wittwer (21), Lüttecke (8), Filipovic (4), Langos, Tübel, Conboy (14).

Saturday, December 6, 2008

vs. Paderborn

We win 101-83. Game Analysis to come in the next couple days when I get some time. Feels good to be back on the winning track.

TJW

Happy Nicolas Tag (Day)


Hello Everybody

I think we ended on a bad note on the last post so I plan to make up for any hurt feelings right now. Today in Germany is Saint Nicolas Day. You may be thinking to yourself doesn't Saint Nic come on Christmas, not in Germany. Today the sixth of December is Saint Nicolas Day. Santa Claus comes to give all the children candy. Now does Santa Claus come twice then? Today and on Christmas Eve? No my friend on Christmas Eve comes the Angel to bring presents.

So in celebration of Saint Nic Day go treat yourself to some candy, no shame.

TJW

p.s.
Marko says Hello

I will post the score of tonight's game later and have a full analysis early next week

p.p.s
I just want to Thank my little cousin Alicia (even though she is no longer little but to me she will always be little) for the delicious delicatessens she sent with my mom. My roommates and I basked in your cookie goodness for a good two days.

A word to all the other cousins, Alicia has one up on everybody -- let the games begin :)

THANKS AGAIN ALICIA

Sunday, November 30, 2008

@ Recklinghausen

100-60! We lose. Worst game I have played over here (thanks mom). Enough said. Bye

Monday, November 24, 2008

Muscles Sore; Ego Bruised

We played in our final cup game yesterday at home against Dorsten. We had played them earlier in the season as an exhibition game and won by 10. This time the script was written a little differently. Stupid Spielberg.

We dug ourselves into a hole right from the start. I have to tip my hat to their best player. He had four threes in the first three minutes of the game which were definitely not unguarded and not easy. He just came out hot. Coupled with the fact that we could not put the ball in the hoop to save our lives makes for one bad ice cream sandwich. You know the kind that you forgot about in the freezer and you proceed to pull it out to find it covered in freezer burn. Yet, you still think it could be good on the inside so you shave off the freezer burn and take a bite to find out to your horror that the ice cream sandwich is indeed no good. Yea, that kind of ice cream sandwich.

After a stiff reaming by coach we finally woke up at the end of the first quarter and began to play. I honestly don't know what happened early in the game. We just came out really flat and they made shots early. That is my best explanation for our poor start.

We did end up winning the second and third quarters and managed to cut the lead to under ten a few times. Each time Dorsten would go on a little run to get it back up to 12 or 14. It felt like an insurmountable task and ended up being one in the end. The game ended up being a 99:86 loss. I really believe that we gave everything after the first 7 minutes and we did everything we could to get back in the game. I guess this is just how the cookie crumbles.

I honestly hate losing as anyone that knows me well can attest to most significantly my mother as she has had to endure many a temper tantrums if I did not win at ANYTHING (and I mean ANYTHING). I think I hate losing more than I enjoy winning. Wins disguise weaknesses where losing exposes everything. Hopefully and I mean hopefully we look at those weaknesses in the next week and correct them. We definitely need a good week of practice. Yes, we are talking about practice.

Well my body hurts. Yoga and contrast showers for me!

Peace & Love
TJW

On a more happy note we got our first snow in Germany. Its great to have some snow but too bad it doesn't stick around for longer. It did stay long enough for me to pelt Marko with a snow ball though.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Top Ten NRJ Hits

Hey Everybody!!

Today's blog is a little different in that I am going to give you a taste of the music we listen to over here. I consulted with Marko heavily on this subject being that him and I watch videos all day long :). There is a lot of American music over here so I am going to keep this Top Ten strictly European. We only get a few English channels over here (CNN, CNBC, BBC, MTV (sometimes), and music video stations esp. NRJ Hits and YAVIDO) so the music videos are playing all day long.

Side Note: I have actually learned a lot of German from the subtitles on MTV and also learned how to count.

So here goes: The 1st NRJ HITS TOP 10 +1

11. Ching Ching - Busido

I had to put this song on the countdown only because he is German and probably the most famous German rapper.

10. La belle de mai - Stanislas

This song is sad and really touches Marko and my heart everytime we hear it (eventhough we don't understand the lyrics).

9. Pjando - Eric Prydz

This is simply another classic by Pjando, plus I know mom will appreciate the Native dancing.

8. Entre toi de moi - Matheu Edwards

Simply a great song.

7. Le blues de toi - Melissa M ft. Pras

This song is terrible until Pras comes on and makes it a NRJ HIT or should I say LEGEND!

6. Now You're Gone - Basshunter

Matthew Goldsmith's Theme Song!!

5. Tomorrow Can Wait - David Guetta

Marko's theme song. You should have seen him at the club when this came on. Wow, get out of the way because this Serbian Sensation was tearing up the dance floor.

4. Les Limites - Julian Dore (click the words to the left to see the video)

Sorry I couldn't embed this video but you MUST watch this video its HILARIOUS and its where I learned all my dance moves.

3. Un rayon de Soleil - William Balde

This song is just happy.

2. Infinity 2008 - Josh Guru Project

Enough Said.

1.C'est ma terre - Christhope Mae

This song will make you want to drop everything you are doing and just chill on the beach.


What will come up with NEXT!!!! Only time will tell. Keep this blog bookmarked because big things are coming.

TJW with consultation from Marko

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Matt Goldsmith

Just in case any of you were wondering where Mr. Matt Goldsmith's name was on the list to be completely honest I forgot. As I stated earlier in my posting Matt has returned home to heal the stress fracture in his foot. He is NOT going to play Sunday because he is in the United States.

I wanted to dedicate a single post to this man, because he is truly the man, the myth, and yes the legend. I await his return in January.

Get better soon and if I can't watch American t.v. neither can you. Only internet and NRJ hits (ow and date my mom, NEXT, Sweet Sixteen, and G's to Gents).

Monday, November 17, 2008

Off to the Races


In lane 1, we have TV Werne 03, fresh off an embarrassing loss to Luddenscheid looking to make up for lost time. This is a must win for this horse if he wants to compete for the championship in the second half of the season. In lane 2, we have a sleeper horse who ran the top horse in the league Hagen Haspa down to the wire and lost by 2 links and also competed with Munster (the 2nd horse in the league) for 3 quarters. Although this horse is second to last in the league, it definitely has the potential to pop off a good race and knock one of the top horses off. Now that you have been briefed on the race let the fun begin.

All bets are now final. No more betting please. Cocktails and hot dogs will be served throughout the evening (why hotdogs and cocktails? I don't know! Two words: MY BLOG).

And why is this only a two horse race and all the pictures have more than two horses in them? SUE ME!!

The horses are brought through the crowd and into the starting gate. That TV WERNE 03 looks a little beat up but has a bounce in his step. He could really get out to a fast start today. He has been known in the past to start quickly. BORCHEN looks meaty. He seems to be in fine shape and ready for a dirty battle. BORCHEN has been known to play a little dirty from time to time and TV WERNE 03's trainer has warned his horse. "Make sure you keep your distance, and just beat him out of the gates," said Trainer Rosic.


The horses are brought into the starting gates. The crowd (all fifteen of them and ten with drums and matching shirts just newly purchased AKA TV WERNE 03's SIXTH MAN (yes, our main cheering section all have matching shirts with SIXTH MAN on the back and their names on the front). The drums are going crazy and the other five fans are standing on the edge of their seats. Yes they were standing not sitting because there was no where to sit in this glorified elementary school.

BOOM! The gun goes off and TV WERNE 03 is literally blasted out of a cannon. At the quarter mark they already have a 30 link lead. BORCHEN seems to have gotten lost in TV WERNE 03's dust and only made 5 links of the race at the quarter. TV WERNE 03's pressure was just too stifling and they were getting fast break after fast break and also raining from the land beyond the arc. At the mid point of the game TV WERNE 03 traveled 69 links to BORCHEN'S 24. GAME OVER!!! TV WERNE 03 put it into coast mode and shut down a couple of its big engines for the second half.

TV WERNE 03 ended up winning the race 87 links to 51. RACE OVER!! All bets will be paid in full and now with every 5 hot dogs you will get a free cocktail. TV WERNE 03's next race is against DORSTEN, a horse in a league higher, as part of the CUP tournament. (YES that is TV WERNE 03 to the right, beautiful horse isn't he)

Box Score:
TEAM UND PUNKTE

TV Werne:
Aaron (14), Meinert (12/2), Mersch (8/1), Manske (6), Wittwer (20/2), Lüttecke (5), Filipovic (11), Langos (6), Tübel (3).

Tremaine and mine all came in the first half as we saw minimal time in the second half. T dislocated his finger at the beginning of the third quarter. It was actually kind of disgusting and I almost had to pop it back into place. Glad I didn't have to

Injury Report (all injuries did not occur during the game but are accumulation of the last few weeks):
Tramaine Aaron: Dislocated Finger (probable for the game on Sunday)
J: Severe Ankle Sprain (Questionable for Sunday)
Freddy: Sore Right Wrist (Likely for Sunday)
Andre: Sore Knee - waiting MRI results (questionable for Sunday)
Trevor Wittwer - Inflammation in Left Hand (probably for Sunday)
Langos - chronicly injured :) (will play Sunday)
Radek: Ill (probable for Sunday)
Marc: his knee hurts; repercussion from a hyperextension earlier in the year (likely for Sunday)

We may or may not be running a hospital (krankenhaus) during practice. We are lucky to have ten guys to practice.

Until we meet again Mr. Bond
TJW

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Sad Tale of Luddenscheid

Last Saturday is one to forget. Not the most memorable game we have had this year. All in all it was a struggle both against the other team and for me again against the officials.

Background:

Luddenscheid was tied for fourth in our league and has two league losses. They lost the first two games of the season and have been on a winning streak since then. They have a very good American, which Matt and I played against earlier this summer at a Showcase, and lots of experience from their other players. Their two big guys may be close to seven feet tall and pushing 300+ bills. We were playing without Matt for the most part and at an uphill struggle right from the beginning. Matt is currently going home until January to heal his foot and we have a new guy coming by the name of Tom Conboy, yes the same Conboy that played for Macalester. I'm excited about it.

The Game:


We came out of the gates slow falling into a double digit deficit early. We fought hard during the first half and at one point cut the lead to 3 or 4. Matt actually played for a few minutes in the first half He played an old man game. He couldn't really run so he hobbled from three point line to three point line and actually hit back to back threes. I thought he might go off after that happened.

The story of the game was not our offense being unable to score. We really could score at will but our defense was SOOOOO bad. My humble opinion is that we need everyone to come to practice. It is so different over here. If guys are nicked up at all they take a day off and we have one guy that literally misses all the practices until friday, the day before the game. Its no wonder our defense is bad, we never play together. They were just getting easy bucket after easy bucket. Not to mention they were on fire from three. I think they probably made ten threes in the first half. We helped them on this aspect by leaving shooters wide open.

Honestly, it was embarrassing to get beat down this bad. We have no attitude to stop people on defense and no chemistry. I can't honestly say that if I get beat I know there will be someone there to get my back. I play with different guys every day in practice and sometimes we don't even have 10 guys at practice.

I think that is the beauty of college. You get to play with the same guys for 2-3-4 years and you know them as well as you know yourself, if not better. I know where guys are going to be and I know I can count on them to be there.

Alright, I am going to get off my soap box and try and calm down a bit. The entire second half was us fighting from a 10-20 point deficit never really getting close enough to taste anything. We ended up losing the game 82-104. I can't say I am immune to all this that is happening. My defense definitely has to get better and I can honestly say I have gotten a little lazy on the defensive end since I have been here. Maybe its because I don't have Flommer or Drinks yelling in my ear. I can't say I always took the best shots in the game either. Sometimes frustration and desperation can cloud one's thinking.

The Officials:

Quick note about the officials. I really wish I could stop talking about them but every game something new happens. I picked up three fouls in the first half. All three just playing aggressive defense and I didn't do anything stupid. I really think that if an official doesn't know who to call it on and they see me in the crowd it automatically goes to me. My fourth foul: a guy was going in for a lay-up and I was standing underneath the hoop. I actually said to myself don't pick up a foul just jump straight up and contest. That is what I did, the offensive guy proceeded to hit me in the face with his arm and I get called for the foul. Now wait for my fifth foul, this one is the best. So we got called for some bogus travels. I at this point was getting really upset because we are getting pounded. One of the Luddenscheids big men clearly does the same thing we got called for and got fouled. No travel he actually gets to shoot two shots. This next part was intentional. The ref was standing next to coach. I walk over to coach and start questioning the call saying we got called for that exact same thing three times down there why wasn't that a travel. The ref then turns to me and gives me a technical. No swear words, no direct talking to the ref. 5th foul, see ya.

Well now that I got myself all worked up I am headed to the weight room. Time to put in some work. Sorry this wasn't the happiest post in the world and probably extremely biased but since I am the writer I get to write what I get to be as biased as I want! :)

Ciao

TJW

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

VS. Brackwede

Hallo again from Deutschland!

This past weekend TV Werne 03 picked up their fifth win of the season by taking down Brackwede at their place. We had our biggest scoring output of the year scoring 109 points but on the other side we gave up 96 points. This is a great formula on how to make coach mad. We managed this scoring hallabalooza even without Matt who's future is right now undetermined. He has been having some intense pain in his foot and recently got an MRI that was not good. It looks like her may be out a minimum of 4 weeks. The orthopedist has yet to comment so hopefully its just nothing because he is a major asset to our team.

Brackwede could be the nicest gym we have played in so far. Besides the Boise State floor (dark blue) and black lines which were very difficult to see, the floor was very springy and they had 10-15 rows of pull-out bleachers. Although this is very common in the U.S., this is something I have yet to see in Germany. For being last place in our league they sure had a nice gym. Remember, nice for Germany has no comparison to nice in the United States. A nice gym in Germany is a glorified elementary school in the United States.

Brackwede gets an A+ for warm-up music. Probably the best warm-up music I have heard over here. The music was all old school house music (there is a difference between house music and techno but we Americans would just call it techno; for an in-depth conversation about house vs. techno music please visit the Amherst Boy's Blog) and then at the end they put Infinity 2008 on repeat. Infinity 2008 is a HIT I mean HIT in our house. The song really gets you amped. Even Marco started dunking in warm-ups when he heard it.
We were definitely ready for this game with the echo of Infinity ringing in our ears; more like flowing in our blood. We jumped out to a 13 point lead right away. T was on fire from long-range and so were the rest of our guards. I may not have gotten past half-court for the first 5 minutes of the game. I would get the rebound toss a long outlet pass to someone who would either shoot a three or make one more pass for a three point shot. We managed to get their big guy, best player, into foul trouble early in the first half so that was a big help to us. We managed to keep a 10-15 point lead most of the first half and went into halftime with a 13 point lead. Now, we simply need to bury this team. Guess what happen! No seriously stop what you are doing and guess!


Ok, now you can continue reading.



The second half was a slightly different story. Like always, we enjoy giving teams a glimpse of victory then ripping it away from them. Simply put, we let Brackwede get to within 3 points of us. This game was actually quite comical at times in terms of the officiating.

A few thoughts on the officiating:
1) They constantly make us tuck our shirts in eventhough the second we start playing they come out. Our away tops are just too small to fit comfortably in our jerseys.

2) It felt like they wanted to keep Brackwede in the game. All of sudden we would just starting getting called for travels, offensive fouls, and they were getting everything. At the end of the third quarter they got a foul and I thought we may be in bonus. I look up and to my surprise that was their 2nd foul of the quarter while we had at least 10. Interesting discrepancy.

3) Refs hate Americans. So, a guy from the other team shot a three and I just put a hand up and touched his arm after he had released the ball. I then proceeded to run back on defense but ended up tripping over the guy who had fallen underneath me. The guy must have stepped wrong or stepped on my foot but he sprained his ankle. I stood next to the guy as he was rolling on the ground in pain. The ref was standing there too and looks at me and says in English "you know what you did." I was like "what are you talking about" but he continued to say "you know what you did." The guy on the ground that hurt his ankle then proceeded to say I didn't do it on purpose and it wasn't my fault. The ref continued to look at me and say "you know what you did" I simply looked at the ref and said "ask him" but obviously the ref didn't know very good English because he continued to repeat his phrase. The ref was then on a vendetta against us for awhile.

4) Anything cool, quick, and athletic is somehow forbidden in Germany. A guy was going up for a lay-up and I came up behind him and smashed the ball, pinning it against the backboard. I guess this is a goal tend in Germany, two points for them. Marko at one point tried to block a shot and slapped the backboard. The ball airballed off the other side of the rim and didn't even touch the backboard. Goaltending, two points. WHAT!!!!!!!

Well we had a game on our hands for the third quarter. The game was close for most of the second half. It wasn't until late fourth quarter where we pulled away and won by 13 or so. Coach was furious at us for keeping the game so close because this was the worst team in our league. They played a 1-3-1 zone that we struggled to get good shots against, not to mention our two best big guys fouled out in the third quarter and I had to play at the 4 position (something I haven't done since college).

Sometimes you just have to say a win is a win and move on. It doesn't matter whether you win by 1 or 50 it still counts as a win. Granted we should have pounded this team by 50 put we put on a good show for the fans and really now that is what the game is all about, entertainment.

As for me, I played well. I had 28 points with a handful of blocks, rebounds and assists but the man of the hour was Tremaine who netted 34 with 5 three pointers (see below). We are both going to need really big games and a solid team effort to win this weekend as Ludenscheid rolls into Werne. They are currently fourth in the league and playing very well.


It should be an exciting weekend!

Adios
TJW

Thursday, October 30, 2008

SIM JÜ - The Sole Reason Werne Exists


After a long waited 361 days the highly anticipated Sim Ju (I am not going to use that crazy u anymore because that forces me to switch my stupid keyboard to German then back to English and for one lousy letter its not worth it no matter how cool it looks) festival arrived and it literally took over Werne for four days of carnies, Carney food, Carney rides, Carney "you can't ever win even though it looks so easy to just throw the ball into the stupid bin but every time you throw it this magical Carney force propels the ball back out but here is a stupid trinket for playing that breaks ten minutes later" games, but most of all the guy auctioning off plants and the 1/2 meter bratwurst.

Here is a hypothetical day you could have at Sim Ju! You mosey on up and see a guy auctioning off exotic plants that look like he may have just dug them up from his backyard. You think "Oh, that one's nice I'll take it, I always wanted a palm tree in Germany." You continue on until you see the infamous 1/2 meter bratwurst. You think to yourself "I'm from America can I get a translation into inches please?" To your dismay you were thinking out loud and the Carney with a few missing teeth somehow knows perfect English or is a mathematician disguised as a Carney. He simply says to you "19.6850 inches, if you don't believe me Google it." You can't trust Carney folk so you whip out your blackberry and hes right. That's a lot of bratwurst. "I'll take one." You turn around, oh how conveniently the beer stand is directly behind you. "I'll take one." You are ordering in English but its a good thing you hold up one finger because its the universal "gimme one of them there things you are selling" sign.

"That bratwurst and beer were good what's next" you think to yourself. The creepy guy next to gives you a crazy look and then you remember to think with your mind not with your mouth. You continue on and there is the miniature version of the Eiffel Tower which signifies only one thing, CREPES. You get yourself a salami, cheese, and fish crepe because that is what everyone else got. You like this miniature theme so you decide to ride the mini-horses while you are eating your crepe. After the mini-horses you buy a curry-wurst, deep-fried mushrooms, pan-fried mushrooms, chocolate covered strawberries and bananas, Chinese noodles, pizza, a slushie, a pickle, a regular size bratwurst (because you thought it might taste different, guess what it didn't), cotton candy, and finish it off with a genuine American hamburger and hot dog. GOOD EATS.

Now that you have explored the culinary aspect of the fair you decide to check out the thrill rides. What better way to empty a stomach than rides that spin in 3 different directions and have been used as torture devices in many war torn countries. You decide to start off with something easy the spinning swings look nice. You then mosey over to the bumper cars and bust up some fools in the American flag car. After that you are feeling kind of daring and decide to take the Ferris wheel for a ride and the swings that give you a view of the city (see insert left, Anna and I rode the swings). You then realize how small Werne really is. Depressed for a second you cheer yourself up with another crepe. This time nutella and banana. GOOD EATS. Can't get enough of those crepes.

Now you feel like a champion but you still have the 3 dimensional spinning ride left to tackle. This ride flips while spinning in a circle and not to mention the whole ride is spinning at mach 10 as well. Good Luck!! After tasting again everything you tried that day and afterwards walking like a drunk guy taking a sobriety test you decide your thrill aspect is over for the evening and stumble to the beer tent for a nice evening of brew ha ha's and German folk music because it is only customary to leave Sim Ju with no money in your wallet. Those Carney folk do throw a good party though. Hooray for everything that Werne is and lives for.

On a more realistic yet probably still sarcastic note I heard of this Sim Ju no more than an hour after landing in Germany. As I was being escorted to Werne from the airport I asked what there was to do in Werne. The first thing the guy told me was that they have this huge festival in October where a half a million people come to. Its like a carnival he told me. A carnival it was. I may have heard about Sim Ju every day since that time until its arrival last Saturday. Most likely I will continue to hear about it until next year when it and the 1/2 meter bratwurst return in all their glory.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Back on Track

Werne: 86 Herford: 65

The team got off a short stint on the losing train with a home win against BBG Herford last Saturday. With a Dortmund loss to Munster that puts us in sole posessions of second place in the league behing Hagen Haspa.

Recap:

With the ancient festival SIM JU going on we still had a fairly nice turnout to our game. More to come on SIM JU when it finishes up this week which is more than deserving of its own blog post. Granted we play in a glorified elementary school gym but it has a court and two baskets so it gets the job done.

BBG Herford had three Americans on their team so anytime one hears something like that you figure they are going to be pretty solid. We started out this game with a bang scoring 29 in the first quarter to BBG's 15. The quarter was concluded with the coolest alley-oop dunk I have ever had. There was about 3 seconds left in the quarter, we were inbounding from the side. The play was to set a double screen for Matt coming towards the ball for a 3. When we ran the play I went to set a screen for Matt and my defender thinking he was being smart took a few steps towards Matt to stop him. In the meantime I took off for the hoop and Freddy threw a pass right below the rim. I caught it and put it down right on my defenders head. I actually think he helped push the ball up over the rim for me. I would have loved to get that on tape but I the one guy that was taping was too slow and didn't catch it.

We should have put them away after the first quarter but like always we let the team stay in it. Maybe its just we relax a little, maybe its tired legs, I don't know but this is becoming a reaccuring event. They actually outscored us in the second quarter to pull to within 10 at halftime. Coach was definitely upset at halftime. He was really letting us have it.

The second half started and they got a few quick buckets bringing the game even closer. In case anyone is wondering I am currently not in foul trouble at this time, maybe 2 or 3 fouls. After a bad start to the 3rd quarter we pulled it together and outscored them by four or five.

In the fourth we finally finished them going up by 15 to 20 for most of it. I did end up getting 4 fouls but didn't foul out which is an accomplishment I might add.

BBG Herford was average at best. Their American point guard would play a few minutes then sit for long time for whatever reason. They had a 6'11'' big guy that was so slow he scored on people. I think at one point he had at least 3 and 1's in a row (translation: he made the shot and got fouled). The other American Matt did a good job defending and kept him out of the lane and made him shoot jumpshots.

For us all of us played well. I had 26, Matt and Tremaine both had 18 a piece. We played pretty well as a team and continue to improve which is most important.

All in all a good win and pushing our record to 4-1 in the league.

TJW

Again, Thanks for the comments I really appreciate them and read every single one. Its a nice way for me to know whats going on back at home.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Guess who's back? Back again

After a short sabbatical I am back up and running in full force. My computer is better than ever. Kon.n really hooked it up or should I say Matt for sweet talking the IT lady. She actually wrote a sticky note to me on my computer that said "I hate your Sony computer." Even through that hate she managed to make my computer even better than before I broke it. Plus 1 karma to IT lady.

A lot has happened in the past few weeks so I will start with the most important, our last game against Hagen-Haspa. Last Saturday we unfortunately received our first loss of the season. Honestly, I feel like we are a better team than them its just they beat us down the floor too many times and we gave up way too many easy buckets in transition. They had three international players two I believe from Canada and one from America who did everything for their team.

Excitement had been building all week for this game. This is another club who wants to move up the 1.Regionallia leage. The game was so big that our club decided to arrange a fan bus to Hagen for the players and whichever fans wanted to go along. It felt more like college getting on a coach bus and driving to the game. I have never rode to a game on a fan's bus but it was definitely entertaining. Our fans really are a riot. One time the bus driver killed the bus (because naturally everything is a stick in Europe) and the entire bus errupted with chants and cheers. This was how it was all the way to the game.

We arrived at Hagen good and early to a pretty nice gym. The gyms in Hagen tend to look identical to each other so I had to do a double take to find out where I was. Those tricky Germans try to fool you every once in awhile too. Case and point I thought they had a wood floor but it was only wood colored rubber (you almost got me Germany, I get a college education for nothing Trevor 1 Germans 0). The stands were elevated about 10 feet off the floor and our fans definately outnumbered theirs 3 to 1. For only about 30 or 40 of them they can sure make a lot of noise. It could be the 3 or 4 drums they bring to every game but thats just my opinion. Drums at basketball games plus 1 Germans (Trevor 1 Germans 1).

We started the game HOT, I mean if you stuck your hand on a stove hot! We scored on our first 4 possessions and had a 10-0 lead. We kept this momentum throughout the first quater. No one was in any real foul troube yet (foreshadow) and we had a 29-19 lead. In the second quarter we did a complete 180. We were running around like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off. Chickens that were getting hacked when they went to the hoop. We scored 8 points to their 22 and found ourselves down at halftime. Not to mention yours truely had 4 fouls although I thought I only had three until I sat down at the bench and looked up at the scoreboard, DANG IT. I died a little inside. Coach had told us the week before that the refs were going to do everything to keep Hagen in the game and that very apparent almost too apparent. In the second quarter we could not get a call unless someone picked us up bodyslammed us then proceeded to jump up and down on our chests. May be a slight exaggeration but you get the point.

A single play defines the officiating of the night. We were shooting a free throw and miss. The ball comes off to Matt's side. He has a man in front of him so he reaches around and pokes the ball out. The ball clearly goes off a Hagen player. I mean the ball changed directions and goes out of bounds. The ref gives the ball to Hagen and his rationalization is that he should have called a foul on Matt so to make up for it he just gave the ball to Hagen. The thing is he DIDNT call a foul on Matt and the ball DID deflect off a Hagen player and go out of bounds. WOW!! Ok enough ranting back to the game.

The second half began and we still struggled to find any rhythm in the game. We probably had over 20 turnovers in the game and we were giving up really easy buckets. Now we were running around like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off with tired legs. They were simply beating us down the floor each time and they had a guy who could sky (translation: can jump really really high). I distinctly remember one play. I was watching the point guard bring the ball up uncontested then I saw him throw a sky rocket pass towards the baseline. I turn around to this guy flying through the air head probably going to hit the rim grabbing the ball with his left hand outstretched behind him and flushing it home. I almost clapped for that man but instead just said respect and ran back down the floor.

I managed to make it all the way to the fourth quarter without picking up a foul until about 7 minutes left in the game. I guess they felt it was time for me to take a seat for the rest of the game. I don't think there is anything more frustrating than fouling out or even playing with four fouls. It completely changes the way you play and severely limits the aggressiveness one can have. No more fouling out. I am stating it right here to the public. No more. (at least not for a while :) )

As for the rest of the team Matt and Tremaine both played well dropping 20 spots (translation: scored 20 points). I had an off night only scoring 16 or 18 depending on the paper that you look at (thats Germany for ya Trevor 1 Germany 2). I just want to be able to play the whole game again. No more fouls remember. I really think if I say it enough the basketball gods will look favorably upon me and let a few slide next time.

Well they started to pull away late in the second half and that about did it. Our legs were tired and in a way we had just given up. The game was out of reach. If coach is reading this please don't kill our legs the day before a game at least no suicides.

I have a picture that pretty much sums up our day. In the picture I am going up for a lay-up and the jumper from Hagen is rising above me about ready to volleyball spike my ball into the floor. It may have left a dent in the floor I don't remember. You know what I said after this happened (for the second time) its still our ball :) .

Just for the record if I didn't already have four fouls and scared to even touch anybody lest I pick up my five I would have tried to HAMMER it on him. Maybe next time. We will definitely meet again Mr. Hagen-Haspa. Next time at our place. Until then sleep tight.

Germany 3 Trevor 1 Game Over (but only for tonight my Melanzana Riccha is waiting)

Until next time I leave you with a thought to ponder "Why do they have Braille on drive-thru ATMS."

Ciao Ciao
TJW

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Computer CRASH

There must be something about our flat and computers. Matt's computer crashed last month and now mine has been on the fritz lately and finally said "I WILL NOT START WINDOWS" not literally but in computer language. Luckily, Matt and Tremaine's work has an IT department so it has been incapacitated for the past two weeks. I guess the lady has been having all sorts of troubles with it so that is why its taking so long. I plan to get back to my blogging ways here soon. I have a lot to write about so check in in the next couple days to see if anything has happened. That is if my computer returns today.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Update

Hey Everyone! Its been awhile since I have written a blurp so I decided since my fingers are not quite at frost bite stage that I will pound out a few keys. Nothing exciting has been happening here since we haven't had any games. During the next three weeks all the schools are on holiday so since we use their gyms we don't really have games. Coach does plan to play a few exhibition games next week to keep our rhythm as he likes to call it.

The last week has just been military training. We rarely touch a ball until the end of practice. Today we did agility drills for an hour and a half. I guess he feels that some people on our team are a little out of shape. I can't really disagree with him but I would love to touch a ball every once in awhile, this is basketball right?

Currently we are practicing in this dinky gym that doesn't even have three point lines. I don't even think the hoops are ten feet as we can adjust them at will with the crank on the wall. One of the hoops we always put down to four feet so Coach's little kid Marko can shoot. He is one of the coolest little kids I know. He loves basketball and comes to almost every practice.

Yesterday we had to opportunity to scrimmage against a pro A team called FC Shalke. The crazy thing is Brady Brink who played at Saint Johns is playing for them. We actually guarded each other for a majority of the time and i was able to catch up with him a bit before and after the scrimmage. He seems to be really liking it there and we plan to meet up again when both of our scedules allow it.

It was alot of fun to play against a team that was a few levels higher than us. It really taught us about our team. Shalke all-around had much better athletes which is understandable because they had five + ?? foreign players on thier team. There is no limit on foreign players in pro A. They also had much more basketball knowledge than many of the players on our team which makes sense because much of thier guys are older. I feel talent wise though I could definately play with these guys. I didn't feel out of my league at all. For whatever that is worth.

Well my hands are now frost bitten and I am going inside before my computer freezes. Off to Amsterdam!!

Tschuss
TJW

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Cup Game # 2

First off, I made it to Espana safe and sound. The flight was uneventful but I got off the city bus a little early so I had a long hike to my hotel. At least in Spain I can somewhat understand things and am at least able to order at a restaurant. The walk wasn't bad I got to walk along the beach and it was really nice. Germany must follow me everywhere because it was raining here when I got off the plane. I guess the good Lord just wanted me to feel at home. At least I didn't have to wear my winter jacket and a stocking cap.

I should probably start today by explaining the cup system. Cup games do not count toward our regular season record but is rather just a massive tournament between all the teams in our area of Germany in all divisions. Our first two cup games were against teams in leagues lower than us and we won both. Now we will most likely play teams in leagues higher than us and if we keep winning possibly a bundesliga team or pro A team, who knows. I believe coach said we are in the quarterfinals now of our cup games. I think then the winner of each are will then play each other for an overall Germany champion. I believe that is how it works but am now quite sure. If I find out any more information I wll let you know.

Back to the game. the gym we played in was very cool. Slightly bigger than some we have played in at the fans sat way up off the court probably 15 ft or so. The floor wasn't so nice, not yet played on nor seen a wood floor in Germany. The rims though were so soft that if the ball touched the rim it would drop about 2 inches. Good for shooters and we took full advantage.

I can't even remember the name of the team that we played but they were in a league below us and I guess fairly dominate and want to move up into our league.

TV Werne 03 did not come out to play like we should. We just played hard enough to stay within a few points of them. Honestly I never thought we were going to lose the game at any point, even when we were down 8 or 9 points in the second half. This team was slightly older and reminded me of like a city men's league team. As always they were very good shooters and they had some trees inside. Our starting center was sick and one of our back-up centers was injured so my boy Marko had to play serious time under the basket.

We were able to run whenever we wanted and our athleticism was by far superior but they made three after three after three and that is what kept them in it. It wasn't until the fourth quarter when we made a huge run and took the life out of them to go up by 20. Our pressure defense is what really fueled the run and we knocked down a few shots and thats really what did it for us.

We ended up winning the game 98-80 something. All of us just wanted to get out of there and get on with our lives. The whole game was a mental battle but we made it through and moved on with our lives.

Funny Story: The refs continue to talk to us in German thinking we will understand. We have away jerseys that are slightly small. That meanst that our tops come untucked frequently. The refs over here insist that our jerseys are always tucked in. One time the ref was inbounding the ball and everyone on our team had our jerseys untucked. Right now we have 3 americans and 1 serbian on the who don't speak or understand a lick of German. The refs continue to talk to us in German with us responding "we do not understand, we do not speak German." This seemed to have no affect on them and maybe if they talked more German to us we might finally understand, so they continued to talk to us in German. We continue to give them blank stares and finally after at least a couple minutes of this they start demonstrating how to tuck in a jersey and the light bulb kicks on in all our heads. I don't know what it is but when we speak english to the officials it means we don't know German, they obviously think we still do. I don't know.

Adios de Espana
TJW

P.S.
I just want to give a public thanks to J for letting me stay at his house, for waking up to take me to the airport at 4 in the morning and hopefully pick me up from the airport on monday. Thanks J, now get some sleep.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Game 3 vs Munster - Recap

I never really know what to expect going into a game. Coach had been talking about his game for two weeks and we had been preparing for this team for two weeks now so I knew it was a big game. I don't think I was prepared for the physicality this game was going to present. This team looked just like everyone else except this team had a little swagger too them. Many times by looking at how a team warms-up one can tell whether they are decent or not. To add more flavor to the game Munster has already declared that they want to move up to the 1.Regionallia league (we are currently in the 2.Regionallia league). I guess to do this they have beefed up their team a bit with players from higher leagues and some foreign players. The only way to move up is to win the league.

I should probably take a moment to explain the league system in Germany. It is much different than the U.S. Here in Germany basketball is not affiliated with schools like in the States. Here there are club teams. 4 or 5 club teams can all exist in the same city. The league breakdown over here from top to bottom is Budesliga, Pro A, Pro B, 1.Regionallia, 2.Regionallia, Oberliga ect... I guess there are like 6 or 7 different levels. This system is all interconnected. Usually the top team in each league will move up to the next higher league and teams that are last in one league will be bumped down a league. Each league has its own rules on foreign players. Basketball is not as popular in Germany as it is in the U.S. A Bundesliga game (the highest level in Germany) I have been told only attracts around 5000 people a game. Nothing like the huge NBA areas we see.

One thing that I am going to start doing throughout my blogs is add pictures to spice things out and add links to make it easier for the you the reader to get the full experience. I don't know if any of you have ventured to our team website but here is the picture of our team. To the right of me is Matt Goldsmith one of the guys I live with and next to him is Marko my roomate and the black guy in the front row is Tremaine Aaron the other American that lives with us. Our coach Ivan is on the far right of the picture. Our team gets along really well and plays well together. Not only do we see each other during practice but hang out on the weekends together as well. The guys are all really cool. I also really like the guys I live with which makes living over here alot easier.



Ok, now to get to the actual game. Back to Munster. The gym was packed and fans in Germany take cheering to a whole new level. Drums, confetti, horns, basically anything that makes noise was brought into the gym. From the first possesion I knew this was going to be a battle. This may have been the most physical game I have ever played in. For those you that really know me know that I have played in some physical games throughout high school and college (think: pipestone section championship game or any game in the MIAC during the playoffs) NOW multiple that by two. This game resembles an American Football game. I like to refer to this team as simply a bunch of thugs. They were all a bunch of bruisers who just wanted to push people around. They were not small either. I bet most of their guys were pushing 220. I hit the ground probably ten or more times which is unusual even for me. I had guys pinching me when I posted up and blatantly just shoving in my back on rebounds. Even after one secured a rebound he would have to endure a few slaps before he had the ball secured.

1st Half:
The craziest half of my life. I managed to pick up four fouls in the first half (actually I had five but they forgot to count one of my first ones :) ) At least three of the fouls were absolute ludacris. I feel like european officials have never experienced athleticism before and all blocks were fouls. I was getting called for touchy fouls when I was getting "taken out behind the wood shed for a beat down" on drives and rebounds. After my fourth foul my boy Matt just started screaming at me to get out of the game. Coach then decided it would be a good idea to take me out of the game. I really wasn't complaining because I didn't want to sit on the bench. Well eventhough our offense struggled throughout the first half our defense was good enough to keep us within three.

Side note: I could not make a free throw to save my life, but I was not alone in our team struggled from the line and shot under 40% for the game. If we would have made free throws we could of run away with the game.

I don't know what it was about the first half but everyone from both teams was a little hot. I got into squabbles with the other team on a few different occasions. It was actually kind of amusing because they would try and talk smart in english and it really does work well for one to trash talk in a second language.


2nd Half:

Ivan makes a smart coaching decision and had me sit for the entire third quarter. The team really battled in the third quarter and kept the game close. They played great defense and hit big shots when they needed to. We had a lot young guys step up and make plays for us which was awesome. As long as the game was close I was ok with sitting on the bench. At the beginning of the fourth I got to return to the game. We started to open up a substantial lead, maybe eight or so but this team was extremely dangerous especially from behind the three point line. Inevitably I picked up my fifth foul with about two and a half minutes on a charge about 15 meters from the hoop. Terrible call (of course right? :) )

Side Note: Officials over here LOVE LOVE charges. I have never seen so many offensive fouls in my life. They also love the travel. Everything is a travel. When someone passes to me as I am running I must slap the ball to the ground so that I don't get called for traveling. I can't catch and dribble I have to slap it to the ground. I think they love calling traveling on Americans too. :) Actually I think they love calling everything on Americans. Maybe I am just biased.

Funny Story: After one of our games Tremaine went to one of the officials and asked why the open step was a travel. An open step is when I have the ball with a left foot pivot. I can't go to my right leading with my right foot and dribble as my right foot contacts the ground. I must cross over my left foot with my right and dribble to my left. The ref explained this to Tremaine as unfair to the defender. Basically he is saying people are too slow to stop the open step. The open step is legal in the states and is a great move that works really well. Treamaine and I thought this was amusing that he would say its unfair to the defender.

Back to the game: We struggled with free throws down the stretch and they hit a couple threes to put them within one. Matt sealed the game with his two missed free throws and rebound which can be seen here. (Click on the word here to go to the link; if you ever see an underlined and discolored word click on it because its a link to somewhere). In the previous video you also get to see the crazy celebration we do after each win with our fans. Words do not give justice to this celebration.

The newspaper website also has the article of the game and also pictures along with some video from the game.

Recap: We played subpar but our effort is what really made the difference. We had young guys step up and play really well for us. Our defense is what won the game for us. That was our first test and now we have a couple weeks off of league games and come back with Hagan the other team wanting to move up leagues. We do have a Cup game (I will explain cup games at another time) on Wednesday but I will try and write about that one from Alicante, Spain. I am headed to visit Anna for the weekend. Relax on the beach for a while.

T'schoos from Germany

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Game 3 vs Munster

Awesome Game. This team is really good. I get four garbage fouls in the first half. I foul out of the game with 2 and half minutes left. We WIN by won 81-80. Defense was awesome. Offense couldn't hit anything. Biggest win of the season!! More details to come. Too much oktoberfest to celebrate.

Classic Interaction

So the other day I went to the open-air market to buy a couple things. The market is only open three days a week and they have a variety of items from meats, vegetables, fruits, to jewelry and clothes. My experience at the vegetable stand really defines the interactions I have with store keepers. So all I needed was a cucumber and I went and grabbed the cucumber and took it to the lady to pay for it. I have figured out how much it was before I bought it so I didn't have to try and figure out how much she tells me. Side note: If I don't know how much something is I usually resort to the biggest bill in my wallet and then I end up with truckloads of change. Back to the story, so the beginning of the interaction goes smoothly. She then starts to speak to me in German. I give her a blank "I have no idea what you are talking about look" and she continues to speak to me in German. She then looks at the guy next to her and he tells her something in German with prompts her to just smile and hand me the cucumber. Mission get cucumber accomplished.

I can honestly say I feel extremely unintelligent in social interactions because all I can do is say a few words and smile. Frustrating at times and also hilarious at others. The beauty of being immersed in a foreign culture.

Game Day vs Muenster. Munster is our big rival and they are looking to move up to a higher league so it will be fun spoiling their hopes tonight.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Game 2 @ Soest

I would first like to apologize for taking so long to put this post up. I was dead tired after the game and our internet is in and out all day everyday here. Hopefully it holds out long enough for me to finish this post.

So this was my first away game. We drive to games, no coach buses here just mercedes and bmws. Matt, Marko and I rode with the president in his Mercedes wagon to the game which was about an hour away. I had no idea what to expect referring to the gym we were playing in. Coach all week had been talking about how small it was but I was thinking like Macalester size for anyone who has been there.

Well, I walked into the gym and it was about the size of Reede Gray Elementary. No bleachers, nothing. Simply a row of chairs on each side of the court and two rows of benches on the baseline. The gym was packed probably with 100-200 people in this tiny space. Literally I would take one step off the court and be on someone's lap. I did actually end up on a few people's laps but I will get into that more later.

Another thing in Germany, there is no rules against what kind of noise makers you can bring to the game. Some of the students had like big drums that they were pounding the whole game. There was this one noise maker that was so annoying that I tried to get the ref to tell the kid to stop but the ref just shrugged (i think he was pretending he didn't understand english).

After a long warm-up (we warm-up for WAY WAY WAY too long) the game finally begun. The whole first quarter was a battle back and forth. They were making a bunch of garbage shots and I didn't really get into the game till at least half way through the quarter. In the second quarter we pulled away a bit and I think we went into halftime with a 9 or 10 point lead.

We simply couldn't put them away at the beginning of the second half and let them back into the game. We had to fight and scramble to keep our lead and it wasn't until the middle of the fourth quarter that we finally pulled away for good. We ended up winning by 13.

Tremaine had 17, Matt had 10, I had 33 (4 or 5 dunks). I think the rims were low in this gym too because everyone was dunking in warm-ups. Another difference about this league is that you can dunk in warm-ups. We have a few kids on our team that can really get up so they just show off during warm-ups.

Coach was still unhappy with the win because he wanted us to beat this team by 30. I guess in the paper they were talking trash about us and calling us 2nd class Americans and all this junk. I guess we just let the game do the talking.

Again after the game we did the crazy celebration with the few fans that traveled (with their drums) to the game. Our fans are really good and funny. I think I heard some USA chants coming from them at points during the game.

The best part of the day might actually have been the ride home. We rode home with one of the major sponsors of the team and he drives an AUDI. We drove 220 kilometers/hour on the autobon on the way home and made it home in like a half and hour. It probably took us about half the time to get home than it took us to get there.

All is pretty good here. During the game the blood blister that I had on my foot opened and the callous covering it tore off leaving about a silver dollar hole on the bottom of my foot. I saw the doc today and he put some stuff on it. I couldn't really walk sunday but I practiced today not really ever getting up to full speed but I should be ready to go by Saturday.

On Saturday we play Munster, which is one of the two teams wanting to move up to a higher league next season barring they win the league. You have to win the league to move up to a higher league. Coach has been talking about this game for about two weeks now and I am excited for it.

Also next weekend is Oktoberfest in Werne, so it will be interesting to see what that is all about.

I just want to thank everyone who leaves comments too. I read them and they are very much appreciated.

Wow that was long now its bedtime for me, its 12.44 in the morning here!
Trevor J.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Post Game Celebration

I almost forgot the post game celebration. This is nothing like I have ever done in basketball. After we shook hands and talked with some of the other players we jog towards the crowd clapping for them. Then we recline on the floor as the crows sings us a song. We then join in with the song and stand up and start dancing (mostly just jumping around). This whole process takes a few minutes. It was a great way to celebrate the win!!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

I almost forgot

I didn't foul out but had two fouls in the first minute! Good thing coach doesn't take me out for fouls!

First "Official" Game

The first official game finally arrived. For a small gym and team they really make a big deal about the games. They set up tents and had a food trailor outside the gym for before and after the game. The stairs were all decorated with balloons and all the fans had little flags and drums. It is definitely a different atmosphere.

I would say there were over 400 people at the game. The stands are elevated above the floor and on floor level they place VIP seating as a row of chairs along the court. Stands are only on one side of the court. Much different than gyms I am used to playing in. The fans were crazy, they had drums and all sorts of noise makers that they played constantly throughout the game.

Now to the actual game. The team we played was much older and bigger in the front court but their guards we small and weak but could shoot as always. The game was close through the first quarter. I believe we were down three or five at the end of the first. When they played us man-to-man we had no trouble scoring. It was when they switched to a zone in the second half that gave us troubles.

We were up ten at halftime and struggled throughout the second half to make shots. This cut our lead way down to two at one point. No one was hitting any shots. When we started attacking the zone we made some progress and were able to hold them off to get the win by six or so.

So far 1-0

link to the article
http://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/lokales/welo/wesp/art945,351969

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Friendly Game against BG Hagen

Well we just had another game against BG Hagen. They are a team that is in a league higher than us. I believe this team was all Germans they played a lot more uptempo than the other team that we played. They were small but quick and everyone on their team shot 3s just like the rest of europe. I got called for a few travels two on dunks and sometimes I think they just make calls up. What can you do. Its tough to get used to the Euro step too. I am starting to get it down though.

We jumped out to a quick lead and held between a 15 and 30 point lead most of the game. The team is playing well and our coach Ivan says we are now the favorite to win the league because of our last two games. Who knows?

Link to the article about the game, the paper comes out tomorrow so they may have another article:
http://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/lokales/welo/wesp/art945,346328
the slash in the box score means 3s made

The season starts this saturday so we have practice all week to get prepared.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Paper

Here is the link to the game in the paper

http://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/lokales/welo/wesp/art945,343841

There is a couple papers covering Werne so I will try and post some of the articles I find

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

1st Game - Only Friendly Though

Tonight was our first game. It was only a friendly game as in exhibition, does not count. We played a team that is in the 1st regionallia league and looking to move up to Pro B. Talking to the players before the game many of them thought we were going to get beaten. Well the game was a different story. As my usual self, I fouled out in the fourth quarter. The team plays well together and they are definitely improving everyday.

The game was a lot of fun. A lot of touch fouls on the shooters but you can murder someone down low and get away with it. The team we played probably averaged 6'7'' tall. They were very good with two good American players.

Well its starting to rain on me so I gotta run inside. Not a sunny day yet in Germany and its rained 90 percent of the days. Gotta love the weather.

All in all good win tonight, team played well, I feel I played pretty well. Its going to be a fun season.

Trevor

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

1st Practice

Practice is a little different over here. Not quite as organized as in the states and a little more conditioning without the ball. We started the the day with a no dribble 5 on 5 game to get "warmed up" and did that for like 15 minutes then everybody stretches. Much different than the states. We then just did these conditioning drills for like 30 minutes (sprint, slides, backpedal, sprint ect...) . The athleticism of American players is very noticeable. No one jumps over here and everyone clogs the lane. The talent is just not that good. The kids on the team have very limited basketball knowledge. They know how to shoot and do crazy moves but they don't understand the basics of the game. After conditioning we did box out drills. We still have yet to touch the ball after the warm-up. Then after that we go through our sets and start to do actual basketball things like 5 on 5 for the rest of practice.

The guys on the team are very nice people, very friendly and will help us out with anything. We (americans) have to do a lot of teaching during practice so it will take some time. Spacing is a big deal over here. Everyone runs to the ball or clogs the lane.

Interesting first day but I think we will be alright with Tremaine, Matt, and me. Exhibition game wednesday against a higher league team so that will be interesting to see that talent.

much love from Germany
Trevor

Monday, August 25, 2008

Wilkommen die Deustchland

My first German experience. I was at the grocery store this morning and I go to get a cart and realize they are all locked. Then I see a little coin slot and notice that you have to pay to use the grocery cart in the store. What a load of crap. So I proceed into the grocery store and grab the things that I need (at least I think they are the things that I need because I am still unable to read labels) and come to the checkout counter and pay for the goods. I then realize that there are no plastic bags to put my stuff in. I then had to load up my pockets and arms with all my groceries and walk the .5 mile plus back to my house. I believe I looked ridiculous. Better believe the next time I go back to the grocery store I am bringing a bag.

Germany is very clean. They recycle everyhthing and there is never garbage laying around. They seem to have much less waste than America. Their garbage cans are half the size and lots of windmills and solar panels.

Chao

First Game - WOW

I got my chance to watch the first game yesterday. WOW is about the only way to describe it. I think my exact words at the game were "This looks like a pick-up game at the local YMCA." Matt then replies "At least they get in fights and are some what intense at the YMCA, I can't stop laughing." Matt by the way was playing. The team we played I guess was in a lower league but they had a variety of players: A taller guy with goggles, a short asian point guard, two skinny pony-tailed germans (you get the picture). We won the game by 50 or so and Tremaine and I didn't even play.

The team I am on is made up of kids of all ages. The average age for the team is I think 20 and the three Americans (Tremiane, Matt, and I) are the oldest on the team.

Basketball here is nothing like the states. The game is so slow and they do this "euro-step" where they take and extra step (traveling in the US) but they don't allow the open step (the quickest move in the US). More thoughts will definitely come on the game later when I actually start playing. First practice is today. I am really excited about that.

Welcome to Germany

Guten Morgan! I finally got the internet to work long enough for me to write a quick entry. I finally made it to Germany after an interesting round about trip. After missing my connecting flight I was flown to Munich then to Dusseldorf. To top it all off my bags did not arrive with me in Dusseldorf, lucky enough they were delivered later that evening. I live with 3 other guys, two guys from America and one from Serbia. They are all very pleasant people. I live in a flat and share part of a room with Marko the guy from Serbia. My bed I think is a couch/bed so I have been sleeping in the living room on the sofa instead. Its way more comfortable. Ivan, my coach, is working on gettting me a real bed. I think the idea of playing in Europe is very much a romanticized idea. Home was slightly (exaggeration) more comfortable than this. I have everything I need here and it will just take some getting used to. I have been here two days and its already starting to feel like home.