Comments

I just got through reading some comments which made me want to blog some more. My computer is still in the shop so I have to use Matt's computer when he is not home.

I forgot to mention our fans in the previous post and they are AWESOME. I thought this was very clever. They had three letters T V W for TV Werne but the T was colored like the German flag, the V was like the Serbian flag and the W was like the American flag. Very clever indeed. Also, they have confetti that they throw when we score big buckets. Also, very creative. I can't really say enough about the Sixth Man Crew. They do an awesome job and make the game even more enjoyable.

As for the weather out here. I guess it has been an unusual winter for Germany. We had a few inches of snow on the ground for about two weeks which was very unusual and it was extremely cold, like MN cold. Now it has gotten back to normal and there isn't any snow on the ground and probably between 35-45 degrees everyday so not too cold. Much sunnier too than during the last few months which is also a plus.

To answer Matt's question I believe I only received two tickets for speeding in the U.S. but being pulled over is a completely different number.

Love for overseas
TJW

I forgot to blow my whistle

"I saw the travel but I forgot to blow my whistle!"

Yes this is a direct quote from one of the officials following the one point loss to Muenster. The travel took place during a critical part of the game with about a minute left in the game and us down two. I was just reading Matt's blog and I completely agree with him about my disdain for people blaming games on officials but out here it is starting to get RIDICULOUS. Officials are impacting games. The game is for players, not for officials. Officials should be non existent. Not the case on Saturday.

Here is my take on officiating. I am not an official nor do I pretend to be one nor pretend to like them. An official needs to step into a game and enforce the rules although he or she has the ability to interpret the rules. I believe that an official should become involved in a game (ie: blow his or her whistle) when one team gains and illegal advantage over the other team that directly affects the game. They also have the job of keeping a game safe. I know people make mistakes and miss things but if you are in the right position and looking where you are supposed to look I can accept that. If you can't get down the floor to see if a foul occurs on a fast break or are too undisciplined to cover your area and constantly watch the ball now this I get upset about. I guess I can't blame specific individuals for this but rather the governing body that selects those capable of performing this duty. I am not a plumber because I sit on a toilet.

Ok my rant is over now to move on the game analysis.

Probably from my rant you figured out that we lost the game. The atmosphere was great with 600+ people there (600 is alot of one of our games). The fans were packed with people surrounding the floor a couple rows deep standing. It felt like a real basketball game. Muenster tried to get all NBA on us by shutting off the lights for their introductions complete with smoke machines, spot lights, and strobe lights. All I can say is I am glad I did not have eplilepsy or I could have had a breakdown.

The stage was set, everyone was hype. It made for a great game. We started out the game a little slow falling to a double digit deficit early. We managed to fight out way back to make it within five by the end of the first half. Just like the first game this one was an all out war. If I get chucked on one more time heads are going to roll. Chucked means you are trying to run through the lane and someone hits you with a forearm to your chest knocking you off balance.

We went into halftime, talk about some things to do differently and came out firing in the second half. The game stayed close the rest of the way out. The fourth quarter was an interesting story to say the least. It was a battle as we went back and forth except a battle where one team had a shield and one team no armor. The foul count in the last quarter was at least 10 to 2 . For a team that attacks the hoop as much as we do how can we only have 2 fouls for us. Either way the game was close and down the stretch we made a few mistakes that probably ended up costing us the game. We had a 6 point lead with 3-4 minutes left and if one of our late threes would have fell we could have twisted the dagger but they came back. I fouled out with about a minute and a half left in the game on a ticky tack reach on the post. For me this was really disappointing because I could no longer have an impact on the game. We ended up making a three at the buzzer to be within 1 but it didn't matter it was all done.

There is much more I could talk about on the officiating but for now I will let it rest. I realize its a hard job but sometimes its just like come on, quit being a homer.

Coaching

I can't believe I forgot to talk about the coaching I have been doing over here. Pretty much the entire time I have been here I have been coaching two different teams. One team is made up of 12-13 year olds and the other team is the second men's team with guys from 20-30 years old. I have practice almost every day with one of the teams for and hour and a half to two hours. The teams are a lot of fun to coach but the language barrier especially with my younger kids can be frustrating at times. With them though its simply fundamentals day in and day out. I will talk about the youth programs at a later time as it is a blog post in itself.

U14 Team

Honestly my U14 team is not very good. I don't have a lot of natural talent. Most of the kids come out to just have fun and hang out with their friends and that is just fine with me. It also means we are not going to win too many games. I do have a few kids who are really trying to get better and take what I say to heart which I appreciate.

I think they ended up losing by 30 or so. I could talk about officiating in this game too but lets just save that. My assistant coach got a technical during the game which was pretty funny and wrecked a perfectly good marker while he was at it.


Men's Team

My men's team played the worst team in our leage and won by 30 or so. With only one true post at the game our style of play was a little more uptempo. This team is really good when they play fast because many of the teams they are playing against are older and slow. I really like working with this team because I can put in things that they are able to go out and do where with my little kids its constantly a struggle because no one is paying attention.

One thing about these guys is they are just playing for fun and have lives outside of basketball that can take priority. This means that getting the whole team together for practice is a miraculous event.

Gamer of the day goes to Niels Bergenthum. His superb play helped us to our domination on Saturday.


Life Outside of Basketball

Does not exist.

TJW

P.S. Lily Madsen (a good high school friend) is coming tomorrow to visit on her way back from Africa. It will be nice to see a familiar face. Hope all is well. DEUCES!

Soest Game Analysis

Today's game analysis may be a little short. I would like to preface the analysis with I believe my computer crashed now for the second time over here in Germany so I do not know when it will be up and running again. I am currently secretly using Mr. Matt's computer.

Game vs. Soest

So with the absence of an athletic trainer getting ready for a game with an ankle sprain is really interesting. Lucky for me the sprain was not that bad. Matt is our stand-in athletic trainer so he was going to tape my ankle. The only problem was that we did not have enough tape to do an entire tape job. So, I just went with a half tape job threw on an ankle brace and was going to play like that. What we do have is a team doctor and he showed up slightly after this point. He said he would tape my ankle so I took off the half tape job and the ankle brace and then he did an interesting German tape job, can't say I have ever seen anything like it before. Well, after he got done I put on the ankle brace I think for the third or fourth time and by now it was game time. So much for getting a good warm-up in.

We played much better this time against Soest. During the game I never really felt like it was going to be a game. We were had a command over the game the entire time. The ankle didn't feel100 percent but surprisingly better than expected so I was happy with that. I was more tentative on drives because of it but that's just how it goes.

As I said earlier it was a good team win. Everyone in the house was in double digits. Everyone on the team saw some nice playing time.

Practice have been really good lately. Competitiveness in practice has gotten much stronger. We will be prepared to face the top two teams in our league in the next two weeks, Munster and Hagan. These next two weeks should be a lot of fun.

It was brought to my attention (Matthia) that I have forgotten all about the two teams that I coach on my blog. We will have no more of that.

U14

After two wins in a row we had a tough loss away this week. We have been making tons of improvement but still struggle with our movement and spacing.

2. Men's Team

My mens team dominated again like usual. We played fast and put the game out of reach after the first couple minutes. I think we ended up winning by 50 or so but we missed the century mark by 4 which was good for me because I didn't have to buy a case of beer for the team. All the guys got a lot of playing time and we put in a new offense that showed some promise. The PT'per (prime time player) of the day goes to Christopher Meinert.

My men's team has only lost one game all season and is in first place in the league.

As for life in Werne. All is well. I may have gotten another speeding ticket but we will see. Stupid cameras (and thanks mom for the lead foot).

Love from around the world
TJW

Great Team Win vs. Soest

We had a great team win home against Soest. We have a new player Junior who is playing his second year of pro ball over here. All five of us in the house had between 10-15 points. We ended up winning by 25 or so 81-56.

Analysis to come later

I sprained my ankle in practice on Friday so today was an interesting test, especially without the likes of athletic trainers. The day went alright and my night was cut short (which I didn't mind) so I can get ready for Munster.

LOOK OUT MUNSTER WE HOTT RIGHT NOW!!!

The Golden Fingers of Matt Goldsmith

You know what, it feels good to be back in the saddle. Its good to have Matt back and the team intact. Although we were not exactly a basketball powerhouse last Saturday we did what we needed to do to win. It will take a few more practices to get back into our groove.

So we traveled to Ibbenburen for the first game after the break. Typical German gym, techno (or was it house -- same difference well at least to me -- if anyone is wondering what difference between the two is check out Goldy's buddies blog HERE. He goes in depth on the two), small gym with dusty backboards. Have they not heard of windex. Come on.

Well we started out the game with Marc, Matt, Tremaine, Freddy, and I. The game kind of went like this. We would get a nice 10 point lead, the refs would start making crazy calls and then they would come back into the game. That happened on numerous occasions. I picked up three fouls by mid second quarter so coach smartly sat me down for the rest of the first half. We were down two at halftime and coach was not happy, understandably. We were much better than this team but kept letting them hang around.

Ok, CALL OF THE DAY: A guy from Ibbenburen has a fast break and Matt is chasing him down. As he is going up for the lay-up Matt swipes at the ball and screams. The official then proceeds to call a technical foul on Matt for distraction. For some reason you cannot make noises to distract the other team. If this rule were actually enforced there should be technical fouls on every single shot, free throw, possession and we should play in a gym without spectators. I almost fell down in disbelief after this happened.

During the second half the game remained close. The final two minutes of the game were pretty exciting. As best as I can remember it went like this. I was shooting free throws and we were down two with a little over a minute left. I made the two to tie the game. They come down and make a lay-up of some sort. We come down and I make a baseline jumper. They come down and make another bucket. We come down and T hits a long jumper. They come down and miss a long 2. We have the ball and T dribbles in the lane and kicks it out to Freddy for a three in the corner. The three falls off the front of the rim and big Matt comes barreling down the lane to grab the rebound and somehow with all of Germany hanging on his arms wills the ball up into the hoop as the buzzer sounds. He gets fouled too (and the ref actually blew his whistle to signal a foul as well).

ALMOST CALL of the DAY: The bad ref then runs to the scorers table to wave off the basket because Matt also got fouled on the play. For some reason that discounts the basket. Everything gets straightened out, the basket counts and we win. WOO HOO!!

If you are interested in the German article click HERE.

House Box Score
Tremaine: 18
Matthew: 15
Trevor: 22
Marko: 3

TJW

P.S.

Four members of the sixth man were also in attendance and they made more noise than the whole Ibbenburen crowd. Good work sixth man.

Rimini, Italy

We arrived in Rimini early in the morning so all the public transportation was closed. This was very disappointing to us because we had gotten very good at navigating trams, busses, subways, trains etc… on this trip. We opted for an overpriced taxi ride and found out later our hotel wasn't much more than a kilometer away from the station. We actually walked back to the station when we left. Not to mention I ran there twice in a snowstorm (yes a snowstorm in Italy, not quite the same as a snowstorm in MN but nontheless lots of blowing snow in my face) because only in Italy do you need your Eurail pass to buy your ticket.

Back to the story, the main reason for heading to Rimini was to see the New Years Eve festivities. I had read in my research that Rimini was a good place to go for New Year's. During the day we wandered around the city without a map and visited the local bazaar as I like to call it. Anna may have been in heaven because she loves purple and trinkets. That is what this bazaar was all about, purple clothes and trinkets. Anna knows this but I absolutely detest trinkets. I would be in heaven if i could have a baseball bat and a bunch of trinkets. This market was huge, merchants were selling everything at this big market. The three basic colors of European style in the winter is purple, black, and grey just in case anybody was wondering.

That night we headed out to the big festivities. Near the Adriatic Sea a very large stage was constructed and by the time we got there, probably 5000 people were already crowding it. The stage had a big countdown overhead and numerous famous? singers put on a show for the crowd. I guess the spectacle was televised all over Italy.

We couldn't really see the stage because of the people so Anna had the brilliant idea of climbing one of the trees. After I helped her into the tree some very eager slight happier than normal (I wonder why J ) young Italians helped me into the tree. From our tree we had a rather clear besides the branches few of the stage. We stayed in that tree for about an hour until midnight hit. We wandered around the festivities for awhile then headed back to the room. I watched some more of the show on tv.

I almost forgot, we ate at this very good authentic Italian restaurant that was also very inexpensive. It took us about 20 minutes to walk to and was definitely off the beaten path but the food was phenomenal. We got there and found out that every table had a reservation on it. Thanks to a very nice Italian lady in the corner she let us sit with her and her husband. Her English was not very good but she still tried to talk to us during the meal. She was really funny and kept raving about how good the food was there.

The food was so good and so was the price that we made the walk back to the restaurant the next night to have ourselves some more italian cuisine.

The next morning it was time to move to our final destination. I have to admit Anna got pretty good at controlling her rolly suitcase by the end.

Venice, Italy

The next morning it was time to move and Venice awaited. Unfortunately we only had 2 days and 1 night in Venice. Thanks to the Koppels our Venice hotel was hands down the nicest place we stayed; although, I did like the beds better in Interlaken. It may have been big enough to fit three of our hostel rooms inside of it. I don't know if that speaks to the enormity of our Venice hotel or the scale of our other hostels.

Venice was extremely beautiful as most of my pictures are from there. Anna and I thought it was funny how they call their boats buses because they don't actually have any real buses. All transport is either by foot or boat. The train station was a ways from our hotel so we got a nice tour of Venice in the evening. It was actually like a guided tour because a couple next to use kept pointing out the historic or important points along the journey to each other. They were reading from a book and we just happened to listen in.

The second day in Venice consisted of wandering the narrow alley ways and bridges without a map. We found this way to be most entertaining. When we needed to get back to simply found the water then took the water bus back to the train station to head to Rimini.

My favorite thing about getting to Italy was the pizza. I had a slice the second I got to the train station in Venice. Then we had pizza later that night as well. We may have had pizza again the next day for lunch as well. mmmmm pizza. Their pizza is much different than our pizza over here. The crust is much thinner and they put all kinds of crazy ingredients on it.

2009 kick-off with a BANG

We WIN vs Ibbenburen..........82-80 on a game winning putback by Mr. Matthew Goldsmith.

Game Analysis to come.

Swiss Cheese Alps

We arrived in Interlaken late evening and the hostel was only a short walk from the train station. The hostel was located right above a bar so after about 15 minutes of wandering around and walking through the bar multiple times we find out that the reception desk was actually the bar. Who would have thought! It would have been nice if one of the bartenders could of slipped us a note or something as two tired bewildered kids with lots of luggage are trudging through the bar looking for their place to stay that the reception was indeed the bar. Or a sign maybe, just a suggestion.

The Alps was my favorite part of the entire trip. The views from our snowboard runs when I wasn't looking at the snow or attempting to maneuver my way away from potentially deadly cliffs were breathtaking. Anna did a great job photographing on one our runs down the mountain. She had lots of time as she usually had to wait for me because it takes a long time to get down the mountain when you stop and start 100 times. On estimate I believe that first day I fell close to or above 100 times, got to love learning. Anna was a good teacher though, she got me down the mountain a couple times.

It took us about 45 minutes by train to get up into the mountains. Interlaken is located right at the bottom and is surrounded by peaks. We rented boards and boots for two days and spent all day on the mountain. My body hated me after the first day of boarding. The runs were unbelievably long and gorgeous. One run took us over an hour even when I didn't fall a lot (not a lot is under 15 times). But that first day I fell a lot. My body hurt but I didn't break anything, at least that I know of. There may be a lot of internal bleeding though J !!

The second day was much different. We decided to ski a different area which required us to walk a kilometer or so and wait in line to ride the lift up but it was definitely worth it. I was much better on the snowboard the second day. I think I was starting to get it figured out. We even made it down an intermediate run without much trouble. I did take a couple falls on my butt which are still in the process of healing today. We didn't snowboard as long the second day as our bodies still felt the effects of the first day.

I wish I could have had one more day on the mountain. It really was beautiful. It was nice to fall (well not nice but) and then sit in the powder and look at the tops of the clouds and the peaks in the distance. Words cannot do justice so here are some pictures.

Paris, France

Rewind…..Back to the Start (well kind of the start)

I have already talked about Barcelona so let's move to Paris. We took an overnight hotel train from Barcelona to Paris which was more expensive than expected but that's another story. Anna and I got very interesting tickets on the train. We were in different cars because the cars were split into men and women cars. In my car where two African guys that spoke Swahili and a French guy that spoke only French. Definitely an interesting situation for me. Honestly I think I spoke fewer than ten words on the whole trip. I just went up in my top bunk and didn't come down until we had made it to Paris.

After a refreshing (yeah right) night on the train we arrived uneventfully in Paris. After figuring out the metro system we took a stab at where our hostel may be and didn't shoot too far off. Paris was probably my favorite city on the trip. The trees along one of the main boulevards were lit up with a huge farris wheel at the end of one boulevard. We had to ride the ferris wheel and had a great view of the city from the top. We did a lot of wandering the first day but then bought that typical tourist bus ticket and saw all the major sites of the city.

The Eiffel Tower was amazing. The first time we saw it was at night and it was lit up with blue lights. On every hour thousands of light bulbs would go off on the tower to give the impression it was sparkling. I actually liked It much better at night than during the day. During the next day we paid to go all the way to the top and it was an awesome view. Since Paris only has one skyscraper you can see for miles.

On Christmas Eve we went out to a wonderful meal at a piano bar with authentic French cuisine. I am an avid food lover so this was one of my favorite parts of Paris. I think I had grilled duck with a pepper sauce and homemade mashed potatoes finished off with a flaming homemade ice cream. I think Anna had Mexican. She is not the same food lover as I am so getting French cuisine wasn't a priority for her. After dinner we went across the street and waited in line for the midnight service at Notre Dame Cathedral. We were very lucky to get in because I bet at least a few thousand people were waiting. This was a great experience even though the entire service was in French. Incense was used heavily during this service, I mean heavily. We had to stand right when we got in but thanks to Anna's reconnaissance work, charm, and good looks we were able to get a couple single seats near each other.

Christmas Day was spent traveling as we headed to our next destination: Interlaken Switzerland.

From End to Beginning

Hello Everyone.

 

I am currently sitting in the Vienna Airport as I have been for the past five hours with a highly anticipated and invigorating 3 hours to go. After finishing a book and playing multiple games of hearts I felt the need to do something else. I had planned on blogging about my trip around southern Europe, lo and behold the perfect opportunity to this arose during my airport dilemma. Wait, no internet. Solution: Microsoft Word and copy & paste.

 

I am going to begin at the end then go back to the beginning hopefully splitting up cities into different posts to ease the readers eye and the writers mind. Well with our navigation tool in place let's start at the end.

 

I woke up this morning like most mornings on this trip wishing I didn't have to stay in another hostel bed. My prayers were answered today but in return I had to sit in an airport for eight hours. All is good until I talk to my companion and find out she can't get her credit card to work and her flight that leaves in 2 and half hours is not fully funded. Nothing can be accomplished on an empty stomach so I head down to a hearty European breakfast of ham, cheese, bread, and museli (oh and a little bit of fruit too and actually some cut up peppers which was a nice surprise) as Anna runs to the ATM hoping to pay for the flight in cash.

 

After I got done eating breakfast Anna tells me that she cannot take out enough money at the ATM to pay for her flight. Stupid bank procedures that protect us against fraudulent charges. Now we had another problem, not enough money (so we thought) for the flight. After multiple calls to the credit company a stressful situation arose with very few answers. We may not have to be able to pay for this booked flight. We decided to just head to the airport as her unpaid flight departed in 2 hours. Anna and airports are not a good combination. After having missed one flight with Anna I had visions of another.

 

We got to the airport and to the ticket counter. Anna didn't remember exactly how expensive the flight was so it was a nice surprise to find out we were only 120 Euros short. Luckily in my wallet I had 150 Euros so I gave Anna 120 and she managed to get on her flight. I know this because I watched her walk out of the airport onto the transport bus so barring any catastrophe with the bus she made it on the plane. This was at 10:30 which left me in the airport until 7 pm when my flight leaves. I have seen a lot of people come and go that's for sure.

 

I may or may not make it home but if this makes it to the internet I must of made it home. I have 25 Euros in my pocket and have to buy a train ticket and bus ticket to get me to my doorstep once I depart my aviation adventures.

 

I indeed did make it home after a long and eventful journey. After missed trains, delayed trains, cold railway waiting and finally a trek through the snow I showed up on my doorstep at about 5:30am. In the end I made some killer snow people in the Dusseldorf train station and improved my snowball throwing skills in the Dortmund train station and finally improved my snowy navigation skills as I trekked across Werne during the early morning blizzard.

Starting at the End

So I made it back to Werne safe and sound with very few Euros in my wallet and tired legs but after a 20 hour travel day all is well. I did a bunch of writing in the Vienna airport so here goes the recap of the journey. I will try and get as many pictures as I can up but if you have facebook they will all be up on there.

Home Sweet Home

I had a long travel day which gave me lots of time to write. Lots of content to be hitting the blog today or tomorrow. Right now I have to work a basketball camp.