October 25th

This week, things got back to normal... playing basketball and working out.  We had our first official game of the season this past Wednesday.  It was a "cup" game which is a tournament with all the teams in Israel regardless of division.  The bus ride down to Be'eri was about 3 hours.  Not a pleasant ride considering the seats were not made for tall people.  One nice thing the team did though was to stop about an hour away at a Hotel so the team could lay down in some beds and rest before the game.  We left a little extra early in order to give us this extra rest time.  also, we got to see some of the countryside of Israel.  It was nice but a little interesting when I found out the game was to be played only a few kilometers from Gaza.  We played a second division team and had little trouble with the game.  We ended up winning by 40+.  I got to play some minutes but a lot of my minutes came when the game had already been decided.  It is really tough just watching the game but it is something that I will have to get used to..  hopefully not too much though.  The next day in practice the coach talked with me and told me I have to improve my rebounding and some aspects of my defense.  Rebounding never used to be a problem with me but sometimes I feel like the rebounds are never falling in my direction.  I'll need to be more proactive in getting some more rebounds in the future.  We also have our first league game tomorrow.  It should be a good test for our team because it will be the first time our team has played in the first division in Israel in a number of years.  

Another issue that came up this week before one of the practices was our christmas break.  They were talking about giving us a break but having to be back before christmas.  What kind of christmas break is that?  I guess not a christmas break at all, just a break..  It would be from about the 15th of Dec to the 22nd of Dec.  this would be so we could have 2 weeks of practice before our next game. Most of the guys on the team, especially the Americans, say we don't need that much preparation.  The coach may think we'll be out of shape though with a longer break.  Of course, this all depends on if we win our next cup game.  It's all very complicated but I think if our team keeps winning games we might have a better chance to argue our way to get to stay home for christmas.  If we're losing, we might not have the luxury of arguing our way.  Anyways, I hope we get a chance to be home for christmas because my whole life I have never missed a christmas with my family.  It is a very big deal for most everybody so you can see why I'm curious about what might happen.  I'll just have my fingers crossed and hope for the best..