May 10, 2005 and a Loss to the Auckland Stars
Over the weekend we fell to 5-4 with a tough loss to one of the best and well stacked teams in the league the Auckland Stars. This was a game that would separate either team from the rest of the league if they had won and unfortunately we didn’t end up on the winning side. The Stars controlled most of the game until midway through the third quarter. We managed to get ahead by a few points here and there but then we shot our selves in the leg again by turning the ball over supported by our weak defensive execution. Plus we were without one of our leading scorers and top players Paora Winitana for religious beliefs. Paora doesn’t work or play games on Sunday due to his strong Mormon beliefs. Not having him meant that we had to rely on our bench players a little more than we are used to. We go about 7 – 8 deep on our bench so instead of 3 subs coming on we were reduced to 2 subs. We lost the game 83-80 with a chance to tie it at the buzzer with a questionable call from the refs. Auckland had the ball with 5 seconds remaining trying to push it down to secure the win but as they were passing it up the floor one of our players got a hand on the ball deflecting it out of bounds and from my angle it looked liked Auckland’s ball but the ref thought otherwise. Sometimes I really wonder what it takes to be a NZNBL. You have to question if there is anyone watching or reviewing the games that we play because calls are made out of the blue like they just make shit up. As I remember in my college days and summer league playing in America refs would joke back with you if questioned their calls or even give you a great explanation but here they are arrogant and cocky and have no clue what they are talking about. You ask them a question and they can’t give you an answer or they give you a smart ass remark. They just talk shit to you and you can’t do a damn thing about it. Then when the game is over at the after match they try to get all friendly with you talking about the game.
Enough of the refs as I just found out that my ex-teammate from the University of Minnesota is playing for the Titans. Michael Bauer and I played together for 4 years at the U of M. Mike was sitting at home in MN when he got the call from his agent saying that the Titans needed someone to replace Greg Lewis for a month because he had broken his hand. In his first game he had 20-12-3 which isn’t that bad for only getting off the plane a day before the game.
Lately I haven’t been as bored as I was when I first got here thank god for that one. I think that I am just getting used to the same routine of coming home and watching all the DVD’s that I have and sending as many emails I possibly can even if they don’t make any sense. That pretty much takes up a lot of my time because of my dial-up internet it takes me 10 minutes to send out an email. Haha The days have been warm and beautiful but the nights cold as ice and it seems as my house is an igloo. I wake up in the morning thinking that I am in Alaska because I am able to see my breath. Lets put it this way I am so cold that when I wake up at night dying of thirst or in dyer need to take a wee-wee break I decide to stay in bed fearing that if I get up that I will lose fingers or toes from frost bite. Haha It isn’t that bad but I could use about 10 more blankets and a few more heaters.
The good ol boys Scotty McGregor and Rusty Hinder have
been doing better as of late as it is reported in Rusty’s blogs.
( www.thehinders.com) Another interesting site is Chris Anstey’s
site ( www.anstey.com.au) as he talks about everything that you could
imagine about his experience in Russia without editing anything out.
He isn’t scared to call out his coach or teammates as you read
his journals. I think that they are pretty good but I would think that
if your organization that you’re playing for sees that you are
negatively talking about the team, teammates or organization they wouldn’t
be very happy. In his latest journals he talks about how the coach doesn’t
have the guts to confront his players himself so he gives them a sheet
with questions to answer about various issues. It is a good read and
I recommend it. This is it for now as nothing really exciting happens
at this end of the computer or world.
May 13th Hawks Win 102 – Titans 90
The game against the Titans is a big game for us because if we were to drop this one that would mean that we have started to dig a hole and fall towards the end of the ladder. Winning meant that we got closer to the top of the league and back on our winning ways. The titan team has good players like Pero Cameron, Kamtrail Horton, Luke Martin, Michael Bauer and a very talented bench. I was feeling good at the beginning of the game feeling energized and ready to play. I knew that this was a big game for us and we were playing my ex-college teammate so I wanted to get bragging rights. Let’s just say the game didn’t start out the way we had thought trailing by 6 points early on. Shawn Dennis (Coach) quickly called a timeout and blasted us in the huddle. I haven’t seen an ass chewing like this since the day I told my girl friend she looked fat. (I am only kidding about calling my girlfriend fat but you could imagine the rage in her if I did) After the quick 30 second ass chewing from hell we got it going and had that fire lit under our asses all game. We regained the lead never looking back. Early in the first quarter something rare happened during the game as there was an unidentified flying object running around on the court. Yeah folks you got that right I had my legs this game and got a pass on the baseline drop stepped and then elevated to heights unknown to many men or animals out there for one of my world famous finger tip dunks that come along as often as a falling star. It was something poetic as I shook the rim like Shaq giving us another two points to add to our lead. Going into the fourth quarter with a 10 point lead we were ready to put the nail in the coffin but someone told Kamtrail Horton to start shooting the lights out and he did just that. This guy couldn’t miss draining everything from two’s to deep deep trey balls. No matter what he threw at the rim it went in and his prayers were answered. It was an impressive display of shooting that I have seen in person but too bad it wasn’t enough. Kamtrail kept making shots and they kept fouling Paulie Henare putting him to the line most of the fourth. Well Paul has ice in his veins and nothing fazed him as he hit most of the free throws finishing the game with a team hi 28 points. Overall it was another good game at Petirew arena and we were rewarded with the great loyalty of our fans coming out to watch even when there were a few good rugby super 12 games on.
After the game I caught up with my ex-college teammate at the Shed2 for a few drinks and something to eat. I haven’t been in the USA for almost a year now so it was a good feeling to see a familiar face and catch up on what’s been going on in Minnesota. This week has been an interesting one as well because of my last journal saying that I am cold and bored in Napier I have gotten some interesting responses back from fans 99% good and 1% bad. Below is one of the 1% fans email letters to me:
Dear Dusty it sounds like all you do is complain about shit.
Why don't you go get a real job and find out what its like to work.
I'm a garbage collector and I get up at4a.m and you are complaining
about the cold. When I read your shit I wanted to find out where you
lived and beat your arse. Anyway, hope I don't here any more winging
on your site! Bazza!
p.s I've seen you around Napier
Disgruntled Fan!
This letter had me going for a little while as I was reading it but
then I noticed something wrong with the sender’s name. I didn’t
recognize the email address but then the senders name was Derek Moore.
I was laughing my ass off because he had thought he sent it to me anonymous
but he didn’t realize that his name was on the email account.
It was pretty funny because that is how bored we are in Napier that
we resort to this. We joked around at practice later that day saying
that we wouldn’t want Derek to kid nap anyone and then send anonymous
emails demanding money because we would get caught. (All fun and games
people) See we are starting to have some fun here in Napier as the days
are getting warmer the nights are definitely getting colder.
To give you a better idea of what we actually do here in Napier I will tell you what we did this week. Most weeks start out with Clinics and Monday and Wednesday as Paul Henare, AJ, Derek and myself go out to area schools and do hour long clinics and speeches with the kids. Usually Derek and I do Mondays so this week we had 4 clinics to do. One of our clinics was at St. Joe’s College (For those of you in America a college is like our high school system) as we walked into the gym it looked like 50 or so kids but then as we walked to the center there was another 200 or so at the top balcony. We were there for a half hour just talking to the kids as they asked us questions. One of the questions was asked “What is the stupidest question that you have ever been asked?” So I decided to answer this one and I told the kid that the dumbest question that I have been is asked is “Dusty can you dunk it?” I was like I can barely dunk when I am warmed up let along come into a gym cold and my knees hurting. Another question was asked “what happens at the end of games?” I was like well the team with the most points wins and then you go home. That brought a roar of laughter in the gym. Most of our clinics are good and the kids are well behaved. One thing that I don’t get here is why people are so amazed with tall people. It’s like when we walk into any place people just look at us in amazement like we are some kind of creature that has never been seen.
That is pretty much all I have to say about this week
as I hope that there will be more exciting stories to come. O yeah by
the way Scotty and Rusty won their first game last night as they beat
the Rams. They were paying 17-1 odds boy it would have been nice to
have some money on that game. Too bad I missed out cause I don’t
gamble Mom!! Haha
We found gold one night, poo the next
This weekend was one of the most frustrating weekends of my basketball career. This weekend is out first trip to the south island and we got a double header playing the Otago Nuggets Saturday night and then flying to Christ Church to play the Cantebury Rams Sunday at 2 p.m. This trip is important for us because if we win both games then that puts us at the top of the table but if we don’t then we are back in the middle of the pack with the rest of the league. The trip didn’t start out good for me as I could feel something was wrong with me as I started to get sick. Flying doesn’t help the body recover from any kind of sickness so as we were in the air I got sicker and sicker. When we finally landed in Dunedin I had a headache, sore throat and my body was aching. I was thinking here we go again as my body had to get sick during a crucial weekend of ball. Well I didn’t let the sickness get me down as I played both games this weekend but feeling very fatigued. The first game would be against the Otago Nuggets who are coming off a huge win matter of fact their first win of the season. I think that Scott and Rusty mentioned they thought they won the NBL Championship with that victory over the Rams ha-ha. We knew that they would have more confidence than usual so we needed to take them serious because if we didn’t they would have taken us down like a Van hitting a rabbit going 120 KMH on the roads of Napier lol. The game went pretty smoothly but they did come out strong and confident but we managed to get a decent lead and never looked back. After the game I had a chance to catch up with the guys that have given me some much laughter over the weeks with their on and off the court actions that have been recorded and broadcasted on Rusty’s site www.thehinders.com. Reading the journals you would think that they are going through hell down on the South Island but that is totally deceiving. They actually are taking their time and enjoying it which was a total shock to me and my fellow import Derek Moore. Scotty is driving around in a brand new Jeep looking like the rugged version of James Bond and here we are in Napier driving vans that have been resurrected from the motor vehicle grave yard. You couldn’t pick up a bum on the street let alone a decent looking woman with our vans ha-ha. It is good seeing those two having a good time and enjoying life. Now back to business and our next game is Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. and we don’t have our leading scorer and most athletic player Paura Winitana.
Now Sunday we had to get up at 7 a.m. ready to travel for a 9 a.m. flight
out of Dunedin to Christ Church but Mother Nature started playing with
us covering the airport with a Guinness beer looking fog so thick that
you could cut it with a butter knife. So you guessed it we had our flight
postponed for a few hours. We sat back in the lobby watching the movie
Hitch as we waited for the fog to clear up. So after a couple of hours
they started to allow planes to land and leave the airport so we knew
we should start checking in our bags. Well when we got up to the counter
they were almost ready to take off and we didn’t even have one
bag or person checked in. The airport had told our manager that they
planned to check-in about noon so that is what we did but someone from
the airport had forgotten to let us know that they were checking-in
in earlier. Yeah you guessed it the day didn’t start off the way
that we had expected. With the delay in the flight we had to push the
game back on hour or so. We finally got to the game and only had 15
min to warm-up and be ready for tip-off. We started off the first quarter
great but then the shit hit the fan losing every quarter after that.
The game got pretty intense with a lot of shit talking between the two
teams but also with our team. We hit the point in the game where we
started to bitch at ourselves and it wasn’t that good. One of
our players was yelling at the other telling him to help and then they
went at it barking like little doggies on the bench.
This wasn’t a good sign but I could see and feel both views on
it. Once we got ourselves composed we were still down by about 30 and
things were not looking any better. The Rams just came into the game
and kicked out asses and they did that while talking shit. As many of
you know I am not the talking shit kind of guy and will never be so
this didn’t bother me at all because I usually ignore the shit
talking and just focus on the game. The one thing that does get to me
is the shit poor refs in this country! I have never seen a league in
the world with refs this bad. You don’t even know what I am actually
talking about until you get here and watch a game. All right enough
about these weekends games because they are frustrating enough just
thinking of them.
Well the weekend isn’t done yet as we still have to get back Napier
that night. Well as many of you that have played sports knows the trip
back sucks when you don’t win and this trip was going to be one
of those awkward ones. Everything that went wrong on Sunday did as we
checked our bags we got something to eat at the café. As we finished
out food we started our way to board. As I cleared my pockets of anyting
that might set off the metal detector I layed out my waller and change
as well as my boarding pass. As the tray went under the x-ray machine
it came out the other end with everything except my boarding pass. I
was thinking what the hell happened here where did my boarding pass
go? I was looking around everywhere and then all of a sudden I see Derek
laughing in front of me as he was about to leave the lobby to the plane.
He had somehow got my pass. He claims that he didn’t do it on
purpose and it somehow ended up in his hand. Ended up in his hand magically
my ass I think that he did it for another laugh but I can’t prove
it ha-ha. So that gave me a little scare but nothing big but now we
are ready to get back to Napier. So now here we are in Napier waiting
for our bags to show up and half the people grab bags and we think that
there has to be another load coming soon. We wait and we wait but nothing
comes out. Yes you guessed it the airport had lost ¾ of our bags!
So not only had I lost my bag I had my house keys in there as well so
I was locked out of my house and so was Derek. On top of that we had
given our vans to the second div team to use on Friday and we had no
ride from the airport and no vans to use for a few days. This was not
the news that we wanted to hear coming back from a trip like the one
we had especially with the shit that went wrong on Sunday.
Now it’s time for the off the court activities that we get ourselves
into in the Hawke’s Bay Area. As many of you know we usually have
clinics on Monday and Wednesday of every week well that didn’t
changed despite our shitty Sunday. By the way I did end of getting into
my house and Derek had to sleep on the couch with cockroach doo-doo
while freezing because I don’t have any extra blankets. So you
could see that when we woke up Monday morning we weren’t the happiest
campers in New Zealand. We call the schools that we end up going to
just to confirm that they know we are coming and find out directions.
So as I am calling this one school I have no idea how to pronounce they
tell me that they are still expecting us and I ask how would I get there
from Westshore, Napier? This lady proceeds to tell me to just take the
hi-way to Wellington and I say for how far DRUM ROLL PLEASE she says
100km. My jaw dropped down past my ass to my ankles! I couldn’t
believe that! We are supposed to do a clinic that was almost 100km away
are you kidding!? Derek and I just sat there like we were in a dream
world but no it wasn’t a dream people it was reality. So we man
up and do our jobs with a smile as we always do about this time providing
the kids with pure entertainment and fun.
We do have some fun here in Hawke’s Bay as we
are starting to make our rounds to the beautiful vineyards for some
wine testing. Our first Winery would be over the hill towards Taradale.
So Derek and I decide to see what the fuss was about and test some wine
ourselves. As we sat down like two experts the sales person fills our
glasses with wine. I looked at the glass with amazement thinking to
myself how the hell am I going to make the sales person think that I
am an expert wine taster? I grab the glass with grace and swirl it around
looking at it as if I was supposed to see a sign from the nether world.
I soon stop the swirling and look at it again then I raise the glass
to my nose and sniff like a little doggy does for food. I then proceed
to take a sip and inhale deeply not realizing that this wine is made
with pepper then all of a sudden I start coughing and choking like a
little kid with an ice cube in his throat. I almost fell off of my chair
as this is happening and Derek has this look on his face as if he was
trying to say “What the hell you doing you wanker? Be a man!”
I felt like such an idiot and I think that I lost my cover of being
a expert wine taster hahahahahhaha. Derek felt so bad that he had to
buy a bottle of wine and NO he didn’t buy the pepper wine either.
Thank God the wine tasting is over and now we are moving onto something that we both know how to do very well and that is watching movies. The new Star Wars movie is out and we decided to hit that up and be movie critics instead of wine testers. So on Monday night we decide to walk in and buy our tickets thinking that there would be a line up around the block. To our amazement we were the first two tickets sold for the movie but we did show up an hour before the movie. So we both decided to go to the bar next door and throw down a couple of pints of New Zealand’s finest ale’s. Little did we know that we would get bashed by the bar owner. We had found out while drinking our pints of beers that we sucked haha. No I am kidding but the owner was very opinionated and had a lot of views about what he saw from his corporate box view. I would hate to disappoint him but it’s very different playing then watching the game. Well that isn’t the main story of the night that happened during the movie. There were a few more people that bought tickets so it was pretty packed in there. Derek and I usually sit at the back so there was one row open and we sat down but I had someone sitting in front of me. So 20 minutes into the movie this guy in front of me turns around and threatens me that he will throw his popcorn in my lap if I don’t stop kicking the back of his chair. Well as many of you know I am not a tiny guy so it is hard to move my legs around without kicking the back of the chair and I wouldn’t say it was kicking I would say it was a tap. So he turned around and I wasn’t in the mood to be nice so there were some words exchanged. I pretty much told him to F---ing move and he then said that he was going to throw his popcorn in my face. As we were swearing and arguing the light saver scene was going on but people around us were more interested in a real fight then a movie one. While all this is happening Derek is sitting next to me not moving a muscle watching the movie peacefully. I honestly think that Derek would have let me get my ass kicked but I think that a threat of some popcorn on my lap wasn’t a real threat that he was looking for.
So folks that’s our last week and a half in the great country of New Zealand I hope to have many more stories your way.
Heat and Titans Both Fall to the Mighty Hawks
It has been awhile since I last updated the journal which is a result of my lack of motivation to turn on the computer. The past two weeks have seen us win two big games propelling us to the top 4 and in prime position for a playoff spot. Two Fridays ago we beat Harbor Heat on national TV and the Titans this past Friday once again on National TV. So I have two weeks of games to talk about and the interesting things that may have happened off of the court. You never know what happens around these parts when you have jokers like Derek Moore around causing trouble. Lol
Our first game of the past two weeks would be against the harbor Heat and it provided us with a chance to get these guys back for the ass kicking they gave us at the beginning of the year. When we first played the Heat we were just coming together as a team and no used to one another. That first game was one of the most badly played games that I have ever been apart of as we had 30 something turnovers and just looked like little girls out there. So it is an understatement that we were all waiting to get these guys back and provide an ass kicking to them on our home court and an added bonus National Televised game. The week leading to the game was fueled by our loss to the Rams the previous Sunday resulting in some heated practice sessions. The boys prepared for the Heat with some added aggression and it rolled over into the game. As the game started you could see that everyone wanted this one bad and we played one of our best games of the year. We ended up beating the Heat by 19 and it provided us with the much needed confidence at this time of the year to push hard for a good playoff spot.
Our second game would be the real test of the last two weeks as it would be against one of the hottest and toughest teams in the league the Titans. They were a tough team to beat a few weeks ago at our house and this time it was us going on the road. We knew going into the game that I would test our manhood because it would be one of the most physical games of the season. Winning this game gets us closer to the top spot and losing it would make it a little difficult to make the playoffs. This game was one of the best games of the season as it saw plenty of lead changes and a great competitive battle between two good teams. I had the responsibility of guarding there import Greg Lewis and lets just say he is a hell of an athlete. Lets just say that I made him look like an all-star all night as he keep driving and spinning in the lane for lay-ups or I fouled him putting him to the line for some easy points. The coach called a timeout and probably was pretty pissed that I couldn’t stop him but I was trying my best for a slow white kid from MN lol. In the timeout he said that I have to stop him from going right and that someone was supposed to come up from behind as he spun back to the middle. Well lets put it this way folks I am still waiting for someone to help me. (ha ha) Yup you guessed it! No one decided to help poor slow Dusty so I got my ass kicked most of the game but it is all good since we won. Our bench came up huge in this game providing us with the grit and courage to take big shots down the stretch. This was good because we were without one of our better players AJ (aka jaws). For all of you that didn’t know, AJ got hit in the jaw a few weeks ago and it rocked his world cracking a few of his teeth. He had to get surgery to take his teeth out and place a metal plate in his jaw hence the name Jaws.
It has been pretty boring the last couple of weeks as I really don’t have much to tell of the off the court stuff. Derek, Pauli and I hit the golf course showing off our skills that rival Tiger Woods. We went to a small par 3 course and some par 4 holes that were supposed to be pretty easy. I had asked Pauli to make sure that he had plenty of balls because I tend to lose more than my share into the woods. I don’t really golf that much and neither does Derek but Pauli golf’s on a daily basis. Let’s just say that I didn’t have my best day but it was fun. I must have been seeing things as we were walking up to the 5th hole and it is a par 3 I pulled out my three wood thinking it was a par 5. Derek and Pauli were looking at me pulling out my wood then looking at each other with the look in there eyes “ what the hell is Dusty pulling out a 3 wood on a par 3?”. There was a good laugh as I finally realized that I was retarded and putting my 3 wood back and grabbing an iron then slicing that bad boy in the other fairway on the other hole. I guess it wouldn’t have mattered what I have used that day because nothing was going straight resulting in a frustrating day of golf.
That is all I have for the moment. I am sorry that life hasn’t been as exciting as the previous weeks but I hoe that I will have something for you in my next journal. Remember that I don’t proof read this so if you find something wrong just email me… ok
Jets Two Game Winning Streak Comes to an End at the Hawks Nest!
David Cooper and the Jets came into Hawkes Bay with a two game winning streak with the aspirations of making it three at the expense of the Hawks. This was another big game for us heading into the playoffs we need all the wins and momentum that we can get. We knew the Jets wanted to spoil our last home game of the year but we couldn’t let that happen and we didn’t! The Jets are coming off of a two game winning streak looking very confident to knock us back to earth. It seems that every game we have played this year has been tougher than I had anticipated simply because people stated that we had the best starting 5 in the league and the favorites to win the title. So every game is a war for us simply because we look the best on paper and we all know that what looks good on paper doesn’t win you games. I know that I look like Brad Pitt but you need more than looks to win games unless you are playing a game against girls then we could probably win solely on our charm and handsomely good looks. LOL Going into the game I had a chance to catch up with my Adelaide 36er teammateDavid Cooper telling him to go easy on me. The last time we played the Jets he guarded me and pretty much made me look bad blocking my shot making me shoot 2-14 from the field. We talked about the upcoming season about how we think we are going to do and if Willie Farely is going to sign or not. We both feel confident that we can improve on our last season’s record because of the improvement of himself, Jacob Holmes, Oscar Foreman and others. The ANBL is a few months away so we quickly switched topics to the NZNBL weekends games.
Our game started out quick as you could see that we as a team were ready and focused ready to prove to the league that we are just starting to find our form. Derek Moore was one of the guys that really stepped up this game as there must have been something in the air this night. It was flash back night again as we saw a younger Derek come from within and almost throwing down a driving jam from the top of the key. I said to Pauli, “Hey man what is with Derek? There must be something in the air do you smell it? We both took a big sniff and it was thick. Derek had shed his old man skin like superman coming out like Boy with rockets in his ass.” We jumped out to a demanding lead never looking back even when the Jets made their little runs at us we kept our composure. This was another test for us because we could have easily taken the Jets lightly and we all know that championship teams don’t take anyone lightly so it was refreshing that everyone was on the same page. It was another physical game but not as physical as our last thank god! I didn’t know that players could sit in the lane as long as they wanted but apparently it is a new rule in the NZNBL. Miles Pierce played a great game against us but I think that he took up permanent residency in the lane. He would get the ball down low do a couple of power dribbles pick up the ball head fake a few times then pass fake get his shot blocked and after 15 seconds or so when the lane cleared then power it up for a lay-up. It was getting frustrating at times when you are a competitor you got a fire within that makes you want to win at all costs. This time I got frustrated during the game because sometimes you think that you are open and no one gets you the ball inside. For a big guy it gets frustrating when you are asked to set screens, rebound and do all the little things when you don’t get a ny touches of the ball or a long period of time. I was thinking to myself “Am I invisible? Can you actually see me?” because at times it seemed as if people were looking right through me. Overall we did a good job at staying focused on the overall goal and won the game. I got to give the Jets credit because they could have easily given up and let us really blow them out but they kept fighting from the start never giving up. Final score Hawks 104 – Jets 84 at the Hawks Nest. It really isn’t called the Hawks Nest but I thought I would be stupid and call it that you all are probably thinking that I am a little retarded and yes I might be.
If you read my last journal I talk about our golf outing that Pauli, Derek and I had at this little par 3 course in Napier. Let’s just say that I wasn’t Tiger Woods or anyone remarkably good as I shot a 55 on a par 30 course. Over the last week I got shit from all my teammates there brothers, sisters, parents and grand parents about how shitty my golf game was and still is. (For the record I never said that I was any good but they seemed to think that I was. I give that impression because I am so athletic hahahaha) So sitting on my place on boring day in Napier I happened to turn on the TV finding more info-mercials about cooking, abs, diets, books and many more things but one day I was blessed by the man in the sky. At my all time low of lows thinking about that tragic day on the gold course I came across the motivational man himself and no it wasn’t Richard Simmons it was Tony Robbins. He had helped millions before him “Get the Edge” and succeed in life. On that day I was motivated to get the edge on my golf game so when I heard that Derek and Pauli were heading out to the course again I figured why the hell not and face my fears. This time around I used a modern set of clubs and was ready to prove to the world that Tony Robbins and I mean business! At the end of the day I was happily putting for 49 on the 9th hole. Even with the pressure of shooting under 50 for the first time in my life and Derek and Pauli trying to throw me off it was almost impossible to make this putt. I missed it and ended up on 50 strokes for the day and a smile on my face as I was the only one of the three to improve! Tony Robbins helped me get out of the cellar onto my feet even if it was only baby steps I made improvements! Haha Overall it was another relaxing day of Golf for us. Get your own copy at www.gettheedge.com
After every home game we go to Shed2 for a after game dinner that is provided by our team. This is the best after game feast in the whole league and the food is usually great but this time around something was a little fishy. I was looking at the menu starving as usually trying to decide which mea I would like to try this time. Usually you get a choice of 5 meals and I decided with the seafood platter as it was recommended to me by one of my teammates. As I sat there for 30 minutes waiting for my meal starving as my stomach was growling only having a few beers to tide it. Finally my meal came I ate it as fast as a family gathering at the Rychart household! For those of you that don’t know how we eat it is like a wild pack of bores running and throwing down their food as fast as possible trying to inhale it without a trace. So I sat there face deep in some seafood smelling something fishy and it wasn’t the fish smell. I didn’t know what it was so I ate it anyway and boy was that a big mistake! Let’s just say that it literally was called seafood this night as it went in and came straight out the same place. Yes you guessed it; it came back up faster than it went down. Yuk! People thought that I was bulimic. I survived thank goodness but I am never eating that meal again.
Tonight I went to a movie by myself for the first time
in a long time which reminded me of what I thought of people who went
alone before. I always thought people that went to the movies alone
were losers until I realized that I am one of those guys. Going alone
to an action or comedy movie is cool but I went to a love movie. LOL
I know but I had seen all the other movies so this was the only one
that I didn’t see so I went in. You feel like a total loser when
you are sitting there and people are with there boyfriend/girlfriend
and here I am crying all by myself with a box of M&M’s and
some water.haha I wasn’t crying but you get the picture. I guess
it was like opening a box of worms. The movie was good and I made it
out without shedding too many tears but it made me realize that I was
a jerk before thinking that if you are alone at a movie you are a loser
but I guess I am the loser now. Lol
Well that is all that I have to say about this week in Napier. We have a big week ahead of us finishing the season with three away games in 5 days so wish us luck.
Big Week 3 Wins for the Hawks
This week was huge for Hawks Bay Basketball coming away with 3 big wins propelling us into a tie for 1st in the Primo NZNBL with the Auckland Stars. This gives us a chance to win or lose the first game of the semi-finals because they have a rule here if you are seeded 1 or 2 you get a second chance at making the Grand Final if you lose. This Friday we head to Auckland looking to knock off the Stars and bring a Grand Final to Hawkes Bay. Before we talk about that I will reflect on the week that no one thought we could have but we did winning 3 away games. Coming into the final round of the season we had a tough task at hand with 3 away games against the Mountain Airs, Saints and Nelson Giants.
We took off from Hawkes Bay for Taranki on Tuesday June 14th, 2005 taking a few vans of players for the 5 hour trip. In my van we had about 4 players but we were supposed to pick up Willie Burton at his place somewhere in Napier. Fortunately Henare O’Brien knew where Willie lived because no one else did. So as we were driving out we decided to stop by my place to get some Dvd’s for the trip since we were going to be away for 6 days and we needed some entertainment. Well we got the DVD’s and started one our way to Taranaki 15 or 20 K’s down the road I realized that we didn’t have all of guys that were supposed to be in the van. Thinking that Willie lived far from Napier I asked our Driver Hen Dog about where Willie lives then all of a sudden he had this look on his face. You guessed it we had forgot Willie and had to turn around losing valuable time and not to mention we were on a time schedule because we were supposed to get into Taranki by 5:45 pm. You think that was bad well it got worse as the trip went along. We decided to stop for a bathroom/snack break along the way and Hen Dog wasn’t in the mood to drive anymore so big Willie took over. About 40 k’s from our final destination we see these flashing lights behind us and wouldn’t you know it the damn cops decide to pull us over for speeding. Willie first was forgotten by Hen Dog (hahaha) then he gets pulled over getting hit with a nice fine and this is just the start of it all. We finally get to the stadium for practice about 1 hour later than everyone else but since we were carrying most the bags everyone had to wait for us. With the travel behind us we now started to concentrate on our game with the Mountain Airs. This was a team that still had a slim to none chance of getting into the playoffs and we needed just one win to secure a spot in the playoffs. I think we all felt very confident until we got to the game and realized that we had the worst officials in the game of basketball. We started the game out good building a good lead heading into half time. Then in the 3rd and 4th quarters we decided that we didn’t want that lead and almost lost it. The officiating was like night and day from first to second half resulting in some rugby by the end of it all. This was the first win of the 3 for us giving us a little security but we knew that if we didn’t get first or second that would mean that we would have a Sunday final and would be without Paora Winatana so we still had a lot to play for.
Our second game would be in Wellington against the Saints for a National TV game and the Saints last home game of the season. Before we get to the game we have some more travel news to talk about. We all pilled into our vans heading out to Wellington for another 4 – 5 hour tour and wouldn’t you guess it Willie decided to jump right back onto the horse and drive my van after getting a nice looking fine a couple nights before. Willie swore that he would drive the speed limit or below but sometimes those damn signs change without you knowing. We must have seen 10 or so cops as we were heading out of town and that reassured Willie to obey the laws. Once again we got started talking about the old days and how things were better then all of a sudden the damn signs changed on poor Willie and right in front of us was a PIG with his radar locked on. Yes you would guess it again big Willie got busted once more and slapped with a hefty fine that resulted in a grumpy man. So after Willie got pulled over Paora decided that he would take the wheel and suddenly we go from a guy that likes to go a little over the limit to someone that doesn’t like to come within 5 km’s of the speed limit. We would be going 95 km’s in a 100km’s zone which meant that we would be safe of getting pulled over again. We did get to Wellington last but safe for our second game of the week. The game was being televised on National TV which is good but this year I haven’t played my best on TV so I was a little nervous. The game went as planned for the first half and shit hit the fan in the second as we wasted a 20 point lead. After losing most of the 20 point lead the court side commentator was saying annoying things as “ The Hawks have lost something, they have lost the 20 point lead!” and then backing that up with “They have lost another thing, the lead!”. Once we blocked that guy out things seemed to get better but we couldn’t manage to get the lead until late in the 4th. With less than 10 seconds left Troy McClain hit a three pointer to tie the game and put it into overtime. In OT we attacked first and never looked back winning this crucial game. Now with two wins under our belt and 1 more to go things were looking positive. Nelson Giants were next on our list knowing that we need to win this game for our playoff chances to increase. If we lose the next game against the Giants means that we would be without Paoura for our first semi final game.
Nelson is a tough place to win and they have proved that this year with a 6-2 home record tying us for the best home record in the league. Being that this is our last game of the three game road trip meant that we might be fatigued. I think that we were all pumped to get that second seed so we could have a full squad heading into the playoffs. We started the game on fire as we built a 12 point lead and never really looked back. During the game the Mad Aussie came back A.K.A Derek Moore getting a nice tech foul to pump the crowd up. Derek loves New Zealand Referees and the way they call games here in the NZNBL. Winning this game was huge for us as many didn’t think that we would come home with 3 wins on the road to finish our season. U can catch the Mad Aussie in action July 8th as we compete in the Grand Final.
I think that everyone was excited that we got these wins putting us into second on the table equal to the Auckland Stars. So we all headed out that night enjoying a few drinks and nice meal at the Lone star. That following Sunday we all packed up our bags and dragged a few hangovers out to the airport to catch our flight to Wellington only to find out that our early morning flight has been cancelled. This made everyone a little cranky as we wouldn’t be able to catch another flight until 4 P.M. We had about 6 hours to waste in Nelson so we all split up and did our own things. Traveling is never fun and when the flights are cancelled it gets on your nerves knowing that when we get to Wellington we still have a 3-4 hour drive ahead of us. Sunday was one of the longest days of my time here in New Zealand because we had already been gone from Napier since Tuesday.
Our next game will be against the Auckland Stars in Auckland for our first semi final game of the season. I hope to see a few Hawks fans around there so we can have a little more support because it will be difficult to go in there and get a win. Wish us Luck!
Grand Final 2005!
As many of you know the Mighty Hawks are in the grand final and will battle it out with the last years champions Auckland Stars. I waited a while to enter this journal because I was late at getting the other one updated. Lets just say it has been a long two weeks since our last game in Auckland and my nerves are eating at me like some maggots on a piece of meat sitting on the porch during a hot summer day. Not a good image to have in your head but that is how I am feeling at the moment. This will be the first grand final that I have been in since my AAU team in High School won a few championships in MN. If you would have asked me at the beginning of the season that we would be here I would have been skeptical not because we don’t have the talent but things weren’t clicking for us right at the beginning as it took some time. It has been an interesting year for us but one thing that makes me proud as we never gave up even when we started 1-3. I think many had us preseason favorites and best starting 5 but when things went bad at the beginning I could see that many people jumped off the band wagon and started to doubt us. What many don’t know is that we didn’t come together as a team until 4 days before our first game of the year where most the other teams had been practicing for two months or so. Once we got a few games under out belts then it was on! We slowly improved and overcame obstacles throughout the season that would make many teams crumble but we managed to get stronger. I have to give a lot of credit to our bench players because they were viewed as non-productive at the beginning of the year but have proven that they are the main reason we are in the Grand Final. We have one more game left in the tank and we can still improve a lot of things about our team. This last game we have to leave everything on the line and give it our all along with a packed house of screaming Hawks fans should bring some excitement to the area!
After beating Nelson to finish second on the ladder and the chance to head to Auckland to play our first semi final game was exciting for us as we knew no matter what if we won or lost we would still have a great chance at getting to the Grand Final. So going into the game we had the attitude of nothing to lose because no matter what we still had a second chance. We knew that the Stars would be tough especially on their home court but we just wanted to go into the game and come out saying that we gave it our all. The game started out slow seeing that we were down 8-2 but then things picked up and we finally got the lead. This game was fueled by a lot of emotion and adrenaline for us because we really wanted to bring the Grand Final to Hawkes Bay. The game was relatively close throughout but when the Stars made their run our bench stepped up again mainly Willie Burton and Aidan Daly. They both played pretty good games but really hit some big shots for us when we needed some extra help. Winning the game by 10 meant that we had two weeks off to heal any nagging injuries and get ready for anyone that makes it through to the Grand Final.
It has been a long and boring two weeks here for me as it mainly consists of playing basketball and then a whole lot of nothing during the days. Nothing on TV and I think that I have been through the whole World Wide Web at least three times. I have been organizing my flights to go home and I excited to get home! It has been almost a whole year since I have been back I think that I forgot what my parents look like. I get 10 days at home then I have to get on a plane again for Adelaide July 21st for yet another season. I look forward to seeing my family, friends and my three cats that live at home with my parents. Other than that nothing really exciting has been happening here in Hawkes Bay nor has there been any jokes played on member of the team. Well I have to get things packed up for my trip home this Saturday so I better get going. I will have another journal soon and hopefully it will be titled NZNBL Champions!
Finally Posted
I have finally got off of my lazy behind to post my first journal in a month or so since leaving New Zealand. In the time that I have left New Zealand I got to go home for a little while before coming back to Adelaide to start pre-season workouts with the team. This year has been a busy one for me and the first time that I have attempted to play in some kind of league for a year straight so I am little worried about burning out and having all my legs come the end of the NBL season. I guess only time will tell but I am not 18 anymore so I can’t recover as quick.
Since we lost the Grand Final July 9th I quickly packed my bags and left Hawkes Bay for a return trip to Minnesota to see family and friends. Needless to say I only had 10 days to spend at home and that meant that I had to organize my time to see everyone that I needed to see as well as do some shopping for the year and take care of my rental property. Plus as I get home I find out that my dad is adding a deck onto the house so he needed help with that as usual I did all the hard work.. haha I am kidding there since my knees were really sore from the seasons this year he had get down and dirty while I just stood and watched. What a good son that I am. While at home it seemed that I didn’t have time to do anything and it went by so fast. Before I knew it I was back on the plane to Australia. I wasn’t looking forward to this trip again since I had made the same trip 10 days before. For those of you that have never taken the trip from America to Australia it is a long and draining trip. As I predicted I got very sick the days following in Port Lincoln. It never fails every year I come back I get some kind of illness. I didn’t have much time to relax when I got back to Adelaide either and straight to Port Lincoln for some pre-season excitement. Port Lincoln was the same the previous year as we did the basketball thing but also got a chance to go out on the boats for some fishing and shark watching. From Port Lincoln we got invited at the last minute to go to Perth to play. Ricky Grace at his fund raiser game and dinner so we got to go to all that which was interesting since a lot of old timers from years past all were there having a good time. I think that Perth is going to be pretty good since they got Paul Rogers and some promising younger talent. They are big up front and have good guards so they will be improved this year. While up in Perth I got a chance to catch up with a friend of mine from Minnesota Luke Witt who has been playing in the Western Australia ABA. I played with Luke in the Minneapolis Howard Pulley Pro-Am last year so that is how I know him. He was trying out with the Wildcats but they needed a point and he is more of a 2/3. From here we went back to Adelaide for a few days and then off again to play the Melbourne Tigers in Millicent.
The preseason is tiring as hell because you are always on the road doing something or trying to promote the season rarely getting a chance to rest and enjoy some time off. The Tigers come into this season looking stronger than ever with the addition of bigman Chris Anstey returning from Russia to play. He is a legit 7 footer that can do it all and will be hard to defend. They have size, strength and depth this year plus a new look team that is willing to play some defense unlike previous years since I have been here. The first of two games with the Tigers saw us get beat by 20 without a few players but we couldn’t hit our shots and didn’t rebound that well so what else could you expect. The Tigers were just too big and tough for us in the end but we had another chance two days later as we got to play them again at the Dome. This time around we knew what to expect from them and played them tougher going down to the last second. Game was close as it came down to the last shot and down by one with less than 10 seconds left. Phil called flat and Willie had the ball preparing to give us one of his Big Willie Style moments. As he sat at the top dribbling between his legs and the rest of us sitting there in awe and wondering, waiting for his magic to begin. Five seconds and we knew that Willie time was here as he let go a three from the 45 and it barely missed losing the game by one. At least we didn’t get beat by 20 this time around we actually played decent except for the two air balls that I threw up early in the first half but I guess that is what the preseason is for ha ha.
With the pre-season all most over it was time for the Blitz in Cairns the weekend before the season began. We are the returning Champions looking to be repeat winners this time around. Going into the tournament we were without Jacob but everyone else has been playing good. There are a lot of new faces this year and a few new imports for various teams. Minnesota is well represented in this years NBL with West Sydney having Nick Horvath, New Zealand Rich Melzer and Adelaide with me. The weekend was good for us to get a chance at seeing the new talent as well as the new look that some teams have. I think that this year will be tough because teams just seem to be getting bigger and bigger except us. I believe that we are about the smallest team in the league meaning that I will be expected to bang a little down low with guys 10-15 kg’s bigger than me. Now back to the Blitz and it didn’t start that well for us as we lost to Townsville by 12. Townsville is looking good as they probably have the most fire power in the whole league as well as depth. We then backed up our loss with two wins over the Tigers and Pirates getting us in the finals for a chance to repeat. That all came to an end quickly as the new look Bullets stop us again like they did in last years finals. The teams that looked good were the Bullets, Hawks, Tigers and the Crocs.
The season is here this weekend as we play the Perth
Wildcats at the Dome. I hope that we can post some better crowds this
year compared to the last couple but only time will tell.
Got the first one out of the way
Well we finally got the first game out of the way which
makes me happy in a way that I don’t have to be so anxious and
nervous. I was nervous going into the game with Perth because I wasn’t
sure how we would do since we had been beaten twice by them in the pre-season.
They are a big team that gives us a lot of trouble on paper because
of our lack of height. They would be coming into the game with high
expectations because of their good pre-season record along with the
addition of Paul Rogers. I know from my eyes I was a little worried
about winning the game because if we win confidence is high but lose
we would be wondering what went wrong. This kind of reminds me of last
year going without a win all pre-season then winning the whole blitz
gave us that extra confidence that got us going. The game was interesting
as my adrenaline was pumping and I think that the rest of the guys felt
the same way because we started the game pretty well. To my surprise
Perth didn’t really play Burston or Rogers very much so the advantage
that I thought they would have wasn’t being utilized. I am not
sure if they still have some injury problems or if Fisher thought they
would have a better chance of winning without either of them in the
lineup. The game was close for ¾ of the game then the start of
the 4th we found our second wind and opened up a 15 point lead before
Perth knew what hit them. We came out with a little added pressure on
the defensive side and the rest is history. I felt real comfortable
out there and it is nice to have the same team that we had last year
giving us a little advantage I think. Having the same team out on the
court again means that you don’t need those first few games of
the year to get used to each others style of game as we already have
a year under our belts. I felt that I didn’t play my best game
but I feel more focused this year compared to years before and don’t
ask me why because I don’t know.
Now that I have mentioned our game there were a few other games this weekend and the one that I got a chance to watch was the Tigers vs. Hawks game. Going into this game I thought it would be a really close game but boy was I wrong about that! Both teams came out of the blocks strong but the Hawks quickly fell to earth as the Tigers just did everything and made everything they threw up at the basket. The Tigers arguably have the best frontline in the league and the deepest bench as well. They are going to be tough to beat this year but to even have a chance to win you need to stop Chris Anstey and D-Mac from getting into the lanes. It should be another good year for us as long as we keep and stay healthy.
Now a little off the topic but someone mentioned on my blog on the Sixers site that the Dome was full my first year. I would guarantee that there has never been a full house since I have been here but I would love to experience that. I think we will just have to get past the first round of the playoffs for once and then they will come. I will try my best to use spell check as well but sometimes I am sitting up late at night writing this so my eyes and hands get very tired resulting in a laziness. Some other things that are coming at d-rych.com are my playing jersey’s from last year signed/framed, new pair of Jordan shoes signed along with a hi-light video of me when following my career since I was a little kid. I am going to enjoy this weekend off so you all have a good time.. Bye
The Big Queensland Weekend!
So now we have been sitting here for almost a whole week without playing a game and now the NBL has us on arguably the toughest road trip of the year. The Townsville and Cairns double header weekend is amongst us and it isn’t going to be easy. Townsville is coming off of a loss looking to take it out on us poor little Sixer boys and then you have Cairns who are on a roll and very tough at home. The thing that worries me the most is that we are playing these teams when we are coming off of a long break and they haven’t. For some odd reason guys don’t play as well at home or it might be that home teams are that much better at home but for whatever reason most teams/players don’t perform as well on the road. I think it is a combination of being in a different environment and being our of your comfort zone. Most guys have a routine that they do and when you are at home you can do your regular thing but on the road you are stuck eating where the team goes doing what the team wants to do and you really don’t get the chance to get into your grove. I mean you are sitting around in a hotel all day long without moving mostly just sitting in bed watching DVD’s or whatever. This all might be the cause of players performing below par on the road. I know for me I usually like to sleep for 2-3 hours before a game usually after I eat my lunch. So might think that might make me sluggish but sleeping is better than just sitting there bored as hell thinking about the game at least when you sleep you can get away from all that for a moment. In saying all of this I am very confident that we will perform well enough on the road to at least get a split if not two wins on the road only time will tell.
So far into the season you can already see which teams and players are going to be the front runners. My picks for the top four would have to be the Tigers, Taipans, Sixers and Kings hopefully we will finish first. I really just care about getting into the playoffs and getting a home final series instead of this one game crap that we happen to lose right away anyway. I would love to make the semi-finals for once and experience that as a player and for the fans. There are a lot of young players to watch out for this year that will make impacts around the league. I am glad that more young payers are getting chances to prove that they can play at the NBL level which makes things more interesting and the league better.
I just would like to add that my Sonic Tooth Brush
is working like magic and I have the whitest, cleanest teeth on the
team. Lol On that note I am wondering what this sonic technology does?
Does it send some kind of wave through your teeth that makes them whiter
or is that some other product that I am thinking of? All I know is that
my teeth feel cleaner than if I went to the dentist so that makes me
happy enough. So this is what I have been doing in my spare time figuring
out a tooth brush but it keeps me busy ha-ha. Off the tooth brush topic
I can’t wait til summer gets here because the nights have been
chilly as hell. I sometimes think that my nose is going to freeze off
with the wind coming off of the ocean at night. No it is not colder
than MN but in Minnesota we have heaters in every place that we go and
dress for the cold. Here mother nature plays little tricks on you for
example as you look outside it is sunny and you think that it is warm
dressing in shorts with a t-shirt then you get outside and bam it hits
ya! Maybe Phillips should give me a nose heater instead of a tooth brush
so I can keep warm.
I better go because I am talking about nothing and it is looking like
I have lost my mind which isn’t the case. Oh yeah has anyone seen
Willie and My commercial on Channel 9? I haven’t seen it yet but
have talked to a few that have. I will be getting a video clip for you
all to view on my archive page when I get it.
The Weekend Split
This past weekend was a big test for us as we went up north to face the Crocs and Taipans. No matter how you look at it this was going to be one of the toughest road doubles of the year. If we could come away splitting the two games I think most would be happy with that outcome. Townsville was always going to be tough because they were coming off a big lose to Cairns and when most teams lose they want to take it out on the next team they play and that would happen to be us this time around. Then we turn around and play Cairns on Sunday afternoon which is tough being our second game in 24 hours.
The Townsville Crocs were first on the list of power house Queens Land teams and on paper this team is very talented while being extremely offensively minded. Plus they have just come off of a ass whipping by Cairns a few days earlier. Playing a team that has just lost is not fun at all because they want to get revenge and that meant it was going to be use standing in the middle of the road like a deer/kangaroo in head lights. The game started out bad from the start as Townsville was grabbing offensive rebound one after another. The lack of rebounding resulted in us getting down early finding ourselves backed against the wall. We had done a pretty good defensive job against their man guys like Newly, Rose, Rillie and Calvary but forgot to guard Robertson and boy did he take advantage of that. It must have been Robertson’s birthday that night because everything that he threw up went in giving Townsville yet another scoring threat. For most of the game we looked lost as a team never really getting into the flow of things. Rotations were a little hard because I think that we are trying to rotate 9 men whichis very difficult. I guess if you can rotate 9 guys that is a positive to how deep your team is but it can be difficult when you have all you players playing well or when they are all playing bad. I know this game I was not my usual self by getting zero rebounds in the first half and to top it off the guy I was guarding Larry Abney got all kinds of rebounds and to top it off he got too alley-opp dunks over me. I usually don’t get dunked on that much and that isn’t because I can jump out of the guy but I usually foul the shit out of the guy before he gets to the rim. With me being so ineffective I soon saw myself sitting on the bench for an extended amount of time which I am usually not accustomed to but since we have the depth this year Phil decided to see if anyone else could grab at least one rebound. We lost the game on the defensive end and the nail in the coffin was the lack of rebounding while allowing them to get second/third chances on the offensive end.
Now for the game that we all have been waiting for the controversial game in Cairns and yes we are talking about the buzzer beater that had Cairns warming up after the game had ended for an hour. Losing to Townsville meant that we were in desperate need in a win or face being 1-2 for the season. Cairns is one of the preseason favorites to win the Championship and with players like Mee, Cat and Burgess you know why. We had one day off prior to this game but knew that if we didn’t control this game it could get out of hand fast. The weekend before Cairns had ripped Townsville by 20 or so and we had just lost to them by 10. The game was close throughout but we mostly controlled the tempo and kept Darnell from taking over like he usually does. We would go up by 8 they would make a run and so on throughout the game. It got down to the lsat minute or so us up by 8 then Cairns went on a 8 – 0 run resulting in a tie with 24.6 seconds left on the clock. We inbound the ball to Brett who quickly calls 4-flat for himself to take the last shot of the game which he should take because he is the master of buzzer beaters and game winners. As he was sitting at the top of the key I was running the baseline with Nashy exchanging block to block while Brett was at the top of the key. Time was running out and I was like shit Brett could use a quick hit and pop screen so I ran up and tried to set a screen on his right. He looked at me as if I was screwing everything up and decided to go the opposite way of my screen. I was thinking that I really screwed things up and was going to get a ear full of shit from Brett and company. As I went up to set the screen Brett went the other way and opted to not use me and then Melvin Thomas (who was guarding me) left to double team Brett. Brett then realized that he had me open on the corner of the of his eye for the shot and he whipped to me as I caught I knew that there was barely anytime left on the clock so as soon as I could feel the ball it was going up. It felt good from the first touch! As I caught the ball I then shot the ball releasing it hearing the shot clock go off and then as the ball was about to go in the game clock went off as well. GAME OVER! I did get the ball off in time and everyone knew that game was over but Alan Black and the Cairns Taipans didn’t as they stayed around after the game warming up for an hour thinking that it wasn’t over and were expecting us to come back to play an overtime game. This would have to be one of most controversial game that I have ever been involved in but I am glad that we ended up with the win because we needed it. It looks like this year is going to be a tough one from top to bottom.
Now back to some gossip that happened over the weekend that involved Big Sexy yelling at me because I didn’t make eye contact. It was during the Townsville game and I was about to check into the game to replace Big Fella. What I didn’t realize is that he just sprained his ankle 5 seconds before Phil told me to get into the game so I didn’t realize what kind of pain or fake pain he was in. So I am sitting there trying to get the attention of the score bench to let me in and they would not acknowledge me at all so finally they buzzed me. As I was walking into the game I was yelling Reesy, Reesy, Reesy, Reesy and Reesy but for some reason big fella was looking the other way. Then as I got within 5 feet of him he blew up like a mad cow! I will try and quote what he said but remember this was so traumatizing i got some memory loss. As I placed that last step Reesy then exploded and said “What the F&^K Make some F%&king eye contact with me when you are taking me out S&%t Dusty!” as it went something along those lines. Shortly after I went into shock not realizing what happened! No I am just kidding there but I guess you had to be there but that was the running joke all weekend. DON”T PISS REESY OFF! Lol It is late so I must be getting to bed but I hope that you all enjoy the game this Friday night against Sydney.
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