Another week in the books! It has been a quiet week, but a wonderful one. The weather has been very nice here, and I have seen that the weather back home is becoming quite nice as well. I’m assuming that the weather has caused many of the students at UMD to postpone doing any homework in order to get out and enjoy the nice weather, barbecues, lawn games and such. What a wonderful time of the year as the semester comes to a close and the entire summer is ahead!
This past week in Kal has been very nice. I finished up my Easter holiday from the school and started back up this week. It is a bit different being back at school after relaxing last week and just focusing on working out and reading books. I joined the local library.
Since being here I have found a new love. This love is butter chicken, an Indian dish served with rice. It is a bit spicy, somewhat creamy and like fairies are dancing on your tongue. I’ve had it a couple times at Indian restaurants in town, but last week Daniel and Cristy had me, Rusty and Woody over for a butter chicken dinner. It was fantastic and I must learn how to make it before I head home!
Saturday was game day and my good friend Casey Crevelone was in town to play. He is playing for the Mandurah Magic, a team south of Perth by 1 hour. I met Casey, like many of my other friends playing here in Australia, while touring with Athletes in Action last October and November. There are 6 AIA guys playing in our league. Unfortunately there are no two players on the same team, but on a positive note I get to see one of the guys almost every other game. Anyways, Casey was in town and Mandurah was a team we were supposed to beat quite convincingly based on our team and our home court advantage. The game appeared to be going the way it had been predicted during the first half, but the game was a tale of two halves.
Prior to the game my residence was turned into an elementary school arts and crafts room. Woody, Rusty and their new compadre Luke Bowler were designing and decorating t-shirts for the game. Armed with plain white t-shirts and blue and yellow “Radical” paints we had Picasso, Van Gogh and Rembrandt creating masterpieces. Rembrandt even began to re-create the team name by writing GIN for the first three letters of Giants. His creative ability allowed him to fix his mistake and complete what was surely a masterpiece. Each of the artists picked a player and put their respective number and nickname(s) on the shirts. I was lucky to have Woody donning my number with “meatballs” and “Johnny V” decorating the open spaces. This is a long and ongoing story in the house. At game time they were spotted not only with their t-shirts, but with their faces painted like David Puddy going to a New Jersey Devils game.
The game was set to tip and we knew we had to contain Casey. If he were to get his shots rolling we knew he could put up some big numbers. The first half was ours despite not playing up to our full potential. We had a comfortable 13 point lead at halftime but lost most of it in the third quarter as Mandurah came out with a lot of intensity and with nothing to lose. The game came down to the wire. Leading by 3 points with less than 10 seconds to play Mandurah inbounded the ball from half-court to Casey and after dribbling off an on-the-ball screen into a double team effort by our guys he put up a running 3 point shot that hit the bottom of the net as the horn sounded. Overtime was upon us.
I started OT with 5 fouls and found my sixth a couple minutes into the extra session. I was dumbfounded when I left the huddle to begin overtime. I walked to the center circle for the jump ball and was told that we use the jump ball arrow over here, and of course the arrow pointed towards Mandurah. During the first overtime each team traded baskets and after the extra session we were still tied. I was struggling sitting on the bench watching the game unfold. I just did my best by cheering my teammates on. In the second overtime we found ourselves down with very little time remaining. Mike Haney drove to the basket with 5 seconds left and made a lay up to take the lead by 1. Mandurah threw up a desperation shot at the end but the result was a win for the Giants, 100-99! Statistically I finished with 27 points, 8 rebs, and 2 assts., but the only statistic that really matters is the Win. We currently are 5-3 on the season and heading on a very difficult road trip this weekend to Geraldton and Wanneroo.
After the game we did the usual post game activities. Showered, dressed to the 9’s and made our way to The Palace. I love winning games, but I hate winnings hellish opposite. I hate losing games more than I enjoy winning them. A loss stays with me far too long. This is not the only thing I think about, but after a loss a beer does not always taste the greatest. After a win, however, Delicious! It was a fantastic night catching up with Casey and seeing a large amount of friends out not only at the game but afterwards as well. I was having so much fun I was even convinced to get up and sing karaoke with Woody and Rusty. We sang “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond and I stayed as far away from the microphone as possible. I maintain that I am monotone and tone deaf and have no business signing in public. I followed their singing and they followed my stage presence. It was big hit, Bom bom bom! As we walked off the stage the woman said, “Thanks Woody and Rusty, and the random guy.” Go Americans!
Sunday night I spent at the Creek residence with my teammate / roommate Lordan. Our coach, Wayne, and his wife had us over for their “Mexican” night. It was a really nice evening and I absolutely loved the food. They were even generous enough to send a chicken pasta bake home with us the next day.
In the biggest news of the week, I survived an earthquake yesterday. Yes, Kalgoorlie experienced a 5.2 magnitude earthquake just after 8:00 am on Tuesday. The center of the quake happened in Boulder, a town a couple kms (a few miles) from Kalgoorlie. There was not much damage in Kal, but several buildings in Boulder experienced damage. It was a really strange experience. It felt and sounded as if a large airplane was flying very low over the building. I was at the high school getting ready to head to class before it all happened. I did not really feel the ground move, but it was more so the loud noise that startled me. I could not imagine what it would have been like if I were a miner underground a mile or so and to experience something like that. At this point I have not heard of any injuries or deaths as a result of the quake, but needless to say it was a scary experience.
Last week I mentioned that our cable television was installed. I had been without television for quite some time and although it was a nice change, I missed being caught up with everything. I have now seen several baseball games – the St. Louis Cardinals have been on quite often, watched Sportscenter, Seinfeld, the NBA playoffs and MacGyver! It has been really nice seeing what is going on at home.
I hope things are going well at home for everyone and that you are taking advantage of the warmer weather. I miss you all and look forward to talking with everyone. Things are wonderful here and wish I could share more with everyone. Until next week, God Bless.
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