Welcome to another week of Australian events. This post is a bit delayed and I apologize for that. It has been a busy week. Since last posting I have received wonderful news from my family, things are great at home and they will be visiting Kalgoorlie! As of now it sounds like my mom, dad and littlest (but sweet) sister Jana will be coming here at the end of June for a couple weeks. My older sister Sarah continues to try to schedule a visit, but her schedule includes: finishing school, moving to Africa for a month to work, traveling through Asia (again), visiting a friend in Indonesia, and moving to Los Angeles. If she does not make it I will forgive her. My other sister, Margaux, is finishing school in the next fortnight and is going to be working soon after. It would be great if she could make it with my parents, but it might be a long shot. I hope that they can all find the time to make it here – it is a wonderful place.
I mentioned last week that we experienced an earthquake. We continue, more than a week later, to experience tremors. They continue to shake the earth and make a loud rumble randomly. They have been so common and frequent that it is now no big deal when they occur. There is no damage caused by them, just a reminder of what had happened.
Now for some updates. Last week we went on a hellish road trip. I say this not because it was a bad trip, we won both games, but that it was long, long, long. We left Kalgoorlie Friday after work, around 5 pm, with destinations of Perth, Geraldton, Perth and home. Our first game was on Saturday night against the Geraldton Buccaneers. Geraldton is a country town 6 hours north of Perth on the coast. It is a beautiful, quiet and picturesque. Sunday night we rounded out our trip against Wanneroo, a club based out of Perth.
As I eluded to the trip was a great success, here, however, is the not so great part about it – there is no direct route to Geraldton from Kalgoorlie. We drove the 7 or so hours to Perth on Friday and spent the night there. Saturday morning we awoke and headed to Geraldton to play that evening, only to return to Perth after the game. The Giants have had very little success playing there, and the Bucs were sitting atop the standings. To add a little fuel to the fire, our coach had decided to call the people of Geraldton “ferals.” This did not sit very well with the Buccaneer fans.
The game plan was to contain Ryan Zamroz, the import I had spent Easter with. He is a great player and has been leading the league in scoring at 33 ppg. Ryan started out on fire ending the first quarter with 13 points. We kept him in check the rest of the game and pulled out a convincing win 113-104. I finished the game with 17 points and only 4 rebounds. I played well at times, but could not put a whole game together. I experienced my re-occurring problem during the game. I find myself playing well in the first quarter and without any fouls at the conclusion of the quarter. Then to start the second quarter I get whacked right away with two fouls and I go sit on the bench. It is frustrating as I am playing no different than I was in the first quarter and then Bam, tack them on.
Our team played very well this night and earned a much needed victory. We had multiple guys step up and deliver big performances. This was the first win versus Geraldton in at least the last 4 years (home or away). A win on the road always makes the bus trip home that much more enjoyable. We returned to Perth at 3:30 am – the trip back was as enjoyable as it could have been.
After a bit of sleep I was able to meet the Chegs for mass at the Cathedral. The Cathedral has just been remodeled and it is quite spectacular. The music is fantastic and the Priest delivers a very nice service. It is always a pleasure to spend time with John, Kym, Alistair and Meaghan and to catch up on the latest happenings. They were the family I came to know very well in Perth while visiting in December.
After mass I made it back to the hotel the team was staying at in time to catch the bus to the team meal at the Sizzler! It was a buffet and sounded a lot like something that we would eat at in Grand Forks or something before a game. It was very similar, except I paid $22 for a salad bar (which included both a pasta and desert bar) and $3.95 for a bottomless drink. The food was good; I just continue to be amazed at the prices for some things. At home that meal would top out at $12.
We were on the court again Sunday night against Wanneroo. It is always difficult to rebound and play the second game of a doubleheader. Your legs are a bit worn, your energy is low and you ache from the game the previous night. This was no different, but rather a bit more extreme. Wanneroo also played the night before and had a hard fought victory. We knew both teams were going to have to pull out whatever they had left to get a victory. We were a bit inconsistent in the first half, but blew the game wide open in the second half. I finished the game with 26 points and 17 rebounds. After the game we had our usual post game get together with the other team. Awards are usually presented after each game to the home team’s top players. In Kalgoorlie, we honor the top opposing player by giving them a 6-pack of beer. Wanneroo practices the same beliefs and awarded me a nice cold 6-pack. I quickly found 5 friends and it amazes me how good a beer tastes in certain situations (like after a win). We won the game and completed a very successful road trip. We were back on the bus, Coronas in hand and on ice in the cooler, and heading back to get ready to hit the town.
After the game I was excited to spend some time in Perth with my American friends. Ben Beran, my friend from AIA that is playing here, presented at Lakeside’s Sunday evening service. All of the AIA guys went to see Ben speak and then we all met up at my hotel. Casey, Trey, and Ben (all of whom have been mentioned in previous blogs), as well as Bobby Kempf (Perry Lakes) and Luke Payne (Lakeside) came up to have a friendly drink and chat. It was really good to see everyone and hear about all the different experiences we are each having. Some of us are living quite literally on the beach, some are working a lot, and some are on winning teams and others that are struggling. We each are having very different experiences. I wish the night would have lasted longer, but they were all pretty tired and had a good amount of driving ahead of them.
After the guys left I met up with my teammates at The Shed in Northbridge. The stamp to get in read, “True Blue Aussie Venue.” We knew it was going to great! It was a nice outdoor bar / club that played songs like “I come from a land down under” and “Boys light up.” It was a fun night out in Perth, but the road trip and games had really taken a lot out of me. The highlight, other than the gyro on the way home, was watching Daniel Bowler request to be lifted up so he could crowd surf. I sat back from afar and watched him surf through the crowd like a professional. As I continued to watch him cut up the crowd from the outskirts I could see the bouncers preparing to swarm him- they moved in from every angle. Sure enough, one minute he was floating through the crowd like a feather in the wind and the next he was standing on the outside of the club offering the bouncers money to get back in. Priceless Facta.
Sunday was ANZAC day in Australia. It stands for the Australia New Zealand Army Corps. It is very similar to our Memorial Day in that it is a day of remembrance for those who have fallen during service. ANZAC day is very important here and celebrated properly. It is as if you took Memorial Day and put it on steroids. Since the holiday is always on April 25th, Monday was a public holiday and no one had to work. I am getting used to these holidays!
The bus ride home on Monday was BRUTAL. Our trip was approximately 2,100kms (1260 miles). This took place over 4 days and I am very happy it is over. It was successful, but it really took a toll on the body and required a couple days to recover. It is nice to have it out of the way, similar to traveling to Omaha when we played UNO. It is now behind us. We do have a triple header ahead of us, however.
The Wanneroo game was broadcasted live on the internet. I would have made this aware to everyone, but the only issue being that it began at 5:00 am CST in the US. My parents were dedicated enough to tune in and watch, but I cannot remember the last time my dad has missed a game in. The game is online and archived if you care to see some Australian bball. We watched the game on the bus ride home and quickly realized the commentators made some pretty ridiculous comments during the game. If you do choose to watch the game, I hope you enjoy some spirits before hand to make the comments that much better.
http://www.lmsc.com.au/index.php?page=display&key=U4bBoVmt
(Scroll to the bottom- SBL April 25, 2010: Wanneroo vs Goldfields)
It is currently Saturday, May 1 and we have a game tonight against East Perth. This team boasts a lineup that includes 3 players that are 7 foot plus. In scouting them they rotate through the 3 players, but usually have 2 of them on the court at a time. It should be a fun game at home as the crowd gets into the games. This is Rusty’s last game before he heads back east on his way back to the states. It should be a pretty exciting night – lets go get that win.
Until next week! God Bless.
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