Game 11 - Alexandroupolis

A little update about life here in Greece.  Our team just finished the 1st half of the season last night with a 3-0 win on the road vs a decent team from Alexandroupolis.  It was about 4 hours away and we hadn't played since the 29th of Dec.  The long break was a blessing in disguise.  I had a pinched nerve in my back, very similar to what happened to me my senior season at San Marcos, and wasn't able to train in the past 2 1/2 weeks.  Then to top it off I got a stomach virus that landed me in the hospital for an IV drip to give me a little hydration.  Needless to say, I didn't train but one day in that 2 1/2 week span.  We don't have a 2nd opposite at the moment and our team new that this was not going to be an easy match.  I was feeling much better leading up to the match but I had no energy (and not a lot of confidence in my self).  The morning of the match I used the hotels sauna to loosen up my back and sweat out a little toxins.  After lunch and a long nap I felt pretty good.  Our coach told me we will see how it goes in warm ups and make the decision based on how I felt.  It was go time and we had to win...I felt that it was better for me to start for the moral of the team.  I ended up making it through the entire match and actually felt pretty good...maybe I should never train ;)

Enough about me though...The real story of the night was how well all our young players played.  You can read the website entry to our website www.bluearena.gr and if you type that website into your google translate it will come up in English.  Our setter Kostas played great last night as he ran a very solid offense...played with everyone and got the job done.  He is a lot of fun to play with!  

We sit at the top for another week

We are still a little back on our payments.  I've received about 4 salaries out of 6 but we just signed on with some new sponsors and are awaiting more money.  It will be a relief to all the guys on the team when they finally catch up on our salaries.  I know the Greek players have only gotten 2 or so.  I will be very worried if I leave Greece without all of my money but I have a good feeling about the rest of the season and another championship to add to my portfolio.  It would be a nice accomplishment for sure.