Sorry it has been a couple days since our last post. We have just been busy...ha ya right. Actually we have just been lazy. First off I wanna say thank you for everyones prayers about my hamstring. I have sat out for two weeks and practiced full go tonight! Everything went well and I felt really good, so thank you. The next thing I want to do is give kind of a shout out to Jerry and his family. Some of you never got a chance to meet Joe (Jerry's dad) but you honestly couldnt imagine a better man. I can remember seeing Uncle Joe at games and everytime you talked to him you couldnt help but smile. The best part about Joe was that no matter what was going on in his life, if he was feeling bad or had other issues, you wouldnt be able to notice. He always had a smile on his face and took close care of his family. What an honor to say that Marcus and I had a chance for him to be a part of our lives! Our prayers go out to you Jerry and Lisa, along with the rest of the family. With all that being said, you can imagine how happy he is now that the pain is gone. Our prayers are with you guys...
Well I woke up this morning and turned on the broadcast...to hear the game. Yes you know the one we are talking about. I have to be honest. I CARE about a LOT of Huntington people. I mean I really do. Between Shives, Sheckler, Eames, Krista, Kock, Kendra, Gower, Mock, Logan, Alyssa, Chase, on and on, I really enjoy a lot of them. But I still have to say...I HATE Huntington lol. I mean I know hate is a strong word, but it seriously may not be strong enough. KJ always had a thing about Bethel, and I know everyone has this thing about Bethel...whatever. For Marc and me, HU is our rival. Which is strange since we both have so many friends that go to school there. I think its all the old timers who sit in the stands and dont have any clue about basketball but think they are all head coaches. Sure every place you go has bad fans, I mean I'm sure there are some Gracies right up there with the best of them. But ahhh losing to HU just puts me in a bad mood! We'll see where the rankings put us now, it might be REAL close whether or not we go to Branson. I hope so though, there really is nothing like the National Tournament in Branson. What an experience!
Alright ending this post I am going to do a top 10, well two top 10's. Things I miss and things I dont miss about home. So sit back, and enjoy. Yeah even you Huntington people too ;-)
THINGS I MISS ABOUT HOME (aka the US in general)
Receiving votes...television. I never watched too much as it is, but I do miss movies. I'm sick of having three channels and they all suck. If anyone needs to know about the cartoon Larry the Lawnmower I can explain in GREAT detail. It sucks, but I find myself watching about 2-3 episodes a day. I'm embarrassed.
Also receiving votes...girls that dont wear there pants/shorts/skirts above their belly buttons. Apparently its cool to wear your pants really really high. Umm yea not sexy...not sexy at all actually. I dont know who decided that it was 1983 in Perth, but they need to change that rule real quick!
10. Driving my car...and driving it on the RIGHT side of the road. Ha today Marcus drive a pickup truck, shifted gears left handed and everything. I was impressed.
9. Being near EVERYTHING. Sure there are a ton of things to do here, I mean there are 2 million plus people. Shopping malls, the beach, movie theatres, and entertainment all over. However everything is spread out about 30 miles. It's kinda crazy.
8. Basketball. I know I know, I'm playing basketball here. But I mean BASKETBALL! March madness is coming up and there is nothing like it. All these Aussies do is talk about cricket and rugby!
7. American sports in general! Seriously, I would probably even go for watching a soccer game at the moment. Ok maybe not that extreme but I need some baseball, football, and basketball in my life. Not cricket, rugby, and Aussie rules football (better known as smear the queer for lack of a better word).
6. American conversations. Its amazing how much you miss having a conversation with someone that actually knows what you are talking about. Sure there are similar things here, but you get the idea.
5. Variety of restaurants. There are a ton of different places to eat here, but a LOT of cafe's. I'm sure I havent found the best places yet so this will probably change at some point.
4. Paying 5 bucks or less for a meal! If I spend under 10 dollars I have got myself a deal. Everything here is expensive...from food to clothes. For example, I ate subway today. A footlong meal cost me 13 dollars. No 5 dollar footlongs here baby!
3. The comfortableness of knowing where I'm at. I decided to go down town yesterday because I really wanted to go to the library. As I walk in to the so call library (Ahmed the security guard told me it was this big building...apparently Ahmed didnt graduate primary schools because someone doesnt know North from South) I noticed that it was def NOT the library. It was museum that was closed. And somehow I MacGyvered my way into the locked building where I was about arrested and charged with breaking and entering. Thanks Ahmed! Real cool.
2. My friends. I dont exactly miss home but I miss my friends like craaaaaazy. Its nuts because you dont realize how important these things are until you dont have them at your side. I miss all of them like you wouldnt believe and I cant wait to see there faces in 6 months!
1. My family. Its tough being away but I know that God has us here for a reason. We think about our family a lot...and its tough when you can be there for things like what happened to Joe. You almost feel useless...But soon enough! No worries mom :-)
THINGS I DO NOT MISS ABOUT HOME
10. Working...ha. No not working, but I wouldnt have the chance to play basketball as a profession if I was home. Not exactly what you would call NBA material so, the international basketball is fine with me!
9. The cold. It was cold here the other day...it was 78. Yes 78 is freezing. I laughed at a bunch of ladies in think sweaters walking along the beach. I'm sittin here sun bathing and it feels like winter to them haha.
8. The snow. This goes along with the cold but snow is boring after Christmas and New years. Just bring on spring already.
7. People who are rude. Seriously, everyone is nice here. I feel like it is a huge Grace College. No one is angry. I think Americans need to come take vacations here and check out Perth. People are almost too nice.
6. Paying for healthcare. Its sweet over here. The team will take care of us if we get hurt, and there seem to be no extra costs. Go figure first time I get sick or hurt I'll probably be sent home on a boat. Lets hope not!
5 thru 2. The business. Everyone is go go go, and I felt like the last 4 months in Bloomington I was on such a tight schedule to get everything in. It's almost like I didnt even have time for myself. I remember in Bloomington I was pumped when I was able to rent a movie and just sit down alone in my apartment to watch it. I was ALWAYS working, lifting, running, with friends, going out, on and on. My Christian walk has been the best it has been in a while here, and that is because I make that a priority instead of those other things.
1. My cell phone. Ha I know, terrible number one right? Ok I miss the simple things like getting a text from a friend, or being able to just pick up the phone and make a call to anyone. But it has almost become a necessity for us to carry around our cell phones. It's like we are naked without them. Seriously, leave your phone at home one day and see if you actually can go throughout the entire day and not seriously wish you had it with you. I have been forced to live without it and I really dont miss it that much!
Alright this is long enough (thats what she said!) ha, I am the funniest person I know. Time to bounce though, hope everyone is doing well and miss you guys! Outdoor movie theatre tomorrow! Marley and Me, I heard it was a good one. And yes I'm actually bringing friends this time haha!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Pilot and Lancers Unite? Can it be possible?
So today was an interesting day to say the least. We scheduled our weekend plans and got set. Coach called and said that everything with the team is a go, now just finalizing paperwork. Sunday we have a camp that we have to put on for about 75 younger kids, then scrimmage afterward. After lunch today we got a long expected visitor. Natalie Young (former Bethel Pilot standout) came to our place today. She plays for Lakeside which is another team in the same league that we are in. She arrived a couple days after we did, but she hadnt even seen the ocean yet. So we decided we would take her. Conversations were really easy and we had a blast. She is absolutely hilarious and I'm not sure why we havent met before. She graduated with IWU forward Landon Adler at Adam Central, who played with Marcus and I in China. The weather today was HOT as you can probably imagine (100 degrees) for the 2nd straight day. Unfortunately I got burned so sleeping might not be easy tonight. As we are getting to the beach Marcus and Natalie go and get a spot while I went to change. Before I walk in I got attacked by a huge spider web. Stepping back and moving the web out of my face I look up...I was staring in the face of the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen. And this is by no way an exaggeration. It was probably about 4-5 inches from head to rear, and was camo looking with white and black spots. Just like the stingray, my body was jumping faster than when dad saw Jaws in movie theatres!
After the beach and waves, we bounced and decided to check out Natalies place. The family she is staying with has an AWESOME house. She lives in the pool house where you can play ping pong, pool, video game it, or go outside for a quick swim. Plus they have a half court basketball area which is really nice. The family has two kids...a 16 yr old boy and a 13 year old girl. I really dont remember their names so I made up a name for both of them and called them by it the rest of the night. I called the boy Dougie because he reminded me of the character off 50 First Dates. He is only 16 and I think he takes steroids. Plus he talks like that guy on the movie, crackin me up. He had a dance last night and came back at like 2 am drunk apparentally. Hmm? I guess this drinking thing is NOT a big deal here like it is in the states. Kind of sad actually. Anyway, I called the girl Alyce just because I like that name. I think her real name is Megan though. They are great though. I tought Dougie a few things about baseball and showed him how to throw a curveball. His is actually a lot better than mine now! He then decided to show me how to play cricket. You stand back and throw it to a batter just like in baseball, only difference is that you bounce the ball...then hit it. And you can hit it in any direction. Plus you score like 200-300 runs a game. Yeah real strange right? So the first pitch he throws, that little punk says, "I'll show you the bounce curve first." Bounce curve my ace! Damn thing hit me in the shin! I dropped immediately! After telling myself I wasnt going to go out by a 16 year old, I shook it off and put a DISPLAY on his butt! Bounce or no bounce, I was putting this cricket ball outta the yard! For all of those who were wondering, cricket is the worst game ever invented. And it can last 5 days. No...I'm serious. Matches can actually last 5 days long! I'd rather go out to a nice sit down breakfast with Coach Paul Patterson...ok maybe not haha.
After whoopin up on 16 yards olds (mom would be so proud) the kids decided they wanted to take us squid fishing! A little skeptical at first we arrived at a pier about 10 oclock at night. To my surprise the pier was packed out, probably around 100 people fishing. We didnt catch anything but it was easily the coolest thing we have done so far. A neat experience...and no worries, Natalie took plenty of pictures so I'll be sure to put them up for everyone. Well it's getting late and I'm gonna crash.
P.S. the guy import on Natalie's Lakeside mens team got in his car, and crashed it RIGHT AWAY! Driving on the left side of the road isnt as easy as it sounds! Ok so a friend of mine told me a joke...and it is terrible ha but sorta funny. What did the gardener name his two sons? Jose and Hose B. Haha peace!
After the beach and waves, we bounced and decided to check out Natalies place. The family she is staying with has an AWESOME house. She lives in the pool house where you can play ping pong, pool, video game it, or go outside for a quick swim. Plus they have a half court basketball area which is really nice. The family has two kids...a 16 yr old boy and a 13 year old girl. I really dont remember their names so I made up a name for both of them and called them by it the rest of the night. I called the boy Dougie because he reminded me of the character off 50 First Dates. He is only 16 and I think he takes steroids. Plus he talks like that guy on the movie, crackin me up. He had a dance last night and came back at like 2 am drunk apparentally. Hmm? I guess this drinking thing is NOT a big deal here like it is in the states. Kind of sad actually. Anyway, I called the girl Alyce just because I like that name. I think her real name is Megan though. They are great though. I tought Dougie a few things about baseball and showed him how to throw a curveball. His is actually a lot better than mine now! He then decided to show me how to play cricket. You stand back and throw it to a batter just like in baseball, only difference is that you bounce the ball...then hit it. And you can hit it in any direction. Plus you score like 200-300 runs a game. Yeah real strange right? So the first pitch he throws, that little punk says, "I'll show you the bounce curve first." Bounce curve my ace! Damn thing hit me in the shin! I dropped immediately! After telling myself I wasnt going to go out by a 16 year old, I shook it off and put a DISPLAY on his butt! Bounce or no bounce, I was putting this cricket ball outta the yard! For all of those who were wondering, cricket is the worst game ever invented. And it can last 5 days. No...I'm serious. Matches can actually last 5 days long! I'd rather go out to a nice sit down breakfast with Coach Paul Patterson...ok maybe not haha.
After whoopin up on 16 yards olds (mom would be so proud) the kids decided they wanted to take us squid fishing! A little skeptical at first we arrived at a pier about 10 oclock at night. To my surprise the pier was packed out, probably around 100 people fishing. We didnt catch anything but it was easily the coolest thing we have done so far. A neat experience...and no worries, Natalie took plenty of pictures so I'll be sure to put them up for everyone. Well it's getting late and I'm gonna crash.
P.S. the guy import on Natalie's Lakeside mens team got in his car, and crashed it RIGHT AWAY! Driving on the left side of the road isnt as easy as it sounds! Ok so a friend of mine told me a joke...and it is terrible ha but sorta funny. What did the gardener name his two sons? Jose and Hose B. Haha peace!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Water so clear you can see to the bottom...hundred thousand dollar cars AINT nobody got 'em!
The Indian Restaurant
Driving on the WRONG side of the road haha. Sorry I mean other side!
The famous Bell Tower, with the Swan Bells inside. Not that interesting haha.
View from the River Walkway.
Why is this picture sideways!!! A good look of the city, sideways! lolSo of you may have heared the title of this post from Will Smith's song Miami. Only his goes, "water so clear you can see to the bottom, hundred thousand dollar cars everybody got 'em." This place is somewhat funny because it is a "rich area" because of the mining and ocean area. But everyone drives camry's and pedophile vans haha. I'm waiting for someone in a white van to roll down their window and as me if I want some candy! For as nice as the houses are and stuff you would think people would be driving mercedes, jags, and bmw's but I guess they dont care about that. Yesterday was more than eventful. Here's what took place...
10 AM
I wake up (a little before this actually) to another beautiful day of sunshine. And ANOTHER day of Marcus and Julia talking on the computer! I'm starting to realize that it's a good thing we didnt get a phone for overseas, otherwise they would both be broke! Or at least both sets of paretns would be. As much as I love sitting there listening too, "haha ur so cute...no, you are! haha you stop it. I miss you...aww but not as much as I miss you. (giggle) You complete me (finger pointed at the computer then to the heart)" I decided to take this party elsewhere. What do you know, beach time!
11 AM
Decided to go for a swim and read a book. This seems to be feeling more like a 7 month vacation everyday hha. I went on a short jog to the ocean and found a spot between two coral areas. The cool thing was I was the only one in the area, so I decided to lay out completely naked to get rid of any tan lines...haha yeah right. Just kidding. I spent some time reading "The Shack" that my buddy Mikey gave me. What a good book. If you havent read it I recommend it. I am about halfway through and I will probably finish it in a couple days because it's so interesting. A man's little girl is taken on a family vacation and brutally murdered in a shack in the Oregon wilderness. However years later he gets a "note" from God that brings him back to the place where all his nightmares are. I am about halfway through but it is an interesting book on faith and dealing with tragedy. After reading a chapter or two I decided to work my hamstring out in the water. The water is sooo clear, well you can see to the bottom. I found myself chasing after small fish underneath me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of a ton of bigger fish! As I approached within about 3 or 4 feet from them, the sand shifted and the area took off. They werent a lot of fish at all, it was one BIG one. A stingray to be exact. He glided away as I saw his tail follow behind. No I didnt not watch in amazement. Lets just say Michael Phelps might have lost in a swimming contest this day! I was back on the sand in about 7 seconds! I almost pissed in my board shorts! Oh well, at least I havent encountered Jelly Fish yet!
3 PM Some of the people picked us from the church and took us downtown in the city. I got to take a lot of cool pictures and will add them as much as I can. We needed to get a new phone while we are here so we thought today would be the day. Seeing as, we dont have practice...hmm imagine that! We went to the outdoor mall which was sweet. After that we walked to the river and saw the best sight in Perth! The river walkway is unbelievable. Everything is so clean and nice. They have a large ferris wheel that sits on the river to overlook the city area. They are also setting up for the arts festival that is a big deal here in the city. They have independent movies, and a lot of artistic world from all over the world. Nikki would be in heaven here. I actually went to a movie where you sit on the grass. It is like a drive in theatre but without the cars. And yes I did go by myself because I have lots of friends and apparently am very interesting :-/ haha. But it was a cool experience. If you have seen the Wedding Planner, it was a lot like the movie they watch in the park. We got to see "The Bell Tower" which is nothing special but it is supposed to be a big deal here. I think the bells are from London and they show the connection of Australia with England. I honestly could be making that up but hey that's what will make me a great teacher! It's not what you know, its how well you can convince your kids to believe what you are saying! haha That's terrible and not true. Hopefully Dr. Gaerte isnt reading this blog lol. We then visited a sweet place. It was an Indian restaurant named Annalakshmi. It's a vegatarian place that sits on the river. The catch is that you pay them whatever you feel the meal should cost. They ask for at least a 1 dollar donation but the rest is up to you! How cool is that! Needless to say guess where we ate? Ha nope we ate at McDonalds! Shoot vegatarian? Good one! But I'll try it soon enough!
7PM
Marcus went home to chat with his better half, and I decided to pub it with some of the people. I always enjoy meeting new people and drinking is almost like a cultural thing here, a lot like Europe might be. The age limit is 18 and it's not uncommon for most of the kids to start earlier than that. It's a lot different here tho. It seems to be MUCH more casual than party scene. However, talk about expensive! Wow, I got a pint of beer and it cost me 9 dollars, my identification, my left hand, 3 toes, and an internal organ of my choosing. I gave one of my kidneys because they arent good anyway haha. Seriously tho, 9 dollars for uno drink. Probably will stick to water and juice most of the time here!
10PM
This is my favorite time of the day. I usually walk down to the beach and just relax, listening to the waves and watching the moonlight bounce off the coral rocks and sand. It's the most relaxed I have been in a long long time. It is probably the place where I feel the closest to God as well. Tonight my prayers went out to a few people in general. First off to Jerry and his parents. I know they are having a tough time and it's not easy to experience that. I know how hard dad took it when Gramps Moore passed away. Another prayer went out to the Slavicek family and Conner and Kennedy's Grandpa. He is a good man and I pray that everything will turn out ok. I also pray for my teammates. No...not my wolves, but My "teammates!" I pray for Kais, Gaff, Mike, KJ, Winks, Eaks, Swanny, Plums, Hughie, Briggs, Sheck, Shives, Drake, and on and on. I miss those guys a lot and basketball isnt the same without THEM. Alright I suppose I will wrap this up. I pray quite a bit but dont have enough space to share them all! Miss everyone more than you can imagine.
P.S. I realized that even though I live in Australia, I'm American baby! And I dont feel that's changing anytime soon! By the way, what do you call two guys hanging out on the wall? Kurt & Rod haha. I need to find a new joke. Later
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Typical Day
So we are starting to get more familiar with everything here. Church yesterday was good, it was in Subiaco which is just west of the city, a couple blocks from the ocean. It's cool cuz everything is along the coast here. Up north is Joondalup, which is where we have practice and our stadium for Wannaroo is. 10 minutes south of that is Trigg Beach, where we are staying. 10 minutes south of Trigg is the main city of Perth, and the massive lake and river that it sits on. Then Subiaco is just a bit west of that. So everything is a little spread out, but easy to get around on. Marcus did go to church yesterday morning because he felt sick, so I went with another guy. It was a typical church service with worshipping at the beginning, we had communion, then the sermon. The main pastor is actually from the US and he was very excited that we were here and wants to help get us involved as much as possible at the church. With all of our free time it should be a good situation. They want us to lead some basketball programs and get the church started in some leagues for the young kids. I was talking to Kaiser the other day as well as Didion, and I told them it kinda feels like Lancer Camp (just on the ocean lol & of course without the legend Coach). We practice 2 days a week and then I have the opportunity to coach some younger kids teams at our same facility. Looking forward to it actually! Also I think I might get a job at a fitness center or something, just to add some more stuff to the list. Right now it's mostly beach, practice, beach, church, beach, downtown, beach. I'm sure that looks pleasing to anyone but I have a feeling that after 6 months from now the beach might not be something I do everyday.
It's nice to talk to people back home. Anyone who can get a webcam and get skype would be great. It's a neat way to talk to people. Otherwise email seems to be working just fine! We are staying in the beach house until the end of March, then probably changing scenery. You know me, I dont like to stay in one place too long...which could be good or bad depending how you look at it. Last night we went to the youth group but its quite a bit different than back home. The youth group here consists of people ages 17 all the way up to 28. So much older than you would think. A lot more creepers here! ha just messin. We worshipped a little bit, and then got introduced to all the youth group (probably about 20 or 30 in all). Most of them were my age. One of the girls who picked us up from the airport (Desiree) picked us up along the way and brought us. I feel bad because she always seems to take us places when we need to or when we dont want to wait for the train. Anyway, I met her sister last night (Cheryl) who is a 7th grade teacher. Since we both have education degrees we talked for quite a while. They are from Sri Lanka which is interesting, and it was neat to learn about education in Australia. Much different than in the US. We also met a guy at the professional basketball game the other day from the US. The main professional team over here is the NBL which is like our NBA, just not as good. The league we play in is the feeder league into that, which is like our D-League.
They had a game the other day and our head coach is also the assistant coach for the Wildcat team. We got tickets and met the players along with the coach. We toured the locker room and even got invited to continue practicing with the team the rest of the year. Anyway, the American we met sat right beside us at the game and he has been here since December. He is 26 and just packed up his things to travel. Definitely my kind of guy and it was good to chat with another person from the states. He went to school in Oregon. Not sure how long he is planning on staying but he should be fun to hang out with. Another person we met plays on one of the other teams in our league. We have been working out with him and he's pretty good. His name is Jacob and he is looking to go to a college in the states. I think we will def be able to help him out, plus he could be a big time player in our league. He's only 19 and has All-American status all over him, he just doesnt have game film or contacts in the US so he's not known. This Australia thing might work out for more than what I planned on! Maybe this is a good recruiting place ;-)
Well that's about it, I will continue to add as many pictures as we can. P.S. did anyone see the crazy lady who missed her flight in Hong Kong? If you havent then youtube it. Talk about nuts! For those of you who werent there, it is similar to how mom reacted when I got on the plane to leave Chicago. No worries mom, be back in about 215 days or so! P.S.S. My skin was becoming a nice bronze color, well as bronze as a Moore can get. However, I decided to try my luck at body surfing yesterday but accidentally fell asleep on the beach for, I dont know 2 HOURS! Lets just say the front part of my body looks nothing like my backside. If you look at me sideways you can see a nice line. Let me tell you how sexy that looks! :-)
It's nice to talk to people back home. Anyone who can get a webcam and get skype would be great. It's a neat way to talk to people. Otherwise email seems to be working just fine! We are staying in the beach house until the end of March, then probably changing scenery. You know me, I dont like to stay in one place too long...which could be good or bad depending how you look at it. Last night we went to the youth group but its quite a bit different than back home. The youth group here consists of people ages 17 all the way up to 28. So much older than you would think. A lot more creepers here! ha just messin. We worshipped a little bit, and then got introduced to all the youth group (probably about 20 or 30 in all). Most of them were my age. One of the girls who picked us up from the airport (Desiree) picked us up along the way and brought us. I feel bad because she always seems to take us places when we need to or when we dont want to wait for the train. Anyway, I met her sister last night (Cheryl) who is a 7th grade teacher. Since we both have education degrees we talked for quite a while. They are from Sri Lanka which is interesting, and it was neat to learn about education in Australia. Much different than in the US. We also met a guy at the professional basketball game the other day from the US. The main professional team over here is the NBL which is like our NBA, just not as good. The league we play in is the feeder league into that, which is like our D-League.
They had a game the other day and our head coach is also the assistant coach for the Wildcat team. We got tickets and met the players along with the coach. We toured the locker room and even got invited to continue practicing with the team the rest of the year. Anyway, the American we met sat right beside us at the game and he has been here since December. He is 26 and just packed up his things to travel. Definitely my kind of guy and it was good to chat with another person from the states. He went to school in Oregon. Not sure how long he is planning on staying but he should be fun to hang out with. Another person we met plays on one of the other teams in our league. We have been working out with him and he's pretty good. His name is Jacob and he is looking to go to a college in the states. I think we will def be able to help him out, plus he could be a big time player in our league. He's only 19 and has All-American status all over him, he just doesnt have game film or contacts in the US so he's not known. This Australia thing might work out for more than what I planned on! Maybe this is a good recruiting place ;-)
Well that's about it, I will continue to add as many pictures as we can. P.S. did anyone see the crazy lady who missed her flight in Hong Kong? If you havent then youtube it. Talk about nuts! For those of you who werent there, it is similar to how mom reacted when I got on the plane to leave Chicago. No worries mom, be back in about 215 days or so! P.S.S. My skin was becoming a nice bronze color, well as bronze as a Moore can get. However, I decided to try my luck at body surfing yesterday but accidentally fell asleep on the beach for, I dont know 2 HOURS! Lets just say the front part of my body looks nothing like my backside. If you look at me sideways you can see a nice line. Let me tell you how sexy that looks! :-)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tryouts
Well we arrived at our first tryout yesterday at Joondalup Stadium. This was for the Wannaroo Wolfpack. As Marcus and I shot around we met a really cool guy on the team who was 26 and has played several places in Europe. He is about 6'8 and pretty good. He reminded me a lot like Jared Adler skill wise. When the practice began Coach Downer pulled us aside and gave us a crash course of what we would be doing. Pretty much we were going to be thrown right in the mix and have to pick everything up along the way. It was strange cuz there were about 2o guys there! I asked Damien (the big guy) if all these guys were trying out and he said that a lot of them on are the Division 1 team, which would be like a JV team. Practice was about 2 1/2 hours long but it was good. Marcus and I both played and shot very well, until our legs started to go. Still not quite used to practicing in 85+ degree weather, even at 7 pm! After the practice was over Damien gave us a ride back home and gave us his cell. No one says call, they all say ring. "I'll ring ya tomorra mate!" Is about what it sounds like. Coach Downer said he would call us and meet us for lunch the next day on Friday.
Friday came and we got to go to the Perth Wildcats practice, which is the NBA team here. These guys are HUGE and make big time dollars playing ball. The cool thing about Coach Downer is that he is also the assistant coach for the Wildcats team, so we get the benefit of working out in their gym, meeting some cool guys (great ballplayers), and getting to know some of the other coaches. There stadium seats about 5,000 and Marcus and I are going tomorrow night. After practice Coach took us out for lunch and explained what they were looking for. After about a half hour he said that he needed to make sure visas/and import rules match up ok, but he wanted us both to be a part of their team! What a blessing! He told us that he would be talking to our President Ryan Hunter and getting the contracts worked out. So great news! Hopefully by next week we will be signed and ready to go. Games actually start in 5 weeks, so we dont have much time to prepare, but the concepts seem pretty simple enough. Push the ball, and shoot the damn thing before the 24 second shot clock goes off ha-ha. Defensively it is right up our alley. We are a smaller team so Coach wants us to press as much as we can. I have talked to a few other coaches, but Coach Downer by far is my favorite. He is very personable and seems to have a great understanding of the game. Of course good news cant happen with some bad. After lunch we went back to the gym for a workout with coach and two other players on different teams in our league. Both are pretty good guards. Halfway through I come off a screen and pull up to shoot and...pop. All I felt was like a rubberband snapped me on the hamstring. Sure enough, I pull it. The good news is that it is a regular hamstring pull in my mid leg, not up high like it was all season last year. It is really sore at the moment but I am taking all the careful procedures in order for this to go away. Also it doesnt hurt my spot, I'll just have to make sure I wait it out this time until I heal up. Might be a couple weeks but I'm not worried. Being 100%...or maybe 90 lol is the most important thing. It looks as if we might have a really good team. Damien however is leaving 10 games into the season to leave for Ireland, so that will hurt. But we might be getting a few bigger wing and post players when the Wildcats finish their season. They dont get a lot of playing time on their team so this is a chance for them to put up good numbers.
After the workout we came back and I looked on Ebay for a new right leg. No one has posted anything yet but I'll keep my eyes open. We went to the weight room then to get a workout in then walked along the ocean. I cant describe enough how this place looks. It's like a paradise here. The water is crystal clear and the waves are high. The sand is a light brown color and the sky cant get more beautiful. Honestly, Bob Ross had some sweet drawlings but even my man couldnt paint this picture! I finally have a few pictures on my computer so I'll throw them on here. This is the beach house we are staying at along with the beach. I'll make sure to add some pictures of Coach, teammates, and the gym here shortly. Oh by the way, you know we are in the big time when we only practice 2 days a week!!!! Yes that's right. We practice Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30-9:00. Then we have 1 or 2 games on the weekend. I'm gonna do my best to let Coach K know about this idea, even though it might be easier to get him to say a swear word. Which obviously is impossible...so sorry Grace guys! Alright I'm out.
Closing Thought: I have seen more speedo's in the last 3 days than I have in my entire life. At what point does a man say to himself, "Hmm...you know what, I think today I'm gonna show off my cash and prizes to the entire world." Seriously. And the guys that wear speedo's are definitely the guys who shouldnt be wearing them. Dad looks like Matthew McConnahey compared to these gents. Well maybe more like a skinnier version of of Jack Black, but you get the idea.
Friday came and we got to go to the Perth Wildcats practice, which is the NBA team here. These guys are HUGE and make big time dollars playing ball. The cool thing about Coach Downer is that he is also the assistant coach for the Wildcats team, so we get the benefit of working out in their gym, meeting some cool guys (great ballplayers), and getting to know some of the other coaches. There stadium seats about 5,000 and Marcus and I are going tomorrow night. After practice Coach took us out for lunch and explained what they were looking for. After about a half hour he said that he needed to make sure visas/and import rules match up ok, but he wanted us both to be a part of their team! What a blessing! He told us that he would be talking to our President Ryan Hunter and getting the contracts worked out. So great news! Hopefully by next week we will be signed and ready to go. Games actually start in 5 weeks, so we dont have much time to prepare, but the concepts seem pretty simple enough. Push the ball, and shoot the damn thing before the 24 second shot clock goes off ha-ha. Defensively it is right up our alley. We are a smaller team so Coach wants us to press as much as we can. I have talked to a few other coaches, but Coach Downer by far is my favorite. He is very personable and seems to have a great understanding of the game. Of course good news cant happen with some bad. After lunch we went back to the gym for a workout with coach and two other players on different teams in our league. Both are pretty good guards. Halfway through I come off a screen and pull up to shoot and...pop. All I felt was like a rubberband snapped me on the hamstring. Sure enough, I pull it. The good news is that it is a regular hamstring pull in my mid leg, not up high like it was all season last year. It is really sore at the moment but I am taking all the careful procedures in order for this to go away. Also it doesnt hurt my spot, I'll just have to make sure I wait it out this time until I heal up. Might be a couple weeks but I'm not worried. Being 100%...or maybe 90 lol is the most important thing. It looks as if we might have a really good team. Damien however is leaving 10 games into the season to leave for Ireland, so that will hurt. But we might be getting a few bigger wing and post players when the Wildcats finish their season. They dont get a lot of playing time on their team so this is a chance for them to put up good numbers.
After the workout we came back and I looked on Ebay for a new right leg. No one has posted anything yet but I'll keep my eyes open. We went to the weight room then to get a workout in then walked along the ocean. I cant describe enough how this place looks. It's like a paradise here. The water is crystal clear and the waves are high. The sand is a light brown color and the sky cant get more beautiful. Honestly, Bob Ross had some sweet drawlings but even my man couldnt paint this picture! I finally have a few pictures on my computer so I'll throw them on here. This is the beach house we are staying at along with the beach. I'll make sure to add some pictures of Coach, teammates, and the gym here shortly. Oh by the way, you know we are in the big time when we only practice 2 days a week!!!! Yes that's right. We practice Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30-9:00. Then we have 1 or 2 games on the weekend. I'm gonna do my best to let Coach K know about this idea, even though it might be easier to get him to say a swear word. Which obviously is impossible...so sorry Grace guys! Alright I'm out.
Closing Thought: I have seen more speedo's in the last 3 days than I have in my entire life. At what point does a man say to himself, "Hmm...you know what, I think today I'm gonna show off my cash and prizes to the entire world." Seriously. And the guys that wear speedo's are definitely the guys who shouldnt be wearing them. Dad looks like Matthew McConnahey compared to these gents. Well maybe more like a skinnier version of of Jack Black, but you get the idea.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Shoot dude, I think we're lost
Ha, that is a perfectly fitting title for this message. So I have realized that I dont like to get 100 percent directions because there is something that a man takes great pride in, finding his OWN way around. Well seeing as this city is so spread out and it has around 2 million people, I probable should have known better. Needless to say Marc spent the first couple hours pissed off at me, but I'm sure he eventually got over it. We woke up today with plans of heading on the bus, then the train in order to get to our gym. We figured the bus system our pretty quick and the train wasnt that hard either. It's kind of surprizing how nice people are and willing to help. They make you feel very comfortable and dont look at you like you're an idiot from America which is what we both are.
We hopped on our train and took it north about 10 miles to an area called Joondalup. That is where our gym in at. Coming out of the train station I then had no clue where to go. All coach said was it was a short walk. So I called Dean (our pastor friend) and had him look up the basketball arena. If only I would have said stadium instead. He gave us directions about a mile north so we began. When we arrived we came to a real nice sports facility. There was a football field out front (Aussie rules) which looks like a large oval soccer field. The grass was just like a fairway on a golf course and as green as you can imagine. Walking into the place we looked at eachother and said this is incredible. Playing in China we know that basketball overseas is NOT the same, so we were a little surprized to see the arena so nice. I told the lady who we were at the front desk and she looked at me as if I wanted a medal for being from the USA. Picture this..."Hi we are Scott & Marcus Moore from the United States and we are here for the Wannaroo team. Ryan Hunter said just to come on in and he would take care of everything." After stating this and folding my arms as if I was ready for an applause, the lady sat blank. Come to find out there is a Joondalup Sports Arena and a Joondalup Sports Stadium. Guess which one we were supposed to be at?
After hearing Marc complain for the next half hour we made our way BACK to the train station. Sure enough the stadium was DIRECTLY behind the station. I could have thrown a baseball and hit the thing. BTW there was a shopping mall there as well which was absolutely massive! (That's what she said) We entered the stadium and a nice lady came to the door and said, "ello Scot and Mahcus..howya goin?" She was very nice and got us set up. Then entering the gym we felt more comfortable. This is what I had expected from the beginning. The gym looks VERY old and would be the worst gym we played in at Grace. Yes worse than Marian. They dont have air conditioning because the weather is so comfortable at night during there winter. We met a big guy who was on the team named Jon. He wasnt that great, and he knew it. He introduced himself as the guy who spent more time on the bench than anywhere else but he was very pleasant. The gym is a GREAT shooting gym so we worked out for about an hour. After that Marcus went home and I decided to explore the downtown. I found a SWEET outdoor shopping area that covers about two full city streets. Very similar to Chi towns. Dean picked me up about 5 and we grabbed some drinks. That night him and Lisa took me back and Marcus joined us for a swim in the ocean. It was 83 degrees out and it was 8:30 pm. Not complaining! When the sun goes down here the whole horizon line turns bright orange. It's the most beautiful thing you can imagine. We will be adding pictures soon. Basketball tomorrow at 630-9. Will post results then! But its 11 here so I'm off to bed.
P.S. Cricket is the most confusing game I have ever seen, and they play it on TV ALL DAY on like 36 channels. Neat. :-/ This is DJ Skizzy...out!
We hopped on our train and took it north about 10 miles to an area called Joondalup. That is where our gym in at. Coming out of the train station I then had no clue where to go. All coach said was it was a short walk. So I called Dean (our pastor friend) and had him look up the basketball arena. If only I would have said stadium instead. He gave us directions about a mile north so we began. When we arrived we came to a real nice sports facility. There was a football field out front (Aussie rules) which looks like a large oval soccer field. The grass was just like a fairway on a golf course and as green as you can imagine. Walking into the place we looked at eachother and said this is incredible. Playing in China we know that basketball overseas is NOT the same, so we were a little surprized to see the arena so nice. I told the lady who we were at the front desk and she looked at me as if I wanted a medal for being from the USA. Picture this..."Hi we are Scott & Marcus Moore from the United States and we are here for the Wannaroo team. Ryan Hunter said just to come on in and he would take care of everything." After stating this and folding my arms as if I was ready for an applause, the lady sat blank. Come to find out there is a Joondalup Sports Arena and a Joondalup Sports Stadium. Guess which one we were supposed to be at?
After hearing Marc complain for the next half hour we made our way BACK to the train station. Sure enough the stadium was DIRECTLY behind the station. I could have thrown a baseball and hit the thing. BTW there was a shopping mall there as well which was absolutely massive! (That's what she said) We entered the stadium and a nice lady came to the door and said, "ello Scot and Mahcus..howya goin?" She was very nice and got us set up. Then entering the gym we felt more comfortable. This is what I had expected from the beginning. The gym looks VERY old and would be the worst gym we played in at Grace. Yes worse than Marian. They dont have air conditioning because the weather is so comfortable at night during there winter. We met a big guy who was on the team named Jon. He wasnt that great, and he knew it. He introduced himself as the guy who spent more time on the bench than anywhere else but he was very pleasant. The gym is a GREAT shooting gym so we worked out for about an hour. After that Marcus went home and I decided to explore the downtown. I found a SWEET outdoor shopping area that covers about two full city streets. Very similar to Chi towns. Dean picked me up about 5 and we grabbed some drinks. That night him and Lisa took me back and Marcus joined us for a swim in the ocean. It was 83 degrees out and it was 8:30 pm. Not complaining! When the sun goes down here the whole horizon line turns bright orange. It's the most beautiful thing you can imagine. We will be adding pictures soon. Basketball tomorrow at 630-9. Will post results then! But its 11 here so I'm off to bed.
P.S. Cricket is the most confusing game I have ever seen, and they play it on TV ALL DAY on like 36 channels. Neat. :-/ This is DJ Skizzy...out!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Are we there yet?
Alright, S. Moore here. Let me begin by saying those who say they LOVE traveling are liars and should be put in a figure 4 leglock because of their lying. NOBODY loves to travel...they love the destination. So from now on I refuse to say, "YES...I heart traveling! It's beyond my wildest dreams!" I enjoy walking off a plane knowing that I refuse to get on another one for at least 6 months!
The flight from Chicago to Cali was nice. It was only about half full so Marcus and I both had our own row alone. This made sleeping very easy and I'm glad I did, because the next part should have been put as an option in the book Dante's Inferno. Choosing our seats we picked a row of four that we thought had a HUGE open area in front of us. Hmm, bad choice. Not only were the back of the bathrooms in front of us, it was only about 2 feet. You know, that total space where it's far enough away where you cant rest your knees but too close where you cant stretch out your legs. The worst part was there wasnt anywhere to slide our feet under. At least the regular chairs you could stretch out underneath...nope, solid wall baby! Plus the movie screen was right in front of me so I felt like I was in the front row at the movies. Oh dont even think about taking a quick nap. The illuminating light took care of any sleeping options ha-ha. All in all if I wasnt going to be put next to small crying children who would sit next to us? Yes, unfortunately two much larger people. I kinda felt bad too because these planes are not comfortable for me let alone others even a big bigger than us! Poor Marc had to bearhug my armrest most of the 14 hrs.
I didnt realize when I got off that we only had about 2 hrs before our next flight took off. Once we arrived in Sydney, we grabbed our bags quickly which was good 4 our situation. We then advanced thru customs where Tabitha (apparentaly the Angel of Death- When Satan isnt available she kinda overlooks things) decided to rumble with me about marking no to having food on my customs card. I even asked a lady (2 actually) whether I needed to declare freaking crackers. Both said not to worry about it, then Ike Turner decided to lay it on think. After just telling the lady thank you for giving me a yelling worst than my pops, we got to our gate right when our flight was supposed to leave. Luckily it was delayed for an hour so we got to take our time and grab some food.
Arriving in Perth we really didnt know what to expect, seeing as we dont meet with the team until Thursday and our Pastor friend Dean was unavailable. Marcus made the comment, "How funny would it be if we walked in and Dean had a HUGE sign with our names on it. Go figure, as soon as we step out there is a huge white sign that says WELCOME SCOTT & MARCUS. Two girls were waiting for us (Heather 20 & and Desiree 21). Both of them were awesome and we all clicked right away. Ha there accents are soo funny. They took us to our beach house where we had no idea what to expect. HOLY COW! The girls took us to a neighborhood and the house is saaaawwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttt. We had the entire downstairs with a separate entrance. We have a kitchen/living room, 2 separate bedrooms with 4 beds total, laundry room, and a sweet bathroom with a shower and large spa tub. After we got settled in the girls left and Dean and his wife Lisa came to take us to dinner. Dean graduated with Coach Eberly at HU. Both hiim and his wife were AWESOME! The took us to a pizza shop and we ate pizza on the beach watching the surfers. Did I say it was 82 degrees out? This place is like a dream that I'm gonna have a hard time waking up from. Dean and Lisa were awesome and I think we will have a good relathionship. I will post pictures this week when I post again, but right now its 9 ish and I am out like Helen Keller in a staring contest.
Marcus and I are going to the beach tomorrow then working out at a gym nearby. BTW the beach here is awesome. It's literally less than a half mile away. This must be a slice of paradise! And once we get comfortable I'd better be seeing some of you guys purchasing tickets to come live this up with us a little bit. Ok I'm honestly fading fast, so more tomorrow.
P.S. Mom made it here safe. No worries mate! Ha just kidding, but seriously, no worries :-)
The flight from Chicago to Cali was nice. It was only about half full so Marcus and I both had our own row alone. This made sleeping very easy and I'm glad I did, because the next part should have been put as an option in the book Dante's Inferno. Choosing our seats we picked a row of four that we thought had a HUGE open area in front of us. Hmm, bad choice. Not only were the back of the bathrooms in front of us, it was only about 2 feet. You know, that total space where it's far enough away where you cant rest your knees but too close where you cant stretch out your legs. The worst part was there wasnt anywhere to slide our feet under. At least the regular chairs you could stretch out underneath...nope, solid wall baby! Plus the movie screen was right in front of me so I felt like I was in the front row at the movies. Oh dont even think about taking a quick nap. The illuminating light took care of any sleeping options ha-ha. All in all if I wasnt going to be put next to small crying children who would sit next to us? Yes, unfortunately two much larger people. I kinda felt bad too because these planes are not comfortable for me let alone others even a big bigger than us! Poor Marc had to bearhug my armrest most of the 14 hrs.
I didnt realize when I got off that we only had about 2 hrs before our next flight took off. Once we arrived in Sydney, we grabbed our bags quickly which was good 4 our situation. We then advanced thru customs where Tabitha (apparentaly the Angel of Death- When Satan isnt available she kinda overlooks things) decided to rumble with me about marking no to having food on my customs card. I even asked a lady (2 actually) whether I needed to declare freaking crackers. Both said not to worry about it, then Ike Turner decided to lay it on think. After just telling the lady thank you for giving me a yelling worst than my pops, we got to our gate right when our flight was supposed to leave. Luckily it was delayed for an hour so we got to take our time and grab some food.
Arriving in Perth we really didnt know what to expect, seeing as we dont meet with the team until Thursday and our Pastor friend Dean was unavailable. Marcus made the comment, "How funny would it be if we walked in and Dean had a HUGE sign with our names on it. Go figure, as soon as we step out there is a huge white sign that says WELCOME SCOTT & MARCUS. Two girls were waiting for us (Heather 20 & and Desiree 21). Both of them were awesome and we all clicked right away. Ha there accents are soo funny. They took us to our beach house where we had no idea what to expect. HOLY COW! The girls took us to a neighborhood and the house is saaaawwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttt. We had the entire downstairs with a separate entrance. We have a kitchen/living room, 2 separate bedrooms with 4 beds total, laundry room, and a sweet bathroom with a shower and large spa tub. After we got settled in the girls left and Dean and his wife Lisa came to take us to dinner. Dean graduated with Coach Eberly at HU. Both hiim and his wife were AWESOME! The took us to a pizza shop and we ate pizza on the beach watching the surfers. Did I say it was 82 degrees out? This place is like a dream that I'm gonna have a hard time waking up from. Dean and Lisa were awesome and I think we will have a good relathionship. I will post pictures this week when I post again, but right now its 9 ish and I am out like Helen Keller in a staring contest.
Marcus and I are going to the beach tomorrow then working out at a gym nearby. BTW the beach here is awesome. It's literally less than a half mile away. This must be a slice of paradise! And once we get comfortable I'd better be seeing some of you guys purchasing tickets to come live this up with us a little bit. Ok I'm honestly fading fast, so more tomorrow.
P.S. Mom made it here safe. No worries mate! Ha just kidding, but seriously, no worries :-)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Australia "The Beginning"
Alrighty, because of my sis I decided to keep everyone informed on our adventure by keeping this blog. Sure we will send out emails here and there, but this gives everyone a chance to see what we are doing whenever they have the time. We are leaving the US this Saturday the 7th and wont be returning until sometime in September. We have our tryouts the first two weeks that we are there, so I will be sure to keep you posted. Here's a view of Perth btw! Those who may not know, Perth is the largest city in western Australia, 4th largest in all (1.7 Million). Since it's located on the ocean, plan on some surfing/snorkling pics soon!
A friend of ours named Dean is a Pastor in Perth and he will be helping us get set up when we arrive. So far he has been a HUGE help and we are very fortunate that Coach Eberly introduced us to him! We have a place to stay for a while until we get the basketball situation settled. We will try to post messages throughout the week and as often as we can, seeing as we should have quite a bit of free time! Nothing like a 7th month vacation! Ha. But in all reality God is opening some very cool doors for the both of us and this experience, while being a challenging one, should be a great adventure. Proverbs 16:9 says, "In our hearts we plan our course, but it is the Lord who establishes our steps." Can't wait to see what direction He takes us! Will miss everyone very much!
You can feel free to write messages on here, email us (scott3moore@gmail.com), or facebook both of us! That will be the best 3 ways since we will probably not have a phone! "Big gulps eh? Welp, see ya later!"
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