1 Finger down...oh well at least I have 9 more

So most of you probably already know that Marcus and I have been pretty fortunate to stay fairly healthy most of our careers (with the exception of last season). However, the one injury we always seem to get in dislocated fingers and hairline fractures in them. If you have seen my two pinky fingers than you would understand. One of them has no cartilage left in it I think, so it is never straight. It's more of a circle and doesnt seem to want to ever straighten anymore. The other pinky however is a gem. It sorta of looks similar to....oh a pear would be a good description! I'm not kidding this thing is officially the largest finger that I now have. So at practice last Thursday I'm going for a steal and I feel a sharp pain run through my right hand. I continue playing a shoot a layup at the other end. Jumping on defense the guy I was guarding says, "Eh mate, what's wrong with you finger!?" My pinky is once again dislocated to the side. I ran over to coach who instead of setting it back in place turns away as if I had lepracy. Sooo, I put my hand flat on my thigh and press and pull as hard as I could. This was probably the 5th or 6th time this one has been dislocated, but none were more painful for that one to put back in. I buddy taped my fingers and finished practice. Oh yes why not make it number 7. So at practice tonight (Tues) I have my entire pinky taped up so that I cannot bend it. Halfway through deflect a pass and...dislocated through the tape! Why not right? This was was much worse because now our trainer has to somehow get the tape off before I set it back in place. My finger officially doesnt work and has called it quits apparently. Oh well, at least I have 9 more. I am getting it looked at tomorrow but its not keeping me from playing, so no worries.

Sunday was a great day. We had our pre-season golf outing with the entire team and our sponsors. Each of us were partnered up with someone else from our team and we played a scramble so each person hits and then you take the best shot. Now if you have ever golfed with me heres the thing. The first time I play every season I am silky! I mean Pro status baby. However, throughout summer as the season goes on my golf game slides. And badly. So I was very excited about the first go of 2009 to see if the trend would continue. Our assistant happens to be a rep for Calloway, so Marcus and I got to play with some pretty sweet clubs! This def reminded me of the Lancer Camp Open we used to have every summer. On the first tee me and my partner were the second ones off. And everyone was watching. As you can imagine there was zero golf etiquitte at all! Most of the words included, "You sucks...Your American...Jackass!...Look theres a naked woman"...and maybe whistles and shouting. Started off clean on number one. Birdied number two, then kept rollin. By the time we got to number seven my partner goes, "Dude we are 2 under and havent even cheated once!" And he was right, apart from the accasional improving the lie but come on who doesnt do that? On the longest drive whole I decided to put a swing on one and put it about 20 yards past coaches ball, taking home the longest drive prize thank you. Halfway through the round I saw the one thing that I have wanted to see since I got here...Kangaroos! I told the guys that everyone in Australia is a liar and kangaroos dont really exist. Well the course was packed with them! It was so sweet. I got a lot of good pics and even got about 5 feet away and a pic with a couple of them. I will put pics up tomorrow to let you see! My partner and I finished 2 under and took home the trophy! Marcus and his partner were 2nd at +1 but I think they may have cheated more than once lol.

On Monday I got to also do something I have wanted to do since I got here and that was snorkeling. I went down to the coral reef and it was amazing! I cant swim ha so I got some floaties and put them around my ankles to keep me laying flat...I know real athletic huh? Dad was a lifeguard, my twin was a lifeguard, and I suck at water! The colors underwater are unbelievable. The sun ran through the water and hit the ocean floor, lighting up everything! I explored everywhere swimming with hundreds and hundreds of fish. And were not talking gold fish size either. These things were massive! Not sure what they were but they all had huge red mouths, and the bodies of them were rainbow colored. As I came around one of the large rock areas I saw a snake and followed up by swallowing 3 1/2 gallons of salt water. I could not eat salt for the rest of my life and be good. Afterwards I felt more boyant, so maybe it helped ;-) I spent about 45 minutes just exploring different areas of the reef, getting within inches of fish and marine life. It was by far the coolest thing I have done here so far. It is also a little scary because your not sure what you are gonna see. I keep thinking I'm gonna swim right into a group of jelly fish, but thats what is so exciting about it. The feeling of nervousness/danger is so exciting to me. I think tomorrow I am going to deeper and farther out in the ocean to see what I can find.

PS Marcus and I had our first blowup at each other at practice tonight. And if you have ever seen us in practice you would know that about once a month or so we just go off on each other. Mostly because we are angry and other players or something stupid that was going on. Well tonight we started out arguing about something which escalated into WWIII but most players who have played with us know that already. So they just let it happen and then its over. Well after we get done going at each others throats, the entire gym is dead silent. Our girls on the other side of the gym have stopped play, each player on our team looks like they've seen a ghost, and coach cant stop laughing. Needless to say we had a very intense and good practice haha. Oh these guys will learn soon enough. One of the younger players comes over to me halfway through practice and whispers, "Mate, you are scary. You have massive veins that pop out of your neck and arms when you yell. Hell, I was nervous and you werent even talking to me!" Ha I guess I'm not as nice as I thought I was! Post some pics soon! Good Luck Lancers at Nationals! We'll be listening!