Eat Some Nutella

So I have had 4 or 5 people ask me to elaborate more on my blog. I like the ideas streaming in.

Personality of our team. In the big picture, our team is young, aggressive and passionate. Even though we have a 40 year old on our team, it is the younger guys who drive the team. In terms of leadership, there is no real standout leader. It's almost like everyone is.... waiting. Waiting for someone to take charge and lead by playing well, all the time. By establishing that type of player I feel the team will flourish. When you talk about our team, first thing that comes to mind is young talent. Everyone has so much potential, and they are all good players already. Not to mention a bag of Skittles of personality. Its Scott and My joke, everyone wants to party with our team.

Our coach, Jee, is very observant and has a good way with the players. He rarely yells at us, but he isn't afraid to call out our weakness or what we need to work on. I love it. It helps me to stay focused on the task at hand. He also, as i said, observes. He talks to us, asks us how we are feeling. Instead of saying "you sucked" he said to me, "is there anything wrong, are you okay?" Its nice having a coach like that.

So I will go through the players one by one-

Manu- First thing to be said, he is sitting in his class reading my blog right now while trying to obtain enough information to get his PHD. Yeah, PHD. So first thing about his character is his brains. Very smart. And has good street smarts too! On the court I see him do things that would have never occurred to me. He will hit a certain angle and it is such a smart hit it amazes me. Manu was the first player on the team to truely befriend us (but the team did follow quickly).
He also has the potential for leadership.

Yentl, the team mouth. My first encounter with Yentl was when we were first introduced to the team, Yentl was joking around with the group. But it wasn't in English. And he also had that mischievous smile that makes you think he is always trying to get your goat. My second encounter with Yentl was our first game, he was mouthing off to the other setter and after the game they almost got into a fight, on the court. Yeah, wake up call for me. He brings the fire to the team. Which is interesting coming from the setter.

Patrick, the 40 year old, married man, kids, and life. He always makes me laugh. We don't think he speaks English very well so anytime I say something around him he just looks at me and winks or smiles cause I don't think he knows what I'm saying. But he is good. I like having him on the court, and being a left handed middle, he certainly changes the flow of the game.

Jens (Yence not Jen's), is the other setter on the team. Our two setters make me laugh cause they are exact opposites in personality. Jens is quite and reserved where Yentl is loud and Joking. I certainly like them both, and they set good balls.

Martin is one of our young guys. He plays middle and is good. When he connects right, he hits the ball straight down. Its amazing to see. I have gotten to hang out with him a little bit and he keeps telling me this radio station "Studio Brussels" is the best.

Steven is our other middle, he is interesting. I have a hard time getting a read on him. Good blocker. Probably one of the better ones on the team. He is very funny. Drives his business car which is a Jaguar. Owns his own business with his family. They make lamp shades.

Michele (don't ask how to pronounce it) is one of our opposites. He was very shy at first. But after a couple of hang out times he has started to open up. He is a very good attacker. He is another one of the" smile and wink" type of personality.

Jan (Yan), our libero, is a pretty awesome guy. We played 3 hours of a shooter game Sunday on his big screen tv and with his play station 3. It is was awesome. I think me and him will be gamer buddies. The best way to explain Jan on the is Kylie, Scott's and my reaction after every game or practice, "gosh our Libero is so good!"

Kim, is our homeboy. We have spent more time with him off the court than anyone else. Kim is the player who retired last year from volleyball, had a huge article written about him in the paper. He is now playing on our team this year. He got the Brett Farve syndrome. But, I can't tell you how happy I am to have him play on the team. He is a great spark to the team when we are playing bad. He can come in at any moment and just pound volleyballs. And on several occasions he has come in and jump served 4 or 5 points for us. He is clutch. And one of the best personalities I have ever met. Now, we need to get him married!

Scott, my Canadian friend. Its funny with Scott, I think the team thinks that we were best friends before we got here in Belgium. The fact is, I had only met him two days before. As it turns out, we have a lot in common. I mean, he plays Cribbage and Rummy! I couldn't believe it. He eats super unhealthy, loves coke, little bit of a picky eater and doesn't hear a word you say the first time you say it so you get the answer, "eh?" But Scott was hard to read at first. He has a lot of personality. I have since come to enjoy his (and Kylie's) company. Kylie reminds me a lot of Jessica. Considering Kylie and Scott are going to be our roommates, I think we will have a lot of fun.

And last on the team is Me. And Me is Me.

So I hope this post quenches some of your thirst!