Back at Keukenhof, Padel, and Bounce Back W - Blog #23 (Mar. 31 - Apr. 6)

Basketball Update:

Our last one-game week for a little bit here versus the team in next to last place in the league, BAL. We needed a win versus these guys to begin to make our push for the first-place Dutch team. It has been a season-long trend for us that we have started games relatively slow with a few exceptions. This game was not one of those exceptions. We started off struggling defensively and were down three at half at home. The third quarter was worse than the first two, and we were losing by eleven. The fourth quarter was one of our best stretches of basketball in the last few weeks. The crowd got into the game, our energy picked up, and we stormed back to win the game by a decisive four points. It was not my best game by any stretch. However, it is much better to have a bad game in a win than a loss. Two games this week versus QSTA and Mons.

Leadership Lesson:

One thing our coach this year has talked about several times is accountability with one another and the fact that you must hold yourself accountable before you can hold others accountable. Everyone hates a hypocrite. If a teammate, coach, or anyone in your life tells you to do something or work on something that they struggle with themselves, it is extremely frustrating. To hold other people to a standard, you must hold yourself to that standard as well. In the docuseries, The Last Dance, Michael Jordan talks about this. He said his teammates respected him as a leader because he never asked his teammates to do something that he didn't do himself. When he demanded more from his teammates and others in the organization, they could never dispute him because they knew that he was doing everything in his power to win championships. A leader should never ask people to do something he/she doesn't do him/herself.

Top 5 of the Week:

Non-Alcoholic Beverages

1. Dr. Pepper - The GOAT soda and my favorite drink to have when special occasion calls for it. Definitely not as popular in Europe, but it's my number one.

2. Green Apple Gatorade - Very strange, but I have always loved this flavor of Gatorade. Very polarizing drink, but I love it.

3. Coconut Water - Over the last couple of years, I have started to get coconut water more and more. Has a lot of electrolytes and is good for you. Kind of a weird taste, but once you get used to it, it's great.

4. Body Armor - No specific flavor, but basically just coconut water-based Gatorade that I'm a big fan of.

5. Arnold Palmer - Had this homemade version all the time growing up. Unbelievably refreshing and a hot summer day.

What Else Did I Do This Week?

On Monday, my old high school teammate and friend, Jake Graf, met up with me for breakfast in Amsterdam in the middle of his Europe trip. I hadn't seen him in years, so it was great to catch up and hang out. We had good chicken & waffles at Staring at Jacob and then, checked out Jordaan, the Begijnhof, and the 9 Straatjes area. I couldn't hang out for too long because we had practice, so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. Great seeing Jake!

Friday, Nikki worked from home and made tacos for us. It was amazing weather, so we ate dinner on our balcony and enjoyed the sunset. It was unreal. Then, Nikki and I finally went a block away to Dekker Sports which is a massive sports facility right down the road from us. They have indoor and outdoor tennis, padel, minigolf, bowling, and more. We rented a court & paddles and had some great games. I won the first set of games, 7-4, and the second set, 3-1. Domination. I think we will be playing more for the rest of the spring because we had a ton of fun, and it is reasonably priced. It was a fun date night!

Saturday, a bunch of Nikki's work friends came to my game. After the game, we went to a bar in Leiden for a couple of drinks. It was really fun hanging out with them. They enjoyed the game even though it wasn't one of my best.

Sunday, we went back to Keukenhof. With work really heating up for Nikki, this was her best chance to see it. There was a huge difference from a couple of weeks ago when I went with my family. The flowers still were not quite in full bloom, but they were still amazing. There was also an entire corner of the garden that my family and me had missed which was gorgeous. We drove instead of biking and went out to lunch in the city over from us, Sassenheim, after we left the garden. Then, we came back, went for a run, grocery-shopped, and made a great dinner. Great week!

Top Meal of the Week:

My top meal was the tacos we had Friday night. My mom brought some really good taco seasoning from Penzy's that we put to good use. Nikki also made some mango salsa. We had rice, beans, tomatoes, greek yogurt, lettuce, and hot sauce to go with. It was bangin'. Great vibes too with the sunset and good music as well.

One Thing I Like About the Netherlands:

I like the pickleball alternative, padel, a lot. I probably still prefer pickleball, but padel is a lot of fun, too. Different racquet than pickleball or tennis, but you use a tennis ball. Tennis scoring, smaller court, and surrounded by glass/fenced-in walls.