Cartier's in Town, Tulip Season Has Arrived, and Bad Hoops Stretch - Blog #22 (Mar. 17 - 30)

Basketball Update:

As you can tell from the title, we had a bad couple of weeks as a team. We went 0-2 with losses in the Dutch Cup semifinals to Groningen and got smacked on the road against Leuven. We were up by about 10 against Groningen at halftime and proceeded to get outscored 50 - 30 in the second half. They played zone which messed us up. The Leuven game was never close. They jumped on us early and held a consistent lead the whole game. We ended up losing that game by about 30. We have a couple of very important Dutch games coming up. They are huge for our positioning at the end of the season. I have a good feeling!

Leadership Lesson:

I think one of the most underrated things a leader must do is be on time. I am a huge hypocrite here because I am pretty awful with this but have been fairly good since coming overseas. I make an effort to get to practice and/or film relatively early to have plenty of time to stretch and get ready. I also think it is an important cultural tone-setter for any group of people to show commitment. It is also one of those things that obviously takes no talent and, for the most part, is in complete control of the individual. Again, some of you may be laughing if you know my family, but it is something that I have tried to improve at. It is a great way to signal to those around you that you respect them and value their time. It is a simple yet important thing that should be a priority in any leader's life. It's a sign of basic empathy for others.

Top 5 of the Week:

Sports Teams

1. CSU Men's Hoops - Not much of an explanation needed here. I am a recent alumnus, and even with Coach Medved leaving, I will still be a massive fan. For those wondering, I will be cheering for the Gophers as my second favorite NCAA basketball team next year.

2. Green Bay Packers - The NFL is my favorite league to watch, and the Packers are my favorite team in said league. A mixture of nostalgia and the history associated with the cheeseheads make them easy to root for. Already can't wait for this season.

3. Milwaukee Bucks - I was probably a bigger Badger basketball fan growing up because of Frank the Tank and co., but since Giannis has made his ascension, the Bucks have taken their place. The championship in '21 was so amazing to see.

4. Milwaukee Brewers - My favorite sports team when I was younger. I used to legitimately watch every game I could. Since I have fallen out of love with baseball, they have dropped in these rankings, but I still love the crew. I will definitely try to get to a game or two over the summer.

5. Wisconsin Football - I wanted to say CSU football with this pic, but that kind of felt lame. I love Badger football and have really missed the gameday experience at Camp Randall the last couple of years. So much fun and love watching this squad. Huge matchup vs. the Rams next year in which I will be cheering for CSU.

What Did I Do This Week?

These couple of weeks were action-packed with a ton of fun things, so let's get into it. Ev got here on Thursday morning, so I spent that day showing him around Leiden. I have a pretty good route I take people on to see the city that I have down pat at this point that I took him on. We grabbed coffee and lunch in town before I brought him back to rest up during my practice. Nikki and I made a really good salad because it was going to be our only home-cooked dinner for the next few days with my parents and the Kindermans coming on Saturday.

Friday was the day of my game, so Ev spent most of that day checking out Amsterdam. Because we lost, we got the weekend off which was nice with my parents arriving Saturday morning. We met them at their hotel in Leiden upon arrival. My parents brought me a bunch of great snacks from back home which rocked. We walked around the Saturday market with everyone. It has gotten busier every week as the weather has gotten nicer. I showed them the rest of Leiden for the rest of the day, and we had a great dinner at Brasserie de Poort. We ended up stopping at a couple of other bars in Leiden for drinks before calling it a day.

Sunday, we went to The Hague because they had planned on doing so for my game Sunday that we ended up not making it to. It was great. We walked around the city center and had a nice lunch. We went to this really cool shopping area called The Passage and also had a chocolate bar with pistachio in the middle. It was one of the best things I have ever tasted.

Then, we went to the beach there to look at that area. It is a bit touristy, but it is a really cool area. We had some delicious ice cream which we had not had in a while. Then, we headed back to Leiden.

We woke up early on Monday for our day at Keukenhof Garden which is one of the most famous gardens in the world. My parents, Kelly, and Ev rented e-bikes while Steve got a regular bike. We were running late in the morning because of some lost sunglasses and a miscommunication with directions, so I went with the Kindermans. My parents and Ev got there a minute or so before us. It was about a forty-five-minute bike ride. It was for sure a bit early for full bloom, but Keukenhof has a bunch of indoor "exhibits". It was truly beautiful and a very fun activity to do with the fam. Monday night was a fantastic dinner at Paco Ciao, and everyone left Tuesday morning to stay in Amsterdam for a few days.

Tuesday night, we ate at Pesca in the Jordaan area in Amsterdam. It was very unique. Basically, they have an array of raw fish on ice, and your whole table goes up to the seafood bar and selects what you want. The fisherman tells you how it is going to be prepared, puts it on the scale, and adds it to your tab. Really cool experience. Oysters were probably my favorite but we got seabass, monkfish, octopus, calamari, and more. It was great.

Everett left Wednesday, and Nikki got back from her overnight stay in Arnhem, so we met up with my parents for an Italian dinner Wednesday. It was spectacular. Nikki and I split a pizza and some salmon pasta. It seemed like authentic Italian, and I would for sure recommend Casa di David as an Italian spot in Amsterdam.

My parents spent the rest of their trip in Antwerp which they loved. I said goodbye to them after our game in Leuven. It was sad but mostly nice to reflect on a great trip. Nikki got back from her ski trip Sunday, and I biked back to the tulip fields with her. Even in a week's time, the bloom started to be much better. We went around the fields that was free of charge for us on bikes. The colors were insane, although it was extremely windy and hard to bike at times. We made a great dinner and spent some quality time together after Nikki had been gone for a lot of the week.

Top Meal of the Week:

This is really difficult. However, I think I have to give my top meal of the week to Paco Ciao here in Leiden. I believe it is the restaurant with the coolest vibe in Leiden. They have a great drink selection and each room in the restaurant has a different theme to it. We were in the bedroom which is unique because there is a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room used for seating. The cuisine is kind of a mix of a bunch of different kinds of food that were all delicious. Would definitely recommend.

One Thing I Miss About the US:

Over the last couple of weeks, I have started to miss my nephew, Carter, more and more. It is crazy to think about how fast he is growing, both physically and mentally. I am really pumped to get back home in a couple of months and see him. It will be amazing to watch him grow up... hopefully he's an athlete! ;) Thanks for reading!