Onto the Semis, Zaandam, and Hanging with Mom - Blog #28 (May 14 - 20)

Basketball Update:

We only had one game since my last post, and it was a close-out game for us on the road against Zwolle. It was not our best performance by any means. I got in foul trouble at the end of the first quarter and had to sit for the rest of the half. The third quarter was not kind to us, and one of their bigs was killing us. Zwolle’s best player was guard, Quincy Anderson, who hails from Oshkosh North. He was my grade, so I had matched up with him before in the state championship game in ‘18. After a mini comeback and some clutch plays down the stretch, we pulled out the win. It was gratifying to get my revenge on Q and advance to the semis. Our semifinal matchup is a best-of-five starting Tuesday and proceeding every other day until someone makes the championship. We play 2-

seed, Leeuwarden, whom we are 1-1 against this season.

Again, I am finishing up the blog on Wednesday, so here is a little update from the game on Tuesday. We jumped out to a fairly sizeable lead, jumping ahead by 15 points during the second quarter. They scrapped back in the third quarter and cut the lead down to three at one point. In the fourth, we slowly pulled away and gained a more comfortable lead before winning by ten. As the saying goes, "the series doesn't start until the road team wins a game." Series has begun! Big road win for us, and now, all we need to do is protect our home court. I played solid. Got in some foul trouble, but it was a good team win.

Leadership Lesson:

This week, I’m going to talk about a leadership skill I am probably the most lacking in of all the things I have talked about. However, I know it’s important. That skill is honesty and confrontation. I am not a confrontational person most of the time. On the court, I can confront a teammate with no issue. Telling someone the truth about a bad behavior or poor habit can be difficult to do. You never know how the person will react. Will they resent you for telling the truth? Will they get defensive? Will they thank you for giving real feedback? This uncertainty often turns people off to giving necessary feedback. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to tell someone the truth. Most of the time, from my experience either receiving or giving feedback, the person who gets the feedback may originally be upset. However, they often will come around and be grateful because it made them better in some way, shape, or form. It can be difficult, but the outcome of doing this can be very positive.

Top 5 of the Week:

Sports Documentaries

1. The Last Dance - Best sports doc ever, hands down. Watching these during COVID quarantine hit so different. With no live sports or anything to look forward to with other people, this became a phenomenon. It lived up to the hype. Michael Jordan is my favorite basketball player ever, so it was fun to feel like I was watching his career.

2. Survive and Advance - Awesome 30 for 30 about the NC State run in '83. Jimmy V is so awesome, and watching his career in a doc was pretty cool.

3. The Fab Five - Really cool documentary about the first ever five freshmen to start in NCAA basketball history. It talked about how the Michigan men took the nation by storm and had a huge influence on basketball and culture. Great doc.

4. Bad Boys - I love anything about the late 80s/90s NBA. This was right up that wheelhouse. Talked about the Isiah Thomas-led Pistons and his battles versus Jordan. Pretty awesome.

5. Last Chance U - Really cool football and basketball docuseries about juco athletes and the journeys of their seasons. I don't think they are released anymore, but they had some really great seasons.

What Else Did I Do This Week?

Nikki and I got to spend lots of quality time with my mom this past week. During the day Friday, I took my mom to a lake on the outskirts to a restaurant for some coffee. Then, we went into town and did a little bit a clothes shopping. We got an amazing lunch at La Angela. It is a tiny Italian deli with amazing sandwiches and probably the best tiramisu I have ever had. On Friday night, she came over, and I made dinner. I cooked up a healthy version of chicken curry that I featured on last week's blog. It was a really chill night. We watched Pitch Perfect afterward which is a timeless classic.

Saturday, we spent the morning in Zaandam. It is a city right outside of Amsterdam with colorful buildings and cool architecture. It is pretty touristy but was definitely worth checking out. After Zaandam, we went to Zaanse Schans. It is an even more touristy area in Zaandam with windmills and cool shops and a more artificial Netherlands vibe. Again, cool and worth checking out, but it is not a must-do if you visit in my opinion. Saturday night, we went to Beniras Bar & Kitchen in Leiden for dinner. It was great food. After, we stopped at a little restaurant and had dessert. It was a really nice night. We walked my mom back and parted ways. It was great to have her out here and get to spend some more time with her in Europe.

Top Meal of the Week:

The place in Leiden we went to Saturday night, Beniras Bar & Kitchen was outstanding. They served small plates, so we got a bunch of stuff to share. My favorite dish was probably the boneless ribs. Really cool vibe too. Nikki and my mom had some good wine too.

One Thing I Miss About the States:

This did not happen to me this week, but it is something I just thought about. It is nice not to have to pay for a public restroom in the US like you do here. Train station, fast food restaurants, and pretty much anywhere you go, they will charge you for the restroom. Kind of crazy, but if you really have to go, one or two euros won't keep you from going. Thanks for reading!