Well it has been a long time since my last blog, and a lot has changed. As most of you know, after beginning the season in Romania I went down with a massive ankle injury. At first, we actually thought it was a break after the initial X-ray and examination in Bucharest. Either way, fracture or not, it was going to be 2-3 months before I could begin playing basketball again. So after discussing with team management it was decided that it would be best for both parties if I went home and began rehab and recovery as soon as possible. Medical care in Romania is not exactly the best, as some of you may have read about the American player who was killed after a bar fight, it was later determined he really died of medical negligence, rather than the bar fight itself. Either way it was a sad story that affected a lot of teams. At the time, I thought I would probably be returning to Romania to finish off the season, but I think God had other plans for me. We all know those are the best plans - He makes all things work together for our good!
So after being home for a couple months and through some grueling rehab in Midland, the chance of going back to Romania was beginning to look less promising. Just when I wasn't sure what I was going to do, I got a call about a possible professional basketball opportunity in Ulaanbataar Mongolia. My first thought was Mongolia - really? But after talking with the team management and researching the city I found out that it really wasn't as crazy as I thought. It is the capital city, where everything is based, with about 2 million people, how crazy could it be? I watched some videos of the league from last year, and I did some more research and decided it was a pretty amazing opportunity, and one definitely brought on by God, how could I say no? After mulling an offer from Australia as well, I ultimately decided to sign the contract in Mongolia. We ran into some problems with our sponsors, but to make a long story short, after several delays, I finally ended up in Ulaanbataar.
I had no idea what to expect when I landed, and it was a ridiculous amount of travel to get here, but I finally made it! The league here is sponsored by Pepsi Co. so I knew that at the very least there wasn't going to be to many money problems within the league and that the contract I signed was going to be honored. Basically, every team has a combination of Americans, Serbians, Mongolians, Chinese, and Japanese on their team. I got here pretty late, so I had to jump right into practice and games, and lets just say I didn't quite have my basketball legs yet! It took a week of pain, but I feel like I have them now, and am excited about our season. Our team is comprised of some very good players. We have 3 americans, and the rest Mongolian players. Eight of the Mongolian players, however, were on the Olympic team, so we definitely have a very strong team, with a lot of balance and depth. Our Coach is a really tough guy, who is also involved in coaching the national team here, so practices and games are not taken lightly. Anyways, we are currently 6-1 in the league and in first place, so things are going very well!
I don't want to overwhelm everyone with information, so I leave it at that for now. I have definitely had so many lessons to be learned over this past 6 months, lessons that I know have strengthened my character. I will update more and more of the course of the season.
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