Happy Birthday

So I was awoken to the sounds of Will and Matt losing their minds yelling, telling me to hurry up and wake up, followed by the silencing murmur of an entire football stadium hushing me....

What is this? That's all I could think. What's going on? As I tried to wipe the sleet from my eyes, it just wouldn't go away. It actually started to get foggier, WHAT? Is this like one of those dreams where you think your awake? I couldn't get a grip on reality. As they told me to grab my stuff because "it's fixing to explode." I decided to document the first thing I saw on my 24th birthday.

French Riviera and Italia

After our last game against the Nice Dauphins, we spent the night out in Nice. I have to say it was a pretty fun time. Originally we tried to get all of the guys together to go out. However trying to get 25-30 guys without any females can pose a bit of a problem. Also when no buses are running, you can't find a cab, and it's a bit of a walk to the city center, you have to improvise. Matt, Will, Dino, and myself finally hailed down a cab and meet up with Alex, a former cougar who was playing for the Nice team since he's now living in the south.

Anyways we ended up having a pretty fun night out in Nice. Will talked two girls into walking into the bar with us just so we could get in. He's a charmer. I even ran into someone from a hostel I stayed at in Barcelona. Talk about random. But when you look back to that day it was pretty intense. We drove the entire morning on a sleeping bus from Paris, then we went to the beach for a couple hours, swam in the Mediteranian, played a football game, went out, all to wake up the next morning and see some more of south France.

On the sleeper-bus, riding from Paris to Nice.

I must mention the pregame was quite intense. You see on the beach after riding in a bus 10 hours all night, we got the privelage of seeing the Danny Mendes show. Danny rocked his small bathingsuit and went up talking to girls and just being hilarious. It was awesome. The whole team was just hanging by the beach, throwing rocks into the ocean in a little game we came up with. It was just fun and I felt like we all shared that moment. We were all cougars.

The one and only DANNY MENDES.

After the game we spent the morning in Nice walking around the old city. There was a fresh market that was really incredible. As we were touring the city Sally spotted a tour guide and we arranged a trip to see the Riviera. We stopped at a little resturant and I had a huge steaming pot of mussels and some fish soup. Really fresh ingredients. Afterwards we meet up with the tour guide and saw some of the country side.

We drove to Monaco and Monte Carlo along the coast, stopping in Eze. It was absolutely gorgeous countryside. The water, the rocks, the cliffs...really something special. Also, I must mention that the Canes film festival was going on at the same time. A little crowded. In Eze we walked through the old city, I must say that each old city I have seen in Europe is somewhat unique. Each having their own special style, their own little quaintness about them. Somewhat similar to the rest, but each capturing the individual spirit of the people, the culture and the town.

Eze was beautiful, on the top of the mountain you can see to Italy and to France. We strolled through the little streets looking into the small shops. Next we stopped at a local perfumerie. Eze is famous for making fresh French scents. I'm sure my aunt's enjoyed it a lot, and the tour guide was nice, but perfume isn't the tops on my list of things to do. Nonetheless I learned that it takes almost a million pounds of flours to make a gallon or so of perfume. When they capture the "essence" of the flour it is very strong and potent.

After this we went on to Monte Carlo, where the town was preparing for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. We drove through the track that the cars would take. Fairly small with limiting space, you learn how impressive it is when a car can actually pass. The roads all had safety barricades and water barrells to help for wrecks. It was fun going through the turns down to the harbor, where private cruise ships were parked next to each other a hefty price for a one of a kind view on race day.

A view of the harbor and Monte Carlo and the race day grand stands.

Afterwards we stopped in Monaco, the 2nd smallest country next to the Vatican City. You had a great view out to the ocean on one side, the harbor and the grandstands for the race on the other. I learned the history of Monaco, apparently the village was actually housed by tons of monks. A pirate came and clothed himself as a monk and killed all the monks, then after he got tired of it and sold it to a rich family. Thus how it came to be it's own country. There was a little park we stopped at and looked out over the ocean and enjoyed some of the plants and statues.

After enjoying some ice cream, chocolate & pistachio combination, we headed down to Monte Carlo center. Aston Martin's, Lamborghini's, and Ferrari's lined the enterance into the Grand Casino. It's so expensive it costs 15$ just to go in and see it, and if you want to sit down and gamble you probably need to take out another mortgage on your house. We didn't go in, instead we grabbed some drinks at an outdoor bar. The bartender was a really nice guy, I ordered a beer and basically he gave me 3 for the price of 1. I got the one from the bottle, he then gave me the same from draft, and the same brand but white beer on tap. I was happy, for Aunt Sue he played it cool and asked her what her favorite color was, she said blue and he made a blue lagoon type of cocktail. I have to give the man points for style.

We drove back to Nice and spent the rest of our daylight on the beach. All I could think about was how surreal my life is. I NEVER would have planned this path, and I fully believe that God opens doors when we least expect it. I know this is all his doing and I am just fortunate. If I could give any advice it would be to run through those open doors with no hesitation because you never know when they will shut.

The next day we headed by train to Firenze...aka Florence. However the train took us all through Italy, from Genova, up to Milan then switched trains and ran down Bologna, to Parma, to Florence. Italy was beautiful and the food authentic. The pasta's where just unbelievable. We ate at this one small restaurant with a really cool ambiance. It almost felt like you where in an Italian house and sitting at their dinning room table. I love that feel, the homey-ness (if that's a word)

No pictures where allowed, but I managed to snag this one.

The next day we went to see the statue of David, and the 2 replicas. I must say his head and hands are enormously out of proportion. Our tour guide told us it was because Michelangelo wanted to emphasize 2 different things. First the power of man's mind. That is, a man should realize the capabilities of the mind and think things through. The hands being bigger was to emphasize how much man can do with his hands. Physically being able to create, weither that be sculptures, paintings, or any other type of trade work. He believed that men should use their hands to work on making life a better place.

Locking out on the old bridge

We also saw the old remaining bridge from the Medici family. It is now lined with top end jewelry stores. The ancient walls that used to surround the village are now 90% tourn down, but we still got to see some of the remaining pieces as we viewed the city from the top of this hill. The city seemed to be situated in a valley so it was a really beautiful view from up their. Originally this is where they wanted to put the statue of david, however being to difficult to move the kept it down in the town.

Afterwards we strolled the streets, I love the narrow corridors. It feels like you could touch both walls if you laid out across some of the passage ways. We found a museum. Let's just say the line was intensely long, over an hour plus wait. We decided to try the other side of the line where not many people were going in. Only to be told that this is where you bought tickets for a day in advance. The ticket lady naturally showed us to the other side, where the line was waiting. Seizing the opportunity we tried to hop the line and go inside, playing the dumb tourist role. It almost worked until a small Italian man started screaming and saying "You think you just jump the line and no one notice" (well actually yes, bc Aunt sue was already at the window to buy tickets, past the security checks.) It was a good laugh and we can say atleast we tried!

Later that evening we came back to the hotel and sat on the bench outside watching some of the Italian kids playing soccer. No wonder their so good, these kids were playing in a little park with trees, bicycles, benches, trashcans, fountains, etc. in the way of their game, but that didn't stop them. The played around the obstacles, onto different terrains and just played. Aunt Sue noted that this is just what today's kids in America or missing. Just being outside, playing, having fun. I must admit it was relaxing to just watch the kids enjoy themselves!

Italian soccer

All in all it was a great trip and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see all these things. My countries traveled list is starting to increase a bit and I'm somewhat happy for that.

Reims

Sorry it's been a while, my life was kind of stuck in a fastforward motion. But let's get back to it. Aunt Sue and Sally came to visit for a week or so and watch my last 2 football games of the season. It was quite an experience. I got to play tour guide and showed off my new knowledge of Paris and French History. It was exhausting and fun at the same time. We made tracks all across the city and judging by the blisters on Sally's feet, I'd say we all lost a couple pounds throughout the week.

On one side day trip we went to Reims, a city in the Bourgogne - Champagne district of France. It is where all champagne comes from. Our tourguide drove us through the country side and through all of the small vineyards. They were all so beautifully kept and clean and very well taken care of. Aunt Sue marveled on the way the rows were oriented. They all ran from the top of the hills down to the bottom. Which you would assume would cause a lot of the soil to run off through the rains and weather..... Actually we ended up coming right after the region had experienced an incredibly strong thunderstorm.

Anyways as we drove through the small vineyards, each one having a stone with the marking of who owns the lot.... Moet & Chandon, Mumm, etc. We stopped first at the little abbey where Dom Perignon is buried. I think it is also where the monk invinted champagne. The church of Hautvillers was such a small little abbey. We sat on the old pews and looked around at the different relics and history. Next we took off to Moet & Chandon and took a champagne tour.

A picture of the old abbey where monk Dom Perignon is burried.

Most of you will know Moet & Chandon as the maker's of the one and only Dom Perignon. The world class champagne. We walked through the cellars and learned all about the process, time and effort spent making champagne. They keep a lot of their grapes from each year/ from each different vineyard stored in the miles of cellar space. Marked with a very difficult code, that way no one could find their stuff. It is much different however then wine. In that it won't get any better, the longer you wait. As advice they said you should drink your bottle of champagne within 2 years for a regular bottle, 5 for a special bottle, and 8 for a vintage elite bottle. If you let it sit there is a very good chance of having an expensive bottle of vinegar!

Someones bottle of Dom Perignon with my name on it! There where endless quantites of the champagne, and it was tempting not to take one out with me!

They taught us about the process. Some of the more interesting notes where that the bottles are hand turned in very specific ways. I really don't know how many ways you can turn a bottle, but I guess its an art. A turner turns 35,000 bottles a day. Talk about redundant! Another fun fact was the way they get the sediments out of the bottles. First you place them in different tilted angles for maturation from the small angles all the way up to about 75 degrees. Then they freeze the sediments with liquid nitrogen and as the open the bottle, the sediments pop out the top. A lot better then the old day from letting the sediments fall out and losing some of the champagne.

After the cellar we had a tasting. It was really delicicous and I enjoyed the opportunity. After a bit of the bubbly, we then went to the Notre Dame de Reims, the place were all but one of the French kings where crowned. Much larger then Notre Dame in Paris, but very similar architecturally. It was breathtaking, some of the old statues and high, high arched ceilings. It's just incredible how these things were constructed such a long time ago. We had lunch in Reims before heading to another champagne tour.

This time we learned all about Mumm. G.H. Mumm is the brand name most notably recognized by the red slash on the bottle. This tour was similar to the other, however it had a more welcoming feel. They did a great job showing you and teaching you about the process. It was like the tour was designed for the people, whereas the M&C tour was just a glimpse into their everyday operations. Mumm had a lot of the old equipment used in champagne making on display.

Also one of the coolest things from both tours was the extremely old bottles of champagne on display, however locked away in old cellars that resembeled medieval prisons. Some of them dating back to 1893. Old champagne!!!

After the tour we drove back to Paris.

Saint Denis Basilica Cathedral

The other day I had the pleasure of seeing Saint Denis Basilica, the resting place of some of the kings of France. It was a very historical church, actually I think it was an abbey first. It was built on top of the resting place of Saint Dennis in the 7th century. Many kings would also be buried here. It was a place of pilgrimage for the people. Many viewed it as beeing buried closer to Saint Denis himself would of course help their case to being closer to heaven. One particular tomb has a carved sculpture showing just this, I believe it was Dagobert's tomb, the man who constructed the abbey and the first king to be buried here. It is still in the main area next to the altar. It shows the man falling in sin, then it shows the demons coming to take him away, followed by St. Denis stepping in for the man, and then finally his ascension into heaven being caried by angels.

It was incredible, yet eery. You had the tombs of all but 3 kings of France in this abbey. As you walked in you could see the incredible tombs made for the kings. Most of which where done in a true to form spirt. The sculptures on the tops of the tomb in marble or stone, would have life size depictions of the kings. Most seemed to be a lot smaller then myself. However king Francois the 1st was a man of great stature. Being close to 6'6". I do believe he is the one who had a spear wound through his groin during a battle.

We also saw the statues for the kings hearts. King Henry the third I think had his statue that contained his heart. Also we saw the small heart of one of the dauphins who died at a young age, it is sealed into the wall and he would have been Louis XVII. It was a pretty eery site, but still so much history in this place.

Marie Antoinette was buried here along side of Louis XVI and Louis XVIII after that. There craves where a massive black head stone rested in the bottom of the crypt. Each statue had an animal at the base of the feet. This was so to identify the kings and bodies. It was interesting seeing how different kings where remembered. As a king with prayerful hands, strong fists, or even holding a church. It was very old and took you back to the time period.

You can find the links to the pictures here. CLICK ME.

Foire de Paris

The other weekend I went to the Foire de Paris with Hannah. The Foire is a huge fair where you can find everything you've every thought you might need while watching a late night infomercial on QVC. From kitchen equipement, housing windows to cars, modern art clocks, jewlery, clothes, food galour. Not to mention the cultural experience and the live entertainment. Mix that in with good marketing and free samples, and you've got yourself a great time.

I had free cold coffee, free crepes, free ice creams... funny story on that one. The lady apparently thought she was too good to be serving ice cream and that I was not a worthy customer. So instead of the cones everybody else got, I was treated to a small taste spoon. And as if that wasn't enough, told that "we say MERCI in France." WOA! ok ok... i think she was just having a bad day... Anyways not like that would bother me. We saw old style kitchens, convection ovens that boil water in a minute.

The food was incredible, rows of stands from all the regions of France, including Guadalope and the Antilles. So amazing I tried chocolate made with no sugar and just olive oil, foie gras, different beers, wines, candy, and my favorite the Basque stop. The guy actually handed me the bottle to give samples to all the customers coming around the tent. His name was Damien and he was very entertaining, definitely knew how to keep a crowd going and get people to buy his flavored drinks. From Sangria's, to Margarita's, citron vert, and "FIRE WATER"... it was amazing. I actually captured a little bit of him on camera. You'll have to watch the video below to get a feel for the Foire. I meet another nice man who gave me a free t-shirt. With his company http://www.atlantic-cocktail.com/ . He had flavored cognac, I believe. But loved that we are American. He told us all about his grandfather fighting in the war along with the US. And his love of motorcycles. How he road route66 and loved being in America. A really great French guy.

The cultural part was really cool. I got to see some of the customs from Loic's home island of Guadalope. It was really fun and I felt like I was back in Key West at some points. Also there are tons of dancers, performers, and I even saw a country western line dance. No joke...got it on tape. The French can line dance!!

Pics of the team after

At Fab's house

Fab After hurting his shoulder

Michel cooking some meat Gob or his brother cooking meat...

Nico and Michel trying to get a bite to eat

Nyda with a French hotdog

Johan

Jean Michel

Ben and me

The Danny Mendes show

An incredible game: Templier vs Cougars, part deux

4-3. That's our record. Four wins, three losses. We can't lose if we want to make the playoffs. Things are different now. It's like we ARE in the playoffs. In that can lose mentality. 3 games left. We win them all, we knock out the Templiers and the Spartiates.

All week we are ready. Everyone shows up to practice...I mean everyone and that's huge for us. We get some good quality work in having all the guys there. We are prepared. The stage is set, the gladiators are ready, and it would prove to be one of the most amazing shows I've been apart of.

We traveled to the Templiers home field. The last time I was there it was frozen solid and looked like a pond at winter in Michigan. The turf was horrible. Think astrodome astro turf of a lesser quality. How were we going to be able to run and dive on this. The spots where the turf was laid next to each other, about every 15 yards or so, was covered in a paint mixture to try and seal it up. This was like throwing sandpaper on the ground and telling us to slide on it. Also, I didn't have shoes. I mean I had my cleats with screw ins and my tennis shoes, but no turf shoes. Crap. What am I going to play in? The cleats are too tall and I want be able to cut, but my tennis shoes are the Asics that are almost the same material as water shoes little kids wear in public water parks. This is going to be good.

I tighten the shoe strings on my sneakers. The shoes that have taken my all across the streets of Paris, Barcelona, Dublin, Dortmund, Athens and up mountains in Meteora, will now let me hit Templier players. Toe meets leather and the game is on. We kick off and the Templiers get the ball. It's the back and forth. Drive the ball, stall, punt. This goes on back and forth until the close of the First Quarter. The Templier, led by Perez Matison, hit a huge 31 yard pass for a touchdown. Concluding a 90+ yard drive. 7-0.

The Templier offense is similar to Texas Tech spread, quick short passing routes with excellent precision and timing. It's clock work and they look like they've spent a lot of time working pass routes. Our defensive strategy for the game was to only rush 3 lineman and let the 8 remaining guys cover. With double teams across the line, it was hard to get any pressure on the quarterback. Even when we finally did he would just scramble up in the pocket and out to the side. This bought his recievers some of the extra time needed to find the holes in the zone.

The second quarter is a little bit more active. Pakat steals an interception on the sideline. Unfortunately we could not convert. The defensive tackle, an american from UMass and former tight end, had an a pretty good game. He was a good athlete and our guards had some trouble at times against him. They walked the middle linebacker directly over me, so I had to block him most plays and isolated the American guy on our guards. This freed him up on one on one situations and allowed him to make plays.

The Templiers scored again making it 14-0 on a 77 yard drive. And by drive I mean a 77 yard pass that took about 10 seconds for the QB to scramble and throw. I also have to mention that their offensive line coach had suited up for the game. He came in around the 2nd quarter mark. I guess he felt his guys weren't doing a good job. It was hilarious though as I was on the line, his lineman would ask him, "coach what do we do", "should we double team" and the coach would tell him yes or no. It was fun getting to play against him. Sometimes they'd hold me and I'd get their team so upset since they just completed a big gain. Now it was 14-0, we get the ball back and need to score now to cut the lead in half, so when we recieve the ball in the 3rd quarter, we can tie the game up.

We need to rally, to get life back in the Cougars. We can't let the guys shut down. Then you realize... we are Cougars. This team doesn't quit, regardless of what events have just taken place. We drive trying to beat the clock into the endzone. And do just what we needed to Dino scores on a 6 yard run and we've cut the lead. Unfortunately the extra point get's blocked. 14-6. Halftime.

We started what we needed to. Getting the train on the tracks and headed in the right direction. Now we needed to believe that we would win this game. We decide to stay on the field and rest instead of heading to the locker rooms. Partially because the visitors lockerrooms are right below the Templiers and we needed to come together without distractions. We recieve the ball in the start of the 2nd half and muster a brilliant 87 yard drive. Matt scores on a 1 yard QB sneak. 14-12. We still need a 2 point conversion to be tied and even the playing field. We run a pass play that fails, but thankfully their is a penalty. Next play from the 1.5 yard line. We throw a fade to Michel and tie the game. Were back baby. The Templiers, who had purred at us (yes I mean pur, like a little kitty sound.... to which I kindly reminded them that they lost the last time they played us!) before the game started as we ran onto the field, weren't purring anymore.

The following drive the Templier went 3 and out and the Cougars take the field. This is the pivotal starting point where some of our recievers really step up. Jean Michel catches a 62 yard pass and scurries into the endzone. 21-0. The game now would start to take shape of a tennis match more so then a football game. An epic back and forth battle that Agassi and Sampras would be jaw dropped at. We kick off the ball and the Templiers return it to our 30 yard line.

The Templiers score 3 plays later with a 10 yard pass. 21-20. On the extra point I move Ludo next to me and Nyda across. We drive the guard back and I am sure we blocked the extra point. But no, they faked the kick and threw the ball to the wide open up back. 22-21. Ah. My emotions are starting to spin. The roller coaster ride of emotions from this game has just begun. We have been down 14-0, fought back, tied the game, took the lead, and now we have lost the lead. Time to get back to work.

4th Quarter. It takes me back to high school. To the extra work we put in sweating our buts off in a locked down, taped up gym. The windows were fogged from the amount of sweat and heat we put off during the strenuous conditioning drills. Pushing ourselves to the limits, so that when the 4th quarter comes, you are not as tired as the man in front of you. You can push forward, while he tries to hold on. Then I'm at Tech. We hold our hands high in the 4th Quarter because this is where you finish the drill and get the job done. It doesn't matter how you start, it matter's how you finish. I've been through Spring ball, summer agilities, 5am team drills, Camp, 2 a days....they all add up for these moments. The forth quarter. Let's go Cougars.

The crowd is pumping, it's intense. If we were in America, 55,000 fans would be on their feet. Yelling and screaming, losing their beers and their voice. We drive. Thomas makes a huge conversion on 3rd down and gains 61 yards. Another one of the recievers that has stepped up in this game. Our drive stalls out in redzone and we settle with a huge kick by Michel Donati for 33 yards. 24-22. Our sideline is going nuts. We've taken the lead! Yes I say to myself. We've got this. I'm riding high.

The defense takes the field. With cougar pride they stop the Templiers and bring them to a 4th and 1 situation. Of course they are going for it. We crank it up and the defense stops the conversion. Cougars ball. We then drive the ball to the 11 yard line. Now faced with our own 4th down situation we turn the ball over. The Templiers seizing the moment drive the ball 89 yards and score on a 33 yard pass to a reciever finding the open hole. The life drains out of me. I'm exahusted. I can not take this. But we still have time. The clock ticks. the score 28-24. They try the extra point. This time we do push the guard back into the kick and block the extra point. The brief ounce of hope will be all I need to push on.

We return the ball and it's 1st and 10 on the 34 with just under 2 minutes left. Then the roller coaster takes a huge turn from the previous drop and pulls us back to another mountain top. Matt hits Jean Michel for a 66 yard touchdown pass. His second in the game. We go nuts. The celebration is spectacular. We are losing our minds. YES! YES! We are up 31 to 28 after the extra point. AMAZING!

The Templier will have to run a two minute offense to try and touch us. I feel confident. Perez felt more confident. He drives the Templier 78 yards down the field. With the help of 30 yards in penalties from the Cougars. One of which being a late hit by myself on the QB. I had spun in and saw him letting it fly. All I could think of was what a bull see's when the matador flashes the red flag in front of him. I didn't stop. AHHHhhhhhhhhh! What did I just do? Composure Matt. Stay composed. I think of the personal fouls I've had at Tech and Coach Gailey pulling me out on one particular occasion, one that cost Choice a 100yard rushing game.

They end up scoring with 20 seconds left. 35-31. We have no time left. This knockout punch would prove to be the straw....or more like a Mike Tyson right hook.... that broke the camels back. The air was knocked out of me. I lied on the field for an extra 30 seconds to the sounds of the home fans celebrating the Templier touchdown. It would be the final score with the failed hail mary's.

I watched my team fight for everything they had. They laid it on the line. Nyda shed a tear or a few after the game. I knew how much this means to all of us. To fight and lose. In an epic game, and epic battle. Someone has to be the loser. That's sports, that's competition. We all felt the same. DRAINED. Giving all you have and having it come up just a little bit short. It's heartbreaking. No playoff shot. It was finished. Our season would only have 2 games left. Thomas, Jean Michel and Florian have stepped up. They have made huge strides during this season. Their hard work, consistent attendance at practice and work ethic have helped take them so far this season. I look at them and our proud. They all had huge plays this game and stepped up big. Matt ended up breaking the record for passing yards in a game for the Cougars record books. 384yards passing. But records mean nothing unless they are in the win coloumn.

Our team had suffered some serious injuries. On one drive Nico had an amazing catch. Somehow managed to keep his feet and run forward without balance. At the precise time 3 Templiers hit him. Hurting his back and causing it to be his last play for the Cougars, more then likely forever. He laid it on the line. Fabian hurt his shoulder making tackles and is done for the season. Ben Simon hurt his MCL during the game. These guys laid it all out for each other, for me, for the team. "TEAM FIRST" I am impressed and proud to be a Cougar. Fighters.

After the game we had a planned party/ BBQ at Fabians. The entire team showed up and it was a lot of fun. I will just show you pictures which speak the loudest. I'll post them after this. We are a team. A group of friends, who lay it out for one another. A unit. Gung-ho baby. GUNG- HO....... Who are you? Cougars!!!

Cougars vs Molosses

Last Sunday the 19th the Cougars played the Molosses at home. It was a sloppy game. We started out sluggish. This easily being seen in the 0-0 half time score. The Molosses are the weakest team in our division. Their Americans seemed to have changed their attitudes a little bit about playing in France. The runningback now was the play caller. He'd run to the huddle and tell them what they were going to do. Their other import who was playing center now moved to guard and helped lead their running attack. They tried to follow him and utilize his talent, but he was really just a bad holder and a squatty body which didn't really prove to be that usefull. It was a slow game, not a ton of action in the first half.


Some of our players who have worked their butt's off at practice and made big improvements got an opportunity to display their talent on the field. Danny Mendes, Florent Hirel, Alexis Dorard got to start. Danny had a huge catch for a 20 yard gain, which was huge because I think it was his first reception in a game. However he had a chance at a wide open touchdown pass, that eventually fell to the ground because of his over excitement. We were all so upset because we wanted it so bad for him. Florent made some good receptions 3 for 18 yards and is doing a great job catching the ball. We still have to work on his moves after the catch, but he is doing a great job pulling them in. Jean Michel also had a big touchdown reception. His first of the season. Nico caught a touchdown pass as well. Both first for those guys this season. I was proud because they have worked hard and deserved that. Alexis made 2 solo tackles and it's so good getting to see the guys that pour into the team, get something back for their hard work.

Coach later told me that Alexis was nervous going in and getting to play in the game. But he did well. Bago grabbed a screen pass out of the air on defense and scored a touchdown on the play. Matty, playing safety at the time, had told them to look out for the screen. As soon as he did, the RB's eyes lit up as if saying, OH CRAP. Bago jumped the passed and scored. Rounding out our 21-6 victory. I had a statistically decent game, 7 tackles, 3 solo.


You can find other pics of the game here... click me

Barcelona film

Highlights of the trip to Barcelona....

A little taste of India

The other day Apputhurai Sinthujan .... aka Pakat... one of our safety's for the cougars, took us out to eat Indian food in Paris. Pakat is actually from Sri Lanka and I had been bugging him to try the traditional food. It was an experience. Matt, Will, Loic S., Pakat, his girlfriend Caroline and myself went to Chettinadu, a traditional Indian resturant.

We walked in and dominated the space. Being 3 offensive lineman, it was funny watching all the people look up to us and stare at our size. We sat down and Pakat started to speak in Hindi (i'm guessing that's the language I'm not quite sure) It sounded like a fast mumbler ripping off word after word. Kind of like a motorcycle engine reving up. It was so fast, I have no clue how he could understand.

Anyways I told Pakat to just order for me... give me the traditional experience. It was great. We started with some appetizers. Samossa Viande, Somossa Legume... small triangle shaped pastrys filled with meat or veggies. Medu Vadi and Masal Vadai.... small packed veggies or bread fried, think hush puppy like but with more ingredients. My favorite the rolls packed with spicy meat, eggroll style fried and dusted with maybe cinnamon or sugar or something sweet. Amazing these where so good. Of course we had different sauces to put on all of these. A white sauce that was not as spicy and a green sauce resembling guacamole that was spicier.

Then we got my favorite part of the entire meal. Nan au fromage. This Indian type of bread, delicious on it's own, filled with creamy fondu like cheese. It comes to you in a huge puff ball shape and you push down the top layer of Nan onto the cheese and bottom layer. It is amazing. We had about 2 of these per person, or more. SOOOOOOOo good. Oh and the sauce we put on top of it. AHhhh seriously amazing. They also brought out a Poulet Tandoori....some very tender rottiserrie barbecue style chicken.

Along the appetizer Pakat introduced us to Necto, a drink. The bottle has a huge elephant on it, so I didn't know what to expect. It was a framboise flavored drink, meaning raspberry. I usually dislike raspberry flavored stuff. Just not a fan of artificial raspberry syrup, but this was the real deal. It was so sweet and helped the little bit of spice from the appetizers. We then sat around talking and waiting for the food to come. I tried to work on my french and understand why sometime you have to use "pas" after for instance "Je ne sais pas" Je= I, sais= know, ne + pas = the negative, like don't. So you use ne pas for the negative of a noun. Anyways there was some case about me trying to say I can not take any more food. Where you do not use pas, because the next word includes it or what not. This being said, I in my Texan ways, got a little louder in trying to figure it out. Apparently they thought I was yelling and getting upset... not the case, just my style of intensity and passion. All was good but it was a little funny.

After they brought out the main courses, we had 4 Kothu Parotta, a neat dish eaten with the hands...mostly made up of the diced nan bread, some form of meat, and some veggies. It was really neat you basically balled up a bite to eat on the dish and then grabbed it like you would an egg. Then with your thumb you pushed the food into your mouth. It was so funny, Matt was like "all my life I've been told not to eat with your hands and now that I'm older I get to do the opposite." I ate a huge crepe like thing filled with a potatoey paste with 4 different dipping sauces. Really good and crispy. Willie had a nan filled plate too. It was such a great dinner.

Afterwards we went to a different restaurant for dessert. My belly was completely full by this time and I told Pakat, I don't know if I can do this... he assured me it would be alright since dessert was just a drink. Oh and it was worth it. A strawberry milkshake type drink, with pieces of jelly like candy floating in the drink and small hard sugar things in it as well. It went down quick.

All in all I had a great time learning the Indian cuisine and it is definetly a lot easier having a native speaker order for you. I don't know how I would've been able to go on my own. Actually I probably wouldn't have. Thanks Pakat.... Indian food was delicious.

Coming to a house in Cergy-Pontoise.

So we had this ridiculous photoshoot thing about a 3 weeks back or so. Well the other day we opened up our mailbox and viola...sitting there is the magazine that was delivered to every house in Cergy-Pontoise. If you can translate it, let me know. HAHAHA

Normandy

Thursday Coach Mas drove Matt and I out to Normandy. It would be an adventure that was a lot too take in. I must have said that 50 times since I've arrived back from the shore. The sites, the sounds, the events unfolding in the background of your mind, survival, death, politics, economics, radical leaders, strong speakers, the importance of the entire situation.....it's all too much to absorb without somewhat being changed.

We arrived first at the Caen museum. It is about 20 miles inland and is dedicated to the preservation of the events that occured during the war. It was incredible. The first thing was saw was a 40 minute film with nothing but film from the war. It was breathtaking, jaw dropping, and fear striking. It starts with two split screens. One side showing the Axis powers, the other the Allies. Let my try and take you there. Intertwined you see the events of D-Day playing out live on screen. Footage of young men, most mere boys suiting up and getting onto boats along the British coast. Fixing their jackets, cleaning their guns, going over strategies. While at the same time the Nazi's are working on their defense. Young guys setting up barracades, working on machine guns, loading the ammunition rooms.

Then to the water, the troops cross the sea's as airplanes more numerous then a hoard of locusts devouring a field from it's crops. Men jumped from planes behind enemy lines, Nazi's raced to their battle stations. Alarms sounding, guns loading, battles beginning. Men running for their lives onto the beach taking massive quantities of casualties. At a moment I stop and think about the cameraman. How brave and scared do you have to be to charge into a nightmare with a weapon that only shoot's film and light. No source of defense. Men's faces a pale, painted with fear. I breath in, thinking how different the time was. The only draft we know now is coming in 2 weeks, where 21 year olds will become millionaires. There draft was different.

You see inside the bunkers, one of which we actually visited. This of course would bring chills down your spine as your standing in the exact spot that soilders where killing Americans. The war is playing out in front of me in two simulatneous screens. Two different perspectives, both sides mortal. Then a plane flies across the beach showing the battle from above. Covered in obstacles, barb wire, vehicles, bodies, firing of weapons back and forth, it seemed to go on forever. Then it switched it showed the beach today, the tranquil silence. Almost as if a destination for summer vacations rather then a battlefield. Again it would switch back to the fighting.

Scenes of boats coming up to the cliffs, shooting rope ladders for men to climb. Victory coming and Nazi's surrendering, raising white flags. Then shots from the overall war. The strategy. The push. The Red Army covering Europe being pushed back and back. Devestation surrounding towns. Battle after battle. Strategy unfolded and the plan was unveiled. Soilders marching in French cities. French citizens celebrating with glee. Freedom had for all. Thousands died for this one idea, this one concept, FREEDOM.

The movie was incredible. I was there. I was lost in this world of horror and celebration. The museum had plenty of relics. Parachutes used as decoys to throw off the German troops, a soldiers parachute used as a wedding dress for his bride, vehicles and planes. Photographs galour and explanations of the events. The men who died are honored with pride. There is enough material here to learn and go on forever.

After preparing our minds, we drove to the Juno/Gold beach. We walked along the beach and saw the remains of the floating harbor. An idea from Churchill himself. The harbor was entirely built out at sea and capable of holding countless ships and providing roads to transport vehicles to shore. You could see the length of the harbor as the remains only deminish from the toils of the tide.
I took a minute to take it all in and re-live what happened here. I walked along the beach and stood on a blockade remains that ran into the water. Built to break the easy sands from the cliffs ahead. The base was all that was left.

We walked to some of the old bunkers housing the large guns used for taking out ships and massive numbers of troops. They were quite a distance away from the shore and high in elevation in comparison to the coast. It took an entire day to capture the bunker. The sheer size of the guns where impressive and 3 of the 4 where actually in recognizable shape. I climbed on one of the barrels and took a photo showing the perspective towards the sea. It doesn't do it justice because I have climbed halfway down the shaft.

We then drove down to the beginning of Omaha beach and parked on the sands nearly 20 yards from the high tide. It was a pleasure seeing the children play on the beach. This site helps take away the horrible memory of the tragic events and reminds you that the price of freedom is never forgotten. To have this ability to see kids run and laugh freely is priceless. We climbed up to the bunkers and saw the memorial for the 5th engineer brigade. There job was to clear the beach of obstacles and they paid dearly for their actions. The said 94 percent of their company died. We also saw one of the main bunkers that the 1st infantry took out. It took 19 hits to the side of the bunker with a tank to render the defense ineffective.

The standing room in the top of the bunker was just head level for me. I had to squat down to see through the windows. The bottom floor was pitch dark. Walking through coach led the way and actually stepped in a puddle. He was moving out of the way for a British girl and fell in the hole, which was actually uncovered by the planks. The girl laughed at him and he was covered in water about a foot or so down. The bottom bunker was so dark. I imagined the boredom soilders had to face during the war. Countless months sitting, waiting. I thought about them playing cards to pass the time, practicing their marksmanship, drinking beer. And then all of a sudden the most intense fight of your life happens. How do you plan for that? How do you deal with that? How did they react?

I stared off in the distance almost in a haze from all that I was taking in. This is the beach. This is the place where US soilders stormed the beaches fighting for another country, fighting for freedom. At first I wondered why they didn't want high tide to get as close as possible, but then it was explained to me that they needed the low tide in order to clear the obstacles for their vehicles. Picture that just right behind me on the beach.

We walked into the American cemetery at the top of the hill and words can not describe it. A place for reverence, for rememberence, and pride. This our my countrymen. These are my people. Americans. Being in Europe it has been hard for me to grasp who America is. What our pulse is, Who we really are....being so much younger then the foreign countries and made up from these different countries. I see buildings daily that our older then our history. Seeing the cemetery reminded me of our character, of our strength, of my patriotism. And I pray that as Americans we all remember this. That we all take history a bit more seriously. Learning what others did for us, where we as a country have come from. And taking pride in it. I am an American.

After my moment in the cemetery, I went to the visitors center and found a registry. I searched my name and found 4 Rhodes buried in the cemetery. One was Carl E. Rhodes from Alabama (originally where my Rhodes family name is from) I found his grave in Plot B row 1 grave 25. First row. He was a member of the 67 bomb squadron and recieved a purple heart. I can only wonder if he is a family memeber or not. All in all it was a great trip, one I think every American should make. I feel changed from it, and I can only hope it is not just emotions that I am feeling, but a deeper understanding of who I am as an American. That I would have had the courage to do what these men did in paying the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

Find more pictures from the trip here....

photos

Normandy

Barcelona

Last weekend Matt and myself ventured to Espana. We went to Barcelona for our off weekend and let me just say it is a beautiful city. Very clean and neat. The metro stations are not dirty, it's close to the water, they had amazing parks, good cheap food, and a very fun atmosphere. When we first arrived we tried to locate our hostel and drop off our bags, but instead found our first Gaudi building. Gaudi is the famous architect who has several projects in Barcelona. For me some of his stuff looks like fantasy land, or that he was on drugs when he started building this crazy stuff. A lot of the mosaic tiles are customary for his work, some of it is straight up weird, and some of it really breathtaking. After arriving at our hostel, which by the way was a party hostel, we were greeted by Eduardo a very helpful staff member. He showed us where everything on the map was and where we had to go and what not. So after the advice we decided to head to the main tourist attraction in Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia, the church built by Gaudi. It is still not finished. It was really neat looking at it. Everywhere you look had a different feel. The 4 towers intertwined with intricate details. One side of the entrance had block looking scene of the birth of christ and the crucifixcion. Really cool, but then on another part it looked like the background from the Willy Wonka scene in the chocolate river area. Crazy.

We stayed here for a while and took in the good weather and the architecture.

Next through our walk in the Spanish city we found the stadium for the bullfights. It was neat and we just missed a bull fight scheduled for the next weekend. It's crazy to think about that.

Afterwards the early flight had helped build up an appetite so we headed to a local restaurant. We stopped in and ate a meal, but ordering in Spanish was much more difficult then in French in Paris. In Paris, they pretty much all know English. This was not the case in Barcelona. I also found it difficult because I constantly tried to go back to speaking French. Tough. We managed to get our order in. I will say though that Matt had to go up to the counter and point out what appetizer we really wanted. We had red peppers stuffed with this little meat mix in a red picante sauce. It was incredible. Next I had Paella, and sangria. The Paella was mixed so I had prawns, mussels, chicken, beef and squid. Really hit the spot, but would make it a little heavy on the stomach later. We also had sangria partially due to coach david's insistence that we have a glass. But it was really good.

We then tried to find the Guell Park. Another one of Gaudi's masterpieces, however we missed the turn somehow and ended up watching skaters trying to ride a ledge with a stadium seating crowd in attendence. However we did wander down some pretty cool streets. As we were walking up the hills though Matt and I couldn't help but thinking of the hills in Greece. I stopped to take this picture, you can see down to the city center and the sea. Really cool city. Finally we arrived at the park which was just a masterpiece. It was crazy, like a fantasy land again. The structures looked like a kid had just dropped wet sand on the ground and it stuck. It was spectacular. Some of the twists and turns were amazing. Of course like the cathedral, everywhere you looked had something different. Other parts had beautiful mosaic tiles, or columns, some an open space with palm trees and archways, and even hansel and grettles gingerbread house was there.

I also happened to meet one of the local Spanish girls here. There's a picture of her below. Just your typical Barcelonian. She was a lot of fun to hang out with.

Ok so not really, there was a modeling shoot going on and it was so funny because atleast 20 different people were snapping shots of her posing with Barcelona in the background. She got a kick out of it and was a bit shy. Not being able to understand all the attention. Really funny, the guy model though was dressed in this 80's pure shinny gold sweatsuit which made me laugh. We then took off to the hotel before the FC Barcelona match we had tickets for.

The game was really good, the stadium incredible. Except for the lack of size in between rows. My knees touched the railing and it was quite difficult to get comfortable. The game was great FC Barca won easily 2-0....should have been 4-0 but an offsides call on a goal made by Thierry Henry and a missed penalty kick by Messi cost the score. It was still a great game, the atmosphere played foghorns and would chant "BAR-SSSSSSS-A" over and over. This is the accepted pronunciation. I will have to say though it was not as intense as the Dortmund game. Definitely not up to the Gilberwand standards. However it was a tremendously massive stadium. Holding over 110,000 fans.Later that night we met up with the hostel mates and got to know each other. There was an Australian group living in London, a couple from Chigago, and some Irish guys who ended up going out to Razzmatazz. We walked up to the club and 3 of us jumped the rail to get into the Que line (which had no people in it) and meet up with friends. After we walked down the 50 yard line we were turned back because of jumping it and literally had to walk back 50 yards and down again. Not that it was a matter of skipping people in line, but moreso a matter of security guards wanting to excercise some form of power. It wasn't necessary and pretty annoying.

We finally got into the club at around 1:15AM. Let me just tell you this thing was as empty as main street in an old western films shootout scene. There was NO ONE, here and we thought maybe we just came on a bad day. However around 2am people started showing up. Brings a whole new meaning to the term nightlife. This club was literally the biggest thing I've been in. It had atleast 7 different rooms with different styles of music. Including the live performance stage in the picture. The light show behind the singer was amazing and masked his semi decent performance with the classic "smoke and lights." There were some interesting people though in the club. Check out this guys hair!

The next day Eduardo had a bit of a problem. I was sitting in the common area when he started telling someone to get out of the storage room and open the door. After many attempts at trying to push the door open, I decided to see what the commotion was all about. He thought someone had locked themselves in with the luggage. Thankfully though there was an old airvent about 8 feet from the ground, so he grabbed a step ladder and tried to peer through. I took a look and realized the bedframe was pried against the door making it not budge. Somehow we came up with the bright idea of me pushing him through the hole in the wall. This is a picture after we succeded in getting the door unjammed. A funny story.

We then took off down La Ramblla. The famous street in Barcelona with street performers galore. My favorite was Edward Scissorhands. He had the face and the actions down to a T. Very impressive. There was also a group of street performers playing bells on their back by walking with their heads bobbing up and down. A very unusual site. They were dressed in this old ox skin suits and paraded the whole time. We got a bit hungry and ate at McDonalds. I couldn't believe it but at all the fastfood joints apparently you can have a beer with your meal. It took me a back. I settled for sprite.After walking through the streets we ended up at the port and took some pictures on the lions. Feeling a little fatigued from the late Spanish nites we sat on a bench in the port and watched the sailboats, fish, and seagulls. After relaxing a while we then walked through the old town with small narrow streets. Easy to jump from rooftop to rooftop, infact you might even be able to lay across the street below. We tried to see Picasso's museum, but the line was really long at about the same time the rain started to pour. We opted to head back to the hostel and relax.

That night we went to an Irish pub and sang karaoke with the entire group staying at the hostel. The people there were very friendly and organized all this for the travelers staying at Saint Jordi Hostel. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed hanging and meeting new people. After the night ended we headed back to catch some sleep before our 8am departure from the hostel in the morning. All in all Barcelona was a very fun time and cool city. I'm learning that wherever we go we meet new people and make new friends. I think I'm ready for a traditional getaway maybe to Italy with Will's family for a real Italian experience!