WE WON AGAIN!!!!
We won tonight!!!! 50-56 vs. Jämtland!!! SO EXCITING!! So now 2 out of our last 3 games we have won!! I hope we keep it up!! All write more later...
I'm feeling kind of sick. Been battling a sinus infection I think. My head hurts a lot. Going to go to bed now!! Talk more about the game tomorrow.
But it really really feels really nice right now to win!!!!!!! YIPPPPEEEEE!!!!
GO COMETS!
GAME TIME!!
GAME TOMORROW!!!! vs. Jämtland kl. 19.00 at Gammliahallen!! Should be a good game!!! I hope for the best!!
GO COMETS!!!!
Tjena Sverige!! -20 C
Snowmobiling on the sea.
Check out how blue the sky is!!
More on the sea...
So so so so so so so so so pretty!!!! Love it!!!
Hanging out in the cabin drinking some hot chocolate and grilling some sausage. Then some more driving on the snowmobile!! Lots and lots of fun!!
Nothing new really going on right now. We went down to Stockholm this weekend and played against Telge. Lost by 36 pts to the #1 in league. We played really well in the first two quarters, but couldn't keep it up. We were tired and it really showed. Our third game in a week. I'm not making excuses, but you definetly tell we were all a little tired. That's all I'm going to say about that game.
We play this week on Friday vs. a very beatable team for us, Jämtland. Only 3 more games left. I can't believe regular season is almost over. This is a very important game for us!! So I hope for the best!!!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!!!! Talk to ya soon!!!
KRAM
FRIDAY the 13th!!!! How Spooky!!
SOOOOO...what's the best thing to do on Friday the 13th. DUH!! Go snowmobiling!!!
Julia took us today to her father's cottage just north of Umeå for some snowmobiling fun!! We took the snowmobiles out some way, and then had lunch in a mini-cabin type thing (can't remember the name of it). Julia's dad built a nice fire and we sat around it drinking coffee and hot chocolate. Ate some sandwiches and then grilled some sausage! It was so much fun!! Then afterwards, we call got a chance to drive the snowmobiles in the open land! It is such a rush...I LOVE IT!! Here are some pictures from our little adventure!!
I took a lot more pictures but I will put those up later. Here is a little sneak peek into our adventure!! It was so much fun and I really want to thank Julia and her dad for taking us out on this thrill ride!! It was so beautiful also. This last picture is of us on the sea right next to the cottage. We are driving on the sea!! HOW CRAZY!! It was also a perfect day and the weather was great!!
Tonight Julia and I went and watched the movie Friday the 13th. Mainly because today is Friday the 13th and also because we thought it would be a scary movie. But it wasnt really, in fact I think we laughed more! There was also a lot of nudity that I didnt think was necessary. Now I am sitting at my place alone because my roommates Anna and Shannon went down to Stockholm a day early. I will join them tomorrow with the rest of the team because we are playing in Södertälje vs. Telge. A team that is at the top of the league...but you never know. I mean we are coming off a one game winning streak!! :) Then we will spend the night at Anna's place in Stockholm and head back to Umeå on Sunday.
I really think time is flying by fast lately. I can't believe there are only 4 more games left of regular season. WOW! I hope we can win two more games and avoid the qualification games. We will just have to wait and see. POSITIVE THOUGHTS!! Well I better head to bed! Big day tomorrow...game day and travel. I will be bringing along my swedish homework, because my teacher gave me a ton for the weekend. I will have some of the best tutors around me!! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
KRAM
Segern Är Vår!!
We celebrated like we won a championship!!! And it felt like it!!
These are pictures taken from the local newspaper. Of course they took pictures of our celebration!! Too bad they didn't get any pictures when the entire team lifted Shannon in the air!!
So the game was a great win for us. Not to mention it was by 15 pts!! Shannon put on the suspense at the end when we needed her to make at least one freethrow in order to get the tie-breaker over Brahe. They beat us by 14 pts earlier in the year, so we needed to beat them by more than that. It feels great not only to win a game, but to win by 15 pts! SWEET!!! We held Brahe to only 44 pts and the papers wrote today how it was some of the best defense they have ever seen the Comets play in the Damligan. It was pretty solid defense! And it was so great to have Shannon back again playing!! She really did play a great game!! Scoring 14 pts and controling the ball the entire game!! It was great!! Other players stepped up also, in fact, the ENTIRE TEAM!! We played confident and tough last night. I think we did a great job of keeping our composure and controlling the game until the end!! I shot probably the most freethrows ever. I shot a total of 16 in the game and made 15!! 15 of my 23 pts came from freethrows....crazy!! I also had 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. Something I rarely get :)
Now we must win atleast 2 more games to hopefully avoid the qualification games. Like my friend Mattias said to me, maybe this is the season turnaround for us!! Lets hope so and I really hope we can pick up 2 more wins!! We have a good chance with 4 games remaining and 2 being at home vs. Jämtland and Marbo. Let's hope for the best!! I know this was a huge confidence booster for the team and hopefully more is to come!! Thanks everyone for your great support!! :)
Viva la Comets!!
WE WON, WE WON, WE WON!!!
So awesome!!! Here is the stats from the night http://www.basket.se/tx.aspx?MatchId=2311754 Pretty freakn amazing!!
I am so happy for Shannon also!!
I will talk more about it later, too tired right now. All I have to say is this feels great right now!!! :)
YEAH COMETS!!!!
Game Tomorrow
Game tomorrow vs. Brahe at Gammliahallen kl. 19.00!!! Shannon's back!!!!!
Go Comets!!
SCHLAGER NIGHT!!
Here are some pictures from Saturday night!! The night was pretty crazy and it involved a lot of fun and exciting things!! HAHA!! Including some karaoke singing by Shannon and myself, dancing, playing some blackjack (winning 220!) and a late night walking adventure. 
The night started off with our Dalen friends...Hjort and Fridas apartment!! Me and my roomies had a fantastic night together!!
SHE BANGS!!
SCHLAGER!!! Dancing and singing to songs we had NO CLUE ABOUT!!!! Pretty funny!!
I make some of the greatest faces!!
It was a really fun night!!
HOLLA!!!
Bildutmaning!
So I was reading Sophia's blogg today and she challenged me to a picture challenge. To take the sixth picture from my pictures on my computer in my sixth folder and describe the picture. It was so funny when I saw what picture it was!! I was sitting on my bed with Shannon finding the picture and talking about how this sounded really fun...and the picture was of her!! HAHA!! So funny I thought!! She freaked a little!!
This picture is of Shannon and her boyfriend Kyle on Christmas Eve. We all went over to Julia's house for a dinner and opened presents. Kyle's luggage didn't arrive to Umeå on time, so he wore the same outfit for 4 days straight. And his would be the outfit!! Pretty fun story to go with the picture! Despite that, we had a really nice evening and the food was great!! Christmas in Sweden....sweet!!
Great idea Sophia and I accepted the challenge!! But now I know I have to send the challenge out to six more people but I don't have that many friends that blogg (and Sophia already did it)...so I challenge Shannon and Mattias!! Have fun!!
KRAM!
Holy Snow!!
There is so much snow here in Umeå it's crazy!!! It has been 4 straight days of snow constantly falling. I can't believe all the snow right now. The snow piles are getting so tall now....I took some pictures of some around our apartment. Check out the bikes in the snow...should give you a good idea of how much snow has fallen.
Last night we lost our game by 1 point...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THAT SUCKS SO BAD.
I don't really have that much more to comment on right now about it. A little bitter still... We play this week on Wednesday vs. Brahe. They were our first game this season, so a lot of things have happened since then.
School tomorrow and basketball school later...then of course practice...gonna be a busy day!!
Hope everybody had a great weekend!!!
KRAM
Happy Birthday Grandpa!!
Happy Birthday Grandpa!! I haven't even had a chance to call and tell you, but I wanted to write this blogg and let you know that I remembered and sending you happy birthday wishes all the way from Sweden! Hope you had a great day!!
Grattis!!!
Love ya!!
My New Hairdo!!
Shannon and I went and got our hair did!!! I'm pretty blonde now and I have bangs!!! Shannon did an ok job with my hair...but then my hair kind of turned yellow...haha! So I went to go get it done at the hair saloon instead!! Shannon also got her hair cut!
That's all for now!
Later...
My Hair
Later...
Monday...
11.45 - Lunch
12.30 - Class
14.30 - Class ends
16.00 - Help coach Blom's U16 team
18.00 - Basketball School
19.30 - Practice
20.45 - Dinner
Last night Shannon, Julia (half the time) and myself stayed up to watch the Superbowl! Here it started at 12.30AM and I stayed up and watched it until 3.30am...and it was only in the 3rd quarter. The Steelers were up 17-7 but I just couldn't stay up any longer so I went to bed. Yeah I can't believe I went to sleep during the Superbowl....I don't think my dad will be proud of that. Sorry Dad! I saw the Steelers ended up winning which they wrote was a thriller to the end. They were down 23-20 and came back to win with less than a minute to play. So of course I missed a good game...that kind of sucks.
But I am pretty tired from the trip this weekend. Yesterday, after we played our game on Saturday, we spent the entire day driving and watching basketball. We went and watched the top Division I team play a game and then drove to Eskilstuna to watch them play against Visby. We play Eskilstuna this Saturday in a match up of the #11 team vs. #12 team. That's all I really have to say about that. It was probably about 4 hours of driving which was not the most fun. And the hard part was, that we ate breakfast around 9am and the next time we got to eat wasn't until 17.30 or so. I was dying of hunger! But thankfully we finally discovered a Max and everything was better after that.
Today our new player is moving into our apartment. Her name is Maurita Reid and she is from Queens, New York. She played at the University of Miami. She has come in to hopefully help us win some games so we can avoid the qualification games to stay in the league. Brahe upset Marbo last night, so that is NOT good for us. Now we have to do our job and win some games. We have 4 home matches left and 2 away games. Anything is possible! I am hoping for the best! :)
Well I hope everybody had a great weekend!! It is time for me to get out of bed and get ready for my exciting, busy day!! :) Talk to ya'll later!!
PEACE
Basketball is Dying in Umeå...Who Could Write Such a Thing??
But I have something to say in all this and those that care, you will understand the best! I cannot give a reason why we are not winning. I cannot give an explanation why things are the way they are. But I can tell you this...we have never gave-up and will never give-up. After each game, we begin to re-evalute the new solution. Most people in this community want us to just give-up and let the team crumble. That is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard in my life. How could you ask people who care so much for the sport, just to give it up. Like it doesnt even matter. I know people in this community are afraid of failure, but when something goes bad...YOU CAN'T JUST GIVE UP ON IT! Give them faith, give them something to believe, give them the desire to want to fight...don't show them your backs.
The biggest thing is that the team cares!! I care!! Maybe people should examine that before they just insult us for sucking! So easy to write your opinion when you never face the source. Do you really know us?? Let me ask you that?? Because I would't trade my team for anything in the world! We are good people that don't deserve this!! I could understand if we were a team that didn't care and just gave-up all the time...but we are not that team! And the most insulting thing of all of this...is that the media is taking something that we love so much, and downplaying it right in front of our faces. Making our efforts seem like they are a joke and questioning our passion and dedication to the game.
So all I have to say now is that I will not be a victim to this criticism anymore. I think it is absolutely the worst thing a person could do and it hurts! But I'm not going to let this hurt me anymore. I am going to do what I love and appreciate the most, and that is competiting in basketball. And if the community feels we should back out just because we are losing, I say leave us alone. Don't write such cruel things because you have no right! We are going to fight to stay in the league and it's absolutely the most riduculous thing if someone thinks we are wasting our time. I will never give-up and each new time is a promising time!! Just remember that! ;) Let us do what we feel passionately and those that have something negative to say, you can take it and shove it! The best thing for our team right now is some faith and belief!! And your actions and opinions are an insult to that. It's crazy to me how quickly people can turn away from you when things arent going the best. I call those people cowards!
My last remarks I have to say is don't take away something that means so much to me or us! We practice everyday and perform to the best of our abilities everyday. Don't take that away from us with your rude comments. We need SUPPORT right now. The remarks and opinions given will only drive people away. There is SO MUCH potential out there and for the team, but negative critism only discourages people away. Don't you want us to get to the best of our potential??!! If you want some change, start to support us...that's the only thing I can say right now. And it really insults me that the community doesn't have our back. I play for Umeå because I appreciate it here...now if only I could get the same respect back! And I WILL NEVER GIVE-UP ON THE TEAM!!!
3 of a Kind
I thought I would do a blog today dedicated to my ROOMIES!!! We have had some good times so far!! Here is a little recap of the year so far!!
1st Road Trip to Stockholm for our 1st Game of the Year
Party with the Viritus Boys!
Just Hanging Out at the House!
Light Show...New Jackets!!
Weekend in Stockholm!
LUCIA
SNOWMOBILING
Day at the Spa
Still more great times to come!! Looking forward to it!! Thanks Shannon and Anna for some great times...I love you guys!! :)
Not Again :(
I couldn't sleep last night, I was up until 4.30 in the morning. Just been laying in bed all day feeling kind of down. Don't know what else to write really, just hope everybody is having a better day than me.
Talk to you soon when I'm feeling a little better...We play this weekend vs. Norrkoping on Saturday. Hope our luck starts to change around soon.
Hejdå
Game Day!
Game today vs. Luleå kl. 19.00...Norrlands Derby at Gammliahallen!!!
Another home game against a very good team! We have nothing to lose!!
GO COMETS!!
A Day at the Spa!
On Sunday, Anna's family treated us to a day at IKSU Spa. It was so relaxing and just what we needed. Here are some pictures from the day. Solarium was fun, but I don't think I got any tanner. :( Still white. Shannon, Anna and myself tried some Top Model pictures. I think we are pretty close to the real thing...what do you think?? HAHA!! They were fun pictures anyway :)
ROOMIES!!!!!!!
Fun day!!
Yesterday I started up school again!! I have a feeling this class is really going to challenge my swedish ability! My teacher talked the entire time in swedish....oj! But it will be good for me and will really force me to use and apply what I already know and will continue to learn. Each class we have an oral exam, so it really forces you to actually speak it, unlike the previous two levels. I'm kind of nervous...but lucky for me, I have a lot of help around me!! :)
Practice today, game tomorrow! We play vs. Luleå...Norrland Derby! Playing on a Wednesday, kind of different. Vi får se!
Vi hörs!!
Team Dinner at Droskan
So we lost our game yesterday by 5pts....77-72. We were SO CLOSE to winning, we just couldn't pull it off in the end. :( We came out with a lot of intensity, and I thought we played extremely well. Tons of energy and great defensive pressure. But unfortunately, I think we started to get a bit tired and Visby capitalized on it and went on a 10-0 run in the 3rd quarter that we just couldn't come back from. The positive thing is that we were close and I think it started to get a lot of the girls into believing that it can be done!! We can win if we focus and play hard till the end. We will get there!!
After the game, we had a team dinner at Droskan. Everybody from the team showed up and some brought their plus 1 with them. My plus 1 was Sophia.. .aka my date (haha!) Shannon's parents are here visiting from South Dakota and Anna's parents were also in town for the weekend. It was a lot of fun and some good conversations all-round!! Lot's of joke telling...not really sure if any of them were funny or not?? We all got jokes!! I guess maybe Sophia knows best ;)
After Droskan, most of the team went to a pre-party at a couple friends of ours who play for Viritus (men's bball team). I think I will just let the pictures do the explaining...haha!!
The Adventures of Ida and Amy...TO BE CONTINUED!!!!
MY FAVORITE PICTURE!!!!!!
Thanks girls for a great night!! It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the future so we can have more team "get-togethers!! WE MUST!!
Today Annas parents treated us to a day at IKSU Spa! It was actually a christmas present that Anna's dad gave to us and today was the day we got to use it!! It felt so great just to relax. OH IT FELT SO GOOD!! We sat in the hot tub, laid in the solarium, did the sauna, swam in the pool!!!! IT WAS GREAT!!!! I feel very relaxed and ready to sleep now. But after the spa, Anna and I went and watched Dalen's womens team play. They unfortunately lost, but it was a good game to watch. The just couldn't pull it off in the end. Not a good weekend for the sports teams in Umeå. Better luck next time :)
Wow, I guess I ended up having an eventful weekend. I start school back up tomorrow, Swedish Level 3. I am excited to get back to it because my swedish has been pretty rusty lately. Should be interesting. Well goodbye for now!!
Hejdå!
