When I first got over here, I wasn't so sure I was going to like it. It's not that the team was disorganized, but to put it lightly, things were not falling into place. My car wasn't ready, the internet was not hooked up yet, and I hadn't been taken to get a phone. I was stuck in my apartment with no means of communication for about 4 days. I would just have to wait in my apartment, having absolutely no idea what the hell was going on, until someone from the team's management would come pick me up for practice. I was so far out of my comfort zone, I was doing things I never do... like... READ!! It was a pretty difficult time to say the least, considering it was my first time out of the states without people I knew, and away from all my homies, and my family. Obviously things got easier once the internet started working (Skype is a damn lifesaver), and getting a car made it nice, because I didn't have to rely on another person to pick me up and take me places. But getting the car turned out not to be the best thing in the world for me, because I had no idea how to get around. There were a couple times where I got so damn turned around that I was just driving in circles looking for something that looked familiar. But just like everywhere, the longer you're there, the easier it is to find your way around, and it took me about a month to get geographically comfortable over here. I gotta give a lot of credit to my teammates though, for really going out of their way to help me out. See, when I got here I was interested to see how the relationships would be between the native Israeli players and the foreign Americans. It's common knowledge that American players are paid much much more than most of the Israelis, so I didn't know if that was going to be an issue ya know? Something that might keep our team from bonding as well as we should. And I didn't know where I would fit into that equation, because I am considered a dual Israeli/American citizen, but to the Israeli guys on my team, I am as American as the others. I can't speak hebrew, I can barely read it, but I don't have any idea what the hell I'm reading, and I can't really understand it when spoken to me. Well after 2 months, I can honestly say that the Israeli guys on our team have been awesome. They are hard-working, no nonsense guys who practice hard everyday, and never complain. All of them have been great, but three imparticular have gone out of there way in terms of helping me out. Tal Azulay is our youngster, very young kid, born in 1990, has a lot of talent, and is on the team so they can basically work with him on a regular basis to make sure he is ready when his time comes. Well Tal and I have become pretty close, and he and his family have me over for dinner every Friday night. His parents and family are great people, and in broken english his dad always says to me, 'In Israel you my son, In America your dad is Tal dad.' Even though it's not grammatically correct, I know exactly what he means, and I'm diggin' it. Ido Kozikaro has been unreal as well. He's either 29 or 30 years old, and he's our captain. Ido plays for the Israeli national team, and has been around the block, and is pretty damn knowledgeable in terms of everything that goes on over here. He also has had me over for dinner a bunch, and tells me if I ever need anything just give him a call. It's nice to have someone like him to rely upon if I ever do catch myself in a bind. Lastly, I can't forget my man Moshe Mizrahi. 'Slow-Mosh' is a 28 yr old, who is a very popular figure in Israel. He is basically a celebrity over here. He used to own a bar in Tel-Aviv named 'Ego', and apparently before he sold it, they were clearin' big time cash outta there. The only reason he got rid of it was he got offered a pretty damn good deal to go play in Paris, France last year... I don't blame him for takin' that contract...Paris seems like it would be a cool place to play. Anyhow, 'Slow-Mosh' always hits me up when he goes out to invite me, and I've been over to his place a few times as well. The thing that I appreciate the most is that these dudes don't have to do this shit. They could just handle their own business, come to practice, work hard, and go home, but they have all gone outta their way to help me because they know I'm new over here by myself... their efforts are very much appreciated.
Photos (Left to Right): Ido Kozikaro (the captain), Moshe Mizrahi (Slow-Mosh). Tal Azulay (young buck)
