Career Review, Most Memorable Pro Teammates, Coaching Staff / Management, and Cheerleaders

I was extremely blessed to have a chance to travel and play basketball as a job for several years. I lived in some countries that I loved (Costa Rica) and countries that I hated (Sorry Lithuania) and countries that strangely fascinated me (Macedonia). I had incredible experiences and met some incredible people. I think it is only right that I honor this time listing my most memorable teammates, staff, and cheerleaders. If you were born and raised in the United States of America, you are disqualified from this list.

Players

Pepi Bela Bela in Uniform 

1. Petre Svetkov aka Bella (Strumica 2005 (05), ABA Strumica (09,10,11))
Bella hardly speaks any English but when he does it is usually hilarious. However, not knowing English presents a problem for learning a system from a coach who only speaks in English. Therefore Bella has his own freelance philosophy to running the offensive sets, which he would describe as "Bella go now." Bella is a very creative player but he also plays with reckless abandon which usually results in something very good or very bad. It wasn't that he lacked body control. Every time he drove to the basket it is like that moment in the movie Momento when the guy wake up from a dream and can't remember if he is running away from somebody or running after somebody. Bella is in incredible shape for a guy who constantly smokes cigarettes off the court.

Wale with one of his baby friends

2. Lawal Adewole aka Wale aka Black (Kaunas Atletas (06))
Even though I started and played significantly more than him, Wale was named to the All-star team over me which was a true testament to his personality. I will never understand how a Nigerian ended up in the coldest country in which I have ever lived, and continues to live there to this day. Wale once described his religious view to me as Christlum, a hybrid of the Christian and Muslim faiths of his parents. On the court Wales game was pure African rawness: the tenacity of an antelope mixed with the finesse of a rhinoceros. Wale liked to spend his time off the court by pursuing "Mooshoo" a term from the movie Rush Hour which apparently means "vagina."

Bobby

 3. Slobodan Hadzvasilev aka Bobby (ABA Strumica (10,11))
Bobby was the team captain and only true veteran on the ABA Strumica team. He was the starting power forward for the team from Strumica that won the championship in 2007. After this he retired and seemingly disappeared from the public eye. .Nobody knows how old Bobby really is or what he was doing from 2008 to 2010 when he was not playing basketball. Some people say he was a pizza man, others say he was a professional assassin. All we know that the Bobby who came back in 2010 was a slower, older, and more jaded version of the young Bobby. The latter version relied on experience, veteran savvy and Jedi mind tricks to score points.

Mr. WATSON!!

4. Mauricio Watson aka Mo (Aguada Montevideo (06))
Mauricio gets mentioned because I can't remember anyone else's name on this team. I was only in Uruguay for 2 weeks, partly because Mauricio told me "Did you hear our own fans just say that we need to leave or they will kill us." Potentially saving my life automatically vaults you into the top five. Thanks Mauricio.

Julius for the Jam

5. Julius Mykolaitus (Kaunas Atletas (06))
I only hung out with Julius twice off the court. The first time we ended up in a Kaunas Casino until 11 a.m. as I watched him gamble away his entire monthly salary and part of mine. The second time was after a game in which he broke both arms and we ended up getting in a police chase that ended up with me taken in to custody and questioned in a language in which I didn't understand while a drunken Julius deflated the tires on the cop car parked outside the building where I was held captive.

D. in New York

6. Darjan Hristov aka Danny aka D. aka Pero's boy (Stumica 2005 (05))
Darjan and I have a special bond because of our mutual understanding of living in the shadow our legendary fathers. My father was an NBA all star while his father was Macedonian folk music superstar. Darjan has the highest confidence I have ever seen for someone who only had marginal basketball talent. He would occasionally go off or completely shoot us out of the games. We once lost to a reality television show team (Toa sum Jas) which was undoubtably the lowest point of my basketball career. To this day he still tells everybody that he dunked on me, which either never happened or was so traumatic that I completely erased it from my memory.

Dixon in the hood

7.Jefferson Owen Dixon aka Mr. Dixon (Sanatura Desamparados (12))
Dixon is a multilingual, japanese-cartoon-watching, greek mythology reading, quasi vegetarian, swimming-pool-swimming black man. Dixon didn't make this list because he defies all stereotypes, but because he humbled himself enough to also serve as team equipment manager. Dixon would take some of the worst shots I have ever seen and occasionally make some while others you knew had no chance of hitting the rim as soon as they left his hand. However you always knew Mr. Dixon was there to work hard.

Jove at the beach

8. Jove Kurciev (ABA Strumica (2011))
Mr. Kurciev never talked much about his family, but several sources told me that his father was in the mafia. Once I learned that, I made sure that me and Jove were on good terms. Jove probably said he loved me more in the 4 months I knew him than all other men combined have during my lifetime.

9. Sebastian Lacayo Mora aka Coko (Sanatura Desamparados (12))
The son of Costa Rican basketball legend Banana, Lacayo cares a lot more about living life than playing basketball. On the court Lacayo likes to foul and foul and foul again. When you look like a pro wrestler, it is hard to get love from the referees.

Honorable Mention: Jordan Joco Nokolov, Michael Jackson, Carnegie Richards, Huesos, Mario Hasonov, Ivan Cikarski

Coaching Staff / Management

1. Neil Gottlieb, Nic Marin, Abel Garbanzo, Fernando Esquivel, Luis Sanchez- Sanatura Desamparados '12

Nic, Fernando, and Neil

Neil, a native New Yorker and manager of an online gambling site, coached exactly like a guy who gambles would coach. "How many turnovers do we have? Whats our shooting percentage? Guys we gotta shoot better and stop turning the ball over." I suspected that he was secretly betting on the over/under on turnovers during our game because he would constantly ask Statistician Luis the total. Although he was the head coach, Neil rarely came to practices, because you can't bet on practices. Nic Marin would take over those responsibitlies and did an admirable job, except half of the team was totally incapable of remembering plays. Nic served somewhat as a General manager as well, and brought me in at the twilight of my career. Nic is a great friend and I would play for him for free if I could. Abel was the strength coach but he seemed more concerned with keeping me away from his daughter than my conditioning. Fernando was the team president and my roommate for the last week after a domestic dispute forced me to leave my previous residence early.

2 Stratos Koukoulekidis, Nesho Abazovic, Ace Angelov - ABA Strumica '11

A young Stratos

Stratos may have been the most knowledgeable basketball coach I have ever played for, but he expected a full support staff and profesional management and got a drunk guy and a president who wanted to fist fight the mayor. Statos would loose his temper almost every day and walk away with his head down cussing incessantly in Greek "MALAKA!!" Nesho was a great guy but after his divorce he mentally checked out. Ace was trying to keep the building from falling apart and didnt have enough resources to support the team.

Honorable Mention: The Jakus/Neso/Stimson regime, Simas Kruckauskas and his father



Cheerleaders

1. ABA Dance team: 5 year old Ruta propels them to the top: I will let the video explain:

Me and Lucy on Terrific Lady Day

2. Lucitania Calderon
An excellent resource for talking trash. "You see that hot girl, that's my girl. Wheres your girlfriend? Oh, Scary J. Blige in the second row. HAHAHA!" However she can't get the top spot because the 2 biggest games of the playoffs, she was M.I.A. and there was drama between her and the water girl.

Hristina in Ochrid

3. Hristina Runceva
She was very supportive, and possibly the smartest and most ambitious woman I know, but she loses major points for being a MZT fan. Sorry KiKi!!!

Album Review: McKenzie Eddy "Slow Your Horse Down Son"

What happens when you take a girl performing in a rock band in the Hootie and the Blowfish’s old stomping grounds in South Carolina, then transplant her in New York City and team her up with one of the creators of the now defunct Roc-a-Fella records, perhaps the greatest independent rap label of the last generation. You get McKenzie Eddy’s Slow Your Horse Down Son. McKenzie, who is a former Dame Dash executive assistant, turned record label VP/artist released an LP yesterday that I really can't explain. I take a cold shower after listening to it, and then I listen to it again. When I played it for my dad in his minivan, all he wanted to know was what this girl looked like. My Costa Rican housemate also asked what she looked like, and when I told him that she was a blonde girl, he claimed to love what he was hearing. If I had said she was a 400 pound Asian woman, would his opinion change? Definitely. I have listened to this album probably seven or eight times, and I have yet to finalize my opinion. McKenzie doesn't possess the emotion packed powerful voice that top recording artists use to sell records and inspire people to sing along. McKenzie has the kind of smooth velvety (occasionally screechy) voice that inspires you to smoke a cigarette or throw a beer bottle at your cat.

This album projects the kind of lighthearted darkness found in Wes Anderson films with lyrics featuring outlandish stories and off-color characters. The album kicks off with the title track "Slow Your Horse Down, Son". Take Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walking", add a Sheeshaw and Hookah Man, Fiona Apple the shit out of it, and viola. You have an opening track that musically feels like a psychedelic hayride through an alley full of gypsies, cowboys and corporate lawyers. The second track "Celophane" sounds nothing like the first, opting instead for guitar riffs over a hip hop beat and rapid delivered singing and Walter Camp references. "Bees" follows and slows the pace back down musically, while simultaneously upping the intensity of the trash talking: "Yeah girl you're gonna get stung" OH SNAP!! "Mangoes" is a song not about delicious fruit but instead yet more shit talking aided by rapper GLC. "Cinderella" is another forgetable love gone wrong song, followed by perhaps the highlight of the album "Ice Cream Mountain". This track features slick production of piano and organ melodies backed by a bass heavy beat. McKenzie's vocal ability is showcased best in this setting and Murs gives the strongest showing of all the rapper's on the album. The music video is above and equally turns me on and creeps me out, which is pretty amazing. "What a Life" a jazz influenced track featuring GLC follows and encaptures the emotions of moving to NYC and the pitfalls ("swindlers, hustlers, pleasers, busters, peddlers, lovers,cheats") of an career in entertainment. "

Whether calmly serenading in the Sean O'Connell produced "Your Darkness" or rocking out in the Ski Beatz laced "The Sun", McKenzie shows the kind of diversity as an artist, and flashes of talent that makes you believe that she can survive in the hectic world she vividly describes in her lyrics. Sometimes her voice is stretched beyond her capabilities, and the music production does not set her up to succeed, but McKenzie overcomes these shortcomings with the creativity of her storytelling and brash attitude of her delivery. In the end, the result is an album that occasionally suffers an identity crisis, while at the same time being so personal and multilayered, that it only gets better with successive listens. You can cop this album, from the links below:Get it on Itunes
Get it on Amazon

Being a Mentor in Macedonia (aka the Vasko Atanasov Project)

If you were wondering why I was Macedonia the last few years, I don't know if I can answer that question for you. This video might answer that question and maybe it won't: If you watched that video, you would see a guy named Slave (Slah-vay) claim that God told him "one day this building will belong to the kingdom of God, and there will be a Christian team playing here." Slave told me that in 2005 and I laughed in his face. Then in 2009, when Ryan Smith wrote me on facebook and told me that he wanted me to come back to Strumica, Macedonia to play on Christian basketball team and help run the sports hall, I thought it was a joke. I was like "No way! that sh*t is BANANAS FOSTER WITH AN SIDE OF EXTRA BANANAS SERVED BY A MONKEY DRESSED AS A BAG OF BANANAS!!"

And then I told him no, I can't play for that kind of money, but I would pray about it. And I did and when he made me a only slightly less ridiculous offer, I reluctantly admitted if there really is a God, I should probably go to Macedonia. After 2 years there, I still question why I was in Macedonia. I was supposedly a sports missionary for this ministry, and at times I filled the position admirably and at other times not so much. One thing I did was serve as a quasi-mentor to a highschool kid named Vasko Atanasov. My roommate, Jeremiah Boswell also mentored Vasko, giving him valuable advice and emotional support, while my mentoring style mostly involved making fun of the shape of his head and predisposition to date girls 5 or 6 years younger than him (ballpark estimate) and occasionally telling him some biblical wisdom. I don't know if anything I said to him sunk in, but Vasko is actually a really great kid who loves basketball and loves Jesus.

Vasko was a handball goalie but had a serious injury that derailed his career. Instead of feeling sorry for himself and going out and getting completely hammered at the clubs, which most kids his age do in that city, Vasko took initiative and got involved with coaching kids at ABA basketball club, eventually taking over the head coach position of the 7th grade team and leading them to the championship game. The maturity of this kid is unbelievable for his age. It has been so awesome to see him mature in his relationship with Christ and witness how God is using him to influence others. Go on his twitter page (http://twitter.com/attanasov) and you will see bible verses among statements such as:

I care about impacting people, not impressing people.

The blessings of God will complicate your life. But unlike sin, it will complicate your life in ways it should be complicated.

How many 17 year old kids do you know writing things like that? Anyway, I am telling you how great Vasko is not only because his is, but also because he will be coming to America this summer as a coach on a reverse missions trip with Athletes in Action. Vasko is a student in Macedonia with limited access to funds, so Jeremiah and I told him we would help raise the support for this trip. The trip is 2 weeks away and Vasko still need $800 to reach this goal. I believe this trip is important for Vasko to continue to grow in his faith. Please send your check immediately to:


Didasko Ministries, Inc.
13310 NE Shaver St.
Portland, OR 97230
And Note that it’s for: Sharrett 1040 Account

It sucks that there is no way to donate online, but it is what it is. If you plan on writing a check, please comment on the blog how much or send me a message so we can keep track of the total. Thanks and God bless!!