August 20, 2010
"Three a.m. (Thursday) and raining at the Hoop
as we pull out. Everything smooth on the first leg of the
flight to Miami. Flight was delayed an hour out of Miami -
half of us boarded and the other half was sent to another gate (a
long ways away). G.O. Ministies staff Will and Audrey Partin
and Pedro, Karlyn and Patone met us at the airport in Puerta Plata.
Guys had dinner and we left early for game 1 which was at 10 a.m.
Roads are interesting to say the least and the trip took
about 2 hours to get to the arena. We won our first contest
but some of their best pro guys are playing with another team right
now so we won easily. Kids are getting used to the humidity as
today's games are in an un-air conditioned gym, but we had great
enthusiasm and got to check out the new Golden Eagles. Matt,
Dennis, Javon and Mitch joined Zac and Chase in getting their first
'burn' in a game. Riley, Newt and BP gave big plays to go
along with a total team effort for the W.
We went to Pastor Nikko's mission and helped feed about 75 kids
lunch - the only hot meal the kids get in the day and our guys were
GREAT. Tech fans would have been more than proud of their Golden
Eagles watching them interact with these smiling grateful kids than
of any athletic event they could ever play in. The very first thing
I told our team at our opening practice was to remind them how
truly blessed we all are. Today I was truly blessed to be the coach
of the Golden Eagles as I watched them represent Tech and
Cookeville so well. Kudos to Coach Payne and the rest of the staff
for their efforts. Had lunch at the G.O. Ministries central church
facility and the guys are cleaning up and relaxing before the next
game at 5 p.m. and then we head back to Viva Wyndham Tagerine where
we are staying which is right on the beach overlooking the Atlantic
Ocean.
Tomorrow's games will be very tough. We play in the main arena in
Santiago and two very good teams are on tap. The President of
Santiago BB was at our game and Dr. Chickie Liriano came by too.
Former player Leo Liriano came by (Chickie is his dad). Milone
Clark is playing with a pro team, La Vega and we hope to see him as
well on this trip.
Gotta run. Kids are having a blast. Not sure when I can get to
email again, but I will try."
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