Whats up everyone,

Its Sunday night and before I get into today's activities I would like to talk about my mom...Since we made Friday night father's day I will proclaim this Mother's. After all she did carry me for nine months.  Similar to my dad, my mom is also a remarkable and strong woman.  As much as she thinks I don't listen because she is usually telling me things I don't want to hear. I listen and take to heart every word.  Whenever I need advice she is always there and willing to give me great advice.  And the thing that has helped me the most is that she never quite gives me the answer. She gives me just what I need so that I can figure it out on my own.  She is the backbone of the family as she is the one who really teaches me what a penny is all about. She is an extremely hard worker and makes sure that everything we recieved from her we earned it. And that has taught me the value of a dollar and hard work. Thanks for that mom.

 To start the day Simon, Hank and I went to the women's division 2 game to watch our friends Lucille and Maria play.  The game started off pretty close and was by far the most exciting game I had been to in their league until the 2nd half.  Then the Boras women ran away with the game. Lucille and Maria did a great job. Later I came home and made a great American breakfast. Pancakes with maple syrup, eggs, bacon, yogurt and a huge glass of milk.  I was so stuffed after I cleaned my plate I had no other choice but to take a 3 hour nap. 

I woke up and waited on the NFL playoffs to start and what a first game it was. The Arizona Cardinals (probably the least likely team to make the Super Bowl) played a great game today and defeated the Philidelphia Eagles by a touchdown. The game was really close and the Cardinals didn't take the lead until the final 2 minutes. Now, Cards will play for the Super Bowl on the first Sunday in February.  They will play the winner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens games which I am watching right now.  I am rooting for th Pittsburgh Steelers for a couple of reasons. First off it is my dads favorite team and he is always in a good mood when they are doing well.  Second, a really close childhood friend of mine that stayed in my neighborhood when we were kids is playing wide reciever for the Steelers.  We still talk a lot. Mostly online and I got a chance to wish him luck earlier today. Its really nice to see a guy like him come up like we did and then become a millionaire. He deserves it.

I think this is my last blog but you can never be too sure.  If so I would like to thank everyone for reading about my life the past couple of weeks.  I hope to see you all at the future home games. We only have a few more home games left. Take care

 D. Springs

It's Friday night and I'm sitting at home in front of the computer...What a lame!!!  One thing I miss about home is there is always something to do.  Whether it be just hanging out with friends, going out, or just shooting pool with my dad down in the basement.  I miss my dad.  Over the past two or three I have felt our relationship grow stronger and stronger.  Like the father/son relationships you only see on tv. He is a remarkable man bringing us from having nothing and only being able to give us what we NEEDED to being able to give me, my mom and my sister the things we WANTED too.  Shout out to my pops and all the other fathers out here providing for their families!!!  I wanna be just like him when I grow up.  As children you don't understand why parents say no and the sacrifices they make to make sure life is better for us in the long run. 

Now, since I got that out of the way lets talk about today.  Today started off pretty early. About 8 AM to be exact.  Me, Ryan, King, Jonas, and Simon got up and helped an old frend of Jonas' move from a nice house into a nice apartment.  It had to be tough to give that house up.  When I saw the huge patio, My first thought was I could throw some mean parties in the summer time back here. There was quite a bit of heavy lifting so I decided it should take the place of going to lift weights at Hasse's gym today.  She was the nicest lady in the world.  And to top everything off, as soon as I felt like I was going to pass out from hunger pains she came through with some ham and cheese sandwiches on the best bread ever known to man.  I had two sandwiches and I'm not going to beat around the bush...I kind of wanted a 3rd and 4th but I didn't want to eat her out of house and home.  We did manage to dominate all of the ham and cheese by the time we left.

 Tonight I am going to kick back, relax and watch a movie.  I think I will watch Madagascar 2.  I love the Dreamworks animated films.  They are so funny.  I watched Over the Hedge last night and even though I've seen it a million times it never gets old.  I probably own about 15 animated films. 

Well I guess I will make some dinner now since I've lost about 3 kilos since the new coach got here.  The new defense is tough for me and Toni because we have to pressure full court agains really quick players.  Thanks for checkin me out today and come back for more of the life and times of D. Springs tomorrow...PEACE OUT!!!

P.S. Show some love to your dad today ladies and gentlemen...Pops I love you MAN!!!  This is a pic of my dad and my niece

Whats crackin everyone!!!,

Today we were free from basketball activities so needless to say I slept in today.  It felt great too because my body was kind of sore from the prior practices. 

Well today I bid farewell to something very special to me.  It got me through some rough times when my computer crashed the first day I arrived in Europe.  Luckily I had a teammate as nice as Kingma to let me borrow his for 3 months.  Who just has two computers on tap just in case a teammates computer crashes...Kingma thats who!!! Anyways, lets have a moment of silence for the old computer. Ignore the my pictures sections King...LOL...Just kidding. Fortuately, I bought a computer while I was back in the states and brought it back here with me. It's a pretty nice laptop with some nice features but I'm still learning how to work the thing.

Today, I watched a pretty funny movie called Soul Men. It was Bernie Mac's last performance before he passed away a few months back.  Truly a sad day in the world of comedy because he was easily in my top 5 comedian list.  This movie was about two washed up singers (Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson) who wanted to make a comeback.  But the problem was they haven't performed together in 30 years and they sucked now.  I laughed the whole movie. These two were the perfect fit for this role.

Later I went over to Hasse's gym to get a lift in.  O My!!! For the guys who don't have memberships to Hasse's gym make sure you get one and go to the gym between 4-7.  The eye candy was in there today.  I didn't wanna leave...LOL.  I wish I wore some tighter clothes so they could see my cuts...LOL. Ladies you should get memberships too because I am there on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursdays. However times may vary.  Email me and I will let you know what time I'll be there...lol..  I'm sure I would have got some attention from at least one of the ladies today if Ryan wasn't there with his long silky hair and lifting 400 kilos. LOL.

For the rest of the night I guess I will get lost in my book.  Thanks again for checking out my blog everyone. I guess I will be back for more tomorrow...Take care.

 D. Springs

Whats up everyone,

I thought my blogging session was over on Sunday but apparently that wasn't the case since I still see my face smack dab on the homepage. 

This week we are free from games which normally is terrible feeling because for one we seem to practice extra hard when we have a 10 day break, second we run for 30 minutes outside after a 2 hour practice to get rid of lactid acid, and third we have to wait so long to get our game faces back on.  This morning we had a short practice where we got the opportunity to individually fine tune our game and work on some of the things that we could get better at in games.  Me and Toni work as a team in these sessions and we work on a lot of shooting, passing and defense.  After morning practice we all went over to Andreas for lunch...STILL NO MEAT PATTIES!!!!!  LOL.  I know that makes Kingma angry because he always raves about how delicious they are and how it gives him a full days worth of protein.

 I recently started a new book called "Them" by Nathan McCall.  So far this book has been really interesting.  The word "Them" referrs to the opposite race.  From one perspective there is a black man who wants to fit into a society that is dominated by white people and on the other hand there is a white couple who moves into a majority black neighborhood and they are finding it hard to fit in.  Its kind of like two books in one.  This book is especially interesting to me because I have lived both of these situations.  I know through experience how hard it is to be in a situation when it seems like no one is like you.  I have lived in places where it is rare to see African Americans and often felt like the whole room was starring at me.   So at times when I'm reading this book I feel like someone is actually writing about me.  Overall, a very interesting and eye opening book so far. I will let you guys know how it ends. The back of the book says that there is a dramatic and surprising ending so I'm looking forward to that.

Well thats all for today.  Tomorrow we have a day off so hopefully I will get lost in this book and get about 100 pages in.  Thanks for checking out my blog...I guess I'll be here all week...Chao!!

 D. Springs

Whats up everyone,

After yesterday's game the coaching staff thought it would be a good time to take a day off. I don't think we have another game for about ten days so its important that we take this time to rest and heal all of the nicks and bruises on our bodies. Yesterday I felt pretty good after the game, but today when I woke up I started to feel the effects of getting older.  I was pretty sore.  I know I'm not that old but I remember when I could jump right out of a car after riding in it for 10 hours right into a full court street pick up game.  Now I have to stretch for 20 minutes and even after that it still takes me an extra 20 minutes just to warm up the engine. 

Today, I just took it easy.  I had every intentions on going to Hasses gym for a workout but my body told me NO!!!!!   So i will make certain that I go in the morning.  Right now I'm just checking out some of the NFL playoffs on the slingbox.  This is the best invention of all time if you are an American living abroad.  It's a little box that you hook up to a cable box in the states.  Then you download the software and just like that I can watch every television station at my parents house on my computer.  So I haven't missed any of my favorite shows or good college basketball games all year.

Since we had a day off there isn't really too much to talk about.  My days off are really boring since I rarely leave my apartment.  For the rest of the night I guess I will work on my resume, study for a test I will be taking in April to teach an extra subject, and talking to friends online.  All while watchin football of course.  Thanks for checking out my blogs this week.  I hope you enjoyed them. 

Hope to see everyone at the final few home games.

Dennis Springs

Today we traveled down south to Helsingborg for an important game.  This game was significant because it was a race between two teams vying for a spot in the playoffs.  Fortunately we came focused and ready to play today.  We were able to put together a solid defensive game and decent offensive game.  The game ball today would have to go to Christopher Anrin who had a big game and knocked down some key three pointers at crucial moments in the game.  A close 2nd place goes to McDaddy...I call him the Windex man because he cleans the glass.  For those of you who don't know what Windex is, it is an American product used for cleaning glass. I feel really good about the way that we are playing right now.  We have high energy and I can see that the other teams are wearing down around the 3rd quarter because they are working so hard for every point.

Today, I finished a really interesting book called "If I did it"...This book was written by O.J. Simpson and he basically gives his account on what happened the day that his ex-wife and another guy named Ron Goldman got murdered...This is by far the most interesting book I've read in a long time.  The book just paints a picture in your head and I honestly felt like I was standing in front of O.J. intervewing him. You guys should pick it up if you get the opportunity...OJ DIDNT DO IT...LOL. Ok. Maybe he did. Or Did he??? hmmmm???? Check the book out.

Tomorrow we have the day off so I will probably go hang out with Hasse tomorrow.  We run for 30 minutes after games and he is the oldest one that runs with us and puts us all to shame.  The most amazing man in the world.  After my daddy of course.  Well Im gonna chill out for the rest of the night talk to some friends online and watch some NFL Playoffs. Have a good night Boras...HOLLA!!!

 D. Springs

Whats up everyone,

Today I woke up with a smile on my face from a very fun and productive night off...To top everything off the sun was actually shining and the weather was mild for the winter time in Sweden.

This morning we all went in for a happy hour at morning practice...We bust out some nice sprints and quickness drills.  I thought I may have been the quickest on the team with a close competition with Rasmus but the truth is according to stop watches I am probably the slowest.  Who knew?  You guys would have loved to see Kingma's blazing speed coming around the cones...It was just a blur...As Borat would say...NOT!!! LOL...Actually Kingma did well...Joakim was in my group and probably had the quickest feet of the day. Bra Jocke!!!

Later we went over to Andreas for lunch...I was really hoping for the meat patties...But not today...:-(...But we still had a good meal with Swedish Meatballs in some type of buttery sauce with potatoes.  Sweden has to have about 1 million different sauces you can use on food. 

After lunch I came home and made the best mix CD ever...I will have to bust it out on a special occassion here soon...I would tell you the name of it and whats on it but no one would no who or what I was talking about so just take my word for it...It is GREAT!!!

Afternoon practice was the usual...Lots of defenseive stuff and talking about the game plan. Nothing too strenuous on our bodies. 

Ummm....O yeah...We have a game tomorrow guys...YAY!!!  We travel to Helsingborg for a important game where the winner could possibly take advantage of the final playoff spot...It will be a very physical game as both teams know whats at stake.  They have a couple of really good players so it will be a challenge for both the big guys and the guards. 

Thanks for checkin me out today...HEJDO

Whats up world,

Sorry about the vacancies in the blog the past couple of days but I didn't know how to log in to start blogging...Yesterday, we had kind of a fresh start to the second half of the season...The most noticable thing is that we have a new head coach...I would like to first say hats off to Anders for doing a great job leading us through one and a half seasons...We all know that its a tough job and as a team we are just as responsible as the coach for the outcomes of games...But we are definitely happy that he is still on staff as the assistant coach because he is as important to the team as any other person.  With that being said we welcome coach Lars...It will be a tough but fun challenge to help right the ship as we head for the home stretch and spot in the playoffs.  With the group of guys we have and now two great coaches on staff, Im very confident we will get into the playoffs and make some noise when we get there.

 Last night was the start of a new look Boras team.  I have talked to a few people and even in a close defeat they saw a difference in the tempo of the game and aggressiveness of the players...Our new pressure defense at times looked great as we forced plenty of turnovers and wore the opponent down...I thought it jus came down to a matter of wanting it more at the end of the game.  It will take time for us to get used to this but i think it will make us a better team... Foul trouble was an issue...Speaking of foul trouble I know I shouldn't speak on officiating but its my blog and i do what i want to....LOL...there were some questionable calls at crucial moments in the game that could have changed the game...There was what i would like to think of as a phantom foul called on...hmmm...i think his number is 6 for Boras...Im still trying to wrap my head around that call...But for those of us who have officiated before we all know its a tough job and visions and judgement is essential.

 Anyway, Overall other than the final score I was pretty happy with our performance...We played hard and we played well...Not taking anything from the Dolphins because they are a very good team with skilled players and they also are the preseason favorites.  I think we played them pretty evenly and thats promising to our future as we look ahead and attempt to jump into the final playoff spot on Saturday against Helsingborg...It is a huge game for both of us as the winner may have the upper hand in the 8th spot for the playoffs.

 Thanks for reading my blog...Holla at ya tomorrow...Peace and hair grease

Dennis Springs

Hello everyone,

I thought I posted a blogg entry yesterday during our layover in Stockholm but for some reason it did not post.  My apologies. 

I guess we have to take it back to Friday.  On Friday we made another tough road trip up to Sundsvall.  Sundsvall is always a tough place to play.  Number one because they are a solid team and second because the long road trip takes a toll on our bodies as our resting patterns are a little disturbed.  However, I have to say I am very proud of our effort up north as we pulled out another hard fought victory against one of the elite teams in the league. 

We started off the game kind of slow and spotted Sundsvall a 9 point lead early on.  I wasn't surprised because sometimes after a long trip it takes a little time to get going.  Coach called a good timeout and we regrouped and went on a pretty good run to take the lead.  The game went back and forth all the way until the end.  It set up a dramatic ending as coach called a timeout and drew up a play that created a good penetration opportunity for me.  I am so lucky that Chris was moving without the ball and was standing in the corner for the game winning shot because I had no where else to go.  Boras 75 Sundsvall 73.

I can feel that we are growing as a team everyday and gaining more confidence.  The growth from the first game to now is night and day.  Everyone contributes from the bench to the starters.  It may not seem like much but when I here Joakim or Simon encouraging me from the bench when I do something good or even bad, it gives me the extra confidence and push to keep it moving forward.  Chris'confidence may be the highest on the team.  He is stroking the three making 12 threes in the last two games.  Thats almost unheard of.  But good for us.  Sometimes I find myself not even going in for the rebound when he shoots the ball because I know its going in.  Or because I know I probably wouldn't get the rebound anyway because Ryan hogs them all. 

Back to practice today as we prepare to take on Jamtland Friday for our second home game of the season.  This will be a very good game.  They have some really good players that could get hot and possibly carry their team alone.  It's important that we go back to work today with a hard working attitude. 

Ï was reading today and ran over this quote.  "When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."...George Washington Carver.  I would like to encourage everyone to be uncommon.  Take care

 Dennis

Hello everyone,

Today was a good day.  The day started off with a trip to Hasse's gym to pump some iron.  We didn't have any morning practice so the majority of the team ended up at Hasse's to lift.  After the weights Kingma and I went over to Andreas for some lunch.  Andreas is so good and I eat so much that it never fails that I fall asleep as soon as I return back home.

Practice was really light today we didn't do much.  Coach reviewed the tape from the game last night and made some minor adjustments on things we need to improve on.  Practice is a lot better this year.  There is so much more intensity and competitiveness.  It only makes us better and more prepared for the games.  After practice we played a shooting game and Hank was on freakin'fire.  He didn't miss a shot and won by a landslide.  I guess he will recieve a special gift from coach soon.

Tonight I made a big pot of chilli.  I just might be the best chilli maker ever.  Do I have any challengers?  Well, sorry there really isn't much to talk about today.  Tomorrow will be our final tuneup before we head to Sundsvall for another tough game.  Take care.

Dennis