Hello everyone! The U21 staff and I have gotten everything into order here in Senegal, but quickly, an anecdote from our trip.
I was running behind the rest of the team as we settled into JFK this Wednesday (not before a touching farewell to Ojeda). The gate was filled with people, my 5'5 frame was too short and I lost track of the team. While the rest of the team boarded for Senegal, I somehow went the wrong way to Bangladesh. I was asleep at our layover in LAX (this was late at night mind you), and found myself using Google Translate to communicate a flight to Senegal. Luckily, everything was settled and we're ready to win some Worlds gold!
Jimmie Brown, Merrill Clement, and Mike Merrill all luckily recognize me from last season's adventures, and they have a new supporting cast, including two USA owned players in Kenny Luther and Jarvis Carlson. In fact, many of the U21 hopefuls are owned by Americans, so S/O to them for helping a good cause! Meanwhile, a few past NT head coaches are here, as jfarb and wozz are here to help out with the team, although they do get into some (mean)spirited debates about Velasco's usefulness. Luckily, they can also travel between the NT and U21 games due to their NT-provided private jets.
Private jets aside, the U21 team looks to start off with a bang. As Brown and the Merrills decide to prank everyone in camp, spirits are high going into Monday's contest. Brian is here again mainly to serve as Nemesio's bodyguard, questionable amid the circumstances of Nemesio no longer being eligible for the U21 team.
Watch Kenny Luther and the USA Under-21 squad start their Worlds campaign against Janusz Wawoczny and the Polish U21 squad this Monday in Senegal at 1:30 Eastern, 10:30 Pacific. Also, follow discussion of the game on our insightful offsite forum:
http://s3.zetaboards.com/BuzzerBeater_USA_NT/topic/751073..., where you can find a bevy of advice on your team and the National Teams.
Also, don't forget to keep up with the Buzzerbeater Swish:
http://bb-usa.host22.com/blog/, our new USA blog.
Lastly, please participate in this season's Contest:
http://www.buzzerbeater.com/community/forum/read.aspx?thr...Thanks to everyone for your support, and Go USA!