The Western Hemisphere Road Trip

Sorry for the delay since my last blog. Preseason is the ideal blogging time because of all the time we spend in hotels on the road. Now that it is over and the season is in full swing, I find I have less time to don my Jimmy Chitwood hat.

I wrote this blog on the flight to Berlin, Germany. Berlin has been at the top of my destination bucket list for a long time. Unfortunately, usually all I get to see on these trips are a lot of international airports, hotels, and gyms. Our trips to Moscow, Madrid, and even now to Berlin, they’re business trips. I have wanted to go to Berlin for a long time, and while I will be there for two days, I doubt I will get to experience hardly any of the city. Last week we were in Moscow, and I would have loved to see the Red Square, but there simply isn’t any time in our schedule to do sightseeing. We touched down, went to the hotel, then the gym, then back to the airport. What the travel does do, is give me a great taste for what these cities have to offer. I am building a revised bucket list of these European cities that I want to come back to with the sole purpose of experiencing the city. Here is the bucket list so far:

1.) Berlin

2.) Athens

3.) Madrid

4.) Moscow

5.) Munich

6.) Istanbul

7.) Belgrade

That list will continue to grow as my Euroleague career continues and we play more teams.

The highlight of my past month was surely the 17 day road trip that we took to Brazil, then the United States. First we flew from Tel Aviv to Rio de Janeiro (through Frankfurt), where, as reigning European Champions, we took on the South American champions Flamengo for the Intercontinental Cup. Unfortunately, we lost the cup. After that, we flew to Sao Paulo where we had 3 days of charity events with some of the Brazilian Jewish communities as well as other parts of the Sao Paulo community. This was the coolest part of the trip for me. At our first dinner that was hosted by the Sao Paulo Jewish community, a dozen or so people were way too excited to meet me. After inquiring, it turns out that they were all fellow Cohen’s. Naturally we had an impromptu family reunion right then and there. The next day we went to a park in one of the (far too) prevalent slums of Sao Paulo, where we played with the local kids for a few hours. They were more inclined to kick the basketballs around rather than shoot them, but we had a great time regardless.

(The neighborhood the park was in)

Trying to decide which direction was better

Team Pic on the Plane (minus Sylven who lost his passport and had to stay in Rio another night. Tough punishment)

After Brazil, it was off to Cleveland to take on the preseason favorite Cavaliers. The media circus surrounding that game aside, I was so excited to be back playing in the States in front of family and friends. Like every basketball player growing up, I dreamt of playing in the NBA. I haven’t gotten there yet, but covering Kevin Love, and starting against (and getting cooked by, don't tell anyone) Brook Lopez felt pretty darn close. Thanks to everyone who came to the games, or sent me a message wishing me luck or that they saw me on TV. I got through both games without getting dunked on, which is a victory in my book.

No foul!

I was disappointed and upset to hear that some of my friends and family were the target of some of the protesters outside our games in Cleveland and Brooklyn. You won’t find a bigger fan of the First Amendment than Jimmy Chitwood, but why some people choose to exercise that right by protesting a basketball team escapes me. What further escapes me, is why these protesters feel the need to address my family and friends who are wearing yellow simply to support me and my teammates, and are making no kind of political statement. Anyway, to those who went through it, know that I am exponentially more grateful to you for putting up with it so graciously. Here are some photos with some of the folks that made it to the games.

With fellow Wildcats Andrew Lovedale and Chris Clunie

Big Dave, Robert Scott, JP Kuhlman, Fiddy, Evan Mintz, and Brendan McKillop

The always lovely Mrs. Heaberg (aka my second mother)

The Cohen Men

After our game against Brooklyn, we had the arduous 12 hour flight back to Tel Aviv where we kicked off our regular season, and have been on a steady grind since. As always, hope you enjoyed this edition of Jimmy Chitwood Abroad. Comment and share if you feel so inclined.

This weeks links are all themed to good causes that you should check out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKFkobg_Blk
^Andrew Lovedale's (pictured above) organization. They're doing some amazing work. Andrew is the exemplary Davidson gentleman.

http://www.phisforgis.com
The fine men at Davidson's Phi Delta Theta do a great job of raising money to help soldiers that have done so much to help us. Check out what they're doing to help and donate if you can.

http://us.movember.com
Oh yea. Jimmy's doing Movember.

I wish I could say I started this on November 1st, but I may have cheated a bit. Can you imagine what that bad boy is gonna look like on November 30th?! Watch out Big Dave, I'm coming for the #1 mustache in the Cohen family. Here is what my attempt looked like last year:

An obvious defeat at the hands of Big Dave's vicious handlebars, but I'm a year older, a year wiser, and a year tougher. Big Dave is going down. I know the entire world will be tuned in to see the results of this glorious facial hair experiment.


Get Buckets,
Jimmy

First Footie Match

Hello readers,

Sorry for the delay. I suppose an update is in order. I'm currently in the midst of preseason with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Expect this level of intensity to permeate into my blog game:

We've played 6 preseason games so far (5-1), and on Tuesday we fly to Buenos Aires, Brazil for two games against the South American champion of last season, Flamengo. After that we fly north for our last two preseason games, against the Cleveland Cavaliers (October 5th) and then the Brooklyn Nets (October 7th). If any of you guys can make the games, I'd love to see you there.

(2014-2015 Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv)

Because of all that was going on in Israel over the summer, our Israeli National Team had to play its home games in Cyprus. While there for our last game of the campaign, I got a chance to attend my first international football game. It was a game of paramount importance, as the winner would qualify for the Champions League. It was the local Apoel FC (of Nicosea, Cyprus) against Aalborg BK (of Aalborg, Denmark).

(Panoramic view of the stadium in Nicosea)

The crowd was spectacular, and the game was even better, as our adopted home team Apoel trounced the Danes by a score of 4-nil. I could've written just typed a zero instead of 'nil', but this way you know I'm familiar with footie jargon. Surprisingly, only a few of my teammates wanted to go to the game. But I'm glad they did, I had a great time with them. I think we were the only non-smokers in the entire stadium. Also if you ever end up at the Nicosea stadium, spectacular popcorn. Just another useful travel tip from Jimmy Chitwood. Here are some more photos from the night.

(Elishay Kadir, Afik Nissim, and Dugie Yivzori giving the emoji eyes the bottom corner)

We had a week long training camp in Bonn, Germany (little known fact: Bonn was the capital of West Germany) where we played 3 games. We saw the quaint city of Bonn, as well as a night in Cologne, which is a wonderful city. My mastery of Intermediate German 201 proved handy once again, as I was able to convince a Cologne waiter that my teammate, Sylven Landesberg, was a rap star. We also got this view from our taxi as we drove into Cologne. I apologize for the quality of the photo, but I still think it's good enough to share.

That's it for now. We're back in Tel Aviv and enjoying this beautiful city that I get to call my home. I'm sure I'll have a few good things to blog about from Brazil and our friendly's with the NBA teams, as long as I get the time.

Links, as usual:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocGiulPm3IU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssz-DJTYpfg

(highlights from our preseason game)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA4FtHUKVPE

(don't like it when people say covers are better than originals, but this is as close as it gets)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpEUXRz08t4

(Freddie, the OG when it comes to male vocals)

Take care, get buckets,

Jimmy Chitwood

Reading List

Starting in middle school, I used to have a flashlight hidden under my pillow. When it was lights out, I would take it out and go to town on a book (usually on Harry Potter or on the Redwall series by Brian Jacques). Most nights my father would come in sometime around midnight or 1am and gruffly ask me what I was doing up, and to get to bed. I was convinced at the time that he was genuinely upset with me, but looking back, how can a father be upset that his son just wants to read? Anyway, to the point:

After getting inspiration from a fellow blogger, I decided that I should put down what I've read. Mostly because I think it would be worthwhile to have a list I can keep adding too, and because I recently finished the last Game of Thrones book, and I need something new to dive into. I would love to get some suggestions from the loyal readers of Jimmy Chitwood as to what I should read next. We get quite a bit of downtime in this job, which means lots of time for reading.


Books from roughly the last 5 years:
1.) Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling ***
2.) A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
3.) Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
4.) David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
5.) A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving ***
6.) Catch 22 by Joseph Heller ***
7.) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
8.) Eragon series by Christopher Paolini
9.) Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner ***
10.) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
11.) The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
12.) The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
13.) Fox Volent of the Snowy Mountain by Jin Yong
14.) Killer Angels by Michael Shaara ***
15.) For the Love of the Game by Michael Shaara
16.) The Contender by Robert Lipsyte
17.) Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara
18.) The Last Full Measure by Jeff Shaara
19.) The Rising Tide, The Steel Wave, and No Less than Victory by Jeff Shaara
20.) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
21.) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
22.) Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
23.) Animal Farm by George Orwell
24.) Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
25.) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
26.) The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
27.) The Lion's Gate by Steven Pressfield ***
28.) Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
29.) The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
30.) The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
31.) Inferno by Dan Brown
32.) The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
33.) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
34.) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
35.) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
36.) Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
37.) Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
38.) On Writing by Stephen King ***
39.) The Chosen by Chaim Potok
40.) Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom
41.) Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
42.) The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
43.) The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
44.) Castaways of the Flying Dutchmen by Brian Jacques
45.) The Angel's Command by Brian Jacques
46.) Voyage of Slaves by Brian Jacques
47.) A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
48.) Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
49.) Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
50.) In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka
51.) Native Son by Richard Wright
52.) Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
53.) The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
54.) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
55.) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ***
56.) Bossypants by Tina Fey
57.) The Autobiography of Malcolm X
58.) Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
59.) The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe
60.) Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
61.) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
62.) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
63.) Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

UPDATED (the following have been added after the post)
64.) The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
65.) Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
66.) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein ***
67.) Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
68.) Papillon by Henri Charriere
69.) This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
70.) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Further updates:
71.) Sandy Kofax: A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy
72.) The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
73.) What If by Randall Munroe ***
74.) Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
75.) Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben
76.) Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein
77.) Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes
78.) Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
79.) Winter of the World by Ken Follett
80.) Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
81.) American Gods by Neil Gaiman
82.) Dead Solid Perfect by Dan Jenkins
83.) Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy (up to Clear and Present Danger)
84.) Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosari
85.) Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
86.) The Art and Science of Foul Shooting by Nik Cochran
87.) The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas
88.) Don't Put Me In, Coach by Mark Titus
89.) The Martian by Andy Weir ***
90.) The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
91.) The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett ***
92.) The BBQ Circuit by Eddie Barnes
93.) Can I Keep My Jersey by Paul Shirley
94.) Ball Four by Jim Bouton ***

*** designates that it is one of my favorites

I'm sure I've forgotten plenty, and I will continue to update as I think of more. I would love some suggestions about what to read next. I've been told a 3:1 fiction to non-fiction ratio is good, but as you can see above, I'm probably at 10:1. Non-fiction would be lovely, but really anything would be appreciated. Don't forget to tell me why you're suggesting it.

There are a few directions I could take it if none of you respond (which is likely). The first is that I really need to read Shakespeare. This particularly bothers me when I have to sit quietly like a complete ignoramus when Trebek announces a Shakespeare category. I would love it if any Shakespeare aficionados could tell me a good one to start with. Anyway, this is what's currently on my reading list:
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The Prince by Machiavelli
The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Because I've asked something of you, the links below are of extra goodness:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoQ1TnqPIX4
(amazing story)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX3gMDJCZ-4
(perhaps my favorite scene in tv history)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgewyPhGYHM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqsV3q7rRU

Also, can't forget the latest installations of snapchats. This weeks brought to you by Steve Rossiter:

Don't be stingy, share your literary knowledge,
Jimmy Chitwood

Jimmy in Bulgaria

(it's important you click play, otherwise this blog doesn't have a greeting, and then I come across as rude)

Coming to you from Sofia, Bulgaria. Since you probably don't know much about Sofia, let me fill you in. It's the capital of Bulgaria, has about 1.2 million people, and I learned this evening that the origins of Sofia go back 7000 years, before the Roman, Thracian, and Ottoman Empires all claimed it. One can very clearly see the Communist footprint as well. Here is the view from our hotel:

The gyms we have practiced in have been...interesting.

<<<< Note the rusted bars and broken chairs mere feet from the baseline. Hope our phsyio had tetanus handy.

Also I thought this logo was weirdly sexual. Tell me if I'm wrong. I've watched a good bit of women's basketball, and never have I seen a player in this position.

A little anecdote: a few under-18 national teams are also playing in Bulgaria, including the country of Qatar. A player from Qatar (he was wearing the shirt) walked onto the elevator and we made friendly small talk with him about his games so far, how old he was, etc... We were all wearing our Israel shirts as well, so one of my teammates asked, "So do you guys like us in Qatar? We're nice people I promise." The question hit his facial expression as hard as a Tyson uppercut. He got off on the next floor, which I'm sure wasn't the right one, after apparently losing his grasp on the English language. Ah well.
That's about it from Bulgaria, we shall see what Montenegro has in store (flying there Monday after our game Sunday night).

Since Jimmy had been away for a while, he has had the pleasure of viewing an absolutely astonishing number of spectacular snapchats. For a while, as evidenced here, Ali Mackay positively dominated the creative snapchat game. However, recently up and coming challengers have been gunning for Mackay's kilt crown. Mackay refuses to go down without a fight. Here is his some of his work since the last blog:

An impressive repertoire to be sure. The first challenger was none other than Clinton Mann. His work speaks for itself:

Perhaps not quite the quality of Mackay, but the passion is there. And most recently, none other than the Mayor of Davidson, Steve Rosstier entered the fray. Not accustomed to losing, Steve will surely be a contender despite only entering the competition this week.

As we can see, Rossiter seems to prefer the snap to be timely, and clearly is not afraid to be risqué. Clearly, this blog is less about me, but more about sharing the genius of my friends when they have time and a fantastic app. One more, for good measure, my brothers:

That's all I got. Here is your fix of entertaining links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BLYJjRncJw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDcZw7O_3y4

(yea i was in a strange, strange part of youtube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FJUD0rEPWM

(not enough people know about the genius of Atmosphere. Give this song a listen, guarantee it will blow your mind)

Jimmy Chitbuckets

Jimmy's Back!

I'm back in Israel, so might as well get back to blogging right? After having finished binge watching The Office and Parks and Rec (working on West Wing now) again, and beating one too many video games, I decided I might as well get back to sharing things with people that mildly care about them. If you were wondering, I'm in Israel playing for the Israeli National Team, as we try to qualify for the European Championships that take place next summer.

We have played 6 friendly games (4-2), with round robin style gameplay in Moscow and Bamberg, Germany (about two hours north of Munich). The games that count start on Sunday against Montenegro, then Holland, then Bulgaria. Because of the current circumstances, our home games are being played in Cyprus, which kind of sucks. But on the bright side, I'll get to see Cyprus. Hopefully I'll get to see some of countries we visit.

Our last night in Bamberg a teammate and I strolled through the city and had a great time getting lost and talking to locals. I found that either I forgotten all the German I learned in school, or that German 201 vastly under prepares you for conversing with locals. Probably some of both. Not to worry, they all spoke English as well as I did and showed me around. It was a beautiful city.

I'll be back playing with Maccabi Tel Aviv this season, so I'll move right from national team to the club without going back to the states. All told I will be in Israel from June 2014 to June 2015. There certainly are sacrifices to this job.

Everyone knows, and has an opinion on, the conflict in Gaza by now. Jimmy Chitwood will try to stay away from being too political. But it has been an eye-opening experience. Growing up in the States, explosions, rockets, gunfire, and wars were all something we saw on TV, and you don't get the full gravity of those situations. Gaza is 50 miles away. I've heard the sirens, and I've seen rockets go over my head. I don't want to scare people, I've never felt unsafe or even worried. The Iron Dome does a great job of protecting populated areas. It's hard seeing people on Facebook and Twitter posting their opinions on who is right and who is wrong, what's really going on, motives, etc..., when they are uninformed. That's been the scariest part about being here. But I will save more on that for another blog post I think. I want to thank all the people that have checked in on me while I've been here.



I did get to see the beautiful Dead Sea a few weeks ago on an off day. It's a special experience, but it should be done right. In case you're planning a trip there, I will share with you a list of things you need to do to maximize your experience. And yes, I am an expert after going once.

Dead Sea To-Do List:
1.) Make sure you drive there in a supercar. The road leading down to the Dead Sea (the lowest point on the Earth) is a fantastic piece of road. Bend after bend, fresh pavement, well marked, beautiful views (of camels!) of the Sea, it has it all. I felt like Schumacher and I was driving a Volkswagon Jetta. Also, drive there on a Saturday, the roads will be empty (Shabbat), and you can utilize your supercar.
2.) Must bring sandals. The bottom of the Dead Sea is not sand, it is basically salt rocks. If you don't bring sandals, you will cut your feet, and those cuts will hurt thanks to the salt water.
3.) Don't put your head in the water. Even if you do close your eyes, the salt will get in and it will burn.
4.) Go with an amazing person.

That's pretty much it, on my trip, I only did number's 2 and 4, and it was still an amazing experience. Now cue the floating picture!

Thanks for reading, and sticking with Jimmy after his long hiatus. Hopefully he shows a little more perseverance this year with the blogging.

Jimmy

Thought I forgot the links? Not a chance. Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaghIdSJKvQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITuV2nNg8HU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsshwg2vulg

Training Camp

Loyal readers,

Welcome to blog post number 2: Training camp edition (it also has a lot of photos, let me know if you like it). We just got back from a 10 day camp that took us to Antwerp, Belgium and Moscow, Russia. We played two games at each spot. It was a long trip, tested us in a lot of ways, and I’m sure will improve us tremendously.

Highlights: 1.) The games – it was my first experience playing games away from home as a pro, and playing in front of European fans was really cool. The drums, chanting, smoke, basically all the stuff you see in soccer matches, but inside. Picture from the first game in Belgium:

       

2.) Waffles. Our second game we played against the Belgian team Charleroi in their arena, and the unmistakable scent of Belgian waffles dominated the arena. It was, by far, the best smelling arena I’ve ever played in. It was awesome in every way.

3.) Our last night in Belgium we went out to eat in downtown Antwerp. It was probably because I was the rookie and this stuff was new to me, but I was taking pictures of everything while the vets acted like they had been there before (they probably had). Here are some pictures from Antwerp and our fruitless search for the nonexistent Hard Rock Café:

4.) Russia. Unfortunately we were only in Russia for two and a half days, and had two games, so no sight seeing. Thankfully, the hotel in Russia did have an American sports channel. I was able to watch the Reds and the Pirates. How neat is that? Also found this mustache in the lobby of the CSKA Moscow arena and it was too awesome not to show you guys:

This next section is devoted to Ali Mackay’s genius on snapchat. I guess he has a few hours every week where he gets really bored, and comes up with these works of art. Again, I share with you because they are too good to keep to myself and I’m a man of the people, remember?

            

Basically it was a pretty awesome week. My birthday was thrown in there as well. Never thought I’d be spending my birthday in Belgium. Maccabi went above and beyond by getting me a cake (Maccabi tradition also says that as soon as I open said cake, everyone gets to slap me on the back of the head/neck), so that was fun. It was awesome to get all the calls, texts, facebook posts, etc… wishing me well, so whoever did that, thank you. Whoever didn’t….nah I’m just kidding. That’s all I got for now, and now your reward (you guys probably just scrolled to the bottom anyway), the best links!

http://gawker.com/jimmy-fallons-latest-lip-sync-off-was-actually-epic-1382881971

(note: if you don’t love John Krasinski from the office as much as I do, which honestly isn’t possible, you probably won’t love that one as much as I do. Still good though)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKTh7zBIcrM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terhj8mjPwY

(Probably the only thing I disagree with Dr. Cox on, Hugh Jackman is a beast)

thought this next one was pretty awesome as well. Thanks to Ben Allison for sharing. If you want some motivation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pEBz6PzF50

(Sly’s speech gives me goosebumps every time)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6CT3fIYoduw
gotta have a dog video

That’s it for now.

Up next: Last week of preseason training, then the real games start!

Thanks for reading,

Jake