Beat Beijing

A couple of weekends ago, I played my first match as a Shanghai Tiger against the Beijing Bombers.  Beijing made the trip down to play on our home grounds out at Century Park in front of a crowd of 120 or so.  We came out strong and were notably harder on the ball throughout the first half, though only managed to hold a small lead through two quarters.  We lost focus a bit to start the third quarter and Beijing took advantage putting through 4 goals in quick succession.  However, we regained our form in time to pull back ahead and escape a tough match with a 81-68 victory.  Playing the Bombers, I could not come up with a better title without getting myself on some sort of watch list.

As for my run, I played nearly a half and all of it on defense.  As I came onto the field and approached the guy I was covering, I was warmly greeted with a hearty forearm shove.  It was a good thing, as it got me right into the match and I finished the game with the man I played on having never touched the ball on my watch.  I wasn't clearing the ball as well as I would have liked, but I'll take that as a small victory in my second go.

I didn't pull up as sore from this match as the previous intrasquad matches, but I did take some friendly fire to the melon in my first 30 seconds on the field.  A teammate and I were both going up for the same mark (catch off a kick) and I caught his elbow just in front of my right ear.  I ate in small bites for a week and a half, large bites and yawns were not pleasant.  It's a rough game.

Pre-game position group meetings

Played a good portion of the game on #21.  Despite his warm
greeting, he was held to a goose egg on the scoreboard for the day.

China Cup staying in Shanghai for another 6 months

They made me do it.  Something
about first game as a Tiger.