First in a continuing series of “player diaries” from the ISF World Cup in Prague, CZ, from Nate Devine, a member of Team USA, which is competing in the World Cup tournament there, June 18-24. Don’t take it too seriously, folks, as it’s tongue-in-cheek 😉 Besides, the guy’s been without sleep for two days.

Practice…We’re talkin’ bout practice?

Diary of a player

Well, we finally made it to Prague. What a journey so far. The plane ride was about seven and a half hours and we got our first taste of, or should I say smell of, Europe in the line. Apparently deodorant isn’t as high a priority to some. Not to say Europeans are stinky people, but the seven in front of us were. It was the first time I could look at Sonny Perkins and say, “Damn, you’re the best smelling guy around.” The worst thing was leaving at 4:30PM on Saturday and touching down at 6:00AM on Sunday. Where the hell did my Saturday night go? Usually I would have been buffaloed ten times by now. We’re here for business though, and playing for your country, no matter what country that may be, is very serious business. Not to mention a tremendous honor.

Driving from the airport was rather uneventful. I was expecting to be immediately submersed into Czech culture but to my disappointment it was much like a typical urban city in the United States…graffiti everywhere ! The one thing I did learn is that a fellow who goes by the name of “Spord” must be the hardest gansta in Prague…maybe even Central Europe. His “tag” is everywhere, like the McDonald’s of gangsta’s. Well, after this article, he may be the most notorious gangsta in the World. Hmmm, maybe I should have waited until I was gone to let out the secret of “Spord”. Maybe he doesn’t want to be on the internet…….what if he’s at the tourney….nah…”Spord” has better things to do, more buildings to tag.

Our hotel is huge. Its full of people from all over the world. Maxim Magazine was right. The women here are beautiful. The people must be on a tight budget here because no one is fat. With all the beer here, you would figure someone would have a beer gut. I’m beginning to feel self conscious. This place is also home to some of the classiest mullets. Seriously……….business in the front, party in the back. They run it real tight on the front and sides and then let it flow on the back. Put a hat on and you would never know he had short hair.

What….practice?….we’re talking bout practice? Yeah, in a few hours. We just arrived at the hotel and were all delirious and we have to practice. Coach Turner runs a tough practice. Mike, our trainer is assigned to warm ups. Ok, well usually my warm up consists of a chew and me trying to be a pitcher on the sidelines. By the time the “warm ups” were over, I was ready to cool down. We actually stretch here, for real. I didn’t realize I had muscles in some places.

The town has already shown some promise. There were fans at our practice, which means there might be fans at the games. The fields are in great shape, plush green grass and soft dirt infields. After a two hour practice it was time to head home for the night and try to sleep. Eating was no problem. To my surprise the food has been great. I recommend the gratinated chicken steak with ham and cheese. Sleeping, that’s another story. It’s 3:30AM right now and I can’t sleep. Maybe it’s because it’s 6:30PM in California or maybe I’m just a little excited. Probably the latter, after all, I am playing for my country….and that… is more than I thought it would be.

Well, its DEMO EHS tomorrow at 2:00PM. Finally we can talk about games.

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