So, yesterday started off weird. I had fallen asleep right after we came back to the hotel the night before around 11:30 pm. I didnt set the alarm, since we had no training or team meetings planned for the morning. Well, the next sound I heard was the cleaning lady knocking on my door at 11:30 am! I have not slept 12 hours for years, and then only if was ill. This time, I slept like a dead weight and I had no sense of how long I was out. I was actually disappointed by this though; I don't want to sleep my days away here. I got up and went to lunch (breakfast), where I discovered that at least 4 others and the coach all had the same exact experience that morning! That made me feel a bit better about myself.
After lunch (breakfast), I joined a bunch of the guys going to the beach. We split taxis down there, with the idea that we would meet up. I took a ride with Elliot Koolik and Dave Rosenstein. When we got to the Dado Beach, we started walking in the wrong direction for about 10 minutes before we figured that out and headed back the other way.
Dado Beach was crawling with thousands of people. The beach itself isnt so big, although it is a few miles long. There is a boardwalk that covers the length of it and there are cafes, bars and ice cream/water stands bordering the boardwalk. It seemed as though all of Haifa was out at the beach. Folks in Israel are NOT shy and everyone wears very little at the beach - defintely not what I see at the Belmont Pool back home. String bikinis, thongs, speedos are pretty common and to their credit, most (although not all) pull it off well. And the lather themselves up with oil.
As we strolled down the boardwalk looking for our teammates, we ran into a few other guys who were already there. We finally found the guys we were looking for about 1 mile or so down the beach. They already had obtained a few chairs out on the sand under an umbrella, so we joined them and chilled out. We mostly talked about people we know in common in the soccer world. Some of the guys, like Irad Young, played pro in the MISL, MLS and abroad so they told us stories about what it was like and what they did. I thought it was very cool to learn about that and to hear about some players that I only watched on TV and discover what they were really like as people.
After an hour or so we headed back up the boardwalk and stopped in at a cafe where we were treated by Irad's dad to turkish coffee. I had an ice coffee instead though since it was extremely hot there (yes, Mand, I am wearing my sunscreen). Mr. Young is a living legend in Israel. He played pro there and was the captain of their national team for most of the 1960s. He also played in the 1968 olympics and for the Cosmos in 1972-1973. He is also a real character and fun to be around. He told different stories about his playing days and growing up in Israel that were fascinating.
We headed back to the hotel where we had about 30 minutes to get ready to take a team run. After a shower and change into running gear, I met up with the boys in the lobby and we ran out into the streets of Haifa and took a short 1.5 mile course through the city to a park where we streched some and then ran back. Then coach spoke to us for awhile about strategy and ideas for tomorrow's game against Great Britain, which will open our games for us, we streched/cooled down and then headed back in for dinner.
At dinner, a rabbi sat with us. He was assigned to stay with our delegation over shabbat at the hotel, so he had been with us at lunch as well. He is an interesting guy. During meals, he would get up and say a few words about the torah portion that day and how it relates to what we are trying to do here at the Games. After dinner, he held a quick 5 minute Havdalah service. Other than maybe 2 other guys on the team, this was a first time experience for my teammates. I think they enjoyed it.
That evening we were planning on catching Bruno or some other movie, but we couldnt get to the movies in time, so we just walked down ths street to a pool hall where we played pool for about 3 hours. No alcohol of course, since we are 24 hours from game time. That was low key but fun since it was another great team bonding experience. We left the pool hall around 11 and were in bed by 11:30.
It was an odd day because I slept all morning and we didnt really train other than the run. Now, all the guys are really focusing on the game tomorrow evening against Great Britain and the role each of us will have to play. Everyone will have a meaningful contribution in the tournament b/c of the heat, the number of games, injuries and open substitution rules. We are quickly getting our game faces on. I should have a game to report in my next post!
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