Game 1

Well we played our first game last night against Kazakhstan and unfortunately didn't get the result we were looking for although we out played them the entire game.  We were told before arriving here that the referees wouldn't give the United States team any help in terms of calling penalties and about 5 minutes in we found out how correct that information was.  Playing against Kazakhstan's national team was going to be a big challenge especially when we found out how much older they were than us.  Early in the game one of our players laid a beautiful text book hit on one of their players who managed to get his elbow up high enough to give our player a concussion and we somehow got a penalty out of it.  The european style of play is much different from the North American style in that they are very speedy and play a finesse game while we like to play a grittier and more physical game.  It didn't help having a separated shoulder but with a shot of cortisone I was able to hit some of their guys pretty hard which really took them off their game.  Unfortunately we were unable to convert on our chances and ended up losing the game 0-5 even though we out shot them 37-30 by games end.  Even though we got our proverbial 'butt's kicked' we couldn't be to disappointed in the loss.  Our next game is tomorrow against Slovakia which should be a very similar game but after a solid practice this morning we feel pretty confident that we can beat them.  It is really fun to play in front of such a huge crowd although there is minimal support for us in the stands.  I'm looking forward to getting our first win and being able to move on to the medal round later in the week.

Away from the arena we got to watch the ski jumping competition today which was mind blowing.  You would have to have some screws loose to consider jumping off that enormous ramp but seeing that its not me up there it was pretty entertaining to watch.  The crowd was huge and it was similar to being at a rock concert with everyone bouncing up and down to the music while these maniacs flew past us.  Even though the event is held directly across the road from our dorm it took us almost 45 minutes to get through the traffic and wild drivers that reside here in Erzurum.  We have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as drivers education here which has made every trip in a vehicle a hectic experience.  We tried to watch the snowboarding events today but due to warm weather and poor visibility the even was moved back.  I hope for their sake that a huge snowstorm rolls in in the next few days!