Happy Birthday Vinz!

Some of my favorite memories of elementary school were my friends birthdays. I think we all remember the days when it was Bobby's birthday and he brought in those funfetti cupcakes for everyone in the class. We all sang happy birthday and then played heads up seven up or some other game. I thought those days were all over. Apparently not.

Today was my teammate Vinz's (pronounced Vince) birthday. I don't know if this is a Euro tradition or just a SAM Massagno tradition but, Vinz walked into the locker room today with 2 cases of beer, 3 bags of chips, and other various snacks for after practice. All the Swiss guys let out a cheer like the Berlin wall had just been torn down.

When practice was over, we went into the locker room skipping the usual post practice half court shots and proceeded to celebrate Vinz's birthday. Everyone said "auguri" (best wishes) and we cracked open a few cases of beer and passed out delicious cookies that one of our assistant coach's wife made. There are many beverages that I would love to have after practice but unfortunately Feldschlossen beer is not one of them (in case you were wondering, milk is at the bottom of the list.)

So, 15 grown sweaty men sat around the locker room drinking beer and eating cookies, chips and pretzels. I was eating a cookie when Dan asks me, "Who is going to be the guy to get naked first and then take a shower?" Legit question. I sat back, looked around the room and realized this could be a scene from a gay porno. It wasn't but it was very interesting. Then it got weird because I didn't want to just sit around anymore because my stomach hurt from eating 10 cookies in 5 minutes. I slipped into the shower while my teammates enjoyed beer and chips.

I guess I have grown up a ton. Gone are the days of cupcakes and heads up seven up. Beer and naked men have replaced the good old days. Oh well, I guess it's just another awesome experience of playing basketball in Europe and to top it all off, I took the extra cookies home!