As I promised, I finished another blog to update everyone on things that have been happening this season.  So I am back!  We are very busy right now so I have much to write about in this blog.

Zane…Recently was another Cesis-TTT game which TTT ended up winning by a pretty good amount.   They are both very good teams and on any given day one team could be better.  So it is hard to say who is better but I will go with the TTT Riga women because I know many of the girls on the team!  So I always go with the team that my friends are on.

Liiva…It’s a little too late now seeing that my friend and her team were knocked out of the tournament in the 1^st round but I was going for MTSU.  My friend plays for their team and she leads the nation in scoring.  So I am a huge MTSU fan when it comes to Women’s Basketball.  Well at least this year.  She will be in the WNBA draft in April and I am expecting big things for her.  So look up Alysha Clark.  I think she will do pretty well in the WNBA and overseas.  But UConn is unbelievable!!!  Always have been very very good!

I never took the time to write about the All Star game in Saldus but I can take the time to do it now.  This was a very interesting day!  I was appreciative that the fans voted me in the game to be amongst the best players in the LBL!  So thank you to everyone who voted for me!  All Star games are always fun for me.  It is a time to worry less about the game and focus more on the fans and to make sure they enjoy it as much as possible.  So you have to be ready to sign autographs and take pictures.  Signing autographs and taking pictures always make me smile.  I remember when I was younger I always wanted to get autographs of basketball players and football players and I remembered how good I used to feel when I finally got my jersey signed by those guys.  So I make sure that if anyone wants my autograph or a picture I am sure to do it.  I ended up winning the dunk contest which was surprising to me.  I didn’t really plan what I was going to do; I just kind of decided when they called my name.  Haha.  But it was interesting because I did a couple things which I was too afraid to try in the past.  This led to me being named the Slam Dunk Champion.  I was pretty happy about that so thanks to the fans and judges for that.  But the All Star game was much fun and I hope I entertained the fans a little bit.  J

Just recently I was named Most Valuable Player of the BBL.  This was very surprising to me.  I never thought that I would receive an award of this magnitude.  I know many of you do not know my basketball history but let me briefly tell you…When I was younger I was the small, skinny guy that went to tryouts and barely made the team.  I never got any play time and I always doubted whether I should keep pursing basketball.  I thought that maybe it was a time to focus on another sport.  But as time went on I started to develop a little and things started to change.  Out of high school, I only had 1 offer to play college basketball which I gladly accepted.  It was not NCAA Division 1, it was a much smaller league called the NAIA.  I am sure most of you have never even heard of this league.  So I played in this league for two years.  My basketball game progressed a lot over the next two years which allowed me to transfer from my small NAIA school to a small NCAA Div. 1 University.  Belmont University was not really known for basketball.  We were a very small school.  But in our season we played against some huge universities such as Duke, University of Tennessee, University of Alabama, UCLA, Georgetown and Pittsburgh.  Eventually after my last year of college I got a few offers to play professional basketball.  According to statistics and people that ranked players in high school, I had a 0% chance to go to a NCAA Div.1 University.  And an even worse percentage to be playing professional basketball.  (I know you can’t have less than 0% but I am going to say a -50% chance. Haha)  The odds were really stacked up against me.

But somehow I am here today playing professional basketball for VEF Riga.  So I must say that God has really blessed me!  J  To come from barely making basketball teams when I was younger to being named MVP of the BBL is amazing!  Some of you may not know but I have a tattoo on my left shoulder and it reads, “Everything is possible for he who believes.”  This quote is a summary of my life so I decided to get it on my arm to remind me to keep pushing and keep fighting to accomplish what I want.  And most importantly, never let anyone tell you that you are not good enough to accomplish your goals.  But I will not take all of the credit, the MVP award is really a team accomplishment.  I know that without my teammates and my coaches that I would not be able to get this award.  They put me in good situations and they expect me to do my job.  They always believe in me which helps a lot.  And many times I get credit for something that someone else should be getting credit for.  Like when I make a bad pass but one of my teammates happens to catch it and score.  But it is basketball…and if everything went the way that we planned it I don’t think that anyone could ever lose!  But thank you for the award and thank you for the people who voted for me and supported me.

Now…It’s playoff time!!! We are currently participating in the BBL playoffs.  This is when you really find out what teams are made of.  We were seeded 6^th in the tournament which resulted in us playing the #3 seed, Ventspils.  We meet these guys a lot so it is usually an interesting game.  In the 1^st game in Ventspils, they clearly overmatched us!  We didn’t play very good and they took advantage of that.  In the 2^nd game we played a little better but they still ended up being ahead with a few minutes left to play.  But in the end, miraculously, we ended up getting the led and holding on to get the win.  It’s amazing what happens when your back is against the wall and the season is on the line.  If we played as we played in the last 2 minutes for the whole game I think we could advance to the next round.  I can honestly say that my team has been carrying me as of lately.  That is why I always say, that my award of being Most Valuable Player in the BBL is really because of my teammates and coaches.  Even when I am playing bad those guys find a way to make me look good.  They put me in good situations and they also believe in me to do the things that I am good at doing.  But hopefully for this game on Wednesday, you all can see a real MVP performance.  So I am hoping that VEF fans make the trip to Ventspils for this very important game!  We need your support!!!  J

***So to all VEF Riga fans- ON WEDNESDAY…GO TO SCHOOL OR WORK THEN FIND A WAY TO GET TO VENTSPILS FOR THE GAME AT 18:30!! We need your support and all the help we can get to get to the final four!!  And if you can’t come to Ventspils…at least try and find the time to watch on Viasat Sport Baltic.  Thanks and hopefully I will be writing back soon saying we are going to the Final Four!

Thank you for reading my blog.  I know it was kind of long but I thank you for taking the time to hear what was on my mind.  Feel free to comment.  And I will talk to you soon!

I want to take the time to respond to the comments that were on the last blog. I know it has been a while since the last blog but I did not forget. Just have been a little busy. TGI Fridays is a restaurant here in Riga. I eat there a lot in the USA. It’s Thank God it’s Friday. It is located in centre very close to the freedom monument. I enjoy playing for Coach Valdis. He is a fun guy and a good coach. You can tell that he was a great player just by the things that he says in practice. I think it is a lot easier to be on the same page with a coach that has as much playing experience as he does. He sees things that coaches without the playing experience he does may not see. (If you understand what I am saying) It’s very hard for me to explain. All coaches are a little different and it really depends what kind of person you are as to how you and a coach may get along. But I love playing for Coach Valdis and I am glad that the organization gave me the opportunity to come here and be apart of VEF Riga. The winter is much too cold for me. But I am surviving. But thanks to everyone that checked out my blog and took the time to comment. Thank you all for your encouraging words!! And my holidays were great. So thank you.

But now let’s talk about what has been going on recently. Many things have happened since my last blog. We have altered our team a little by a few changes. One main change was Martynas Mazieka leaving VEF. Martynas was a good friend to me and I really enjoyed being around him. We all know that basketball is a business and things like this come along with you job. So when I found out of the change I felt like I was losing a brother. But we all wished him the best and he did the same for us. Since then we have added to players, Sandis Valters and Taj McCullough. These were two great additions to our team because I believe it gave us more weapons and brought a little more experience to our young team. Sandis is a great leader and he has much playing experience which is great for our team. He’s a great guy and a great basketball player. I always give him a hard time by calling him the old man on our team! But don’t let his age fool you. Occasionally he will even take the time to show me his “bunnies” (Jumping ability) in warm ups. He will easily dunk the ball then look at me with a smile on his face! :)

Taj was another key addition to our team. He brings some NBA experience to our team and adds another dimension. *First I just want to take the time to say that, although his university made the NCAA Tournament and my university did not, my university would kill his university on any day of the week!!! Belmont vs. Winthrop…Maybe that game should be scheduled. Taj is from Atlanta. A place that I lived in for a few years and many of my family members still are there. I think getting Taj was not only a positive for our team but it also was good for me. I love all the guys on my team like family but I feel a lot more comfortable seeing someone the looks a little like me. Hold on…when I say he looks a little like me I am not saying that he is a sexy as I am. Because I am still the sexiest player on the VEF Team!!! Hahahaha. I am only joking around. Just adding a little humor to my blog. ;) But having him on the team makes me feel a little less odd because I know there is another black guy around. It’s rough being the only black guy. Sometimes I feel like an alien. But now that he is here he is the alien! And I can say…I have been here for 7 months so I am part Latvian! Haha.

As a team I think that we are progressing. I think we are at a point where overall we are playing better than we have been all season. Of course we have lost a few games for stupid mistakes on my part. But overall I believe that we are in a good position to really make some things happen. Currently, we are right on the edge of the BBL playoffs and we are first in the LBL. We have a big game against Lietuvos Rytas on Wednesday. It would help very much if we could pull out a win. So that is what I am preparing for right now! I don’t know exactly when our next home game is but when we have one I would love for everyone to come and support us! I think you will get a chance to see something special if you come to our games.

But once again…I would like to say thank you for reading my blog. And if you see me around or at the games don’t be afraid to say hello. Because I will not bite!! I love talking and I am a very friendly person. Have a nice day. And come to the games!! :)

Rinalds asked about my university and my studies so here is a little bit about it.  I attended Belmont University in Nashville, TN.  It’s a NCAA Division 1 Program.  It is a very small school with only about 6,000 people.  But every year they seem to expand a little more.  At my university I received a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Exercise Science.  Exercise Science deals with the exercise, injuries and treatment on the body.  I also earned a certification in First Aid.  With my degree I could pursue being a physical trainer and I have completed all my pre-requisites so I could go back to school to get a doctorate in Physical therapy or Occupational therapy.  Or there is even a possibility of going to Dental school, although not very likely.  J  My University just recently received an honor in being named Top 10 in America’s Best Colleges and Universities.  So I must say that my Alma Mater is a pretty good University!! Go Belmont!!  But that’s enough about school.  I have been in school for 17 years so I am happy to finally be done or have a break from it.

I would also like to say hello to Christiana.  She recently posted on my last blog telling me how I changed her mind a little about black people.  I am happy that I could show her something good that would give black people a better image than what some people think.  I would love to meet you Christiana.  So make sure next time you are at the game to find me after the game.  J  But thank you for coming to the games and hopefully we can bring some wins very soon.

I have been here for a little over four months.  And I must say that I am enjoying my experience in Riga.  My team has travelled to Russia (twice), Turkey and Greece and in January will be travelling to Serbia and Belgium.  So I am getting to travel all over the world and see many different things.  I never knew that different parts of the world could be so different.  But it is a good thing.  Differences is what I think makes the world so interesting.  The most interesting trip of all of my trips would have to be when we went to Turkey.  I do not know exactly what made me sick but something really got the best of me.  I think it may have been some food that I had.  But during the game vs. Banvit I was throwing up and having some other problems.  I was really messed up.  I do not know how I survived the game.  Turkey was a rough trip for me.  But all of my trips have been pretty interesting.  I could never complain when I get paid to do what I love which is playing basketball.  So every day I have a reason to smile.

Now about our games and our season.  I know that we are not doing so great right now but we are improving every day.  We have shown that we can play at a high level with high level teams but we still have not found a way to win games.  Basketball is a game of runs.  So it’s understandable when the opposing team goes on a run but we have to do a better job of limiting their run and taking time to regroup so we can go on a run of our own!  But I believe that we have what it takes we just have to eliminate a few horrible minutes where we give the game away.  We just need to get a couple wins in a row to get our confidence up and then I think we will keep rolling.  I honestly believe this!  But I guess we will see.

I believe that I can wrap this blog up.  My parents are in town so I am just relaxing and enjoying my family.  I have been to the cinema and of course TGI Fridays a couple times.  I must admit I love American food.  But even more than that I love my mom’s cooking!  There’s nothing better in the world than Mom’s cooking.  I am sure that everyone can say that!   There is one more thing I would like to say.  I would like to thank my teammate Martynas Mazeika and my team manager Arturs S.  My club car was having a few problems so I had to get it fixed which left me without a car at the worst possible time.  My parents came into town and I had no car.  So instead of having my teammate Arnas Labuckas drive me around everywhere like he has been doing for a week or two (Thanks for that Arnas!) Martynas let me borrow his car.  I could never express how thankful I am for him doing this but this is my attempt!  Thanks Martynas!! I owe you!  And Arturs I appreciate everything you have done also.  My parent’s flight landed while I was in practice and I had no way of picking them up until after practice.  So Arturs took time out of his day and went and picked my parents up from the airport.  I really appreciate it.  I think that it is always important to help people out and thank them when they help you because you never know when you made need some help yourself.

But once again, I would like to thank everyone for reading my blog and coming to our games.  Hopefully more people will come out to support us.  Hopefully!  And since this is my last blog before the holidays I would like to tell everyone Happy Holidays!!  Have a great time and be safe!!  J  See ya!

Hello again!  It’s me, Alex Renfroe, stopping by to update everyone on how life in Latvia is going!  I have been here for about a month and a half now.  Things are going pretty good.  The team is 2-1 in exhibition games so far.  We are starting to gel and figure out how each other play so things should really start to come together soon.  We also are getting closer off of the court!  We all seem to be pretty good friends and we like to joke and play around a lot.  A big joke that the team makes is about how me and my Russian teammate, Ivan, communicate.  I know no Latvian or Russian besides a couple small words and he does not too much English!  So how do we communicate???  Well…if we talk on Skype we will use online translators and any of the smileys that Skype has to offer to get our points across.  But in person we use a lot of body language and hand signs.  :)  So my teammates always laugh when they see us communicating!  We all share great times together in the locker room and on the bus when we are traveling.

But life in Latvia is going pretty well so far.  I am starting to experience new things as I step away from the many American ways I am used to.  I try many different foods throughout the week and many of them I love eating.  So…McDonalds has not seen me as much as they usually do.  Haha.

The season is right around the corner!  We are sooo close to our first official game.  I am starting to get nervous but I have been waiting for this moment since I signed my contract to play for VEF Riga.  I am also very excited!!  I think we are all ready and excited for the start of the season so we can see how we measure up to other teams.  I have been playing ok.  My minor injuries are starting to go away and I believe that my health is better than it has ever been since I have been here in Riga.  So I am expecting big things out of myself.  But…I still have a lot to learn about European basketball.  It is so much different from basketball at home.  A different style of basketball.  But I learn new things every day.  So everybody be prepared to come to our first home game on October 9^th!

Since so many of my new friends in Latvia ask me questions about America and my culture, I think every blog I will talk about a question that I was asked by one of my friends and feel free to join in with commentary or ask me a question if you would like!  So here is the question…

Question: Do all black people act the way they are shown in movies?

Answer:  In the movies, black people are always shown as ignorant, poor, loud and very rude and uncivilized people.  One of the many stereotypes that are associated with black people is that we kill people and steal from people.  But…This is just a stereotype.  Of course there are some black people that fit this stereotype just as there are some people of other races and ethnicities that also fit this stereotype.  I believe that black people are very friendly and caring people.  We are usually very family oriented and stay close to our families.  But we are loving people.  So if you ever see a black person walking in the streets…do not be afraid to speak to them.  Because usually when we are shown respect, respect is given back!  For the most part at least!

*But I really believe that we (all people living on Earth) too many times group people by their colors or ethnicities when we all are the same once the layer of skin is taken off.  Black people, White people, Red people, Blue people…It does not matter the color…But instead it matters what in the HEART!!  We should all take the time to get to know one another before we judge based on color or ethnicity!  J

But once again…I appreciate everyone taking the time to read my blog!  And I wanted to give a shout out to my loved ones at home! And the people that send me encouraging messages everyday!  I love you all.  And I will check back next week and let everyone know how the 1^st game went!

Feel free to comment or ask me a question

-Alex

What’s up everyone? I am Alex Renfroe. I am from the United States of America and this is my first year playing for VEF Riga. After much anticipation, it was finally time to depart the USA and head to Latvia. The trip started off pretty rough as I missed my morning flight due to security and baggage issues. Only to reschedule for a later flight which ended up getting delayed two hours due to bad weather in Chicago. So at the end of the day I was still in my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. After making different flight arrangements, I headed home for one more day with the loved ones. In the morning, I started over again. Hoping that the day would go much smoother than the previous day. Everything went as planned besides the part where my wallet fell out of my pocket in the plane from Chicago to Frankfurt. But it was recovered by a nice gentleman that was cleaning the plane and I got lucky enough to get it back with everything still there! :) After around 11 hours of flying I had reached my destination.

So I my life in Riga had begun! Riga was much better than I expected it to be. I admit, at first I was a little nervous about going overseas and being away from home and everything that I knew. But I was prepared and eager to start another chapter of my life.

There are many things that I like about being here in Riga. My apartment is very nice and I have a nice car that has yet to give me any problems. I happen to live walking distance from a McDonalds!! :D I dont know if that was planned or if it was just coincidence but I do love me some McDonalds!! My teammates and coaches are very cool! I enjoy talking and joking around with them all, although sometimes we may not understand what the other is saying until a short time has gone by. We are all good friends and I always enjoy being around them. Some of my teammates have been showing me around the city. I really like the city because there is always something interesting going on. This makes my weekends much better because I dont have to sit in my apartment and watch television or sit on the computer. Everything has been great so far.

But there are a few things that took me by surprise. I will have to get used to not having air. Sometimes I forget to open my windows when I leave for practice and when I come home from practice it is so hot in my apartment that I can not sleep. :( And also not having a dryer for my clothes is different too. But I can get used to not having those two things. One thing that is much different for me is being one of only a small few black people. Sometimes people just stare at me maybe because I am the first black person they have ever seen. Sometimes it is kind of ackward. But I guess as time goes on, people will get used to seeing me and it won’t be so ackward.

Now I am just waiting on the season to get underway! I have really been looking forward to the games to see what overseas basketball is all about!! Once again, this is Alex Renfroe and I appreciate you all reading!! Check back soon for part 2!! GO VEF RIGA!!