A special week, with two games on the road and a special #BeechBlog is here. Not only about the game against AEK,but especially about Kobe Bryant. One year without him. It's hard to believe, but i's true...  

Game day 13
@AEK 27/1/2021
Special edition #BeechBlog ? here for multiple reasons!

One, it’s another game day! This time at AEK. They are a good team, lots of talent and lots of experience. It won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination! We have played AEK a few times already in preseason, so both teams know each other a little bit already. This makes it almost like a playoff game of sorts playing a team so many times already half way thru the season. It will be tough for us to win on the road and with a short week to prepare. But. I thing is possible and with our game plan we feel like we have a good chance! But to win on the road we need more than just a good game plan we need to be ready and focused and have high energy for all 40 minutes to come away with the win!!

And two, the basketball WORLD lost an icon just a year ago today (26/1/2020), Kobe Bryant.  It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since Kobe passed away in a tragic helicopter crash, but at the same time it feels like just yesterday. I remember perfectly what I was doing, where I was, who I was with at the time I found out Kobe had passed. I was coming home from watching our younger team play a game with a teammate at the time, Jorge Gutierrez (now with Peristeri). We had stopped at a Jim Block restaurant in the suburb town of Hamburg called Wedel. Sat down had a nice dinner and just hung out talked about that game we just saw, our game that upcoming week, life etc. You name it we talked about it. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, each of us heard our phone ding at the same time. Weird. So I checked it.

Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash......

I didn’t believe it for a second! I said “Jorge check your phone there is no way”. No way that was true Kobe can’t die, in my head at least it seemed that way.
As we all know very Sadly it was true. What felt like maybe 5 minutes of pure silence between us at this table in a random restaurant, we just sat there in shock. Speechless. Confused.
I never met Kobe or anything like that, but it hit me in a way I had never felt before. Losing someone, not a family member or friend or loved one, but a NBA basketball player had me feeling emotions I never had before. To me that’s how I know Kobe was such an influential person on and off the court! It went to another level when my Girlfriend, Emma, saw the news and she called me crying! She didn’t even know why she was crying, no words just tears that Kobe had passed. All I know is that her emotions and mine were nothing compared to the people Who actually knew him, got to play with him or be in his family. Kobe had that aura around him on and off the court that you just couldn’t explain. It was so powerful watching him play the game. Even talking to reporters you could feel it by listening to his voice.
RIP Kobe Bryant. The basketball world won’t even forget you for what you did on the court as well as off. ❤️??

Catch y’all later this week when we head to Lavrio for another road game. Y’all know the deal #BeechBlog ?