Playin' Some B'Ball

The first game of the 2nd Annual Ankara Invitational Basketball Tournament was played last night. There are more games to come to determine which team is the champion of Ankara. Tim has been working hours upon hours to try and coordinate this. It's a big logistical headache, but will provide a wonderful opportunity for the kids to play. He's doing a great job!
I hailed myself a cab last night to get to the game. This is still an experience where I get nervous (remembering all of my ids to get on the base, remembering my Turkish money, remembering how the heck I get where I'm going and what to tell the taxi driver, walking on to the base with the Turkish guards). Everything turned out fine, though, and I arrived in time to see the Pakistani school play the French school. Though they play with American rules, I quickly noticed something that you would never see on an American court- the coaches (both Turkish) kissed each other on both cheeks before the game. They did this several times at the end of the game too. Culturally this is completely normal, but it was funny to me to imagine any American coaches doing this. Maybe Gary Williams should consider doing this before his next Maryland game, just to mix things up a bit:) Go Terps!