Throughout the course of the 2011-2012 season, MVNU sophomore forward Caleb Williams will write a weekly blog about what is happening with the team.

"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's" (posted on December 28, 2011)

I want to start this installment of Inside the Huddle by wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season. With Christmas in the rear view mirror and New Years coming up, I hope everyone takes full advantage of the time spent with family and friends. It is such a special time and one that we sometimes take for granted. I want to personally wish all of my family and friends a Happy New Year's.

As for our basketball program, we are really looking forward to the calendar switching from 2011 to 2012. It is no lie that our season has not gone the way we planned up to this point, but as we approach 2012 we cannot wait to leave the past and attack conference play with a renewed energy and focus. Since we last talked, our team hit the road for 10 days. We were in Holland, Mich. for three days where we got runner-up in Hope College's tournament. We did not play extremely well in our first game against Purdue North-Central, but we did what we needed to do to get the win and that's all that matters. The next day, we played Hope in the championship game in front of a rowdy crowd of orange and blue. (Hope College's facilities are incredible, and our guys really enjoyed playing in that atmosphere.) We played pretty even with Hope for about 19 minutes and then we hit a wall and really struggled the rest of the game. The next day, we flew down to Daytona Beach, Fla.. The weather was beautiful and we took advantage of our beach-front hotel.

While in Florida, we got four great days of practice, which was much needed for our team. On Friday night, we played Embry Riddle. We got some nice support from our cheerleaders who also made the trip to Florida. (We had three other fans there as well: Mikey Albertson made the trip with us, and Nate Dodd's brother and his wife who live in Florida came to support us.) Embry Riddle shot extremely well the whole game (20 of 27 from 3-point range) and as good as they shot we shot that bad. Nothing seemed to go in. It was just one of those games where it was not our night and it was their night. The game was much more competitive than what the final score demonstrates. Marshall Crum had 12 points in his first game of the season, and we are really excited for what Marshall is going to bring to our squad.

As much as we are disappointed in our performance against Embry Riddle, the time spent together with the guys is why these trips are so meaningful. Ten years from now, I may not remember the game, but I will remember the great moments spent with these guys. Here are some of the top moments for me during the trip:

· Playing sand volleyball and getting a tan on December 17th when it's snowing in Ohio.

· Playing football on the beach

· Hanging out in the pool and hot tub

· Coach Scott calling Afghanistan a city in Iraq during a game of Catch Phrase (this is even funnier because Coach Scott is a licensed history teacher)

· The no-pants lady at Krispy-Kreme (She had pants on…they just happened to be skin-colored, skin-tight yoga pants, but for a second we all thought she was at Krispy-Kreme without pants on.)

· The legendary 4-card games. These games were highly competitive and were a nightly occurrence. You know the games are important when you can hear the commotion three hotel rooms down from where the game was being played.

· This last moment is not one particular moment but it occurred consistently throughout the trip, and it was the making fun of freshman guard Landon Israel. Unfortunately for Landon he was the only freshman that traveled with us, and because of that he took the full brunt of all jokes. Such as short jokes, asking him if he brought his car seat with him, if he was old enough to go to a movie…just to name a few. Landon handled it well though and it was really good to see Landon come out of his shell a little bit. (by the way Landon got a 4.0 during the Fall semester, which is a great accomplishment).

Those are just a few that I had, and each guy could add 5 or 6 different moments that they will always remember. I am very thankful for the opportunity to have gone through this experience with these guys.

We have had this week to go home and spend time with family and friends which will be very beneficial for us. It is good to get away from the game sometimes and regain the passion and focus we need going forward.

The Week Ahead:

We returned to practice on Monday night and we got our basketball legs back under us, and ran off all of that delicious Christmas food. We return to game action Wednesday December 28th as we go on the road to play Akron-Wayne. We return to the Physical Education Center Friday, Dec. 30th as we take on Lourdes College.

Continue to check out the MVNU Cougar Hoops YouTube Page for new uploads!

Peace be the Journey,
Caleb Williams #5

Feedback is always welcomed, so feel free to email me at cwilli10@mail.mvnu.edu or follow me on Twitter: @5CWill.

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