The first matchup between Iserlohn and BBV Hagen who is lead by none other than Andrew Olson 08' was a very even game with many shifts of momentum. This was the first game I played in Europe where I could feel a heightened level of emotion and excitement from the crowd. Iserlohn and Hagen are only about 10 km from each other and many players on both teams have played for the other team at some point in their career. That being said, unlike the great rivalries that I have been apart of in the past such as Pioneer-Huron or Amherst-Williams, this rivalry was all in fun and good spirits. In my time playing basketball with Pioneer and Amherst, I have gone 19-1 against my rivals. A big reason I fell in love with the game of Basketball was because of these games where everything is on the table and both teams want to win by any means necessary. However, I did not feel this same urgency to win while playing against Andrew because I was unable to get into "kill mode" as I like to call it. There was just way too much respect for my opponents. Although we did win by 5 and I had 17 points (olson 22pts), at the end of the day there were four people in that gymnasium who bleed purple and white (Brooke and Goldy were there watching) and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives. Terras Irradient.
