Greetings from South Africa!

Pretty amazing day yesterday: The team took an afternoon trip to a nearby game reserve/zoo and we got to go inside an enclosure and play with two young lion cubs. They were both the size of golden retrievers, but built a little lower to the ground. Of all the players, I had the best experience with them. The young lioness came back up to me to play, gnawing on my leg a bit (playfully - although her brother left some marks on my teammate Jon Rydberg's leg!) and then she rolled over to have her belly rubbed. So cool! I have video, but I am having some issues with my camera and battery that will hopefully be resolved soon enough.

This year I am joined by our finest American players, Jon Rydberg and Steve Welch, two guys who are top 10 players when on top of their game. Consequently, if they stay healthy I may not get a lot of playing time, but I am ready to contribute if needed in any way I can; if that's how it turns out, it's fine with me.

 

I am now told that we don't start playing until Tuesday in Group 2, where we ended up after I went winless in the #1 spot in Nottingham in 2009 when we were in Group 1, and then Jon and I lost to Sri Lanka in Turkey the last year. To get back to Group 1 we need to finish in the top 2 and we have tough competition with Japan and Sri Lanka in our group.

Time to head back to the courts for some lunch!

 

-- Paul