Hello Bears fans, it was good to see all of you at the first home game last Sunday.

The weekend's games were all in all pretty disappointing for our team. We went into the games feeling pretty confident after the pre-season tournament in Birmingham. Unfortunately we weren't able to come away with a win in either game. In the first one against Leicester, we played well enough to win and then in the closing minutes we didn't do the things we needed to do to close it out. In the second game against the Thames Valley Tigers, we had a decent start but then completely fell apart.

It is difficult to say which situation is more upsetting as a player or coach. At the end of the day, both games resulted in losses and beyond that nothing else really matters.

I was very upset after the games on the weekend. The entire feel of the Sunday game was much too reminiscent of last season. I certainly did not come back to this team to be a part of another losing team. I began to feel better when I saw the determination in both my team-mates and coach to turn things around quickly. None of the other players who are returning came back to be a part of a losing team either and the newcomers are used to winning and plan to do so here.

Coach Nurse has created a more businesslike atmosphere in practice this week. We are working very hard to improve our fitness and toughness. I can't speak for Coach, but I feel like our team has embraced the hard work and is growing as a result of it. No player enjoys doing running in practice but this is a veteran team where the players know that running in practice makes the game seem easier and that is a good thing.

Yesterday we spent an half an hour on the stationary bikes at our health club. I find riding the bikes the most difficult of all the cardio machines. The exercise was made easier by the fact that our instructor was Coach Nurse. Not the typical fitness instructor (thankfully without spandex) but he got the job done. The other thing that made the exercise enjoyable was Errol's chanting and yelling. I guess he was trying to pump himself up but I think it pumped up the rest of us more.

Now that I have talked about the games, I would like to say a few words about some of the members of the team who fans and supporters may not know yet. Coach Steve Swanson is our assistant coach and also the assistant general manager. He is a man of few words but in the short time I have known him he has been nothing but friendly and very helpful in practice.

The rather short bald guy on our team is John. He is an American Literature major at the University of Sussex. He is a very hard working player and is improving everyday. If you see someone in the stands who looks like him, you haven't had too many trips to the bar, that is his twin brother Steve. On occassion, Steve comes to our practice as well making for some interesting and confusing situations.

Finally, there is Ciaran. He is also a student at the University of Sussex. He is from Belfast and is really the only young player on our team. Those of us from North America have a great deal of difficulty understanding him. I have finally got to the point where I can understant most British words and expressions but Ciaran brings a whole new way of speaking and it is going to take a little time before I can understand him.

Take it easy everyone and we'll see you tomorrow.