Photographic Proof

Jeff Potter just forwarded me an email with some pictures from Sean Sonderleiter's new team in Germany. Here he is with his old Mad Ants teammate and fellow Ratiopharm Ulm teammate Coleman Collins. Apparently the overseas training camp is much longer than the U.S. so it will be a while before I can give updates

I can give you some updates on the Mad Ants Volleyball Squad though. We went a mediocre 2-2 last night. We won both games in the first match and were swept by a very solid team in the second match. The team consisted of me, Sarah Wladecki, Heidi Busch, Asst Coach Steven Gansey and his significant other Krystal (with a K!). Steven Gansey shocked everyone by his volleyball prowess, he was attacking the net with a VENGEANCE! If basketball does not work out for him, he may have a solid backup in Volleyball.

I think I was able to pin down why we lost last the second match last night. It was the curse of the Garrett Headband. I always wear a Mad Ants headband at the games, you know to try to give off that crazy headband vibe, and I forgot to wear it for the first 2 games (which we won). I was sitting at our table between games when I stood up and yelled "My Headband!". I proceeded to get it out of my car and wear it for match 2 where we were trounced. Coincidence? We shall see next week.

Keep your eyes open for a fun video we are putting together in-house. It is going to promote 5 Great reasons to buy Mad Ants season tickets. I will be posting it on the blog when we get it finished.

Have a great weekend!

-Garrett

Mad Ants Abroad

Sean Sonderleiter officially has left for Germany as of this past week. He had been back in Fort Wayne for a few weeks doing work outs with Mad Ants Assistant Coach Steve Gansey to prepare for the trip. He will be playing on the same team as Mad Ants Alumni Coleman Collins. I am sure Coleman will be a great tour guide to help Sean get accustomed to the new team/country.

Ryan Ayers has signed a deal with a team in Finland. You can read the story here.

Ron Howard has signed to play in Israel for the Netanya team. This is a big time European league and Ron will be facing some tough competition.

Now for a more important update, the Mad Ants volleyball team! We went 3-1 last night and faced some stiff competition from Monnier Remodeling (our favorite team to play) and a team whose name I don't recall. The highlight of the night for me was watching Kyle Thoms get BLOCKED by former Mad Ants intern Camron's Dad Bernie at the net. It was a rude awakening for Mr. Thoms.

This year our roster consists of Mad Ants staffers: Me, Heidi Busch, Sarah Wladecki, Kyle Thoms, and Jeff Johnson. We have also brought in ringers who are Emily and Crystal who are the girlfriends of "Hot" Rod Wilmont and Asst Coach Steve Gansey respectively. I will post a team picture ASAP. Do not worry, I am still rocking the Mad Ants sweatband.

Last night Coach Gansey supported the team by showing up. He kept me mentally motivated by peppering me with names of famous wrestlers from the 1990's. I then would come up with their finishing move. I was a perfect 100%. One that did give me trouble was Golddust but I managed to eventually come up with "Curtain Call" (an inverted DDT for those playing at home). He also threw Sable at me, but I do not believe she ever had a finishing move other than perhaps finishing husband Marc Mero's career!

Other big news, the Mad Ants schedule is out! We will be starting at home on Nov. 21st and have 15 weekend dates this year (Fri/Sat/Sun). We are playing on Christmas Day, which I think could turn into a big tradition for us. Great way to get the whole family together, as I know my family is often looking for something to do Christmas evening.

If you are looking at season tickets or a group night, feel free to give me a call at 260-469-4667 x 107 to see some specific options.

Have a great weekend!

-Garrett

Mad Ant Departures

In a classic NBA D-League bad news/good news situation the Mad Ants will be losing two key players next year to the overseas market. Rob Kurz will be going to play in Spain, while Sean Sonderleiter will be going to play in Germany. I am a little surprised by Rob leaving as I thought he really deserved to be on an NBA roster. He is just a guy with an incredibly high basketball IQ that would be a great role player on most NBA teams. He may have been a little frustrated by not getting a call-up until the very tail end of the season last year. I wish Rob the best of luck and hope has a great time and Europe and makes some money!

I am very happy for Sean. This is a guy who two years ago was picked in the 10th round in the D-League draft. For those who are not experts on the draft, I would guess about 20% of the players in the draft make it onto the teams roster. So it was a long shot for Sean to even make it to the Mad Ants, let alone have the amazing season he had last year. He has done so much work to put himself in this position overseas, and he really deserves it.

Of course, to get the true scoop on this news, you can check out Ridiculous Upside who broke the story.