Tourney Weekend

So after Zayd arrived, we went to my Grandma's apartment in Alexandria, VA. We had dinner at Soraya's apartment (which is ONE floor above my grandmas) with a few family members that Thursday night...and Mailan, Zayd and I went downstairs to get our sleep on.. Jones needed to be well rested for his games :)

So Friday morning, we get into Soraya's car and drive out to Chantilly for the tournament... the gym was kinda strange... it had rubber floors.. they first people we see are the West Coast Hoops team, consisting of all my cousins and friends :) Yayyy, it was so nice to see everyone after so long! Then we walked over to watch the games and hung out with a few of our Payaam friends (more on their immense success at the tourney later)... so Zayd and his team warmed up, and mailan and i went to go find seats to watch their first game.

I think they beat the first team by like 20 points... its awesome when they are up by a lot b/c then the young guys, including my brother, get to play more minutes. We stayed to watch a few more games and after WCH won their 2nd game by a large number, we all headed out to find a place to eat... me, mailan, and soraya accompanied the team to Chilly's...we had 2 big tables. and we all just sat there, joking around, chatting, and eating. Here are some pix from our lunch:

Their team had the best jersey's at the tournament by farrr... LRG, a pretty big clothing line, sponsored them...dont know how..dont know why...but these guys got jerseys, shirts, and throwbacks. Ok, so after eating, we drove back to the gym... Mailan and i made friends with this really nice girl named Sara (she's Nasir's fiance- the guy running the tourney) and she asked if i would help keep score for the games...so because im such a humanitarian and do-gooder, i agreed...lol. The first game i scored went smoothly...of course the loosing team complained a few times, but thats typical... the ref's were really nice and they made sure that Sara and I knew what to write down on the score sheets and they made sure to keep checking if we had everything down correctly...so that game ended..and a new one was starting... Afghan Ballers v. Payaam. It sucked cuz i'm friends with most of the guys on both teams... so the game started.. and it was a great game. both teams are playing amazing basketball...but unfortunately, Sara and I are sitting in an awkward area near the court...so it was hard for us to see what the refs were saying. and then i had like the whole Afghan Baller's family members standing all around me...and they're trying to tell me that the score is different than what we had up, etc etc... once again, everyone is complaining lol... WHY do i get myself into these things??? haha...Haroun Arefi, from Payaam, fouled out...and he was sooo upset. the refs let him stay in the game an extra 4 minutes b/c they wouldnt listen to me when i tried telling them he had 5 fouls. To this day, Haroun still swears he only had 4 fouls... anyways, long story short, Payaam lost...Afghan Ballers won...and it was clear that the top contenders at this tournament were West Coast Hoops, Afghan Ballers, and The Outlawz.
Ok, so day 2 rolls around..and its at a different gym...this one had normal courts :) WCH only had one game...which they won..and after the last game at 3pm, we all left to go to Maryland for the big ASF Soccer/Basketball tournament...Yes, there was 2 different tournaments going on at the same time...dont know why... but ya, we got there..and there is literally 5000 Afghans! Where did they all come from??? Didnt know anyone...but it was so weird walking around the big gym. i swear people just look at u...not to check u out...but just to observe u and see who u are... awkward... anyways, Afghan Ballers made a brilliant decision in playing in both tourneys during the same weekend lol...but lucky for them, they won the ASF tournament :) Great game, btw... After the game, we headed outside to the soccer stands. Found some seats in the front and watched the final game. Honestly, i didnt pay much attention. Our friend/long lost cousin Abdullah came and sat by us..and seriously, this guy is the funniest person ive ever met! He's pure humor...doesnt stop..and we sat there, watching people walk by, making fun of their clothes, hair, etc lol...here's a picture of a guy who was standing by one of the soccer teams:

I have no idea who this is...but honestly, he looked ridiculous..he was wearing some sort of Sergeant get up...regardless, he looked stupid..and im putting him on blast on this blog :)

After the soccer game, we all went back inside the gym and waited for awards to be given out. and there was some random concert that i wasnt interested in...so my friends and i took pictures instead:

After leaving that night, we met up with the Payaam guys at a Wendy's near Lina's house. My cousin Dawoud came with us too to keep zayd company lol. We just hung out in the parking lot, playing music, telling jokes and stuff. BTW, let me go on the record and state that PAYAAM came all the way out from San Diego, Ca...and LOST every single one of their games... 0-4. LOL.. these guys used to be reigning champs...but ya, without a doubt their worst tournament ever..

Ok, so now its day 3...this is the most important day. One loss and your doneeee. We are back in Chantilly, Va. And WCH beats Afghan Ballers in a really good game..and take a spot in the Finals game (Afghan Ballers were probably exhausted by the 3rd day...considering they had played like a dozen games for both tournaments). And their opponent: The Bay Area Outlawz.

Zayd did a lot of sitting during the last few games...lol... he had a great moment the 2nd day.. where the team was up by 30...and zayd gets a wide open look behind the 3. And he takes the shot...and the ball hits the poll behind the backboard...hahaha

So we all know that i need attention once in a while. And i decided that i needed to play basketball LOL..we found a bunch of girls from the soccer tourney who were willing to play. And a lot of them showed up with their bball gear. So we made 2 teams of 6. And got ready to play. Honestly, the only people that really knew how to play was myself and Maryam Ahmadzai...she's really good...really intimidating... we played on opposite teams to make it fair. and my team was a bunch of ladies from the Afghan Baller's family (sisters, aunts, cousins). Well they brought jerseys..so that was cool...but unfortunately, my jersey didnt match with my wonderful green shorts lol...

Whatever, i pulled it off lol... so i go up to my team..and they're all girly girls (which is totally fine, i am too)...hair, makeup, and nails done lol..so im really impressed that they were willing to play. I ask my team, "Ok guys..who wants to play point??" And they all look at me with confused expressions on their faces...Niiiice... this is when i realized i was in trouble lol..i really cant play point...so the game was gonna be interesting...i explained a few rules to the girls quickly and we went to go warm up. One of their younger relatives, Rishad, was our coach...he would have been a pretty good coach if we knew what he was talking about lol...so the game starts..and thank goddd the other team is full of girls who dont know how to play either. Honestly, it was SOOO much fun. We all just went out there, with our little bball skills, and played for our family and friends to watch. No one took it seriously...except that mariam girl...the rest of us were just laughing and trying to make a basket. So this khala on our team, who is probably my mom's age, gets open a few feet from the basekt. I see her there, pass her the ball, and she makes her shot!! yayyyy we were all cheering and high fiving haha...I scored the next basket which was soooo exciting!! Zayd, Mailan and our younger cousins were all sitting on some bleachers going crazyyy everytime i touched the ball. At half time, the score was like 4-4...LOL...we only played 10 min halves. So after half time, the girls and i go back in the game and we decide that we want to win...but there was chaos out there! Rishad and i tried to explain how to play defense...instead of everyone attacking the girl with the ball...but it wasnt working very well... i kept getting WIDE open under the baskett...but no one could pass me the ball...another person on our team kept picking up the ball everytime she got it, parked it on her hip, and would walk around...LOL..regardless, it was still super fun. I scored one more basket and i assisted another...plus, i got SOOO many rebounds...and of course i tackled a girl on the opposite team...but we lost...lol it was like 8-10. Honestly, none of the girls knew how to play but i was soooo impressed that they didnt care how they looked out on the court. Everyone tried...and everyone had fun :)

And everyone kept coming up to me after the game, all the girls, telling me how im SOOO good and that i lied about my bball skills...and honestly, all i could think is, "YA guys...YOU all made me look like KOBE Bryant out there, compared to everyone else" LOL... i swear im not that great... just cocky...and im all talk when it comes to basketball

Ohhh, funny story! So half way through the game, Ali Noorzad came over to help us...his sisters were on my team..and we all huddle up..and he asks, "so who is ur best passer???" And we all just look around at eachother...lol...so he decides to set up an inbound play for us. Basically, one girl was going to inbound the ball...the rest of us were to stand back to back...in a line...and as soon as the ref gives the inbounder the ball, i was supposed to slide to the left, someone else to the right, someone else was supposed to set a pick, and the other was supposed to roll and get the ball....thats what it was SUPPOSED to look like...What actually happened: I slid to the left...everyone else crashed into eachother LOL!! Nice try tho..haha

After the game, i went over to my "hooligan" cousins...as Mailan refered to them...and waited for the final men's game.

The finals game was really good...close game the entire way...in the last few seconds, the score was tied 43 all...and the outlawz missed a shot...so WCH got the ball back with 2 seconds left... Yo Etemadi went to inbound the ball, but somehow threw a really bad pass, it got intercepted by a guy on outlawz, and he went up for a last second layup...GAME OVER. Outlawz won?? Yes... lol they won by a lucky buzzer-beating layup. OH Well...C'est La Vie.

I think the guys were a bit stunned...but they got over it. Hmmm. so what else...after the games, we were all exhausted...me, lina, her sister sabrina, mailan, zayd and soraya went to cheesecake factory for dinner. And then back to my grandmas. Zayd slept at Mateen's...it was REALLY nice just hanging out in our beds and talking to mailan :) I really miss just hanging out at home and laughing and talking with her... Well, the next day, mailan and i went to Tyson's Mall to shop a bit... afterwards, our friends Homyra and Mariam met up with us at Panera. We had lunch..and hung out with them. Zayd and Mass ended up goign to the mall too..so we gave them a ride back... and we all went to my grandma's place and hung out there. it was a fun night :)

That night, mailan and i stayed up till like 4am just talking..and the next morning, she left me :( I was seriously soooo sad for her to go home... but the only good thing was that Zayd was still in DC for another week.

So this concludes tourney weekend :) It was so nice seeing everyone. I forgot how much i missed home <3