9:40AM…Adam Dantus blogging live…just got into the office and hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. The Nighthawks season opener is just 10 days away! Not to much to say other than I went by J.O.’s place yesterday and gave him a Christmas gift…a Maryland Terps basketball jersey and some basketball socks…the kid is so nice and invited me to Thailand during the summer when the PBL All-Stars take on the Thailand national team. Should be an interesting game as the PBL puts in its efforts to help globalize basketball. Busy day at the office today as we prepare for the season then I might be heading to practice tonight at 7.

6:20PM…A.D. here again. Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holidays. I know I have been promising videos of newly signed guard J.O….here is some footage. His manager/reporter/translator interviewed him after his first Nighthawks practice. Although I don’t know what exactly he is saying she said he felt nervous and anxious at the first practice. The other video shows my day hanging out with J.O…the day started at 8:30AM when I went to his suite and took him to Best Buy, then we went to Safeway to get him some food. His translator bought some Thai food and he invited my girlfriend and I over for dinner. After bringing him back to his suite, I met back up with him at 4:30pm and headed over to the RIO sport and health club in Gaithersburg to play some hoops. That’s me in the white shirt and shorts passing J.O the ball for the 3…J.O. was showing his skills out there and dominating. Me on the other hand, left with a sprained thumb and twisted ankle…although I did manage to score 5 buckets. After the gym, we headed back to his place where his translator made some nice traditional Thai cuisine. After dinner J.O. really opened up to us as he sang some Britney Spears, did some magic tricks, and beat-boxed. All-in-all is was an excellent day with J.O. and all of you fans are in for a real treat…an excellent basketball player, but a great great human bean to top it off!

12:44PM...A.D. here again...here are some pictures from last evenings practice. Video highlights to come later today including a "J.O."interview in Thai...From what I saw last night, the final cuts are going to be tough...all 17 remaining players could make the team, but coach Moten has to cut it down to 12. Returning players from last years team that were there last night were Kevin Robinson, Curtis Yarbrough, Barry Mitchell, Baby Shaq, Omar Weaver and Warren Jefferson. Robinson, Mitchell, and Jefferson looked impressive...more to come later.

1:29PM...A.D. checking in real quick...here are some pictures of Tamir Goodman during his recent photo shoot. These pictures will be appearing on some of the Nighthawks promotional and advertising materials. Also, be sure to check out the new nighthawks dance team page...i'll be going to practice tonight..check back on the site for videos, photos, and interviews.

THAILAND STAR J.O. SIGNS WITH NIGHTHAWKS

12:43PM....A.D. here, things have been hectic here in Maryland! The Tamir Goodman signing, photo shoots, pres-season game, etc. But to top things off, the Nighthawks have signed Thailand star Ratdech Kruatiwa aka "J.O" to a contract for the 2007-2008 PBL season. This marks the first time a player from Thailand will be playing professional basketball in the United States. A huge press conference was held yesterday in Thailand with Nighthawks International Affairs director Mark Schlossenberg present. Here are some pictures from the press conference. More information and videos to come later today...enjoy!

3:24PM....Adam Dantus here again...your Maryland Nighthawks lost a tough pre-season game up in Reading, PA yesterday. Final score was 119-100 in favor of the expansion Reading Railers. The Nighthawks were playing without Tamir Goodman, Randy "White Chocolate" Gill, and Tyron "Alimoe" Evans. The Nighthawks will open their 2008 regular season on January 5th when they host the Wilmington Sea Dawgs at 7PM.

7:06PM...Adam Dantus here again...letting you know the Nighthawks will be playing a pre-season game against the Reading Railers in Reading, PA. The team plans on leaving Maryland 10:30AM on Saturday morning for the 4:05PM game. The Nighthawks will field the following players as they hope on earning a spot on the final roster which will be set at 10.

NUM PLAYER HT WT POS FROM
1 Randy Gill 6’2” 185 G Bowie State University
3 Johan Matos 6’ 185 G Montgomery College
20 Derek Payne 6’6” 220 G/F Bowie State
21 Johnny Rhodes 6’5 210 G University of Maryland
23 Hugh Jones 6’2” 230 F Southern Maryland
30 Antric Claiber 6’10” 230 F UCONN
32 Dennis Edwards 6’6” 220 F Fort Hayes State
33 Tyron Evans 6’7” 200 F Cal State Bakersfield
34 David Bailey 6’8” 230 F Prince George’s CC
35 Gemel Stoute 6’9 260 F/C Trinidad/Tobago
36 Omar Weaver 6’7” 200 F Riverside CC
40 Lonnie Herrell 6’6” 200 F Northwestern
45 Kevin Robinson 7’0" 230 C Southern Indiana
50 Curtis Yarbrough 6’6” 198 G Virginia State
55 Barry Mitchell 6’8” 200 F/C West Virginia State

12:19PM...AD back again...here is a portion of Nighthawks Head Coach Lawrence Moten and Guard Tamir Goodman and Washington Post Live:

1:40PM...Dantus here just informing you that newly signed sensation Tamir Goodman and the Nighthawks head coach, Lawrence Moten, will be guests on the Comcast Sports Net television show "Washington Post Live", this evening at 5:30 PM. Tune in and get the latest Nighthawks news.

11:40AM...AD here again. I just got word that the Nighthawks Dancers just completed their photo shoot. Pictures and profiles will be updated on the website by tomorrow evening. Be sure to check the Nighthawks Dancers page for all of the information about your 2007-2008 Nighthawks dance team!

NIGHTHAWKS GET NEW JERSEYS

9:17AM...AD checking in again.The Nighthawks will be wearing new jerseys for this upcomming season. The design is similar to last seasons jersey but is tweaked up a bit. The jerseys are made from higher quality materials and feature the Nighthawks logo and player number on the front of the jersey. The back feautres the PBL logo on the top, the players name and number. Some of the players jerseys this year will feature their nickname such as "White Chocolate" and "Alimoe." See below...

The Nighthawks are now taking pre-orders on these jerseys and can be purchased at the Nighthawks online team store. Jerseys are expected to ship at the end of December just in time for the season opener. Let us know what you think about the new unis!

10:15AM...AD here again. I want to apologize for not checking in periodically throughout the day. As you could imagine, it was a very busy day and hectic day for the Nighthawks yesterday. There was a good amount of media at the press conference yesterday considering the snow. Anyways, just wanted to post some links about the Tamir signing that appeared in newspapers today. Enjoy!

Baltimore Sun - Tamir's 'miracle'

Baltimore Sun - Club says Goodman is the man to boost team in new league

Washington Times - Goodman gets a 'miracle'

Washington Post - Tamir Goodman is Back

Washington Jewish Week - Tamir Goodman is back to town

9:08AM…Adam Dantus checking in again. The day is here! Just woke up to 17 emails from the media and fans inquiring about the press conference…it’s been like that this whole week since bits and pieces have been leaked out…should be a great showing…I spoke to one of our players that is going to be introduced just now and he’s very excited to finally play professionally for his home town team…more to come later….off to the office now and then to the Hanley Center where the press conference will be held…keep the comments rolling in!

GETTING READY FOR THE BIG DAY!

11:58PM...Adam Dantus here. Since blogging is becoming so popular these days, we thought we'd implement one to give you all of the information you need to know about your Maryland Nighthawks and bring you closer to the team.

For this first blog posting, I want to let you know that the team is holding a big press conference this afternoon as the team plans on making some "big" announcements. Don't want to give away to much information, but team owners Tom Doyle and Jeanette McCool will introduce two new players that the Nighthawks just signed, as well as the new head coach and the Nighthawks 2007 draft picks (Johan Matos and Kevin Rogus). O yeah...the new PBL commissoner will be introduced as well..and if you know basketball, you will know this guy. Used to play in the NBA and won 2 championships and now works with TNT. Great guy!

A lot of media from all over the world will be at the press conference...you will find out later why this press conference is gaining national attention. Off to bed now, will check back in throughout the day and keep you fans updated and take you behind the scenes! Feel free to post your comments and I will try to answer them. G'NITE!