This is my fifth summer at Siena. Every summer the brand spankin new freshman basketball players come to Loudonville sporting their high school apparel. They take a couple courses, become acquainted with a college weight room, and play pick up with their new teammates. Some come in with the deer in headlights look; some do not. Siena's recruiting class is small this year, consisting of only two. It is only July, and I have always been a firm believer that you do not fully know the impact freshman will have on a team until practice begins, sometimes even later. However these two have impressed me enough in the past two weeks for me to give them some free publicity... So for the six followers I have in the blogosphere, and the handfull of others that periodically check out my words, here are some EARLY thoughts on Trinity Burdine and Roc Brookins.... And of course Ryan Rossiters return from mid summer hibernation and Tommy Gavin's return from hell.
Trinity Burdine- 6'6 Wing-
I got a taste of what this kid is all about a month ago. He tagged along with Donyell Marshalls AAU team for the Gym Rat Challenge last month. By tagging along I mean he made it a point to find his way into the weight room to work out on both Saturday and Sunday. I stepped in the weight room to say what's up to him and it felt like hells waiting room in there; point is this kid seems to really want it. The weight room is a good idea for this young pup, he does need added strength like almost all freshman, however on the court he plays stronger than he looks. With a reputation as a long range sniper, Trinity has lived up to that billing; if he is open from three and you're on his team, you can usually start backpeddiling the other way. He has a simple shot from three, a bit of low release, however it is the same shot everytime (mark of a great shooter). One unique thing about Trinitys game is he ALWAYS follows his own shot, which often leads to a easy lay up for him. Unlike many other incoming freshman he has a basketball IQ of a upperclassman and will fit into Siena's dribble and kick offense. Very good at making hard decisive cuts to the rim for lay ups. Defensively he has the potential to be a heck of a defender with his length and basketball IQ. With the work ethic he has shown thus far, I think you can expect him to become a great defender over time.
Roc Brookins- 5"11 Lead Guard-
My first taste of Roc was a bit different then that of his classmate. Like his freshman counterpart, Roc came in willing to work hard in the weight room; the kid was so amped up to get started in the weight room he went into overdrive; by this i mean he drank one to many protein shakes on his first day of lifting, and lets just say he was limited on his first day of college ball. Day 2 for Roc was a different more settling tale.... He dominated pickup that day, showing his ability as a shooter, play maker, and more importantly leader. My theory of not being able to read a freshmans impact on a season until October or November is usually amplified with point guards. Sometimes you just know though... The kids got the look of a killer in his eye when he has played this summer, and has that Philly demeanor that Siena fans have come to love over the past four years with that other guy we used to have (I think his number was 25).
As I have said it is EARLY.... but I think it's safe to say Coach B has two good young ones on his hands right now that will both find time on the floor next year... How much time you ask? Time will tell I suppose... I'm no fortune teller, and I'm certainly not Dick Vitale... Although I met him when I was twelve and he was just as balled then as he is now.
Ryan Rossiter has been on the IR for around a month now. Throughout this month he has spent a lot of time with me on the sidelines, watching pickup and doing something we like to call brown baggin it (Which means in our lingo, two guys just hanging out). Anyways two days ago he played his first pickup game in a month. I think we have found a leader in Ryan. One good way to measure leaders, especially during sloppy unorganized summer pickup games, is if they raise the level of a game. It seemed everyone played better and harder with Ryan on the court. For four games Ryan looked better than ever, exploding to the rim for dunks I've never seen him do, dropping dimes to flashing cutters, and finding open three point shooters. Games five and six Ryans wind caught up to him and he began to look more like... Well a more skilled version of me if I laced them up.... Don't worry though fans, his wind will be back by November.
Rescue Me-Tommy Gavin died, went to pergitory, then went to hell. Then Tommy was revived. DUH! Of course he did, there is two more seasons of Rescue Me left, and there would have been a slew of pissed of fans to deal with if they were to put him six feet under. Any who, Rescue Me is back and seems to be better than ever. This show has everything the American public want in a late night TV show: Drama, and of course anything that is sinful.... Well I watch it on Tuesday nights with my door locked and the fan turned off, so once again if you're of the mature age, give it a whirl.
Hope you enjoyed some Siena basketball material. Have a satisfying fourth of July people. I will be hunting down a burger or two somewhere around the Capital Region.
Check it out: Dexter- I've heard so much about this show and finally I'm getting on my horse and getting into it.... Thus far it has lived up to the hype.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
"When we were young"
Remember when we were young, and certain things got us going? I mean really got you going. That buzz you used to get before a baseball or basketball game, which at the end of the day meant absolutely nothing, but at the time meant the world. It usually ended in near tears of joy, or tears of being a pissed off eight year old. That buzz you got before a summer day filled with bike rides, swimming for hours, or playing flashlight tag at night. The buzz that starts in your stomach as butterflies, and before you know it, that buzz is coming right up through your chest. The older you get it seems like the less and less you get this buzz.
Well that was Elementary School... The buzz was all over the place, dime a dozen, once or twice a day. Even on a miserable day when the cute girl next to you caught you picking your nose, or you got laughed at for stuttering during class reading... The buzz was still there and plentifull.
Middle School comes. The buzz is still there. You kiss your first girl at a park, or in an abandoned parking garage (Yeah I was that guy). You discover extreme sports (Skateboarding) and develop some independence, which gives you the buzz. You fall alot, bleed alot, and pay for lunch in quarters. The buzz is still there.
High School hits and things like alcohol and drugs are discovered by many. The buzz is found by many somewhere else, and causes confusion for many. The natural buzz is still there, but at times hard to find. The buzz comes back when you go to your first high school party. It leaves as quickly as it came when the kid from your homeroom throws up outside in a bush and then falls head first in. You laugh for a moment, and then realize throwing up is no buzz. Friday night football and basketball games become a big deal. There fun, but pressure is there. Lucky ones get recruited to play in college, others do not. Summers are spent by some traveling the country to play in front of onlooking college recruiters. You get that buzz again when suitors arrive at the gym before you even arrive... It is fun and the buzz is there! People want you, and dreams are becoming a reality, quickly.
College comes. You're friend the buzz is BACK! It is there, heavy, and different. New people come into your life, old people become distant, or leave entirely. In some cases, you experience a life changing event or two. One of them may even be tragic, something your not ready for. Something, anyone, is never ready for. You wonder if the buzz will ever come back.
College comes to an end, the buzz was found with thousands storming the court, finding a few special people. Your old pal the buzz doesn't come around quite as often though. Real world looms, expectations are at an all time high and you wonder if the buzz will ever show up again.... Once and a while you get a glimpse of it, but it is few and far. You go see Toy Story 3. A old man next to you cries at the end. Part of you wants to as well, but you're girlfriend and little brother are with you. You remember you're version of Woody and Buzz Light Year. The feeiling comes back and you find your toy or stuffed animal, (Mr. Stay Puft-Ghostbusters, the greatest stuffed animal ever) and get the buzz again.
Mom and Dad tell you that you're getting a car- Hello buzz! BUT car is used for real world things, grown up things. Paying for gas with quarters is nearly impossible, and frowned upon by the man at Mobil. Car means job, job means responsibility, responsibility means a long shot of the buzz. Car means bike rides and skateboards aren't really realistic anymore (people frown upon out of shape 23 year olds parading around town shirtless and causing havoc).
A high school senior writes your name as her "secret crush" in a memoribillia book. A buzz would have been there seven years ago. Now it is merely the last time you're name will be mentioned in a high school memory book-No buzz, none at all.
Finally, you look for the buzz everyday. You hope and search. You get it in hobbies and big boy dreams, sure it comes in small doses, but you can't complain, the fact that it is still there is all that matters. You search everday for it, while tackiling the grown up and real world responsibilities the best way you can.
Suggestion for today: Find your buzz, and go see Toy Story 3...My bet is you'll get your buzz back for a couple hours. Also check out Gaslight Anthems new album American Slang.
Well that was Elementary School... The buzz was all over the place, dime a dozen, once or twice a day. Even on a miserable day when the cute girl next to you caught you picking your nose, or you got laughed at for stuttering during class reading... The buzz was still there and plentifull.
Middle School comes. The buzz is still there. You kiss your first girl at a park, or in an abandoned parking garage (Yeah I was that guy). You discover extreme sports (Skateboarding) and develop some independence, which gives you the buzz. You fall alot, bleed alot, and pay for lunch in quarters. The buzz is still there.
High School hits and things like alcohol and drugs are discovered by many. The buzz is found by many somewhere else, and causes confusion for many. The natural buzz is still there, but at times hard to find. The buzz comes back when you go to your first high school party. It leaves as quickly as it came when the kid from your homeroom throws up outside in a bush and then falls head first in. You laugh for a moment, and then realize throwing up is no buzz. Friday night football and basketball games become a big deal. There fun, but pressure is there. Lucky ones get recruited to play in college, others do not. Summers are spent by some traveling the country to play in front of onlooking college recruiters. You get that buzz again when suitors arrive at the gym before you even arrive... It is fun and the buzz is there! People want you, and dreams are becoming a reality, quickly.
College comes. You're friend the buzz is BACK! It is there, heavy, and different. New people come into your life, old people become distant, or leave entirely. In some cases, you experience a life changing event or two. One of them may even be tragic, something your not ready for. Something, anyone, is never ready for. You wonder if the buzz will ever come back.
College comes to an end, the buzz was found with thousands storming the court, finding a few special people. Your old pal the buzz doesn't come around quite as often though. Real world looms, expectations are at an all time high and you wonder if the buzz will ever show up again.... Once and a while you get a glimpse of it, but it is few and far. You go see Toy Story 3. A old man next to you cries at the end. Part of you wants to as well, but you're girlfriend and little brother are with you. You remember you're version of Woody and Buzz Light Year. The feeiling comes back and you find your toy or stuffed animal, (Mr. Stay Puft-Ghostbusters, the greatest stuffed animal ever) and get the buzz again.
Mom and Dad tell you that you're getting a car- Hello buzz! BUT car is used for real world things, grown up things. Paying for gas with quarters is nearly impossible, and frowned upon by the man at Mobil. Car means job, job means responsibility, responsibility means a long shot of the buzz. Car means bike rides and skateboards aren't really realistic anymore (people frown upon out of shape 23 year olds parading around town shirtless and causing havoc).
A high school senior writes your name as her "secret crush" in a memoribillia book. A buzz would have been there seven years ago. Now it is merely the last time you're name will be mentioned in a high school memory book-No buzz, none at all.
Finally, you look for the buzz everyday. You hope and search. You get it in hobbies and big boy dreams, sure it comes in small doses, but you can't complain, the fact that it is still there is all that matters. You search everday for it, while tackiling the grown up and real world responsibilities the best way you can.
Suggestion for today: Find your buzz, and go see Toy Story 3...My bet is you'll get your buzz back for a couple hours. Also check out Gaslight Anthems new album American Slang.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Grown up politics, and life threats from Boise Idaho...
History is over, and a respectable "C" grade is now in my back pocket. I hate the tacky term "C's get degrees" however I have made a living off them the past four and half years, and I am not ashamed to say that. I suppose a "C" could often by looked at as a slackers way of getting by, and believe you me, I have been accused once or twice in my life of "slacking." However I have also been known to have to work my tail off to get respectable grades, so a round of applause for myself for getting through summer history.
Enough patting my own back for getting a slacker grade, lets roll back to my initial post that mentioned three Siena baseball players who all had killer seasons, two of whom were draft hopefulls (keyword hopefull) in last weeks MLB draft.
This was my first experience with the MLB draft and may be my last. Here are some things that I gathered.
1. If you're a stud you go in the top ten rounds.
2. If you may one day turn into a stud you go in rounds 10-20.
3. If a scout saw you and doesn't think you're consistently stud, however saw you once on a day where you were a stud for one play, you could go anywhere from round 21 to 35.
4. Rounds 35-50 was the most pathetic experience I've ever had in my life, well one of them. If you are related to a ex major leaguer, current manager, scout, or Billy the ball boy, a team will draft you due to what grownups refer to as life politics.
5. Numbers in a mid major conference do not matter. I have already stated the numbers of my friends so I won't bore you with those again, however Kevin Quaranto batted over 400 with 14 homeruns as a 6"3 first baseman. Q has to do two things before next years draft to have a shot.... A. Marry somebody of importance's daughter... I don't care who it is... it could be Terry Francona's cousin or Madona's daughter, you marry one of them and have a jackshit year, if you have a hat and a bat you're going in rounds 35-50. OR B. Bat 500 and hit two homeruns to fall into the "may one day be a stud" category... Good luck mid major baseball players... Either know someone or put together one hell of a year.
All was not lost on the Siena baseball front. Undrafted utility man Anthony Giansanti was signed yesterday by the Chicago Cubs and ships off to Boise Idaho tommrow. Even if I had the financial means to go to potato country (I obviously do not) to catch a game this summer I don't think I'd be allowed. Once upon a time I almost started a bench clearing brawl at Boise State. Two seperate incidents in which our team ended up ultimately benefitting from. When the game ended I was booed off the floor, not allowed to shake hands, and escorted by security to the locker room. My life was threatened twice by two angry red face red necks on my way back to the safety of the Boise State visiting locker room. It's okay though, I never set out to make friends in Boise Idaho anyways... However, a few would be nice in Albany.
A new class starts tommrow, and I'm happy to say this one has nothing to do with American History. Instead I will be watching British directed films with my good pal Conner Fenlon three nights a week. Other than that I will be closing in on my search for a living situation starting in August. My lease in Hennepin goes from zero dollars to forty dollars a week around that time, so I figure the sooner the deals done the better. How is this for a deal?: The hot spot I'm looking at offers a wopping 1$ a year fee for unlimited use of their pool facilities... Now that is something I can pay for in change. Looks like I will be doing alot of swimming come August.
Something to check out.... Sunday,July 11th The College Home Run Derby will air on CBS. Siena's very own Dan Paolini (26 HR's), has been selected as one of eight sluggers to compete in the derby. I'm not a historian, but I can't recall a time other than Siena Basketball, when Siena has been featured on CBS... Pretty big time...
Enough patting my own back for getting a slacker grade, lets roll back to my initial post that mentioned three Siena baseball players who all had killer seasons, two of whom were draft hopefulls (keyword hopefull) in last weeks MLB draft.
This was my first experience with the MLB draft and may be my last. Here are some things that I gathered.
1. If you're a stud you go in the top ten rounds.
2. If you may one day turn into a stud you go in rounds 10-20.
3. If a scout saw you and doesn't think you're consistently stud, however saw you once on a day where you were a stud for one play, you could go anywhere from round 21 to 35.
4. Rounds 35-50 was the most pathetic experience I've ever had in my life, well one of them. If you are related to a ex major leaguer, current manager, scout, or Billy the ball boy, a team will draft you due to what grownups refer to as life politics.
5. Numbers in a mid major conference do not matter. I have already stated the numbers of my friends so I won't bore you with those again, however Kevin Quaranto batted over 400 with 14 homeruns as a 6"3 first baseman. Q has to do two things before next years draft to have a shot.... A. Marry somebody of importance's daughter... I don't care who it is... it could be Terry Francona's cousin or Madona's daughter, you marry one of them and have a jackshit year, if you have a hat and a bat you're going in rounds 35-50. OR B. Bat 500 and hit two homeruns to fall into the "may one day be a stud" category... Good luck mid major baseball players... Either know someone or put together one hell of a year.
All was not lost on the Siena baseball front. Undrafted utility man Anthony Giansanti was signed yesterday by the Chicago Cubs and ships off to Boise Idaho tommrow. Even if I had the financial means to go to potato country (I obviously do not) to catch a game this summer I don't think I'd be allowed. Once upon a time I almost started a bench clearing brawl at Boise State. Two seperate incidents in which our team ended up ultimately benefitting from. When the game ended I was booed off the floor, not allowed to shake hands, and escorted by security to the locker room. My life was threatened twice by two angry red face red necks on my way back to the safety of the Boise State visiting locker room. It's okay though, I never set out to make friends in Boise Idaho anyways... However, a few would be nice in Albany.
A new class starts tommrow, and I'm happy to say this one has nothing to do with American History. Instead I will be watching British directed films with my good pal Conner Fenlon three nights a week. Other than that I will be closing in on my search for a living situation starting in August. My lease in Hennepin goes from zero dollars to forty dollars a week around that time, so I figure the sooner the deals done the better. How is this for a deal?: The hot spot I'm looking at offers a wopping 1$ a year fee for unlimited use of their pool facilities... Now that is something I can pay for in change. Looks like I will be doing alot of swimming come August.
Something to check out.... Sunday,July 11th The College Home Run Derby will air on CBS. Siena's very own Dan Paolini (26 HR's), has been selected as one of eight sluggers to compete in the derby. I'm not a historian, but I can't recall a time other than Siena Basketball, when Siena has been featured on CBS... Pretty big time...
Monday, June 7, 2010
Basketball tournaments have turned into my nightmare...but a few people help wake me up
For the third consecutive weekend I worked an AAU basketball tournament again. I love basketball, I've known this since I was six, but these tournaments have turned into a chour and I am begining to hate everything that has to do with AAU basketball. Kids make funny faces at officals (HUH like I ever did that), they push over trash cans in the middle of games, they absent mindedly pour water on floors, play zero defense, and dribble entirely too much.
Parents are one of three things: 1. Angry... 2. Real Angry... or the rarity.... 3. Supportive and there just to watch their son play in the heat.
Coaches could go a couple of ways as well.... 1. Angry... 2. Over anxious and really curious about the rules that were sent to him a week in advanced... rules which I've never seen or could care less to ever see... 3. This coach really grindes my gears into a bundle: This guy is trying to be the next John Calipari, while trying to make his son LeBron. This is all happening while he is disregarding the immediate development of everyone else on the team.... and finally 4. The guy I love, who is in it for all the right reasons... I usually see this guy every three games or so and I am usually to tired and mad at the rest of the gym to really appreciate him...OK gripe time is over... To all the people/kids who do things the right way and with smile on their face, thank you, because you're the only thing keeping this guy appreciating youth basketball from time to time.
I have developed somewhat of a routine with this blog: I'm tired of history lets write for a half hour. Well this holds true today, however I have some good news people. The monster that is summer history is quickly turning the corner. I got a 88 on my last quiz, the mid term didn't go half as bad as I thought, yet I'm still not open to posting my grade, and come this Friday at 6:00 P.M. I will be 3 credits closer to that nice piece of paper that serves as a ticket to being a grown up.
For any TV junkies out there I am chomping at the bit for two shows starting new seasons at the end of June.
The more and more I fall in love with reading the less time I watch TV. However these two shows are just a joy to follow.
The first is HBO's Entourage which portrays the life of fame and fortune and leads us all to believe being famous is the way to go. Anyways Vince, Drama, Turtle, and Eric are back again for a seventh season. I have yet to research this, but I'm guessing this could be the second to last season, with a predicted final episode going like this: Vince wins an Oscar and settles down with a girl next door type, Drama finds true love to FINALLY produce mini Dramas with while landing one final big role, Turtle starts his own buisness and his relationship with Meadow Soprano survives, and E finds his niche, starts his own family, and becomes successful ... Anyways check it out if you're bored on a Sunday evening and are fortunate enough to have HBO... This is another problem for me.
The second must see of the summer is of course Rescue Me. I hate Dennis Leary's damn truck commercials, but on last season of this show he was bleeding out at a bar surrounded by friends who could do nothing but watch... Who shot him? His crazy drunken Irish uncle that's who. A great show filled with drama that potrays a struggiling NYC firefighter who lost friends in 9/11, a tragedy that he survived. Check it out, it's on FX, a channel I am fortunate enough to have.
Well it's onto studying maps and making plans for the real world. Hennepin Hall can only hold me for so long, and I am currently looking for places with a buddy of mine for monthly prices that most NBA players make for showing up to the arena on time.
Endorsement: Check out three guards at Siena I like that have played together ALOT in pick up this summer and have been feeding of each other like Sonny and Cher... Two of them are named Kyle, and one has a habbit of hitting threes from NBA range.
Parents are one of three things: 1. Angry... 2. Real Angry... or the rarity.... 3. Supportive and there just to watch their son play in the heat.
Coaches could go a couple of ways as well.... 1. Angry... 2. Over anxious and really curious about the rules that were sent to him a week in advanced... rules which I've never seen or could care less to ever see... 3. This coach really grindes my gears into a bundle: This guy is trying to be the next John Calipari, while trying to make his son LeBron. This is all happening while he is disregarding the immediate development of everyone else on the team.... and finally 4. The guy I love, who is in it for all the right reasons... I usually see this guy every three games or so and I am usually to tired and mad at the rest of the gym to really appreciate him...OK gripe time is over... To all the people/kids who do things the right way and with smile on their face, thank you, because you're the only thing keeping this guy appreciating youth basketball from time to time.
I have developed somewhat of a routine with this blog: I'm tired of history lets write for a half hour. Well this holds true today, however I have some good news people. The monster that is summer history is quickly turning the corner. I got a 88 on my last quiz, the mid term didn't go half as bad as I thought, yet I'm still not open to posting my grade, and come this Friday at 6:00 P.M. I will be 3 credits closer to that nice piece of paper that serves as a ticket to being a grown up.
For any TV junkies out there I am chomping at the bit for two shows starting new seasons at the end of June.
The more and more I fall in love with reading the less time I watch TV. However these two shows are just a joy to follow.
The first is HBO's Entourage which portrays the life of fame and fortune and leads us all to believe being famous is the way to go. Anyways Vince, Drama, Turtle, and Eric are back again for a seventh season. I have yet to research this, but I'm guessing this could be the second to last season, with a predicted final episode going like this: Vince wins an Oscar and settles down with a girl next door type, Drama finds true love to FINALLY produce mini Dramas with while landing one final big role, Turtle starts his own buisness and his relationship with Meadow Soprano survives, and E finds his niche, starts his own family, and becomes successful ... Anyways check it out if you're bored on a Sunday evening and are fortunate enough to have HBO... This is another problem for me.
The second must see of the summer is of course Rescue Me. I hate Dennis Leary's damn truck commercials, but on last season of this show he was bleeding out at a bar surrounded by friends who could do nothing but watch... Who shot him? His crazy drunken Irish uncle that's who. A great show filled with drama that potrays a struggiling NYC firefighter who lost friends in 9/11, a tragedy that he survived. Check it out, it's on FX, a channel I am fortunate enough to have.
Well it's onto studying maps and making plans for the real world. Hennepin Hall can only hold me for so long, and I am currently looking for places with a buddy of mine for monthly prices that most NBA players make for showing up to the arena on time.
Endorsement: Check out three guards at Siena I like that have played together ALOT in pick up this summer and have been feeding of each other like Sonny and Cher... Two of them are named Kyle, and one has a habbit of hitting threes from NBA range.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
"People Need to be entertained, they need the distraction..."
Yesterday I laid down in my big uncomfortable bed (the same bed in which I only touch one side of), and decided I would recap the happenings of the 2010 Gym Rat Tournament Challenge, along with Memorial Day. 800 words later, and some careful editorial work and the screen went blank.... The power cord came off and 800 words of pure genius were now nothing but... well nothing. I proceeded to throw a fit in which I punched my bed three times, yelled an obscenity, and then decided it was time to get over it and go make pizza.
Ok so back to the Gym Rat. For those reading who don't know what a monster this thing is let me explain. Thousands of players, hundreds of teams, and countless angry parents travel to Albany every Memorial Day weekend to compete in two days of humidity at Siena, UAlbany, and Skidmore College. The Gym Rat is run more effectively than any tournament I've ever been around, and I've been around these events since fourth grade, but that doesn't mean the weekend doesn't pass without some stressfull moments for everyone involved. Players like to talk trash and throw elbows, parents like to think their kid is the next John Wall, and workers... well us workers just want to get a nice paycheck and make sure nothing that will involve the police or an ambulance will occur. The weekend went as smooth as possible and on Monday morning I woke up with just a minor hotdog and coffee hangover, which was a win in my book.
The Jersey Shore Warriors 16U and 17U teams were a joy to watch for any basketball fan at the tournament. In the corrupt world that is AAU basketball this program does things THE RIGHT WAY and plays with class, not to mention they are loaded with Division 1 talent. Siena commitment Rob Poole proved to watchers and evaluators why he is so highly sought after, as he brought home the Most Valuable Gym Rat award. His jumpshot can be described in one word and that is soft, but what impressed me most about him was his basketball IQ and his willingness to play hard on the defensive end, something that is seldomly seen on the AAU or high school level.
After getting over my mild case of food and coffee indused hang over I turned my attention to Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a day that is meant to be spent with family and friends. Since my family is scattered between Western New York, the woods of Maine or Canada, I turned my attention to friends (atleast that's what I like to call them). A day that was believed to be a day full of more junk food and war movies quickly turned into a suprisingly eventfull day when O.D. Anosike informed me that he had found a cookout for us to attend. For two hours we baked in the sun, ate hamburgers (no hotdogs), and pretended like we were 10 years old again while we played Marco-Polo in a pool. Once we were all nice and wrinkled up reality set in that we were all well above the age of eighteen and we returned to the cellar of Hennepin Hall.
Well I still don't own a car, and it's weird I still don't really seem to care. I don't have much money as it is and their is a rumour going around the United States that gas is expensive, so count me out. I now have two followers on this bad boy, and one is a family member so I'm not sure that counts. That is all well and good though, as I have stated, when I get bored or when I am trying to avoid American History this is a nice escape. If anyone is wondering how that History mid term went for me... well it went... You can't win them all, or atleast that's what a smart man once told me.
Today's Suggestion: If you're looking for a mediocore movie that will take atleast five viewings to acquire a taste for check out Stephen King's The Stand. It couldn't carry King's novels shoes to the gym, but Kareem Abdul Jabar is in it, and it rivals his performance in Airplane...Enjoy the bipolar weather people.
Ok so back to the Gym Rat. For those reading who don't know what a monster this thing is let me explain. Thousands of players, hundreds of teams, and countless angry parents travel to Albany every Memorial Day weekend to compete in two days of humidity at Siena, UAlbany, and Skidmore College. The Gym Rat is run more effectively than any tournament I've ever been around, and I've been around these events since fourth grade, but that doesn't mean the weekend doesn't pass without some stressfull moments for everyone involved. Players like to talk trash and throw elbows, parents like to think their kid is the next John Wall, and workers... well us workers just want to get a nice paycheck and make sure nothing that will involve the police or an ambulance will occur. The weekend went as smooth as possible and on Monday morning I woke up with just a minor hotdog and coffee hangover, which was a win in my book.
The Jersey Shore Warriors 16U and 17U teams were a joy to watch for any basketball fan at the tournament. In the corrupt world that is AAU basketball this program does things THE RIGHT WAY and plays with class, not to mention they are loaded with Division 1 talent. Siena commitment Rob Poole proved to watchers and evaluators why he is so highly sought after, as he brought home the Most Valuable Gym Rat award. His jumpshot can be described in one word and that is soft, but what impressed me most about him was his basketball IQ and his willingness to play hard on the defensive end, something that is seldomly seen on the AAU or high school level.
After getting over my mild case of food and coffee indused hang over I turned my attention to Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a day that is meant to be spent with family and friends. Since my family is scattered between Western New York, the woods of Maine or Canada, I turned my attention to friends (atleast that's what I like to call them). A day that was believed to be a day full of more junk food and war movies quickly turned into a suprisingly eventfull day when O.D. Anosike informed me that he had found a cookout for us to attend. For two hours we baked in the sun, ate hamburgers (no hotdogs), and pretended like we were 10 years old again while we played Marco-Polo in a pool. Once we were all nice and wrinkled up reality set in that we were all well above the age of eighteen and we returned to the cellar of Hennepin Hall.
Well I still don't own a car, and it's weird I still don't really seem to care. I don't have much money as it is and their is a rumour going around the United States that gas is expensive, so count me out. I now have two followers on this bad boy, and one is a family member so I'm not sure that counts. That is all well and good though, as I have stated, when I get bored or when I am trying to avoid American History this is a nice escape. If anyone is wondering how that History mid term went for me... well it went... You can't win them all, or atleast that's what a smart man once told me.
Today's Suggestion: If you're looking for a mediocore movie that will take atleast five viewings to acquire a taste for check out Stephen King's The Stand. It couldn't carry King's novels shoes to the gym, but Kareem Abdul Jabar is in it, and it rivals his performance in Airplane...Enjoy the bipolar weather people.
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