What Time Is It?

GAMETIME!

Four hours & counting. I was able to play some ball Tuesday night on a very slippery court, but I did learn some things.

• I will not be able to shoot accurately without warming up first. Hence, I will be at the gym an hour early tonight.
• I've confirmed that I'm horribly out of shape. I will spend a lot of time sitting back on defense tonight.
• I need to find a way to stop thinking about my knee while playing. I'm sure this will take time, but it's a pretty significant psychological hurdle. How football players can come back & play after knee surgery is beyond me.
• I think my extra girth will help me rebound. That was the one thing I did consistently well Tuesday.
• My reaction time needs to catch up. I blocked a couple shots, but I should've had a bunch more. By the time my body reacted to what my brain told it to do (JUMP!!), the play was long since over.

Our captain picked kelly green jerseys for us, which match nothing that I own. I bought navy blue sneakers last weekend, figuring they match 90% of my attire, which is UConn National Flag blue & white.

I also couldn't get #12, which wasn't available. I went with #21, which is 12 in the mirror & a tribute to Roberto Clemente.

Giving Thanks

If I keep this blog up & running, you may think that I take things for granted. While I do enjoy many unimportant & material things, I want to take the time to express my thanks for the important things.

• My beautiful daughter Payton. Everyday I give thanks for her health & happiness. She means everything in the world to me. I couldn't possibly express in words how much I love her.
• My parents. I like to think they've taught me fairly well. (I keed, I keed!) I'm forever grateful for their guidance & love. I love them deeply.
• My family in general. I have a wonderful family & I know I can count on them for anything.
• My wonderful girlfriend Mary. She is an amazing person & I'm thankful that she is in my life. Her love & support has helped me a lot lately.
• My great circle of friends. I have a great group of friends, who like my family, would support me through thick & thin.
  
• All the US veterans who have fought & gave their lives for our country's freedom.
• I'm also thankful for my Xbox 360 , an Underdog movie & Carrie Underwood performing at halftime of the Tampa Bay/Dallas game today. (See, I can still be superficial.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Consider this a Thanksgiving gift to my two readers:

Hopefully USC beats Notre Dame by 60.

Don't Call it a Comeback

With all due respect to LL, you can call it a comeback.

Next Thursday, I resume my basketball "career". Some co-workers & I have a team in our employee basketball league. Apparently we have a couple of good players but we're not sure how good we'll be. There's only six teams in the league, so hopefully we're at least the fifth-best team.

I now have ten days to prepare for this. I'm seriously out of shape. It's been five years since I last played some ball. In that time frame, I've had two more knee surgeries and have gained at least thirty pounds. Throw in five years of rust and this could be ugly.

I figure it will take me at least a month to feel comfortable on the court. Hopefully me knee holds up & I don't embarass myself before then. I'll do my best to post updates.

Ashamed

I know, I know. I'm horrible.

Everyday, I come up with at least two or three subjects I think would make a decent entry here. Day after day, I find a way to not post them.

So today I will share some of the topics I considered. Maybe someday I will get around to doing something about it.

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- The 16th anniversary of my knee blowing out. Lots of sidebar topics there.
- The joy in knowing there will be no more politcal ads for a few months & how much money is wasted on them.
- Borat
- The joy of friendship
- My quest to become a basketball referee this winter
- TV shows I'm currently into.
- My Xbox Live gamer card (to your right) & the joy of unlocking achievements.
- Fantasy football failures

Oh well...