Thursday morning

This week is the last week of the regular season and we actually have a bye. We had a morning practice this morning and we went to a different gym than normal. The gym is called Ohijigoaka (my pronunciation, which is seldom correct is O-HE-JOKE-UH) and it is about a 10-15 minute bike ride away. It depends on when gear my basket bearing machine is in. It is a 15 minute ride in 14th gear, but a 10 minute ride in 21st gear. With the information I have compiled I could help Mapquest with more accurate times for their bike section.

I get to the gym this morning and go to park my bike and there are a sea of bicycles parked outside. I found this interesting, but didn't think much of it. As I approached the building I started to hear what sounded like an auctioneer. Then I realized that I was in Japan (usually I am reminded of this when I hit my head because I forgot to duck) and that the quick speaking man was talking in Japanese as well. I have picked up a little bit of Japanese in these last nine months, but I will never, ever be at the level of being able to understand the auctioneer. I was thinking it would be a cruel joke to have a Japanese auctioneer into a Japanese 101 college course on the first day. Then tell the kids they have to write down everything he says and that is 90% of their grade. It's a good thing I'm not a professor.

Then we had a good solid practice and after practice the room adjacent to the gym had ping pong tables in it. There were some elderly women playing in there and one of them came up and said Combatay Combatay (which yes I think it meant I want to fight the first time too, but it's actually good luck) for the playoffs next weekend. I started to watch the ping pong happening. They were elderly ladies that back home I am used to playing bridge with or possibly asking them to ping pong on the Wii. These ladies were not messing around. They meant business, serious business.

One of them had on what appeared to be a leg sleeve to keep her legs warm for the upcoming match. They all had on workout type clothes. The one lady had on shorts that resembled the coaches shorts that my dad used to wear. Let's just say they were a little short and a little tight. He always said that he was setting trends instead of following them. The trend never came back though as the shorts disappeared in an unfortunate mom burned them incident. Anyway, these ladies meant business by the clothes they were wearing and how they stretched for a long time before playing. They were doing about as many stretches as we would at ND when we were taking our yoga class.

When they finally started playing, they were so good. I have a ping pong table in my basement and had thought about challenging them, but I would have gotten skunked guaranteed. They were playing 2 on 2 on the table that I was watching and I was impressed. There was one lady that made a mistake on the first 4 points. On each one she would look at her paddle as if to say I'm better than that; there must be something wrong with the paddle. Evidently blaming something other than yourself crosses all borders of age and culture. The thing that amazed me the most is before each serve the lady serving would get really low with the ball in one hand the paddle in the other. She would always have the ball underneath the table and I thought that was odd. Then as I kept watching I realized she was calling plays!! She would signal a play to her partner and then serve. It was amazing!! I can't wait for these features to come out on the Wii so I can have a chance at beating someone at ping pong.

So my day started off very well today and needless to say I was impressed with the auctioneer and the ping pong players. They most definitely started my day off right!! I am sure to have a great rest of the day now!

Playoffs!!!

"Playoffs!?!? We're talking about the playoffs?!?" - Jim Mora

Yes, here in Shiga we are talking about the playoffs. We have finished our 52 game season with a record of 29 - 23 and we have made the playoffs. We have done well and this has been a crazy season to be apart of. I have had so many interesting experiences here in Japan and will share them with you as much as I can. I am sorry that this season my blogging has not been up to date much. I have been very busy with playing basketball, planning a wedding (Hope would say that I haven't done much), talking to Hope all the time (praise God for Skype), and working on starting Summit Athletics first camps this summer.

It has been very busy, but all of it has been a lot of fun. This year being this far away from home I have been excited, pushed, stretched, homesick, just plain sick, unconscious, hungry, full (sometimes), tired, bored, too busy, and lonely. This last one has made me realize in a long shot of an analogy how Adam felt in the Garden of Eden when he had all the things he wanted but he was still all alone. God has given me a lot of things that I have wanted - a great education from the #1 business school in the country (even if North Carolina's assistant told Tyler their business school was better on his official visit. Then, he decided to apologize for bringing that up. To which I casually replied - it's ok the numbers are wrong. This goes out to you Coach), my dream of playing professional basketball, and my dream of starting my own camp. All huge dreams of mine and goals that I set for myself a long time ago. Just like Adam in the Garden though with everything that he had he was still missing something. I know that Hope is what I am missing. While this year was good, it was never great because the experiences weren't with my best friend. I look forward to next year when we are blogging together (hopefully she writes more of them because my grammar is terrible when I don't check it many, many times) and experiencing so many things as a newly married couple. I hope that all of your will continue to join us on that journey.

Back to the playoffs. We are in the playoffs!!! Hooray!! We have a bye this weekend and so just like the Colts on the last weekend of everyone of their regular season we will rest...sort of. We have practices, weights, and workouts. We just don't have games this weekend. Instead we have a party with our sponsors on the Michigan Boat, which I can see from my apartment and it docks right next to our practice gym. It is our end of the year party as well as a celebration for making the playoffs. It will be a fun party. I love trying to see how far my Japanese has come each time. It usually takes me about 3 or 4 people before I call our translator over to talk to the man who I didn't realize runs the most prestigious business in town. They said last year that everyone was so busy talking to all the fans and sponsors that they couldn't eat. I plan to be quite the opposite. I hope to be too busy eating to be able to talk. We will see how that goes.

The playoffs are next weekend. We will play the team that finishes first in our conference as we finished fourth. There are 4 teams in each conference and therefore 3 rounds for the playoffs here. The first round of the playoffs is the craziest thing I have seen or heard of since my mom's Gus Macker team won the toilet bowl (it's still in our basement on top of the fridge...it ranks just about any "participation" trophy any of us boys got from sports....mostly soccer) in some year in the 1900's. We play 2 games against this team (one Saturday and one Sunday), which is normal because we have played 2 games every weekend since I have been here. The obvious question is what happens if you win one and lose one. The logical thing to do would be to play a third game. Any person that knows basic math could figure that out. Well logical wasn't what they were going for here evidently. They decided in all their wisdom to have a 20 minute "break" after the second game and then play again. That's kind of crazy. The craziest part though is that the two teams play a 10 minute "game" to decide who moves on to the final four of the playoffs.

To this I think Jim Mora would have a great reply - "Playoffs?!?!? We're talking about the playoffs here! We don't play 10 minute games to decide the playoffs?!?! What is this - hockey?"

Hotel in Tokyo

So it's been a long time since I blogged. Quick update on the team. We are currently 18-18 and 4th in our conference but it is getting to be a tight playoff race here for the last two months of our season.

We just got to Tokyo to the hotel here before shootaround. I can't help but read the notes on different hotels each time. I started to read this one and it's the standard what to do in case of emergency and restaurant options. Then there is a couple of pages of what to do in case of a disaster. I wish I could show you the pictures because they are hilarious, but I will give you some highlights of the tips.

Word for word on each example - the parentheses are my comments. At the very top:

This HOTEL buildings is structured into blocks and completely structures to prevent the spread of fire. (didn't they try that with a ship and water…I'm a little fuzzy but wasn't it called the Titanic. O yeah that worked out really well.) They are also earthquake-proof and capable of sustaining the shock of a very major earthquake. (so I am in the indestructible, unburnable hotel, yet my room reeks of smoke.)

In any emergency, we would first like to request all our guests to remain calm. For example (O joy! an example on how to remain calm - stop drop and roll maybe?), our Disaster prevention station is on duty 24 hours a day, staffed by professional guards and our own fire fighting personnel. In case of a fire, all information will be channeled to the station immediately and the staff will begin extinguishing the fire and guiding our guests to safety(at the same time? that must be why they are professional)

Upon your arrival at your room:

-confirm the location of the flashlight in your room

-let the front desk know if you are physically handicapped

-take a look at the chart on the inner side of the door showing the emergency routes from your room. Make sure you know these routes and locations of the least two emergency exits.(honestly I think reading Peyton Manning's chart on his forearm would be easier than trying to decipher this chart)

-In particular, please refrain from smoking in bed. As this is one of the main causes of fire (as if the giant No Smoking sign on my bed when I walk in isn't enough)

If you should notice a fire breaking out (or are the cause of it):

- call the front desk (dial 7)

-alert the occupants of other rooms nearby (try to blame one of them for you starting the fire)

- Don't forget to close the door when you leave the room to prevent the fire from spreading. (or else they will close it and lock it for you like on the Titanic of course)

- Inform us if you note other guests in their rooms (because every fire is a raging like a forest fire and there is no chance of anyone being safe in their rooms)

If you are trapped by the fire or smoke:

- do not use the elevators

- cover your mouth and nose with a wet towel so as not to inhale smoke and flame (I am currently doing this as there is that much smoke in the room already)

- Walk in a crouch or crawl along the wall and proceed towards an emergency staircase free of flames (they should also note that doing this when there is not a fire will draw a lot of awkward stares from other people)

If you cannot get out of your room:

- Stuff spaces around the door with wet towels and patiently wait for the rescuer party

- There are emergency stair case in the balcony, outside the window, which you may step down for escape. BUT THIS WAY SHOULD BE SOUGHT AT THE LAST MEASURE BECAUSE YOU WILL BE EXPOSED TO THE DANGER OF STEPPING OFF (stepping off!!! off the side of the building to your death is what this should say and if Ed Norton from Fight Club had anything to do with it he would have drawn the picture like that.)

If an earthquake occurs:

-Keep away from the windows

-Pull out all electric plugs

-protect your head (evidently the electric plugs are more important than protecting your head)

-put out cigarettes (because they can't handle an earthquake and a fire at the same time)

If prior warning of an earthquake is received, our internal broadcasting system will make an announcement. Also pay attention to regular TV or radio news broadcasts. Our guests are requested to remain calm and use their own judgment as to what precautions to take. We assure you that our hotel staff will be on duty as usual even during a disaster. (That's good because there's nothing that has me crave steak and sushi than an earthquake. If you could have that up here in the next 5 minutes I will give you another 500 yen.)

Well atleast you all know I am safe and informed here at the Camelot Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. I hope all of you are doing well and I will try and write again soon.

Hope's Arrival

So I want to recap the an amazing Thanksgiving week!!! My fiance Hope came out to visit me. We hadn't seen each other in 3 months so it was much anticipated to see her. She left Saturday morning for her and got her Sunday night. The most difficult part of her flight from South Bend to Detroit was security in South Bend.....what?!! Yeah, somehow the security in South Bend took her quite a while to get through because some lady there was trying to make sure there were no terrorists coming out of the South Bend Airport evidently.

Her flight from Detroit to Tokyo was about 14 hours and on this flight there is nothing more important than the seat you are in. Her seat was good, but the people next to her were well ok. She said the one lady to her left was really nice and sweet. Then there was the stereotypical worst guy to sit next to on a plane. He had on a huge coat that took up a seat and a half. It sounded like something an eskimo would wear on an Antarctic excursion. The plane wasn't cold, but he fell asleep with it on and my little 5'3 fiance was feeling crammed in her seat because of this man's coat. This wouldn't be that big of a deal, but on a 14 hour flight the littlest things will bug you to no end and test your patience. I completely understand and feel for her.

Then she had to switch terminals in Tokyo, Japan for her flight from Tokyo to Osaka. She said this was actually the worst flight because the girl next to her fell asleep on her. After traveling for that long that is the last thing anyone wants!!!

She finally got to Osaka and then she had to go through customs again. The problem here is that in Tokyo they made her go through customs and had taken her entry papers. She had to fill them out again and get escorted into an office to talk with someone. The pilot from her flight came up and asked her if everything was ok. She explained and he said well you do look suspicious as sarcastic as possible. She is a beautiful 5'3 cheerleader with a couple of huge bags of surprises for her lonely fiance in Japan (more on that later)

Finally, she made it to her fiance who was waiting outside of the baggage claim for her. Now as for me, I had my own story of events that day to get to that point.

I found out that the closest place she could fly in was the same place I came in - Kansai Airport in Osaka - an hour away from my apartment in Otsu. Our Assistant GM/player personnel coordinator/travel agent/translator/assistant coach...sort of/anything else was going to go with me on the train to pick her up. Well, she was coming in on an off weekend and evidently he had more important people and places to see. He printed out a sheet of train schedules and told me that it was easy. That was comical to me - a guy whose train experiences had not boded well in the past. In Taiwan I rode my first train/subway to go to the Zoo on the only off day that we had there. We went with our translator and at one stop he panicked and said, "get out get out get out!!!" I got out with my catlike quickness (a 14 year old cat that is). Then as soon as the doors were closing my translator Max told me that I should get back on because it was the wrong one. There I was in Taiwan stuck with no idea what to do. I waited and then took the next train that got there - thankfully it worked out and I made it to the zoo. The other train experience I had was in New York City. I was with my friend from Colombia's football team Jon Rocholl. Surprisingly, I didn't get lose this time, but I did hit my head so incredibly hard twice walking down to the subway.

So with just a sheet of directions and most of it in Japanese for the train schedule. I was a little worried, so I went to the Kyoto game the night before to practice. I felt much better then. I got to the train two hours before. I decided since Hope would have to go back on her own on Saturday morning I would take copious notes on each and every detail of the trip. I had my ipod in and was so excited to see my fiance!! I had cleaned the room up the best that I could. I had down laundry and bought some air fresheners to make it not smell like a locker room. I was on the train writing down each stop. I knew where I was supposed to stop and we weren't there yet. A lot of people were getting off in Kyoto. I knew that I was supposed to continue going. People were saying something to me in Japanese as they got off. I just kept on saying Shin-Osaka because that was my stop and I was sure that train had about 40 minutes to still get there. Finally I was the only one on the train car. Someone came back on and said train break. It was not good at all. I got off the train and then waited 30 minutes at customer service. I tried writing down where I was going and tried talking slowly, but it was difficult. Finally I got the station number of another train to Shin-Osaka and took that train to get there. I enjoyed that ride. I noticed a guy that was looking at the train schedule on the wall and he looked American. I asked him if I could help him. He said yes and I helped him the best that a directionally challenged man like myself could. We began to talk and he was from the University of Portland. He was with a program through the University of Virginia called semester at sea. He had been at sea since the beginning of the school year. Japan was his 12th country he had been to. He was meeting up with his cruise ship in Kobe, Japan to head back. He had been so many places it was really cool to talk to him and helped to pass time on the train. It was very refreshing to have an English speaking person here to have a casual conversation with.

Finally I got to Shin-Osaka and then got on another train to go to Kansai. It was about a 45 minute ride and I saved 500 yen (about 5 dollars) by getting unreserved instead of reserved. I didn't pay as much attention as I should have as to which cars were reserved and which were unreserved and after getting on the train I had to move about 4 trains forward. That was interesting, but not traumatic. I sat next to a sweet older lady. Well, she seemed sweet. I never actually talked to her. Then I finally got to the airport and it was about an hour before Hope was supposed to get there. I ate a panini right outside of where Hope was going to come out just in case she got there early. It was a great panini and reminded me of the ones I used to eat at the Barnes and Noble in South Bend.

Finally - Hope got there carrying her two huge carry-ons and two checked bags looking beautiful even after traveling for over 24 hours!! It was so great for her to finally get there! The anticipation and anxiety over missing the one person that I want to spend the rest of my life with was tough, but to see her reminded me very quickly of how worth it she is to be waiting on. I love her so much and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her. She is worth waiting every moment for her. No matter how tough it gets, how lonely I get here, how monotonous life might be here, or how small my apartment feels to me, she is so incredibly worth enduring all of that because I know that spending the rest of my life with her will be to spend my life in pure happiness and joy - no matter what we endure and how tough things get.

The train ride home was much smoother. If she would have take about 30 minutes more it would have gotten interesting once again, but we caught the last train to Kyoto and then switched to the train to Otsu. It was so great to have her here!!! It was an interesting journey here both to Japan and to use being in love and engaged. We know that both were watched over and guided by our Creator and that is the reason that no matter how many bumps and crossroads we meet, we always find the right way and enjoy it together. I love you so much Hope and can't wait til the day we finally get married!! August 14, 2010 can't come soon enough!

Sorry for the Delay

Sorry for the delay in the posts. I have a bunch of them written down and will be posting them all soon. My beautiful fiance Hope was here to visit me last week for Thanksgiving and brought me a new computer. I can now post them. I am headed to do a radio interview here in Japan. It will be interesting as the radio is all in Japanese and I know very little Japanese. We will see how it goes. Thanks for all the messages and for all of you that have been asking my family when I will be posting again. Thank you!!

Family Videos

I had an off day today and some youtube videos that I can relate to:

This describes my parents dieting....my dad used to do this with cookies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGWUswIQ020

this is my mom and dad on vacation in Hawaii at the Maui Invitation last year. They stayed an extra day without us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=469GeeqVumY

I have heat!!!!!

Shige our trainer just knocked on my door and came in to translate my air conditioning/heat unit. The only thing I understand on it is the temperature. It is a number that is in Celsius. I just push up on down on it to set the temperature and thought this was all I had to do. It got rather chilly this weekend here and I put the temperature up quite a bit, but it didn't seem to get warmer. I now know why, but this weekend I had to fill the bathtub with warm water and let the humid warm air circulate throughout my apartment to warm up. It worked quite well and worked as a humidifier, but it only worked for a short while.

I am excited that I now have heat as it is starting to get colder over here now. Of course getting colder the first of November is a lot better than how early it gets cold in South Bend and compared to South Bend - I doubt it will ever get cold like that here!!

My computer is broke

My computer is broke. I am borrowing my teammate Chris'. Things have been good here. We are currently number one in the league at 7-3. We leave tomorrow for Fukouka. It sounds funny and is an 8 hour bus trip away. Bus leaves at 7:45, so that will be exciting.

Speaking of exciting. Right now I am looking at Honeymoon spots (Hope has left this task to me with only a few paramaters. The paramaters are a lot easier than her dream engagement so I should be alright) While I am checking out honeymoon spots, I am talking to Hope on skype as she gets ready for work. We talk every morning as she gets ready for work. It is always night for me 14 hours difference now with the time change. So I talk to her from 8 to 10 my time.

She has a lot of things to do in the mornings. It's like watching a behind the scenes episode of an American Businesswoman as she has a fantastic job at Bayer Healthcare in South Bend. (Yes, she turns off the camera for all the parts rated more than PG....guess I'll hafta wait until I'm married for that version) Many mornings she gets up even earlier and does P-90x!! She works really hard at everything she does and I really admire her for that. I help her in the mornings with her makeup and everything (haha...yeah right!!).

I will get a computer soon. Hope is coming out on November 21 and I am pumped!!! It will be our first Thanksgiving together and it just so happens to be in Japan. We are going to try and cook a Thanksgiving meal with what we've got here. It will be tough with a toaster oven, a foreman and two burners on a grill, but I think we can do it. I will let you know how it goes. I am really excited to see her though as it has been 2 months since we have seen each other, even if we see each other on Skype every day and it is tough to be away from someone you love like that for that long. I definitely look forward to her coming out!!! She is staying for about 5 days and it will be quick, but fantastic. We will probably celebrate Christmas in there as well.

So right now I am talking to Hope on Skype, researching Honeymoon spots (it's a surprise and I will be the only one that knows until I tell Hope at Brunch the day after the wedding...so don't ask....but advice is welcome!!), and watching Barnyard (such a great movie...one of Cody and I's favorites!!!) What a life I live...haha.

Will update soon. We were 1-1 this weekend. Here are some pictures.

http://topics.shiga-saku.net/

First Road Trip

We had a two game preseason road trip. We started out on Monday morning and got onto our team bus that is painted out and decal ed so that anyone within a one mile radius knows the Shiga Lakestars are on that bus! It's pretty sweet. It's a nice charter bus and good thing because we spent a lot of time on it.

Evidently it is Silver week here which is a vacation week for all of Japan. They have National holidays a lot here because otherwise people will not take days off. They work incredibly hard here. The front office of our team works incredibly hard and almost lives there. Our promotional manager Buchi had actually been at the office 5 days straight before we had our press conference last week.

Anyway, everyone took vacation. I mean everyone. Our 4 hour bus ride took us about 5 and a half. We got to the gym 45 minutes before the game started. We played like we had just gotten off the bus 45 minutes before. We didn't hit many outside shots and they hit all of theirs. We lost by about 15. Then we had what was supposed to be about a 4 hour bus ride to the hotel for the night. It was about a 5 hour ride. We got into the hotel at about 12:30.

It was a really nice hotel. It had a big bed, but not much else to the room. Then, it had a toilet that looked like the air force one of toilet. You could warm the seat and use the spray that would clean you instead of wiping. That had different pressure settings and everything for it. I opted out of all of them and tried to guess left or right flush for #1 of #2. So I went to sleep that night and then had to get up at 8:30 for breakfast before shootaround.

Then after shootaround we came back to the hotel for a little while before heading to the game. The game didn't go real well. I didn't play well, but ended up with 17 points. We lost by about 20. We are still in preseason form for sure and have a lot of things that we need to work on, but that is what the preseason is for. Then after the game we supposedly had a 6 hour bus ride. The ride ended up being much longer than that. I'm not sure how long but I'm going to guess about 9. It was a long time. I read an entire book on the way up on the bus trip and on the way back watched Braveheart and the Bourne Supremacy so I was very productive just in different ways.

Thanks to everyone for the emails and messages on facebook!!! It has been so good to keep in touch with you and I appreciate it so much!!

Who Wants to be a Millionaire In Japanese

So I've been busy with practice and everything here, but I just wanted to write a quick story. We had our first practice game against KCC - the best team in Korea and lost by about 15. They are very good. Their center Ha played for the Trailblazers for quite a while - he is 7"3. He dunked once and he lowered the goal in our gym. (Our gym that we have to tape down the lines to be able to play in it. I always go around and look for where the shortest spot of the 3 point line is. It's like finidng the dead spots on your home court)

We play them again on Thursday. They are good, but we should be able to do better. So my main reason for writing tonight. As I write I am talking to Hope as she gets ready for work and watching Who wants to be a millionaire in Japanese. It is hilarious. I thought it was slum dog millionaire the first time I saw it. Then I realized that the answers were in Japanese and it wasn't. (I was kind of upset - thats a great movie!!)

Here is the highlight of this episode so far. The guy went and took a 50/50. The crowd cheered. I have no idea why. Then he said one thing in English - he said final answer. The Japanese Regis Philbin took a 500,000 yen check ($5,000) and ripped it up very dramatically. I waited and waited to see this guy's crushed reaction - and then...it went to commercial. America has influenced everywhere!!!! Then they came back and he had gotten it right. All that drama for a correct answer - some Japanese millionaire torture for you there.

Preseason Training Camp

Our training camp is somewhere about an hour away from where we stay. We are staying at a bed and breakfast that literally looks like just another house along an offroad, but it is nice. We had weightlifting this morning for about 2 hours because we had orientation with our strength coach for a long time. The weightlifting isn't really anything too strange. It is not as tough as the St. Vincent's workouts I was doing with Greg all summer, but they're good enough. Then we had lunch.

Today at lunch I decided that if I eat outside of my apartment the rest of the time I am here I am going to use chopsticks. It has been pretty interesting so far. I am not that good. Not good at all. All the Japanese players laugh at me when I try to pick up something like a piece of lettuce and right as I am about to eat it it drops to my plate again. Hunger is the best motivation for learning though. I am nearly always hungry and so it motivates me to learn quicker how to use chopsticks. For someone that wanted to go on a diet but didn't want to stop eating. Buy them chopsticks. Take away everything else and they will take a long time to eat or just get frustrated and stop eating. I will get better at it.

Then we hung out in our little bed and breakfast here. I am rooming with Bobby Nash and he speaks good Japanese because his mom used to so it is interesting when he actually know how to talk with people here. After we went to practice.

Today's practice was just over 2 hours. I finally made it all the way through practice. My ankle hurt like crazy and I am still not at full speed, but I finally made it all the way through. The trainer here is really good and has been giving me ultrasound, stem and massage between every workout. He also has me doing about an hour of rehab everyday to get the strangth back in my calf and ankle.

Tonight's dinner was really good. We had fish, chicken, salad, meatballs, rice (of course), green beans with sesame, lots of different fruit (oranges were the only thing I knew but I ate all the different kinds), and miso soup. After dinner I had treatment again.

Now I am in the room with Bobby and there is some Japanese game show on. It is not like you would think of a Japanese game show (not wipeout). Here is my guess at what it is - except its in Japanese so I don't know for sure. It is these kids that are in asked academic bowl type format. It is a tournament to get there and it is so serious. The losers cry. The winners cry from being happy. The highlights of the kids as they get introduced are of them putting library books away and studying in school. It is unreal. I have no idea what is going on, but I can't turn away.

Well, I'm going to watch one more episode of this Japanese game show and go to sleep. Hope all of you have a great Friday. It's been great for me as I am finishing Friday here.

Photo Shoot

Today was a very, very long day. We started out and got picked up at our apartment at 9. We had to be in our suits and we drove about 40 minutes to get to the place. Then we took pictures for about an hour in our suits.

Then we waited for a long time. After, we got into our jerseys and took more pictures. Then we had lunch at noon in their company cafeteria. The lunch was good. It was noodles, rice, soup, and some chicken type stuff. It was all pretty good.

Then we went back and took more pictures. Then we waited. Then we took pictures walking. Then they changed the backdrop to black. We took more pictures. Then we waited....and took more pictures. It was a long boring day. I smiled and I stared at the camera. We were there for 9 til 5 just taking pictures. I guess I should wait to get a 9 to 5 job since I am not cut out for that.

Tomorrow we leave for training camp. It is about an hour away and we will be there for 2 a days for 4 days. I will try to blog while there, but I'm not sure if I will have internet. Thanks for following.

First Day of Conditioning and Practice

I woke up this morning and via skype had a premarital counseling session with Hope and our mentors - John and Diane Diendu. They both go to our house church and John was a pastor for a long time. It was a good session and thanks to technology that we are able to continue moving our relationship forward from many miles apart.

This morning we went back over to the weight room and had conditioning with our assistant coach Big Bashi as we call him. Big Bashi is a mammoth of a man. For those of you that have seen the movie Troy. The big champion that Brad Pitt fights in the beginning. A Japanese version of that man is Big Bashi. For those of you that haven't seen it - he is a Japanese Shaq.

I still can't do sprinting yet, so I had to do bike sprints. I went down with two of the other Japanese players to do bike sprints. I got to the bike put the seat as high as possible...let's just say it was close to fitting. The bike sprints were pretty tough and if you were under the 120 rpms it made a loud warning sound. It was kind of annoying, so I tried to avoid it as much as possible. Mine went off only once or twice. The other players...well a couple more times than that. Little Bashi as he told me to call him is 35 years old, so I guess he has an excuse. Coach told me that he tried to talk him into retiring and becoming an assistant coach, but he wouldn't. In my mind he is like the Brett Favre of Japanese basketball.

After bike sprints I headed upstairs to join the rest of the guys for the rest of the conditioning workout. We had to do some drills and then Bashi (whose English is very limited) told us to go to the baseline and sit down. I thought we were done because we had going a little over an hour and had a 2.5 hour practice later that day. We sit down and Bashi tells us we can't move our upper body. We have to put our legs out straight in front of us and then lift our butt and our hip and move it forward. Then do same to the other leg. I didn't move very far after doing this and guessed we would do 10 reps a piece. Bashi says go to half-court and back. It was crazy. Try it at home. It is very difficult and your hips will burn if you do it right. Don't use your upper body, just your hip and buttocks and go a good distance and then back.

Later today we had another practice. It was at a different gym. On the other court in the gym there were about 3 ping pong tables set up and some very intense ping pong games happening. They looked like something that would be on the Olympics. So after that we got practice started and I felt a lot better today. I practice quite a bit more but didn't do any of the live 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 drills yet. My ankle was much better today. Afterwards I went to the store and got some food to cook up for dinner. I had egg sandwich and some cereal tonight for dinner and then later had some ramen noodles (which are way better here).

Weights in Japan and First Practice

Today I woke up and made some breakfast. I had eggs and some cereal. It's a good thing I learned how to cook a little bit this past year or else I would be going hungry. At about 8:40 Mike and I met coach downstairs and followed him to the weight room. We went through some back alleys and it was about a 10 or 15 minute bike ride.

We got there and I still haven't gotten used to the custom of having to take your shoes off everywhere you go. Even in the gyms you have to take your shoes off when you get there, put them on a shelf and then change into your basketball shoes. I didn't realize this and just took my shoes off and put them back on.

The weight room isn't much but it gets the job done. It is a public weight room so there is everyone from middle aged women to professional athletes to old guys just trying to make sure they can move. After we started lifting for a while they told us we had to do some orientation.

For orientation I had to stand on a machine with metal on the bottom and then hold a couple of metal handles. I felt like I was going to get shocked or something. After about a minute I stepped off and they had the most detailed analysis of my body I have ever seen. I couldn't read it but my translator told me what all it said. It had measurements of details like the size of my right calf, left calf, the balance from my right side and left side. It had details about my muscle mass, my body fat (at a lean 5.6%), and the number of nutrients I have in my body. It was impressive. Then he taught us a few things about positioning your arms different ways to have more effective strength while playing. He was very good. Then we lifted for a little while and just headed back.

After we got back I saw Martin, who lives in our building. He manages some of it, but also runs a small English school close by. He lives here with his wife and two kids. Martin let me into storage because one of my friends that I played with in Australia with the Athletes in Action team, Ray Schafer had stuff in storage. Ray played here last year. Ray and his wife Sara left a lot of stuff in storage. I got into it and it was just like Christmas. I now have many, many things I thought I was going to have to live without. Things like big bowls and an iron skillet. Very valuable things. So I carted some of those up to my room and by the time I was done unpacking it was time to head off to practice.

Mike, Gary and I got on our bikes and took off for practice. The ride to practice is all along the lake and was absolutely beautiful. Our practice gym for the day is on the second floor of the building and when in there we open a bunch of the big doors to let air in. It opens up right to the lake and it is absolutely beautiful - still very hot, but beautiful. Practice went well. My ankle is still sore. I've been doing anywhere for 1-2 hours of rehab everyday on it and it is getting better. I still can't go full for practice yet. I made it through a lot of practice though and then we walked through plays at the end. It is definitely going to be a fun year. I'm excited to get back into playing 100%. My ankle really needs to hurry up because I hate sitting out.

Well, I made a decent dinner and I talked to Hope while she got ready this morning like I always do and now I think I'm gonna call it a night.

National Health Insurance and Physical

This morning I woke up early. I still haven't adjusted entirely to time difference here so I still wake up at about 3 every morning and then it takes me anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to fall back asleep. Once back asleep I can usually sleep until 7 or 8. I woke up and made some breakfast. I was videochatting with Hope on Skype as I was eating breakfast and I heard a sound. The best way to describe this sound is if you took an ice cream truck and put a Japanese accent on it. I assumed that was what it was and ignored it. About 5 minutes later I heard it again. I finally started looking around and eventually realized it was my cell phone. Moto had texted me that he would be at the Michigan House (where I live) at 9 to meet us and go register for health insurance. It was 9:10. I hurried to throw on some clothes and ran downstairs.

Once downstairs Mike Hall (2 time defensive player of the year in his conference from BYU) walked with Moto to the train station which is about a 15 minute walk up the hill from where we live. We took the train and went to register for our health insurance. I got the paper and had no idea what the characters said. Moto translated it and told me what to write down. We got done and then had to wait for about 40 minutes until they were done. We sat in these benches that had to be half the height of benches in America. Mike impressed Moto showing off his skills of being able to count to 100. (He took a Japanese class in high school because his high school coach was the teacher, but still better than I can do as of right now.) Finally I got my health insurance card and we were on our way back to the apartment.

I now have national health insurance. For all of you wondering about how health care reform will end up I'm going to try it out and get back to you.

Shortly after our trainer, Shige, came and picked Mike and I up to go to the hospital for our physicals. He picked us up in our Shiga Lakestars Car. It is bright orange with blue painted decals all over. I will take a picture of it because it is pretty sweet. There are two seats in the back and they have lots of room. For such a small looking car the seats in the back are very roomy.

So we went to our physicals and it was an incredibly detailed physical. I had a bone bruise on my ankle about a month and a half ago. I had to be in a boot for about 3 weeks and then had a very sore sprained ankle basically after I was out of the boot. I haven't been able to play for awhile. The trainer wanted to get an MRI on my ankle and calf because my calf has some atrophy from being in the boot so long.

So I go in for the MRI and I ask the doctor who speaks no english how long it will be. He says 50 minutes. I try to explain to him that I do not want my head to go into the tunnel by hand signals and everything. The tunnel of the MRI here looks a whole lot smaller than the ones at home. After about 20 minutes he comes in and pulls me out of the tunnel (I was in to about my shoulders, thankfully). I try to figure out what is going on but he obviously messed something up. It ended up taking about an hour and 15 minutes. Afterwards I got into the rest of the physical.

There was in order - a bloodtest, ultrasound of my heart and my calf and ankle, ekg of my heart, chest x-ray of my heart, inspection of my knee by an orthopedic surgeon, took my blood pressure 3 times, met with a heart specialist about my results (she said that I'm normal and also that I eat very well), and then I had an eye exam where I had to take my contacts out(I have no idea why - I have my contacts for a reason...I am blind without them).

After all that we started driving home. On the way home I saw a giant ferris wheel on the side of the road. I realized it was the same one I went by on my bike ride yesterday before I got into the small Japanese town and got lost. The ride there took about 30 minutes. I traveled up the lake and then down and around the opposite side of the lake. The rough estimation of my ride distance is at about 25-30 miles. No wonder my butt is sore today - that seat doesn't work well for me.

Perspective

This monring I couldn't sleep real well so I woke up made some eggs and decided to go for a bike ride. It was about 5:30. I still have some jet lag and just overwhelmed still with living in an apartment I hit my head everytime I turn around. My bike is awesome....it is a 21 speed bike with a basket on the front - what more could a guy ask for? I went for quite a while just enjoying riding around the lake I live right next to. As I was riding around the lake for about 20 minutes I turned around to look at where my place was because I am directionally challenged and didn't want to get lost. When I looked back the view I saw was amazing. My apartment has one block between it and the lake. Looking back on the lake though are these buildings overshadowed by huge mountains behind them. It is really quite impressive.

So today I learned a lot about perspective. First I learned about the perspective of being in my apartment in Japan and being discouraged at the close view and the way it smells awful in my apartment. When I rode my bike just 15 minutes and looked back it was an impressive sight. The apartment and hotel next to it were right behind the lake and then the mountains painted the landscape behind them.

Then I looked across the lake and it was foggy that morning so I couldn't see the buildings all the way across but they seemed to look pretty sweet. I decided I was going to do a bike sprint workout up this side of the lake until I found a way to get across. I was doing bike sprints for about 45 minutes. I had crossed the bridge and started down the other side of the lake. What I learned about perspective is that "fog" that caused me not to be able to see the buildings on the other side was not "fog." I think the scientific term for it is a long friggin way away. I had been riding for about an hour down the other side of the lake and already passed where my apartment was and the hotel that has a bright blue-green roof. I was traveling further down and figured there had to be a bridge eventually to get across and it would be quicker than going back. I travelled for quite a while and then finally found a bridge.

This is where I found another problem. The bridge was a toll. I didn't have any money with me. Just my camera, my ipod, and my Japanese cell phone that I still can't quite figure out. I rode up to the bridge and decided that I will just try to make it through. Luckily I just drove around the toll on the left that didn't have a gate down and went over the bridge anyway. The bridge ended up being a huge incline and tough to get around. I was 1 of 3 bikers and the only one still riding when I got to the top. At the top I tried to find my landmark hotel and had no luck whatsoever. The "fog" was in the way again. (Note to self - when you are not good with directions, exploring in a foreign country is a bad idea...it was about here that I realized that)

So I decide now that I am on the correct side of the lake I will return back up that side. It worked well....for about 2 minutes. I tried to stay close to the water because it was my only landmark on which direction I was heading. I ended up in some small, small town. I tried everything. I tried to turn left to stay close to the water. Then I tried to turn right to get to a main road. Then I went straight and ended up going down an alley that I had to keep my knees closer to my back to miss hitting the houses on each side. This is when I realized. I have been riding for nearly 2 hours now and am officially lost in Japan.

Well, now I should suck up my pride and ask for directions. O yeah that's right I'm in Japan and only know hello and thank you in Japanese. Ok well maybe I can just say where I live and ask which direction for them to point. Nevermind, I don't know the name of where I live other than the Michigan House and I don't think that means anything to anyone. Ok, well I have my phone and could call Coach. That'll go well. Hey coach, I'm lost. Where are you at. Well I'm between the rice field and the bamboo house on the street that has a character like a child scribbled on the sign. So I decide my only option is to go all the way back on the road I came on. Luckily I was really taking in the scenes and was able to navigate my way back (I did have to get my camera out a couple of times to look at pictures and make sure I was going the right way). So finally I made it back. I drank 2 liters of some sports drink when I got back. I ended up riding for almost 4 hours and not sure of the mileage yet, but I was moving for sure. I think I am going to stay in the rest of the day. Tomorrow I go get my health insurance. I should've gotten that first before exploring Japan.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all of you that have sent messages via facebook or email of encouragement for being here or the engagement to my princess Hope!!!! I really really appreciate it and your friendship!!

Japan?!?!

So I haven't blogged since graduation basically. A lot has happened. I will update with where I'm at now and then as I go I will pick up with what happened throughout my busy, exciting summer.

Yesterday after an emotional trip to the airport with my fiance (yes I am engaged to Hope...more on that in a later blog, but she is amazing and perfect for me and we're getting married August 14, 2010) I flew from South Bend to Detroit. Detroit to Tokyo. Tokyo to Osaka.

There my Assistant GM/player personnel/translator/anything else, Moto picked me up. Yes folks his name is Moto, get your laughs out now, but he is a wonderful person and incredibly helpful. He serves people very, very well. So Moto got my bags took them to a place to send them to my apartment and we hopped on the train. The train was very nice. The seats were similar to that of a charter bus with each person having their own. Not exactly the South Shore Train that JP would take home every weekend from Notre Dame. Then we got off the train in Kyoto (the old capital about 15 minutes from where I am at) and rode into Otsu City.

So I am in Japan. I live in an apartment in Otsu City in the Shiga prefecture. I am in a small town it seems. We walked from the train station to my apartment and at 11 on a Friday night we ran into a total of 1 person. I didn't know there were places smaller than Washington or Montgomery, but I would compare the level of activity on my first night here to that of Cornettsville. Anyone who is reading this and seen Cornettsville knows what I am talking about and didn't blink on their way by.

Today there is a lot more action and I actually live a block away from the third largest lake in the world(so I am told). It is a nice lake, but not like touristy lakes at home. It is no Lake James. There were a lot of people fishing at it yesterday. I have a bicycle with a basket on it and every time I ride it two images pop into my head - the bike from the Wizard of Oz and my mom's bike that is at grandpa's farm in Iowa. Dang, I hope he didn't sell that with the house, the duct taped tires always get such good traction.

As I write there are vans driving around the town yelling and screaming the names of people. There is an election tomorrow and the candidates drive around all day with loudspeakers saying the candidates names. I only know that is what it is because someone told me. I have not picked up Japanese...yet. I did by an immersion program. I fell for the marketing ploy hook, line and sinker. It said it was a cheaper version of Rosetta Stone because they don't advertise so much. We'll see what happens.

It is 2:45 in the afternoon and I am absolutely exhausted, but since I have done some overseas travel I know the trick is to stay up all day your first full day there. I don't think I'm going to make it, but I'm trying. My bags were supposed to get to the room at 2 and they aren't here yet. I am excited to get my stuff and get settled in. It will be nice to make it feel like home because it is going to be home for the next 9 months.

Well, lots more to write, but for now I am going to try to figure out my DVD player and TV (the screen is smaller than my laptop screen...no one said overseas basketball is luxurious). It is a little difficult as the Japanese characters are tougher to read than a woman. Ok, maybe not that tough, but heading that direction.

Full Column for the Washington Times Herald

I was a guest columnist for the Washington Times Herald - here is what I wrote:

I am officially now a Notre Dame University Alum. Over the last four years there were times I thought a title like that would never come. Other times, it was a title that I thought I didn’t want. Just as my four years at Notre Dame didn’t pass by without any hiccups in the plan, the three day graduation weekend didn’t either.

On Friday, the #2 ranked business school in the country, Mendoza College of Business, had a recognition ceremony for all of the students graduating in Business. I graduated with a degree in Business Management, in the Entrepreneurship area of study. The ceremony was held in the Joyce Center. For the first time, alphabetically, I wasn’t the last name to be announced, not because “Zeller” wasn’t the last name in alphabetical order but because the students from the marketing division were announced after the management students. It was a nice ceremony but didn’t start without the H1N1 virus (swine flu) announcement. We were told if we didn’t want to shake the hands of the leaders of the business school, we could cross our arms. I felt like I was back at one of hundreds of pre-game masses that I attended while at Notre Dame. Hand sanitizer was also available before and after going across the stage. Despite the announcement, everyone chose to accept their degree by shaking hands, and refused the offer of sanitizer and crossing of the arms.

In the beginning of our ceremony, our Dean, Carolyn Woo, delivered the commencement speech and then shook our hands while receiving our degree. We each had a card with the pronunciation of our names and any awards that we had received listed below. I didn’t win any awards, but if I had a marker I would have written “almost cum laude,” seeing that I missed cum laude honors by just .03%. When I shook the Dean’s hand there was a good rolling laugh because of the height difference between her (just over 5’) and me (6’ 11”). When I returned to my seat, a friend on the football team asked, “Did you feel like Godzilla when you shook her hand?” We received a golden canister that some thought had our diploma in it, but it was actually just a glorified baton with a sketch of the campus inside of it. I told mom I got bored during the ceremony and drew it myself. Afterwards, the Business school provided an informal reception where I celebrated with my parents and girlfriend, Hope. We also met with my teammates, Ryan Ayers and Zach Hillesland and their families to take pictures and relive the memories of the last four years.

When I woke up Saturday, I knew it was going to be a busy day. Eric Lane graciously drove all the way to Middlebury to pick up a 25 foot trailer and then to South Bend to load up all of my things from my house and drive it back to Washington. Eric was a lifesaver because without his help, the next option was volunteering Dad to drive Tom Boyd’s semi-truck from the 2005 State Championship. From what I’ve heard the last time Dad drove an 18-wheeler, he forgot to release the parking brake in his excitement. So, you’re welcome, Tom! That afternoon we had an open house to celebrate my graduation. As always, Mom had a wonderful display and presentation of my life and accomplishments at ND. The party lasted throughout the evening as we had a steady flow of people throughout the house. It worked out great and allowed us to spend some quality time with everyone that came. When I finally laid down for bed, I felt flooded with emotions about my last home appearance on the Joyce Center floor coming up the next day at graduation. I chose to quickly fall asleep so that I didn’t think too much about it.

By the way, at our open house that evening, we talked about security for the weekend. My roommate’s dad was in the FBI for over 20 years and he was telling me about all the retired FBI, Secret Service, DEA, and state policemen that were called in for the weekend for the President’s arrival. There were a lot of uniformed officers with probably many more in street clothes.

Sunday morning I woke up and packed up what was left of my things in the house I called “home” for the past year. I rented out a room in the upstairs of one of my best friends’ house. I got all moved out and had to collect my diploma (or my $240,000 placemat, as my roommate called it) at the Joyce Center around noon but the ceremony wasn’t set to start till 2:00. Because of the protestors and high security for the President, there were two checkpoints to get to the entrance of the Joyce Center. By this time, the protestors were already active near the entrance and some ND parents were seen arguing with them. While waiting to enter, my girlfriend, Hope witnessed parents accusing the protestors of ruining their children’s graduation. In response, the protestors accused the parents of supporting Obama and his pro-abortion policies. The arguments soon ended when the parents simply said they were trying to celebrate a great accomplishment with their kids. While the hour wait to get in through the Secret Service security checkpoint seemed tedious, in hindsight, it was worth it to see “Air Force One” fly over campus. Since the airport is not far from Notre Dame, it was flying low enough for us to see it. Once we finally got through security, diplomas were distributed and the class of 2009 assembled to process onto the Joyce Center floor. I stood by teammates Ryan Ayers and Zach Hillesland, as we are all business majors. Kyle McAlarney tried to switch tassel colors with someone in the business school so he could sit with us, but it was to no avail. (However, Kyle ended up sitting directly in front of Obama and definitely was excited about that). Ryan, Zach, and I (all over 6’7) stood out like sore thumbs in the middle of the sea of students but at 6’0 Kyle blended in much better.

The processional was filled with anxious anticipation as everyone knew that President Barack Obama would soon walk in. When he finally did everyone erupted with applause and a standing ovation. Applause occurred each time his name was even mentioned in the ceremony. The Valedictorian gave a very good speech about “to whom much is given, much is expected.” She spoke about how we had all been given much and we were expected to do much. She had a long list of accomplishments--so long I would venture to say that it is longer than mom’s “TO DO” list for dad on Saturday’s that he doesn’t work. It was impressive and I was proud to be a part of a class that had a valedictorian with such accomplishments.

Notre Dame’s President, Father John Jenkins then made comments and introduced President Obama. He talked about how, as a Christian institution, we should extend our invitation to people who are our leaders even if their beliefs are different from our own. I appreciated his comments, especially when he spoke of the church’s stance on supporting leaders and respecting people of authority. I was reminded of the wonderful people Jesus surrounded himself with and what some people said about them as he spoke. I was proud of Father Jenkins for remaining firm in his invitation to President Obama and ensuring that the attention was directed at the graduating class rather than him. I’m sure he had plenty of opportunities for statements and public appearances, but he refused. Thank you, Father Jenkins, for being a strong leader of a Christian institution.

When President Obama received his honorary degree, in silent protest, some students chose to remain seated without applauding. While I stood to watch, I chose not to clap. President Obama’s stance on abortion differs from the moral standing of Notre Dame and the Catholic Church. Personally, I did not agree with Obama receiving an honorary degree, either, and did not support Notre Dame’s decision to give it to President Obama. I believe the Catholic Church and Catholic University should uphold their catholic mission of not giving honorary degrees to those who do not line up with their moral stance. Arizona State invited President Obama and made a statement by not giving an honorary degree. This was the only issue that left me unsettled about the ceremony and the President’s presence.

When President Obama began his speech we were all reminded that he is a great orator. I greatly enjoyed hearing him speak, as he had me on the edge of my seat. However, his wasn’t without interruptions. During his speech, three different people stood up and yelled anti abortion slogans. The police quickly escorted each of them out. The first time was shocking but expected, but the second and third times were quite annoying. While I may have agreed with what they were yelling, rudely interrupting Notre Dame’s graduation in such a way is not a positive production towards pro-life legislation. Truly protesting would have been to not attend the ceremony at all or other more civil and respectable means of sharing their beliefs. I’m not sure what result the protestors were aiming for but regardless those types of interruptions were unnecessary and disrespectful. I was very proud to be a part of the Class of 2009 and even got chills when the second protestor started during the President’s speech, the students started the “We are N.D!” chant. Our class was not going to let the protestors ruin our day that we had worked so hard for. If I had a chance to sit down with Obama at a coffee shop, I would listen to his stance on abortion and then tell him I disagree, but then buy his cup of coffee. Afterwards, I would then extend the proposition that should solve all great political debates. I would challenge President Obama to a game of one-on-one to solve the issue once and for all.

After the graduation, my parents had to get back home, but Hope and I went to a celebration dinner at Hacienda, which is not near as good as Mi Pueblo, but it has had to suffice since Mi Pueblo doesn’t yet deliver to South Bend. After dinner, I drove to my “home” for the next couple of weeks – the Marten House Hotel in Indianapolis. I am working out with Coach Ed Schilling of Champions Academy every morning and Ralph Reiff and his trainers of St. Vincent’s Sports Performance Center training to pursue a professional career. As of yet, I don’t know where I will be. I work out about 5 hours a day and my agent takes care of where I will be.

Overall, I am proud to be a Notre Dame graduate from Washington, Indiana. I know that without living and growing up in Washington, I would not be where I am at today. Whether it be the support of people in the Hatchet House, struggling through memorizing the Gettysburg Address in Don Spillman’s Class (I heard a rumor that he is making his class next year memorize President Obama’s recent Notre Dame address – good luck with that!!!), or the guidance and support of my first bus driver and amazing woman that was Coach Omer’s wife Wilda. I appreciate everything that has been given to me and since the day I graduated from Washington High School, I have been trying to live by our valedictorian’s mantra – to whom much is given much is expected. I am trying to do the best I can to everyday make Washington proud.

Workouts

So I've been working out hard in Indy.  It's been really good.  Workouts have been tough.  My lunch yesterday was baked cod, lima beans, and baby spinach salad.  I thought that was questionable at best, but then I got dressing....I think it was dressing.  I smelled it and it was quite pungent.  It stung the nostrils.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be though.  It made the baby spinach salad taste better than eating plain leaves off a tree because that's what it looked like.  The planned meals are really good and have been helping, but sometimes things just don't taste that good.  After both of my workouts, I get snacks that total at least 700 calories.   There is a window of 30-60 minutes after the workout that your cells are more open to receiving recovery nutrition and it is a very important part of getting the most out of the workout.  700 Calories may sound like a lot, but I did a bodpod test and they figured out that I burn 2500 calories a day.  This is by doing absolutely nothing, just because of my metabolism being that high.   

All of my working out really hard and I'm still not sure what the future entails for me.  I am working out and trying to play well in front of the right people.  I have learned a lot from books in college, but probably the two most valuable lessons came from a combination of on and off the court.  I learned that there are many things in life you can't control - don't worry about it.  There are two things you can control - your attitude and how hard you work.  These are the two most important things, not only in basketball, but in the classroom and I find myself reminding myself of the same thing everyday in my relationship with Hope as well.  There are many situations and circumstances that aren't possible to control, but those two things can make your life better.