tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59742771053833759782024-03-23T05:14:57.812-05:00The Moose BasketballThe Moose is on the LooseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-56490395819096331852015-05-22T17:06:00.000-05:002015-05-22T20:53:33.696-05:00On Wisconsin Forever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcWeRGLFkBqU-Ug7N8iAQKWZYX5SkQqLXvraNlhInRsmIE6cmFNz9IhnW1zQyF9buRvvhyD809KDWxYRCBg1t-9fyrmbeHje40xqakXNENxjJtqu4uRQ7pSpvcyOmcVtkHuIgwZcYwQ-m-/s1600/make+em+believe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcWeRGLFkBqU-Ug7N8iAQKWZYX5SkQqLXvraNlhInRsmIE6cmFNz9IhnW1zQyF9buRvvhyD809KDWxYRCBg1t-9fyrmbeHje40xqakXNENxjJtqu4uRQ7pSpvcyOmcVtkHuIgwZcYwQ-m-/s400/make+em+believe.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To be honest, I have been putting off writing this blog for a while now. Writing this blog means that my time at Wisconsin has come to an end, and I am now officially reflecting on the past. Thinking about what to write here is difficult because there is so much to say, but at the same time it makes me sad. First and foremost, I have never loved being a part of something as much as I loved being a student-athlete at the greatest university in the world. Thinking about the future is scary, but I know that I am now ready for it. However this is not a blog about my future. This is a blog to say thank you and goodbye to the best thing I have ever known. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back when I was being recruited I remember being in my high school gym getting ready for a game of 5-on-5 when a tall man wearing a Wisconsin windbreaker walked in. I was very nervous...I'd never played in front of anyone from a school of Wisconsin's caliber. After the game the man briefly introduced himself and said he would be in contact. It was Howard Moore an Assistant Coach at the time and little did I know that meeting would be the beginning of something great. Coach Moore offered me and my family the opportunity to visit Wisconsin. I fell in love with the campus and the staff and nearly committed on the spot! A few short weeks later I made the decision to become a Badger and now I am proud to say I am a Badger for life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I got to Wisconsin I was a frail kid with lofty dreams who wanted to achieve something great. I realized at the time that it wasn't going to happen immediately for me. It would take time to get where I wanted to be, but I had no clue how hard the process would be. I struggled through my freshman year. I fell behind in school, and in basketball. I was constantly frustrated and didn't know what it took to succeed. I started thinking that Wisconsin was as good as it was gonna get for me. I started believing that I was not good enough, not smart enough, and didn't have what it took to be great. Honestly, I needed to do a lot </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">maturing. I hit a point where I was tired of feeling sorry for myself. That's when I made a promise to myself that I would work as hard as I could and find out how much I could accomplish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sophomore year did not go as well as I had pictured it in my mind. I had made progress with my body and my game, but I still struggled with the mental aspect of the game. I got frustrated all the time and it clearly affected me. Some days it was so bad that I refused to talk to anyone. At the end of the season, I felt like I had not progressed as much as I would have liked. If there was one silver lining in my sophomore year, it was that when the season was over I didn't feel sorry for myself anymore. I stopped my complaining and went to work. I realized that I was in control of my ability to do something great and I was determined to make that thought a reality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next two years are history. Big Ten Champions, Back-to-Back Final Fours, Final Four Runner-Up, Big Ten POY, National Player of the Year, and College Graduate. Our story as a team has been so well documented that there really is no need to go into it here with any </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">great detail. But I will say this, it was the best time of my entire life. Every single day was better than the previous one. I have no regrets at all about my basketball career at Wisconsin, especially because no one expected me to achieve what I achieved except me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To my family and friends...thank you for making an effort to come up to games, having my back on numerous occasions, putting up with my goofiness and treating me like just another guy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To my teammates...thank you so much for believing in me and being there for me through the highs and lows. You guys are my family now, and what we accomplished together can never be taken away from us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To the coaches...thank you for giving me the opportunity to grow as a person and a player under your watch. Without you I don't know if I would be in this position today. Thank you for pushing me towards my dreams and helping me through the tough times. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To the fans...thank you for being the best fans in the country. I dont think any fan base compares to ours. Your loyalty and constant (sometimes overwhelming) support makes our teams feel like there is nothing they cant do. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And finally to the University of Wisconsin-Madison...thank you for having me. You have no idea how much you have changed my life. I could not think of a better place in the entire world. I was born and raised in Illinois, but I am proud to say that Wisconsin has turned me into the man I am today. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leaving Wisconsin for the last time as a student and the first time as an alumni was very difficult, but I am very excited about my future and I know I will carry Wisconsin with me wherever I go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I sign off as a Wisconsin student for the final time, I would like to share a passage from my favorite book that has inspired me and explains me very well. I hope it resonates with you all, but if not at least always remember that the magic of life lives within us and amongst us and it is our job to never forget it. </span><br />
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<span class="im" style="color: #500050;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">“You know, I do believe in magic. I was born and raised in a magic time, in a magic town, among magicians. Oh, most everybody else didn’t realize we lived in that web of magic, connected by silver filaments of chance and circumstance. But I knew it all along. When I was twelve years old, the world was my magic lantern, and by its green spirit glow I saw the past, the present and into the future. You probably did too; you just don’t recall it. See, this is my opinion: we all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out. We get put on the straight and narrow and told to be responsible. Told to act our age. Told to grow up, for God’s sake. And you know why we were told that? Because the people doing the telling were afraid of our wildness and youth, and because the magic we knew made them ashamed and sad of what they’d allowed to wither in themselves.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">After you go so far away from it, though, you can’t really get it back. You can have seconds of it. Just seconds of knowing and remembering. When people get weepy at movies, it’s because in that dark theater the golden pool of magic is touched, just briefly. Then they come out into the hard sun of logic and reason again and it dries up, and they’re left feeling a little heartsad and not knowing why. When a song stirs a memory, when motes of dust turning in a shaft of light takes your attention from the world, when you listen to a train passing on a track at night in the distance and wonder where it might be going, you step beyond who you are and where you are. For the briefest of instants, you have stepped into the magic realm.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">That’s what I believe.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">The truth of life is that every year we get farther away from the essence that is born within us. We get shouldered with burdens, some of them good, some of them not so good. Things happen to us. Loved ones die. People get in wrecks and get crippled. People lose their way, for one reason or another. It’s not hard to do, in this world of crazy mazes. Life itself does its best to take that memory of magic away from us. You don’t know it’s happening until one day you feel you’ve lost something but you’re not sure what it is. It’s like smiling at a pretty girl and she calls you “sir.” It just happens.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">These memories of who I was and where I lived are important to me. They make up a large part of who I’m going to be when my journey winds down."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">- Robert McCammon, <b><i>Boys Life</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Thank you everyone. Best 4 years of my life. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com416tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-86987995208517401152014-08-28T13:02:00.000-05:002014-08-28T13:02:41.148-05:00Lunch With Scott Van Pelt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKLcGfKN78R-0PWpPkLV60_KVw-lCP9soGRDQeO21FNXSuzaa18-DrYY3Q1dDOEctkmX9YYjHETqkWtDvFlPVrQT8LlxuH7BD7wRH5ubwzhCvxMhcJBpWZlXeXiIQwv7trqrW_bWPiLOi/s1600/SVP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKLcGfKN78R-0PWpPkLV60_KVw-lCP9soGRDQeO21FNXSuzaa18-DrYY3Q1dDOEctkmX9YYjHETqkWtDvFlPVrQT8LlxuH7BD7wRH5ubwzhCvxMhcJBpWZlXeXiIQwv7trqrW_bWPiLOi/s1600/SVP.jpg" height="400" width="390" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last week, my friend Alex and I were up in Madison moving my stuff into my new apartment. Alex saw on twitter that Scott Van Pelt was in Madison doing an interview with Melvin Gordon. So I decided to tweet at him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a few twitter exchanges, we decided that we would meet at Dotty Dumplings for a bite to eat. Let me tell you this, there is a reason Scott Van Pelt is so successful at what he does. He is a very personable guy and is very easy to talk to. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We sat and talked about everything sports for about an hour and a half. At the end, I got him to throw up the Dirty Dub. I think he's totally forgotten about Maryland at this point and moved onto being a big Wisconsin fan (I hope). </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com343tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-18224207290810520812014-08-04T17:55:00.003-05:002014-08-04T17:55:45.802-05:00So I Played With TMAC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-aVRbq1B5pZ_o0SXE0UbQ2Prhzu_A5JNbWKKHRV2zdPa8beCj_fSDvfHSjfuBRX8PmPO5GB3x10C7wrecTT44wr86SHcmKcHq42hXF76GTw2mRnYsmU2kpH7Mxk8hPi1szfmYIpw9zzZ/s1600/mcgrady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-aVRbq1B5pZ_o0SXE0UbQ2Prhzu_A5JNbWKKHRV2zdPa8beCj_fSDvfHSjfuBRX8PmPO5GB3x10C7wrecTT44wr86SHcmKcHq42hXF76GTw2mRnYsmU2kpH7Mxk8hPi1szfmYIpw9zzZ/s1600/mcgrady.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Adidas Nations basketball camp in LA. For the first two and a half days, nearly 30 collegiate camp counselors were split into 4 teams and played a round robin tournament. Due to injury and early departures, my team was down to 4 people for our final game. They told us they had a replacement for us, but they had not mentioned who.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Earlier in the day, Tracy McGrady came to one of our meals to talk to the players about his journey and his career. It was very interesting stuff. After he was done, we all just assumed he left. That was, of course, until he showed up on the court in full basketball gear. Im gonna be honest, I went a little crazy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TMAC was my childhood idol. I wore #1 because of him. I got his new shoes every year for christmas. I watched most of his games. I was amazed by some of the things he could do on the basketball court. And now it was my chance to play with him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was an awesome experience. Obviously he is retired from the NBA now and doesn't have the flash and flare that he used to, but it was cool nonetheless. All the people were surrounding our court to watch him play. On 2 separate occasions he found me open for a dunk. He gave us all advice and coached us along the way. Like I said, it was an awesome experience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also, I would be mad at myself if I didn't at least mention this. The assistant coach on our team was an NBA legend that went by the nickname the Mad Dog. If you don't remember who he is or who he played for, here is a video to remind you. And yes, the man speaking spanish and dancing around to jump around in the video is representative of his personality. Awesome guy to be around, and awesome guy to have as a coach for a weekend. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-32004608103569890102014-07-22T12:19:00.004-05:002014-07-22T12:19:57.916-05:00My Love for Entourage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjWDkA4Vtwu9_-2jBRFD6QlMzzZsdneZ0YrJqGYr2SOMlFmDvPAJxduQLpHRZr-rWJ7VRx7Wz5YVqUE4KnflIkpGX2LcdZLBx9i3TatoQMUkkSIkDNwaeazLKbKqyvD4cTm3V9PsH7hXC/s1600/entourage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjWDkA4Vtwu9_-2jBRFD6QlMzzZsdneZ0YrJqGYr2SOMlFmDvPAJxduQLpHRZr-rWJ7VRx7Wz5YVqUE4KnflIkpGX2LcdZLBx9i3TatoQMUkkSIkDNwaeazLKbKqyvD4cTm3V9PsH7hXC/s1600/entourage.jpg" height="322" width="400" /><br /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are less than a year away from the release of the Entourage movie, but this year marks the 10th anniversary of the airing of the first ever episode of the (in my opinion) greatest sitcom of our generation. Recently, Turtle (casted by Jerry Ferrara) wrote a <a href="http://b4bpod.com/blog/#sthash.RE0Rkm0g.ym3OrzdD.dpbs" target="_blank">blog post</a> about his initial thoughts on entourage that start when the pilot episode first aired on HBO. Let me tell you, it made me love entourage even more than I already do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In his post, Ferrara wrote "the show starts and I am the first character you ever see in Entourage (as fate would have it I am also the last face you see in the finale)." He recalls being so nervous watching that scene because he was nervous that the show was going to be awful and he was embarrassed about the fact that he had to bark in one of the first scenes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turtle went on to be the most loved character in the entire show. Want to know why? Because he is so many people in the world. He follows his movie star best friend out to California where he becomes his driver. As the show progresses he begins to mature and wants to stop using Vince for money and favors. He wants to make something of himself. He gets screwed over time and time again, but he always keeps a positive attitude about it. He is us. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My love for entourage goes even deeper than that. It makes me realize even more that I have a great group of friends around me. We already are an entourage, but hopefully one day we can become a high-powered one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ferrara points out in his post that on almost every TV show, the actors and actresses become like a family. He says that isn't true, but he is positive that he Kevin Connolly (E), Adrian Grenier (Vincent Chase), and Kevin Dillon (Johnny Drama) have become best friends and Jeremy Piven (Ari Gold), rounds out their family that was created during the show. He said that is why it made playing roles of best friends was so easy because they became best friends. That is what we all love to hear.</span></div>
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I’ll sum it up by saying I never in my wildest dreams thought Entourage would do 96 episodes. I’ve since gone on to do some other cool projects but the fact that we got to shoot the Entourage Movie still boggles my mind. Now that OLD JERRY is who I am, I enjoyed each and every moment of shooting the movie with my friends. Now that binge watching has become normal, I love when an 18-year-old dude tells me he watched all eight seasons in a week and asks when is the movie coming out. Like the pilot, there is no way to tell if people will like or dislike the movie. I will not be on the couch alone and eating old pizza waiting to find out. I’ll probably be sleeping cause I’m an old ass man now. The purpose of this post was to thank the fans who have watched, whenever and however they watched. And our crew over the years who gave us all so much and always said it was the coolest job.</div>
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Things always had a way of working out for the guys in Entourageland. Hopefully we have one more trick left in the bag. If we don’t <b>“We can always move back to Queens”</b> – VINCENT CHASE</div>
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HAPPY 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY.</div>
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Jerry</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-21447736004109815862014-07-14T12:57:00.000-05:002014-07-14T12:57:58.455-05:00LeBron's (Ridiculously) Well Written Decision <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrNgd8RangRiP5y0wU3uhvVQzzKZa46FGpCtjG097l0CVLbwvypXo395Zh941z-v10cjez2hUsB0oE5THiTKHyuankT4Q1Gh_HGbXGA-ltt02r1yDDrJ11WFRyQ_p3xwTbXqDj8LEdoZqE/s1600/lebron+return.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrNgd8RangRiP5y0wU3uhvVQzzKZa46FGpCtjG097l0CVLbwvypXo395Zh941z-v10cjez2hUsB0oE5THiTKHyuankT4Q1Gh_HGbXGA-ltt02r1yDDrJ11WFRyQ_p3xwTbXqDj8LEdoZqE/s1600/lebron+return.png" height="328" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A few days ago, LeBron James announced his triumphant return to Cleveland by submitting a post to Sports Illustrated discussing his reasoning behind his decision. From an amateur writer like myself, I can honestly say I was blown away by how well written it was. I gained so much respect for the King, and here is why.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all, I have been saying for years that LeBron was eventually going to return to Cleveland. I didn't expect it to be this soon, but it was my opinion that he would retire a Cavalier. The Cavs have so many young pieces now that LeBron can be a mentor to them and to be honest they can become one of the most dominant teams in the NBA immediately. They have Kyrie Irving. They picked Anthony Bennett #1 last year. They drafted Andrew Wiggins #1 this year. They have one of the hardest working Centers in the league in Anderson Varejao. There are pieces in place that make sense for LeBron to come back. But that was not the main reason for him... according to LeBron.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He said that it is all about his Northeast Ohio sense of loyalty. He has people and places in Ohio that cared about him before he was considered one of the best basketball players to ever play the game. I could not respect that any more. He wants to bring a championship to his state and his team. He wasn't able to do that in the past, and I am positive that it bothers him. He left Cleveland to seek championships... he won 2 of them. He has solidified himself as an NBA champion. In his eyes, now it is his time to leave a lasting legacy for himself as a Cleveland Cavalier, and more importantly an Northeast Ohio boy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can relate to LeBron on this one because I have so much pride in where I was brought up. I already know that I eventually want to retire to exactly where I live right now. Illinois is my home, and I will never, ever deny or try to change where I call home. Being raised by a family of South Side Chicagoans, I learned that loyalty is of the utmost importance. Loyalty to family, friends, places, people who have helped you, etc. Loyalty is one of the biggest reasons I decided to stay in school for another year. Loyalty is what makes me defend anyone and anything I care about or believe in. Seeing LeBron be loyal to where he came from doesn't shock me. It hammers home the point that no matter where you are or what you are doing, you will always be a product of where you came from. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LeBron didn't forget about Cleveland while he was in Miami. He was on a mission to achieve greatness, and he did. Now that he has seen that roadmap to success and what it takes to be a champion, he can bring that back to his home and do it for the people and places who have been behind him since he was just a boy playing basketball. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com51tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-18624959073534435282014-07-02T12:20:00.000-05:002014-07-02T12:20:27.723-05:00Why The Bulls Need Carmelo Anthony<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZegNV3iUkX85xoiloCnC0pPxt3F7Rfwa8_WigDsteXgDizbT9bTGETEKSO94Q_4UElt46NApFP7vvp2Kz0r95-p6miTE84Z6GjXRLF7uv9zsiEAvYqQrcLGFDMawtO7laBGQm2vbVVWb/s1600/carmelo+bulls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZegNV3iUkX85xoiloCnC0pPxt3F7Rfwa8_WigDsteXgDizbT9bTGETEKSO94Q_4UElt46NApFP7vvp2Kz0r95-p6miTE84Z6GjXRLF7uv9zsiEAvYqQrcLGFDMawtO7laBGQm2vbVVWb/s1600/carmelo+bulls.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Chicago Bulls are looking to land a superstar in this years Free Agency in the form of Carmelo Anthony</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Its no secret... Carmelo Anthony is priority #1 for the Chicago Bulls this offseason. He should be. The Bulls have had some major setbacks over the past 2 seasons because of two separate season ending injuries to Derrick Rose. Melo would alleviate that pain that some fans have felt over the last two seasons because we know how good they can be when they are healthy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Here are some reasons why Carmelo should come to the Bulls:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">#1. We have Derrick Rose.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The 2010-2011 NBA MVP has had an unfortunate two years, but I am positive that he is ready to come back and be very effective again. He has had a lot of time to work on his game so that he can come back to playing better than he was before he got hurt... and he was pretty damn good before. Rose and Melo would complement each other in a great way because they both have a common goal.... winning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">#2. Create a ''Big 3" of Rose, Melo, and Joakim Noah</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Joakim finished 4th in MVP voting last season. This past season he showed off skills that no one has seen from him before, and its scary to think how good he can be if he has made this much improvement thus far. He is an absolute work-horse that loves winning. He does anything the team needs him to do to win. Score, Rebound, Pass, Defend... you name it. That trio of players would be damn hard to stop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">#3. Role Players</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Bulls already have role players that would be focal points of other teams. Taj Gibson has proven himself as a highly effective player in the league. Jimmy Butler has stepped up and become a defensive stopper as well as an offensive threat with the absence of Derrick Rose and the departure of Luol Deng. Draft pick Doug McDermott was a proven scorer in college, and with a few years under Thibs will surely become a good defender as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">#4. Tom Thibodeau </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The defensive principles that Thibs preaches will allow this team to focus on defense, but have a high powered offense as well. Joakim Noah was the defensive MVP of the entire NBA this past season, and I'm sure he wont forget how to play defense by next season. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">All-in-all Melo would be walking in the doorway of a franchise that is capable of winning championships. There are obviously no guarantees, but if you can honestly say that a lineup like this could not win a championship... then I dont trust in what you say anymore:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">PG - Derrick Rose (20.8 ppg, 3.8 apg career)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SG - Jimmy Butler (13.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg 2013-2014)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">SF - Carmelo Anthony (25.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.1 apg career)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">PF - Taj Gibson (9.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg in just 24 mpg career)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">C - Joakim Noah (12.6 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 5.4 apg 2013-2014) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The east is a tough division to get out of because of the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. I truly believe that bringing in Melo can get the Bulls over that hump and into the finals. Winning doesnt just happen over night, but becoming legitimate NBA Finals contenders can. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I know depth off the bench and cap space becomes an issue when signing a player who will take a max contract, but I know the Bulls can figure out a way to make it work. It would most likely bring about the departure of Mike Dunleavy, Tony Snell, Carlos Boozer (to name a few). Some difficult decisions will need to be made by the organization's leaders, but they are more than capable of making them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As a Bulls fan... I would love to see #7 in Chicago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Moose</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com84tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-30786137239502480152014-07-01T13:35:00.002-05:002014-07-01T13:35:54.184-05:00If The Badgers Were A Baseball Team..... (With Player Comparisons)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKg85UkvN_McgSU8qNkEBUPF-J9L4mHohlkbD1zg0Vn6J3dCl-tC6l-e6Bh52IE_TDdZo1YIpW5ntTNmZS7bUDBce4F9KLVSPBu3HoaME3a7bZOMRmwOdaol5vvXpYQz6cZ8iWfEwyZb3/s1600/wisconsin+baseball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKg85UkvN_McgSU8qNkEBUPF-J9L4mHohlkbD1zg0Vn6J3dCl-tC6l-e6Bh52IE_TDdZo1YIpW5ntTNmZS7bUDBce4F9KLVSPBu3HoaME3a7bZOMRmwOdaol5vvXpYQz6cZ8iWfEwyZb3/s1600/wisconsin+baseball.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If the Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Team turned into a Baseball Team... What position would they play and who would they compare to?</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I haven't made a post in a while, and in honor of baseball season I decided to make a post on what would the team be like if we were a baseball team. I want to get back to making blog posts after taking a social media hiatus. Hope you'll enjoy this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This is going to be broken down in order of batting position as well as description of why I think they will play that position.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>1. CF - Zak Showalter</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Showy would make a great leadoff man and centerfielder in my opinion. The kid would run through a brick wall if you asked him to. He is also a big defensive presence so I think he would fit great in the middle of the outfield. As a hitter, he would get on base consistently, which is what you want out of your leadoff man. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Comparison - Aaron Rowand</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">While I believe his hitting would be better than Rowand's, I think he would bring the same defensive presence that Rowand brought. I mean the guy shattered his face running into a wall to catch a fly ball. If thats not hustle, I dont know what is. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. SS - Josh Gasser</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Josh is Captain America. I really dont need to say much else besides saying he would be our leader, and the Short Stop is almost always the leader. He is a great defender, and would consistent hitter that would surprise a lot of people with his power. Plus he is one of the most clutch persons I know, so hes got that going for him as well.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Comparison - Derek Jeter</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Josh is like Jeter in the manner that he is popular amongst his peers. It is hard to find someone that hates Jeter, just like it is hard to find someone who hates Josh Gasser. Jeter sports a career .311 batting average, and ranks in the tops of many statistical categories in the MLB. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">3. LF - Sam Dekker</span></strong> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the best hitters in recent history of the MLB have come from the outfield. Carlos Lee, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr.. etc. Sam has the smooth swing and power that is ideal for a hitter. He has the length and athleticism to make him a good fielder. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Comparison - Josh Hamilton</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Josh Hamilton has made a name for himself as one of the bigger superstars of the last 8 or so year. He is a five time all-star, the AL mvp, and a 3-time silver slugger award winner. If Sam brought Josh Hamilton's blend of hitting and defense, we would not complain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>4. RF - Nigel Hayes</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Nigel is a man of power. His build and frame would allow him to crank out homeruns. While hitting consistency would be in question, his work ethic would never be in doubt. He would own his segment of the outfield, and work himself into becoming a good hitter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Comparison - Jermaine Dye</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Jermaine Dye's career kind of starting off slow. He was known as a good defender, winning a gold glove award in 2000. As he moved into his prime, he was known for his power as a batter. He eventually led the '05 White Sox (greatest team ever) to a world series, winning the World Seies MVP award. He ended with a .274 career BA and 325 homeruns. Not bad at all. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">5. 1B - Duje Dukan </span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Duje would be a solid addition in the infield. He has quick reactions and good hand-eye coordination, which would make him decent at fielding and picking bad throws out of the dirt. His height would also give him an advantage at reaching poorly thrown balls. He also has tremendous offensive skills which would combine to make him a solid hitter. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Comparison - Richie Sexson</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sexson was known for his height (6'8) at the first base position. He had a few solid years as a hitter as well. While he never hit the ball consistent enough to have a high on-base percentage, he was always able to get some power behind his swing. He ended with over 300 homeruns, with 45 coming in one season. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">6. 3B - Traevon Jackson</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Third Base is one of the toughest positions to play on the field because of the reaction time allowed. Most pull hitters will hit missles down the third base line. Trae would have the reaction time, and the arm strength to pull off some miraculous throws. His hitting would be questionable to me because even after 3 years of being around him, I am still not sure which is his truly dominant hand.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Comparison - Melvin Mora</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In my opinion, Melvin Mora was underrated for most of his career. He was a very, very solid third basemen. He had some great seasons, with few, if none, bad seasons. His fielding percentage wasn't astonishing, but he was a solid defender. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">7. DH - Vitto Brown</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Vitto is a kind of hitter who would hit the ball a mile, if he made contact with it. This is not a knock at Vitto's abilities, but I think he would be the kind of strikeout or homerun DH that we see often these days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Comparison - Carlos Pena</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Carlos Pena was a super power hitter for many years. Although he hit the ball a mile, he struck out a lot (over 1500 times in his career), and his career .232 batting average is low. But that doesnt change the fact that he was an impact at the plate, and opposing pitchers feared him.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">8. 2B - Bronson Koenig</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Bronson has the speed and agility to make himself a good hitter for the bottom of the lineup, and a good fielder. He would not hit for much power at all but he would find a way to get himself on-base as much as possible. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Comparison - Freddy Sanchez</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Freddy Sanchez has never hit for power. In 2007, he hit 11 homeruns (his highest total in one season). However he is a career .290 hitter. In '06, he hit .344 and had 200 hits. He had a 4 year stretch in his career where he was a solid, consistent hitter. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">9. C - Jordan Smith</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I think Smith would be a wildcard catcher. The comparison I am going to give him really has nothing to do with baseball.... youll see. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Comparison - Joe Mauer</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This is the one position that I couldnt figure out, and knowing Smith, the comparison makes sense from a non-baseball aspect. Joe Mauer is the guy doin all the hair commercials with his spiked up hair and fancy attire. Well that would be Jordan Smith in a nutshell for ya. The kid put a lot of effort into how he looks, and I have a feeling the same goes for Joe Mauer. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">SP - Frank Kaminsky (Me)</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Pitching was always fun for me, and I was better at it than fielding and hitting. I hit the ball very far, when I made contact. My hitting skills were like Pedro Cerrano from major league. Anytime a breaking pitch came you could guarantee I would miss or just watch it as it gets called for a strike. Throw a fastball down the middle and you might be in trouble though. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Comparison - Randy Johnson</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Randy Johnson was a fantastic pitcher who could toss some heat. We are both exceptionally tall as well so we got that goin for us. I dont think I would even make it as a pitcher, but if I dreamt of who I would be like if I did, it would be Randy Johnson. Plus his nickname was the Big Unit (giggle). </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">CP - Aaron Moesch</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I dont know if Moesch even likes baseball, I just nominate him as the closing pitcher. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Comparison - Bobby Jenks</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Basically because they are both white. And because Jenks was my favorite White Sox closer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Well, there is my thoughts and comparisons of what our team would be like if we were a baseball team. Comment and let me know your opinions and thoughts of who you would pick and where. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Moose</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-53337984258022555132014-05-07T12:48:00.000-05:002014-05-07T12:48:18.885-05:00It Is More About Standing Out Than Fitting In<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have never been very good at speaking, that is why I took to writing. I have always prided myself on being able to put things into perspective, so I will do so here.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This last year has made me realize a lot of things about myself and my life. I have never been very good at speaking. During a long conversation, I almost always mess up and say something I didn't mean to. I ended up switching letters around in words, saying a word I didn't mean to say, mispronouncing something, etc. Over the past year, I've come to realize that no matter how bad I believe I am at speaking, I will always be able to write. Writing something sets your words in stone. It puts the hammer to the nail. Writing for me has become a tool that allows me to say what I cannot audibly portray, and something I think I can write better than speak is how blessed I truly am. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God has given me an unbelievable amount of attributes that have allowed me to form this identity for myself. I never had many friends growing up. At points, I was picked on and ostracized for my height. Being taller, other people took the view that I was older than I was acting. My mom still tells the story of how one day I threw a temper tantrum in the grocery store and a lady came up to her and asked her whats wrong with her 8 year old. I was 4 at the time. I didn't have my first "real" friend till 4th grade. The 2nd kid from the left in the picture above, Michael Keogh. He is still one of my best friends to this day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Throughout the rest of my younger years, I used basketball as a means to meet people. Even though I was on teams with kids from my school, things weren't easy for me. I didn't know how to branch out and be myself around other people. I don't know if that is what made me an easy target for jokes and mockery, but I remember hating it so much that I would tell my parents I wanted to quit. It literally took a time where parents overheard what someone was saying to me for me to be set up on a "play date" with a kid from my team in 7th grade for me to gain friends. After that play date, I had a protector and a person to call my best friend who allowed me to be whoever I wanted. His name is Kevin Benjamin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I was always tall when I was younger, I was never big. I was skinnier than a rail for a very long time. I was very bad at defending myself, which naturally made me pretty afraid to get hurt in football. While I was basically scared the whole time while playing football, it allowed me to meet many new people. Ill be the first to say it, for a very long time I would be what most people call "immature." I would goof around all the time during football. I embraced that goofball identity as a means to make people laugh and fit in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was blessed with a "proper" upbringing. Both of my parents had good jobs, and they provided me with most everything that I needed, and a lot of things that I wanted. Although my parents got divorced when I was about 9, they were both very active in my upbringing. Having your parents get divorced sucks. It divides the family, and causes a lot of family problems. But that is for another page. I was able to attend private schools from kindergarten through senior year of high school. I would argue that my high school, Benet Academy, is the best private high school in the Midwest. I honestly wish I could go back there and have a few more years. It is there where I developed into who I am today. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To start, I did NOT want to go to Benet Academy. I went into the school with a horrible attitude, and hated every moment of my first year. I wasn't enjoying sports, I saw so many people forming friend groups while I had only a couple friends, and school was very overwhelming. By the time my senior year was up, I didn't want to leave. But it was my sophomore year when I began to realize who I am. <b>It is then when I began to realize that it is more about standing out than fitting in. </b>For me, that is very fitting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was at that point at the beginning of my sophomore year that I stopped caring about who the popular kids were. I stopped caring about how other people view me. I stopped caring about doing things that everyone else was doing. I began living my life in my own way. These trains of thought carried into other parts of my life. I started playing basketball how I knew how to play, instead of trying so hard to change my game for people to notice me. I took refuge in the gym. I started to refuse to take "not good enough" as an excuse to not try. I stopped complaining and feeling sorry for myself, and did what I could to make a name for myself. To stand out in my own way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Through that I was able to form this small group of friends. Early that year, I met a kid who has become my closest friend since this year, Alex Flood (kid in the middle in the picture above), who now lives with me in Madison. His family and mine have become very close as well. His older brother, Dylan, turned into my basketball training companion when we are at home. I started becoming close with a guy from my grade school who I never really got along with before, Kevin Leszczynski (say that 10 times fast)(Also, the kid on the far left in the picture above). A friend who I had played basketball with since 4th grade, Joe Menconi (kid on my left in the picture above), rounded out the "Starting Five." They have been group of friends who have always been there for me whenever I have needed anything. The roster reads as:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PG- Me</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SG- Kevin Leszczynski</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SF- Michael Keogh</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PF- Alex Flood </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">C- Joe Menconi</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(The picture above is a two part picture. The top half is on our last day of High School. The bottom half is when the other four drove down to Dallas to be there for the final four. I knew they wouldn't have missed it for the world)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Through the years, basketball has been always been a big part of my life. But, basketball is not who I am, its what I love to do. I am the kid you see playing basketball. Throwing up goofy hand signs, blowing kisses to the crowd, etc. Thats me. While I do have that fun-loving side of me, I also have a fiery side as well. I refuse to accept the concept that someone else is better than me, and there is nothing I can do about it. Im a fierce competitor in everything I do. But I have learned how to have fun while doing that. No one likes a competitor who is an ass. In some cases, I've learned that the hard way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am an "off-brand" guy. I am unique in my own way. I am not afraid to do or say anything. Sometimes, I regret when I say or do something stupid (like saying the NBA is boring), but I am in to no way, shape, or form scared to live my life. If you didn't notice by my goggle/headband combo in games last year, I don't care if I look like the biggest dork in the world. I embrace who I am. I don't try and hide from it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like having fun. Plain and simple. Ill talk your ear off with random stories. Ill goof around and crack jokes. Ill voice my opinion in any situation. I will try to do anything I can to get what I want. Ill let people know I am mad at them. I am loyal to everyone and everything I care about. I will pour all my time and effort into something I enjoy doing. Im not afraid to make mistakes or piss people off. I realize that life is going to happen and not everyone can always be pleased. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have had my struggles and fair share of problems. Things haven't always been easy for me. But, God has given me all the gifts in the world. I have a great family. I have a wonderful mother and father, and 2 beautiful sisters. I have the best friends who will always have my back. I've been blessed with the height and skills to be able to play the sport I love at a high level. I have the best teammates in the world who always support me and look after me. My biggest piece of advice that I would be able to offer anyone would be to find what makes you stand out. Don't be afraid to show everyone who you are and what you stand for. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com121tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-88483558194089954262014-05-01T12:23:00.002-05:002014-05-01T12:24:39.496-05:00Clarification On My Post<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">THIS POST IS TO CLARIFY WHAT CLEARLY MANY PEOPLE MISSED OUT ON IN MY PREVIOUS POST</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In my previous post I talked about my decision to stay in college. I didn't think that the post would pick up as much steam as it did, considering the only reason I started this blog was for a class. No way did I expect the blog to make ESPN headlines. No way did I think people would get ahold of this and turn it into something negative, when I intended this to be completely positive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To all the people who think I am saying the NBA is boring: yea, I may have written it looks "flat out boring," but you have severely missed the context in which I said it. You probably have never experienced what it is like to run out a tunnel with a band blasting music and crazy fans cheering. You don't know what it is like to represent a University, let alone a University that resides in it's State Capitol, and wear that WISCONSIN across your chest. You don't know that intoxicating feeling knowing that you are exactly where you are supposed to be in the career that you have worked towards for your whole life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My dream is to play in the NBA. I have wanted nothing more in my entire life. But at the same time I have an opportunity to come back to school and represent a school that is much greater than any one student or alumnus, and potentially accomplish something that hasn't been done at this school since 1941. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I said the NBA is boring, I meant it in the sense that me going to the NBA and sitting on a bench or being put in the D-League isn't appealing to me. The idea of that sounds boring. Who has the dream to play or do something that is boring?! That just makes no sense. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It saddens me that so many people had to take one thing I said in that post and spin everything into a negative. I love basketball. I love the NBA. I can't get enough of it, but at the same time I am not ready to give up college. I believe my teammates and I have so much left to accomplish, and I have the opportunity to be a big part of that. In my eyes, that alone is worth more than any money I could have potentially made. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will have way more fun in college right now than I would it I began my professional career. I would probably have to move to a different place and leave my family, friends, girlfriend, and the place I call "home." I have been fortunate enough be able to surround myself with great people who have been great influences in my life, and I'm not ready to pack up and leave them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So when I said the NBA looks boring, I meant it in the sense that it can't compare to where I am and what I am experiencing right now. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sorry to anyone who was offended or angered by what I said. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com127tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-43996168347592175852014-04-30T13:29:00.002-05:002014-05-01T10:28:58.583-05:00My Decision To Stay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Due to a good second half of the season and a good tournament, I had put myself into a position where people at the next level started talking about me as a potential NBA prospect. I don't think anyone who plays basketball would say that would not excite them. My whole life it has always been a dream of mine to play in the NBA, particularly the Chicago Bulls. Since my Aunt and Uncle worked for the Bulls, I was able to go to their practice facility frequently for birthday parties or to just run around. It was always the best when players were around. I remember when I was 5, in 1998, I was in the facility at the same time with Randy Brown, Dennis Rodman, and Michael Jordan. I remember being so star struck, and wanting to be just like them. My Aunt would give me some of their gear, and I wouldn't take it off for days at a time. I would go back home and tell everyone at school that I was Michael Jordan's new best friend and that he gave me some stuff. Too bad no one really cared at that time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I started hearing about being a potential pick in the NBA draft, I tried to shoot down the talk as much as I could during the NCAA tournament. My goal was set on winning a national title, then figuring out everything from there. After we lost, I was blindsided by questions about what I was thinking about doing. I mean I had just lost the biggest game of my life to this point, and people were asking me if I was going to stay in school or leave. I had no idea. I was so frustrated and upset with the fact that we just lost, and then I was being asked my future plans when I was stuck in the moment. I think my exact quote was "I'm not going anywhere," but I wasn't sure at that point. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Until that point, my dad did a great job of blacking out all the noise and keeping me focused on playing. Once that game had finished, I was somewhat overwhelmed with all the different perceptions and opinions of me as an NBA player. My dad's phone became flooded with all sorts of different people calling him and telling him a bunch of different things. We sought out all the information possible. Let me tell you why. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all, who wouldn't want to find out how people at the next level view your potential career as an NBA player. Find out what they think you need to work on, what you do well, and what people are looking for. I believe I would have been stupid if I just ignored all that information. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Secondly, the thought of not being broke anymore was very appealing. I know I am going to college and pursuing my degree free of charge, but it comes to a point where you are tired of being broke. I hate looking in my bank account at the end of the month and seeing 20$ left in there. The appeal of potentially a lot of money would entice any collegiate athlete, or any college student for that matter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lastly, like I said, it has always been a dream of mine. I can't tell you how many times I have thought about being in the NBA. But playing in college made me realize something. Something important.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am at the pinnacle of my basketball playing career, at least in my eyes. I know the NBA has their crazy fans and all, but if you look at all of their games, there are games when teams get hardly any fans, and it looks flat out boring. At the Kohl Center, we play in front of nearly 17,000 fans every single time we step onto the court. When we travel, we play in front of sell out crowds who absolutely hate us. Not because of who is on the team, but because of where we go to school. Who could leave that?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next, my teammates have become my family away from home. Admittedly, a dysfunctional family at times, but a family nonetheless. I have become extremely close with almost every player on the team. If I am ever lucky enough to find a potential wife, I am sure I met who would be my best man at the wedding, my roommate Jordan Smith. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last but not least, I am 100% positive we are going to have a great team next year. We lose only one player from a team that made it to a Final Four, and everyone will have another year of experience. I've said this before, and I will say it again. I hate losing, so much to the point where I am willing to do anything to win. I don't care if I average 2 points a game. As long as we are winning I am fine with it. Winning trophies and rings has always been more appealing to me than any individual award. I haven't won enough in college to call it a career. Yea, we made it to the final four, but that doesn't mean we won something. It's a great accomplishment and few get to achieve it, but it isn't winning it all. With the pieces we have returning, I believe we can win the Big Ten, and even win the whole damn thing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am going to be honest, I absolutely love college. Call me Joe College if you please. I sat down and thought about it for a long time, and I kept coming back to the same exact point. I don't think I would be able to live with the regret of skipping my last year of college to be a potential D-League player or end up in Europe. I have no doubt in my mind that I would have been drafted. I believe that one day I will be put on an NBA roster, but that doesn't happen right away for most people. Especially for a 7 foot white kid with average athleticism. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The NBA can wait. The NBA isn't going anywhere, so neither am I. I know my benefits of coming back to school just as well as I know my risks. But in this case, the benefits outweigh the risks. I made a commitment to the University of Wisconsin, and they made a commitment to me. Who would have thought that I would be in this position at the end of last season? If any, they wouldn't have been willing to bet on that. If you know anything about me, you would know that I pride myself on being loyal. I will always be loyal to anyone or anything that I care about, and I care about this school and this basketball team. They have become part of my identity and who I am. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To wrap things up... I want to say that I love this place. I am exactly where I need to be. The University of Wisconsin has provided me with an opportunity to be the best I can be. So why not provide the University of Wisconsin with the best basketball team that has stepped foot on this campus? </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com1246tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-74268261464497459782014-04-29T11:52:00.001-05:002014-04-29T12:03:13.184-05:00What It Was Like: The Final Four<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZb1F2yll0RTTr6OVDipTvY_KaB7hosucsHdI4zw3YppKjCvrTjAZ1aYuTH5MvZ9VWp0K05avS3HvruxLZwykF9TYg-dVecbvP0gWbt6ttCdRLyQI8D_lF1PqKaPZwHs2YYqiui93sVbar/s1600/Final+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZb1F2yll0RTTr6OVDipTvY_KaB7hosucsHdI4zw3YppKjCvrTjAZ1aYuTH5MvZ9VWp0K05avS3HvruxLZwykF9TYg-dVecbvP0gWbt6ttCdRLyQI8D_lF1PqKaPZwHs2YYqiui93sVbar/s1600/Final+4.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Over the course of the next week or so, I have decided to take the time to recap the most memorable experience of my life. I will be doing a full, round-by-round review of my thoughts, sights, and opinions of the NCAA tournament. Here is my final one: The Final Four. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I said in the intro that my blogs for my What It Was Like series would take only a week or so. That was a lie. The truth of the matter is that it is hard to write these because ultimately I would have to tell the tale of a losing event. I hate losing. I may be the worst loser of all-time. I can't tell you how much I hate losing. There have been countless broken items as a result of losing in FIFA. To give a sense of how I view my competitive attitude, I will go back to something I used to hear from a particular individual (won't name names) when I was younger: "if it came down to me vs. a bunch of nuns for a championship game, I would beat them then spit in their face afterward." </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Starting off, the trip down to the final four was awesome. I never felt so pampered in my life. I flew first class, had the most leg room that I have ever had on a plane before, I ate good meals, got a bunch of free stuff. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Texas was awesome. It was warm outside, that was a huge deal. Our hotel was awesome as well. We had a full game room inside of our meal room, loaded with ping-pong, billiards, buck hunter, golf game, xbox, and comfortable couches and a huge TV for watching whatever. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The first day we were there, the 8 guys in the rotation had to go over to the stadium early in the morning for media and game-day festivities such as video board shots, videos of us dancing, and fun stuff like that. The arena was far away from the hotel. I mean like 40 minutes far. Driving up to Cowboys Stadium was like driving up to a spaceship. The building was enormous. Biggest arena I have ever been in by far. It was almost a shock to me that we would be playing in a stadium that was as big as that. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">During that day, I actually began to enjoy media. I got to talk about basically anything I wanted, and had some good conversations with a lot of different people. I got to dance around, and was filmed doing it. It felt like I was on the set of a movie. It almost felt like we were filming High School Musical or a movie like that for a while. The media session lasted all the way up till our practice time. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Walking on to the floor with no one in the arena was like walking onto a football field. I felt like we were outside. The court was so minuscule in comparison to the rest of the building. The video board screen completely overshadowed the court. I was fascinated with the place. I believe that the arena is almost too overdone, in the sense that the Cowboys only play there like 8 times a year and questioning if they really need that big of a stadium. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The practice was short and sweet. We came back to the locker room and found out that our tournament gift was a brand new pair of Beats. I was actually kind of upset with that because I had just bought a new pair. Oh well. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">After that we were taken to BracketTown. BracketTown was my childhood dream come true. They had skill games for every sport. Homerun Derby for baseball, three point shootout for basketball, penalty kicks for soccer, etc. I was drenched in sweat at BracketTown because I was literally running from station to station to play the games. Man that was so much fun. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">After BracketTown we were taken to a reception hosted by Jim Nantz, with a guest speaker of George W. Bush. That was pretty awesome. It was nice to know that we were appreciated and being watched by our great nation's former leader. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Flash forward to the next day. More media and more practice. That's about all that happened. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The next day it was my 21st birthday. We celebrated it by having an open media practice and then a practice at SMU right after that. I was fortunate that my family was able to make it to Dallas for the game, so I was at least able to see them. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Flash forward to game day. The part I am going to hate writing. All the media was over. All the distractions were thrown out the window. It was finally time to play. That week felt like it took 3 weeks with how much stuff we were doing. But that was all done. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">We took our 40 minute bus ride to the stadium and got into the locker room that was like a mile walk away from the bus offload. Running out on the court was unreal. It was the largest crowd EVER for a basketball game. Think about that. The Wisconsin Men's Basketball team played in front of the largest crowd for a basketball game, only 3 other teams in the world can say that. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The ball was tipped and the game started. We had a small lead at halftime, but Kentucky came out in the second half and beat us up for a while. We withstood their punch and put ourselves in a situation to win the game, and then Kentucky hit a three and Traevon Jackson wasn't able to connect on a last second shot. That shot that Aaron Harrison made was the most heartbreaking shot I have ever been apart of. It was such a big stage, and I believe we deserved to win that game, but we weren't able to pull it out. It reminds me of this: </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I still refuse to watch this video because of how heartbreaking it was. I am positive I will never watch that Kentucky game from start to finish because I hate seeing myself losing. Basketball is a crazy sport, and anything can happen. Anyone can beat anyone, and it sucks that we had to lose when we did because the game was taken from us. It would be different if Kentucky would have blown us out, but it took late-game heroics to beat us. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I wouldn't have had any other person on our team taking that last shot by Trae. He was the fearless leader who gave us that lead in the game. He has hit big shot after big shot throughout his career. He was no doubt the most important piece of our run to the Final Four because he was our floor leader. He calls the shots on the floor, and our wins were his artwork. Without Trae, I don't know if we would have had the success that we had. He takes so much criticism from so many different people, and still persists and plays well through all the BS. If you find a person who is more courageous and fearless than Trae, please show them to me. If anyone deserved that shot, he did. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">To all the fans who supported us this season, Thank You. You don't realize how much your support and admiration is appreciated. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This season was the most memorable basketball season I have had so far. It sucks that we didn't finish the season with a win, but I wouldn't trade the memories and success we had for anything else. It is going to be weird without Evan, Ben, and Zach not being around anymore, but I know they will all be successful in their future endeavors. At the same time, it is time to work hard so we can get back to the Final Four next year, and win that National Championship. </span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com80tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-74771650318397177162014-04-28T10:41:00.003-05:002014-04-28T10:41:45.141-05:00Donald Sterling Debacle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKWzve2r0vyiOHokXtFuvYkUl0P8VE-LZ5tI-ErZrYwSkrJV2S2S1R2Dy9RvHO_pU3yICxw-rq1C4m8SqrDf7fKrMb_qC1TeuDd8ALBpZFTSbWjq5M34a97bydpMUuT3H8vGJpmjcnOhF/s1600/DSTER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKWzve2r0vyiOHokXtFuvYkUl0P8VE-LZ5tI-ErZrYwSkrJV2S2S1R2Dy9RvHO_pU3yICxw-rq1C4m8SqrDf7fKrMb_qC1TeuDd8ALBpZFTSbWjq5M34a97bydpMUuT3H8vGJpmjcnOhF/s1600/DSTER.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the past few days, almost everyone has heard about Donald Sterling. The owner of the Clippers said some very racist things to his mistress Vanessa Stiviano. The moral of the story is that Donald Sterling didn't take to kindly to his girlfriend posting pictures on Instagram with Magic Johnson and Matt Kemp. I thought I would chirp in on the situation and give my thoughts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First and foremost, Donald Sterling is a racist. There is no way around that fact. He has a history of racism in other aspects of his life, not just as the Clippers owner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Secondly, his mistress is black and mexican. It doesn't make much sense to me that a racist like Sterling would have a mistress who is a mixture of the people he discriminates against. What an idiot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am going to go out and say it. I severely dislike both Sterling and Stiviano. A simple google search on Stiviano would allow one to find out that she is a HUGE gold digger. She got everything she needed from Sterling, then showed the world who he truly was. According to sources, she was given a Ferrari, TWO Bentleys, and a $1.4 Million dollar apartment. What an ungrateful woman. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am not judging Stiviano for the life she chose to live, but anyone who changes their name from Maria Vanessa Perez to V. Stiviano and then makes her name by exposing a person like Sterling to the world to give her name traction and make herself a household name is sleazy. She completely took advantage of Sterling, and that is wrong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now I am not saying what Sterling said was ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE because it was. There is definitely no room for someone like him in the NBA. He doesn't deserve to see another game in person for the rest of his life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BUT, what if someone recorded your personal conversation? Would you say things that would offend other people? I know I have said my fair share of mean and rude things about other people. Most people have. Any person who tells you that every thing that has come out of their mouth was nice is most likely a liar. With all that said, what Donald Sterling said was so wrong on so many different levels. His background with racism has cost him a lot of money in settlements and lawyers and such. You would think that he would learn to keep his thoughts to himself but he hasn't.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I completely support the Clippers players and how they protested Sterling. If you didn't catch it, they took off their warmups and revealed that they had turned their shooting shirts inside out. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBB7pT8qd1zKCy3kjfVw87gQd_wiz2SSi0eq4963HUat56RC4jkNoS3LLSKLpz7X2dAA1I6BGot9nR5hXbdpqkhguaIeRecWGoP-KGfhh-DQnINnwu0EKnbA1HmTrOUkhA0oSkhlN8ZUKZ/s1600/Clipps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBB7pT8qd1zKCy3kjfVw87gQd_wiz2SSi0eq4963HUat56RC4jkNoS3LLSKLpz7X2dAA1I6BGot9nR5hXbdpqkhguaIeRecWGoP-KGfhh-DQnINnwu0EKnbA1HmTrOUkhA0oSkhlN8ZUKZ/s1600/Clipps.jpg" height="356" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think that the players on that Clippers team are the most vital in standing up to Sterling. They are showing that it is more than a game, and more than a business. They are showing that what Sterling said not only affects people in the NBA, but affects an everlasting battle that this country has with racism. It sets us back, but hopefully we can move forward from this, and work towards ending racism. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8F1wClMrsyvEhp51RfqM5hWc5qAKQ6WFnb3OfV9DaBSdNNWxO0BcxMG2eWnLTS5BnpzE1ipX2UA7bwHxRvSBYvVoPO_wl4FFAydo76hndhs7uL2383GmU4r2E3di4doNHO_qJ_-XCEbcn/s1600/black+guy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8F1wClMrsyvEhp51RfqM5hWc5qAKQ6WFnb3OfV9DaBSdNNWxO0BcxMG2eWnLTS5BnpzE1ipX2UA7bwHxRvSBYvVoPO_wl4FFAydo76hndhs7uL2383GmU4r2E3di4doNHO_qJ_-XCEbcn/s1600/black+guy.jpg" height="398" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you didn't see this, this may be one of the funniest pictures I have seen in a very long time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-86650243884449441812014-04-22T12:07:00.004-05:002014-04-22T12:07:53.963-05:00What It Was Like: Pre-Wisconsin and The Media Storm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwOe3eS14-v3A61e4ewaRAJ4DEpxOmOIiKLIFZxL3-32nlOn7cNBofzg_2b4xlMqUYmeYo3__NVMpcy28kbtF4NtLHLnMbF68PKePW9fHHy1Iq07E_8AQ-IqoVattJl07ybll9wSCOqml/s1600/SI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwOe3eS14-v3A61e4ewaRAJ4DEpxOmOIiKLIFZxL3-32nlOn7cNBofzg_2b4xlMqUYmeYo3__NVMpcy28kbtF4NtLHLnMbF68PKePW9fHHy1Iq07E_8AQ-IqoVattJl07ybll9wSCOqml/s1600/SI.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Over the course of the next week or so, I have decided to take the time to recap the most memorable experience of my life. I will be doing a full, round-by-round review of my thoughts, sights, and opinions of the NCAA tournament. Here is my fifth one: Pre-Wisconsin and The Media Storm. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I have decided that there was too much information from after the Arizona game to put into one blog so I have decided to break it into two separate blogs so I can speak more personally about the few days in between. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">After the Arizona game, I knew how crazy my phone would be blowing up, but I severely underestimated how bad and annoying it would be. Without looking at anything, I threw out an instagram post out of pure excitement. After hitting the media stand and celebrating with my teammates, I was able to look at my phone and my initial thought was "damn it."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I had over 200 text messages. If anyone knows about texting in that situation, you would realize that the number doubles if you respond to every single text because it warrants the person to send another one. 200 turns into a minimum 350 if you start responding to them all. I had to ignore many of them. I didn't want to, but I also didn't want to be on my phone all night. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Before the game, I was at around 8,800 twitter followers. After the game, that number had risen to about 14,000 during the game. And everyone and their sister had tweeted at me so I </span></span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">didn't even bother to go through them all.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">My instagram post that I had thrown out there apparently gained some traction and I jumped from a little over 2,000 instagram followers to nearly 11,000. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">FaceBook friend requests were probably the most annoying thing. I had to go through and deny or accept people on FaceBook (because I have OCD with those kind of things... they have to be answered). I am not joking when I say it took me an hour just to do that. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This was all nuts to me. But, it didn't end there. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Sidenote: I am trying to tell my story here, and in no way, shape, or form do I intend for any of this to be taken as cocky or self-centered information. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">What I didn't realize is that my story needed to be told in a sense. I was a relatively unknown, 7-foot, goofy, white kid who hardly played for 2 years then all of a sudden lead his team to a Final Four. That is news worthy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I would like to take a moment to tell my journey as a basketball player. These are the things that I would rather write about than talk about because they make me emotional. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">My basketball career began in a gym at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. My mom was the head women's volleyball coach and my dad was the head women's basketball coach. I spent all year in that gym. I would take basketball's from their equipment room and run to find an open hoop. If I couldn't find a basketball, I used a volleyball. In that gym, I made my first layup, my first jumpshot, my first three-pointer, my first half-court shot. That gym will always have sentimental value to me. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">At this point in my life, I was old enough to learn things about my dad's basketball career. He was fortunate enough to have a career overseas that lasted for a long time. At 59 years old, he still plays basketball on a consistent basis. To say the least, he loves basketball. He instilled that love for the game in me at a very young age. One thing my dad was never able to do was make the NBA. He came close on a few occasions, but never made it. I have had this dream since I can remember that I want to fulfill that legacy and make it to where he wasn't able to. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I played in my first game at the Lisle Park District in 4th grade. I can still tell you who was on my team. It was during that time where I learned how to shoot. We had a ratty, old hoop in our driveway that I am fairly certain my parents took from someone else's trash. Ever summer, a beehive would form behind the backboard. Shooting the ball from close meant a close call with a swarm of bees. So naturally, I would shoot from far away, let the ball land, then sprint and go grab it and run back to my spot. Every once in a while, a bee would get me, but it never stopped me from shooting. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">From there, I began playing AAU basketball on the DuPage Running Rebels, a team that was formed by a few of the dads in our friend group. We were good, but as we got older, teams got better than us. By high school, the team was done, but I have so many great memories from that team, and I formed friendships that will last a lifetime.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">As a high school freshman, I was put on the sophomore team. I rode the pine the whole year. I was a gawky 6'3 kid who only shot threes. I would have benched me too. After that year, I tried out for an AAU team named the Illinois Wolves, in which I was one of the first people cut.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">My sophomore year, I played a lot more on the sophomore team, but I still only shot threes. I was 6'5-6'6 by that time, and if you look at old photos, I was the 3rd or 4th tallest kid on the team.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My varsity career was something I will never forget. I grew to 6'9 by my junior year and about 6'11 by my senior year. My team went 55-5 and we were the best team in the state of Illinois high school basketball to never win a state championship, and I will argue with anyone about that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still after all of this, I was an unknown kid who got offered by few schools. Wisconsin was the best opportunity for me and I jumped on it. For years, people told me I wasn't tough enough, wasn't fast enough, didn't have enough moves, couldn't jump high enough to be effective at this level. That even carried on at Wisconsin. Not many people had high expectations for me. I had the highest expectations of myself. To all those people who told me I wasn't good enough: Thank You. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Flash forward to now, I believe that I have exceeded all those expectations. Media took ahold of that concept and ran with it. My days began consisting of morning class, to practice, then to 2 hours of media. I am not complaining about that, but it was crazy. People were calling my dad, my mom, my sisters, my best friends, my friend's sister's best friend's sister's brother-in-law to find something out about me. At one point my dad asked me to stop allowing people to call him because he couldn't get any work done. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am not gonna lie, all the attention was nice for once. Before this, I hated media because I always felt like I was saying something wrong, but at this point I was able to tell stories and have conversations with people who I dreamed about talking to. I mean Charles Barkley wanted to talk to me, and gave me an awesome shoutout on his Coaching with Chuck segment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am so fortunate and blessed to in the position that I was in. Now that the storm has settled, and my name isn't being thrown around amongst people on TV, I can appreciate how amazing that situation was. I mean I talked to Charles Barkley, and was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with my brotha-from-anotha-motha Josh Gasser. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-56662549189605397902014-04-16T14:50:00.001-05:002014-04-16T14:50:33.965-05:00NCAA Calls For Unlimited Meals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Only a week after the NCAA tournament came to a close, the NCAA has passed a rule giving student-athletes unlimited meals. Prior to this, students were "given three meals per day." My initial response to this was "well its about damn time"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lets call this the "Shabazz Rule". Our food forefather Mr. Napier went on a national television interview after the game and told the world how, on many nights, he goes to bed hungry. He's right. ALL STUDENTS ATHLETES GO TO SLEEP HUNGRY AT SOME POINT, AND IT SUCKS. I couldn't be prouder of Shabazz's brutal honesty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now I have heard the responses from many people. "Oh you go to school for free" "I'm paying my way through college and still have money to eat" "these kids complain way to much when they are given everything", etc. I just want to go out there and say that no one knows what it is like. I would like to see non-student-athletes try and do what we do on a daily basis. Being a student-athlete is hard. Very hard. Its not all rainbows and butterflies. We have a rigorous schedule, and on top of that we are only given enough money and food to get by.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It may seem like I am complaining, but if you have payed attention to anything that has happened with the NCAA recently, the complaining is working. A good player on a team puts in over 40 hours a week towards their sport alone. That's not including school work and other obligations. A student with a job may not even work 20 hours a week and will get compensated for that job. Do I have the time to go get myself a job? Absolutely not. Would I consider my basketball career a job? Absolutely not, I love basketball and I still think of it as the same sport I began playing when I was 6 years old in a park district league. But at the same time there has to be somethings given back to us. I know free tuition and "three meals a day" is a big deal to a lot of people, but we have sacrificed so many other things to get to where we are today. Not saying that other people haven't either, but look at how much we are required to do. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think this is a huge step in the right direction for college athletics. The "Shabazz Rule" as I like to call it will student-athletes across the country satisfied for the entirety of their careers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ShaBAM, NCAA. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-76879963945225609352014-04-15T10:42:00.001-05:002014-04-15T11:41:32.267-05:00What It Was Like: Elite 8<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Over the course of the next week or so, I have decided to take the time to recap the most memorable experience of my life. I will be doing a full, round-by-round review of my thoughts, sights, and opinions of the NCAA tournament. Here is my fourth one: the Eight 8.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Setting the scene for this one is difficult. The things that were going through my mind before this game were starting to get to me. I drown myself in video games and whatever else I could do to get my mind off basketball. Shutting my mind off after a basketball game is always the toughest thing to do. Specific plays run through my mind… good plays are prominent but the bad plays always seem to stick longer. After the Baylor game, my mind wasn't stuck on the previous game. My mind turned towards Arizona.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I must have stayed awake till 2 am after our game because I couldn't stop thinking about having an opportunity to play in the Final Four. For basketball players, that is a dream. It is not something you kind of want, it is something you want more than anything else. No little kid in their driveway reenacts taking a shot that gives a team a regular season victory. They dream of taking the game winning shot in a national championship game. Fact. And without getting to the Final Four, that is not a reality. Fact. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">To get my mind off of the upcoming game, I went to the mall with my mom and older sister, Kaylee. Being with family takes my mind away from sports. When I got back to the hotel, I played an unhealthy amount of video games. Call of Duty: Ghosts and FIFA 14 are the favorites and I must have played them for 4 hours straight. I may be an addict, so what?</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The more and more I started thinking about Arizona, I started to realize how much I hated them. Nothing personal against any of their guys. It's the fact that they stood for everything people think I am not. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Background: my high school career was not like many other players at this level. I went into high school as an immature 6'3 kid who weighed 135 pound soaking wet. I emerged as a legitimate 6'10 by my junior year, and began playing varsity for the first time. I had a good junior season, but I am the person who will do anything to win. I didn't need to score 30 points a game to win in high school because I had a good team. I knew my role and embraced it. That went unnoticed to many people.</span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">By the time the AAU season came around, I had a handful of D-1 schools who had contacted me. My own home state school basically told me they didn't think I was good enough to play for them. That pissed me off. The biggest reason I chose Wisconsin was the fact that they believed in me from the beginning. They were one of the first schools involved in recruiting me. They showed that they believed that I could come here, work hard, and make an impact on the program. And that has been true.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Although I am in the right place for me and I wouldn't choose any other place, seeing people like Kaleb Tarczewski piss me off. Like I said, nothing personal against the kid. It's the fact that schools drooled over him and treated him like he crapped gold. Schools like Arizona never wanted me. Those schools never believed that I would be good enough to play for them. That pisses me off. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I take it personally when people are touted as better than me. I hate Anthony Davis. Not because he is a bad person or anything. He is obviously a great basketball player. But in high school, people acted like I wasn't good enough to step on the court and play against the kid. Things like that drive me. I aim to prove everyone that has ever doubted me wrong. I play basketball pissed off. I am not content just being out there. I want people to think after a game "how the hell did that just happen?" and I get no greater joy than beating the people that are "better" than me. I have a fire inside of me that will never extinguish. The hottest fires make the hardest steel, and I truly believe that. End rant.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Before the Arizona game, I stood on the court pacing from sideline to sideline staring across the court at the other team salivating over the opportunity at hand. I had that feeling before the game that there was no way I was going to let that team beat us. Our team manager, and the <a href="http://the-victory-lap.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blogfather</a> Jeremy Davis came over to me and told me that he had a feeling I was going to have a great game, and I agreed. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">From the second the ball was tipped I could tell that we wanted to win that game more than them. The game was close the whole time, but if you looked at our team vs their team, we looked more inspired and you can tell that we viewed the game in a completely different manner. I know I did. The ending to the game was anti-climatic in the sense that it took forever to review that play, and they still got it wrong, but more in the sense that Arizona didn't even get the final shot off. I didn't know what to do when that buzzer rang. I ran around the court screaming like a child. Hugging everyone, looking to my mom in the crowd and blowing her a kiss like I do after every game, hoisting up people in the air. It was everything I imagined it would be.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The Arizona game was the best performance of basketball that I have ever played. I have had games where I've scored more points, shot better from the field, rebounded better, but the stakes were much lower in those other games. To be able to play the way I did, and boost my team into the Final Four is something I don't think I'll ever be able to put into words. It gives me the goosebumps just thinking about it as I am writing this. Hoisting that trophy in the air, then hearing over the loud speaker that I had been named the West Regional MVP was, in a sense, the greatest individual accomplishment I have ever garnered, but I couldn't have done that without my team. Basketball isn't a game about individual achievements, it's about sharing experiences with a group of people who become your family. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Cutting down the net, then celebrating in the locker room further solidified to myself that I am so blessed. I said a prayer to my grandfather, who passed away in the middle of the season, and thanked him for looking over me and our team because I know he was. Looking at my phone and seeing students rioting on State Street gave us all that further sense of accomplishment. I mean a bunch of white guys, who many people wrote off before college made it to a Final Four. No one will ever take that from us. I dare you to try and find a team that was closer than ours. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">If seeing an 80 year old man (Otto Puls, our equipment manager and head referee in practice) dancing in the middle of a circle surrounded by the entire team doesn't show you how tight-knit our whole group was, I don't know what will. I will never forget this. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com162tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-29959502887742033632014-04-10T10:17:00.002-05:002014-04-15T11:41:21.400-05:00What It Was Like: The Sweet 16 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Over the course of the next week or so, I have decided to take the time to recap the most memorable experience of my life. I will be doing a full, round-by-round review of my thoughts, sights, and opinions of the NCAA tournament. Here is my third one: the Sweet 16 </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This was the first time that I have ever been to California. I've got to tell you, other than the weather, I was not impressed. Granted I've heard that Anaheim isn't the best place in Cali, I feel like it is close enough to the "good" spots of Cali that it should be better. Plus, its the home of the Anaheim Angels and the Anaheim Ducks (the team that Ryan Getzlaf plays for, and ill have you know that Ryan Getzlaf is a horse). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By our hotel, there was a mall. Malls are always a must if they are close to the hotel. They are not only a must because of the shopping, but the malls have great food options. To feed my inner child, and love of video games we chose to go to Dave and Busters. A select few of us went there to meet our friend James Lafferty (Nathan Scott from One Tree Hill) and his friend to have a good night of acting like 10 year olds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I say I unleashed my inner child, I meant it. I went all out. Game from game hounding tickets. Sweating uncontrollably from playing the basketball pop-a-shot game so many times in a row. Leading to a machine that eventually gave us more tickets than I could have imagined. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdnEu1i0W8fa0RI0zXnSvvEQ7EWVlhCXR9lJH8XUPL_YksGZppJvh3clPssshwPdMpoBPoh8oHWhfsJXNmRGjiHeQ6O7vrRd5cQ0Rhd1jG3fsefy2_JhEDxbYrkxYBfHEIACIPU3-WLfwz/s1600/D%2526B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdnEu1i0W8fa0RI0zXnSvvEQ7EWVlhCXR9lJH8XUPL_YksGZppJvh3clPssshwPdMpoBPoh8oHWhfsJXNmRGjiHeQ6O7vrRd5cQ0Rhd1jG3fsefy2_JhEDxbYrkxYBfHEIACIPU3-WLfwz/s1600/D%2526B.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Thats a lot of tickets btw.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After our night of gaming, we had our open media practice and media and blah blah blah. Followed by those was our team practice. This time it was at Cal State - Fullerton. For those who have never seen Cal State - Fullerton's gym, it is uuggggggllllyyyyy. The court is painted with palm trees, and ugly orange color. I've never seen an orange palm tree before, but it is unique to the "Titans."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoI1DXz03yYxohIa5jtd-gulahYldTeA_HZfTL3G04wFLnpiI9JlPV7CGyFKbGKFJW0dXCvRkVEmvgxuUWzBy2pR2xHmid8Rn3JwYZFR28dwPY4BlqeAShyphenhyphenHkgzxM1J-23zqEeRd-q10om/s1600/CSF+gym.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoI1DXz03yYxohIa5jtd-gulahYldTeA_HZfTL3G04wFLnpiI9JlPV7CGyFKbGKFJW0dXCvRkVEmvgxuUWzBy2pR2xHmid8Rn3JwYZFR28dwPY4BlqeAShyphenhyphenHkgzxM1J-23zqEeRd-q10om/s1600/CSF+gym.jpg" height="154" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast forward to game day. In our first two games, they were earlier in the day. Our game against Baylor was until later in the day, which meant we had to sit around in the hotel all day before the game. It was such a beautiful day outside that it was killing me to have to stay inside, but I knew rest was more important than being outside. My hotel room had a great view of the outdoor pool. I remember looking down towards the pool and seeing all the people swimming. That was a tough sight to see.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game finally started, and we went out there and beat them up. After seeing Baylor smack Creighton, and end Dougie McBucket's infamous career, I expect that game to be our toughest one yet. To be honest, it wasn't that tough. We beat them pretty easily. They were a good team, we were just ready for anything they had for us. During this game, the Dirty Dub started to become more and more popular with the picture of Aaron Rodgers throwing up the Dirty Dub. When Captain Wisconsin throws up the Dirty Dub, you know its going somewhere. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYJ_M0XtK-WaKEFrJCHcJZaL6QOAK7bZxQ1Q4z-JtvlrNY3lKpUxIDtOe4emSk0xoUJLAZigiNvdrqeDT5ghBhHebbwPbpiXsJviIOWLqhC7sbC3XvRTuOf5lVnpgfSSrF0XfOlXNXK5s/s1600/rodgerscbs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYJ_M0XtK-WaKEFrJCHcJZaL6QOAK7bZxQ1Q4z-JtvlrNY3lKpUxIDtOe4emSk0xoUJLAZigiNvdrqeDT5ghBhHebbwPbpiXsJviIOWLqhC7sbC3XvRTuOf5lVnpgfSSrF0XfOlXNXK5s/s1600/rodgerscbs.png" height="400" width="281" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(<a href="http://the-victory-lap.blogspot.com/2014/03/wisconsin-69-baylor-52-badgers-headed.html" target="_blank">The Victory Lap</a> with the photo here)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Survive and Advance. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-32630899071290562832014-04-08T11:53:00.000-05:002014-04-15T11:41:11.950-05:00What It Was Like: Round Of 32 And The Creation Of The #DirtyDub<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQT2LV2btEDqM6xbV32SGk8Bn6mPxtY6qGVIeqg2WKiSrnkuIw-ckIdDZITqRqISbzleJ0ARtxCuvX2_WxB70mC9Ss6wjz9F_7VKHKhtZZN0UtmJ487QRuftzzMVculWjyMYKRKye5yuz/s1600/WvO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQT2LV2btEDqM6xbV32SGk8Bn6mPxtY6qGVIeqg2WKiSrnkuIw-ckIdDZITqRqISbzleJ0ARtxCuvX2_WxB70mC9Ss6wjz9F_7VKHKhtZZN0UtmJ487QRuftzzMVculWjyMYKRKye5yuz/s1600/WvO.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Over the course of the next week or so, I have decided to take the time to recap the most memorable experience of my life. I will be doing a full, round-by-round review of my thoughts, sights, and opinions of the NCAA tournament. Here is my second one: the Round of 32 and the creation of the #DirtyDub</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After we beat American, there was another media storm in the locker room. People started asking me questions about my awkward growth phase as a high schooler. To clear that air, I was never that awkward. Yea, I had a phase where I couldn't find clothes and shoes that I could wear because I was growing so fast. I went from a size 13 shoe to a size 17 shoe in a little over a year and a half. I went from 6'3 to 6'10 in that same amount of time. There were days when I would show up to play basketball and could barely run because I was having so many pains in my legs, especially my knees. I was in an awkward phase of my life, but I was not the silly, giant oaf who couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time that I was made out to be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We left the arena and went back to the hotel to watch Oregon vs. BYU game. In all honesty, I didn't watch much of the game. I had it on but my focus wasn't there. I found myself paying more attention to the family and friends that had made the trip to Milwaukee rather than paying attention to the game. The only portion of the game I really watched was when BYU made it a game, but then Oregon pulled away and ended up beating them handily. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next morning, we were given the scouting report on Oregon. Initially I was really impressed with them, and actually kind of stunned that they were a 7 seed. In my opinion they probably should have been a 4 or 5 seed. I walked out of that scouting report knowing that this was going to our most difficult game of the season to that point. Oregon was on a hot streak at the time, and had some great basketball players and a deep bench. A great recipe for a tournament run. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the report, we made our way back to the Bradley Center for a morning shoot around. Of course, there was media before we took the court (go figure). When the 30 minute media period was coming to a close, I was sitting by our team manager (the Blog Father of the <a href="https://twitter.com/VictoryLapBlog" target="_blank">@VictoryLapBlog</a>) Jeremy Davis. He started talking about how lame the traditional W that was coined by UW-Madison students. Here: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPMfgdD-76leuv9y_VtHDn0hroAyVbkEJYlob_9gai-Kb0eEP3NgTTpqbvF9sALtsbVx35k7d4HBth1A-Ny_QvEq0tpKkNfha01lq1V5B2WpWQzcze47Zdw3jUnVoB5rnLHNQ4__dKgeR/s1600/lame+W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPMfgdD-76leuv9y_VtHDn0hroAyVbkEJYlob_9gai-Kb0eEP3NgTTpqbvF9sALtsbVx35k7d4HBth1A-Ny_QvEq0tpKkNfha01lq1V5B2WpWQzcze47Zdw3jUnVoB5rnLHNQ4__dKgeR/s1600/lame+W.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got to talking about the need for a change to this. Schools across that country have infamous one-handed school signs. Texas, Texas A&M, Wichita State, Etc. all have one-handed signals that people throw up on the reg. He proposed the idea of making a W. Thats when I said we needed to name it, and I threw out the idea of naming it the "Dirty Dub." It was the first, and only named ever proposed, and I believe it has stuck permanently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast forward to the game. Everyone who saw the game knows we played like absolute crap in the first half. It was ugly and we knew it. At halftime, Coach Ryan said something that hit home with me, and I am positive that it hit home with the rest of the team: "What are you going to feel like on the bus ride home? Is it going to be a sad ride home, or is it going to be a happy one?" A picture flashed through my mind of a silent, depressing ride back to Madison. That was just not an option for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Second Half started, and we came out on fire. The building was electric, the fans were fired up, our bench was going crazy, and we were determined to win that game. When I say that was the loudest crowd I have ever been apart of, I mean it. The energy of the fans was ridiculous. It played a big part in the game. When an opposing team hears a crowd like that, it gets in their head and can take them out of a game, while it gets our team going. If the Kohl Center was that loud and electric on a game to game basis, it would be that toughest place to play in the country, hands down. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When the game was virtually over after a missed three then subsequent technical foul by Oregon, I started running around pumping up the crowd. I walked in front of our bench, and threw up my first public Dirty Dub. Thats when it all started. That is when the Dirty Dub took off (somewhat). View the first one here: <a href="http://www.uwbadgers.com/view.gal?id=157920&slide=33" target="_blank">First Dirty Dub</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Dirty Dub grew in popularity over the next few days in Madison, but it hadn't exploded like it did in the future. After the Oregon game, we were so jacked up and confident moving forward. Survive and Advance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-5228978481345531992014-04-07T17:43:00.000-05:002014-04-15T11:40:59.997-05:00What It Was Like: NCAA Round of 64<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_i0GnhuaPMQvIFVE_29hVyZTdurjgk1gR044xtJWgIYMQPY1A3X3RnDtk-1ljByAN9gPsi5PAoH0aGJi3goZ1BDA2PuZ12bgf9_3oGfVbA6Tf-6Zu5cGxpBw7nFtTTOju92HcH6ovXsQm/s1600/WvA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_i0GnhuaPMQvIFVE_29hVyZTdurjgk1gR044xtJWgIYMQPY1A3X3RnDtk-1ljByAN9gPsi5PAoH0aGJi3goZ1BDA2PuZ12bgf9_3oGfVbA6Tf-6Zu5cGxpBw7nFtTTOju92HcH6ovXsQm/s1600/WvA.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the course of the next week or so, I have decided to take the time to recap the most memorable experience of my life. I will be doing a full, round-by-round review of my thoughts, sights, and opinions of the NCAA tournament. Here is my first one: the Round of 64. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we saw that we would be playing in Milwaukee, a few things shot through my mind. First was "that awesome, we will be so close to home" followed by "crap, it's milwaukee." For those of you who don't know much about me, I can be blunt with my opinions and they may be offensive to some, but I have never been in Milwaukee on a sunny day, and that is depressing. I've always said it would be funny to make a counter to It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia with It's Never Sunny In Milwaukee. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nonetheless, my excitement to play so close to Madison outlasted my non willingness to go to Milwaukee. When we packed up our bags, loaded the bus, and hit the road for Milwaukee, I remember having a feeling that this year was going to be our year. I felt like we would have an opportunity to make a name for ourselves in the tournament. Little did I know. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Arriving in Milwaukee meant the NCAA tournament festivities had begun. We began our business trip with a closed practice at the Bucks practice facility. Let's start there. When I opened the door to a hallway (to find a bathroom), I felt like I was in a scene from American Horror Story season 2. For the non AHS fans out there, it reminded me of a creepy, old Asylum. I am not saying the Bucks facility is bad because it is not, but given the choice between the Bucks practice facility and the Nicholas-Johnson practice facility for our team, I would choose the Nicholas-Johnson a billion times out of a billion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Following our closed practice, we headed to our open practice. In the Bradley Center (home of the Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette) we were given the Marquette men's basketball team's home locker room, which was weird to me for some reason. Almost instantly the room was flooded with media. Now to be completely honest, I hate the media because I always feel like I am going to say something wrong or sound stupid. It is nothing against journalists and reporters, but I just do not like talking to the media. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So naturally, I was put into a press conference at the main table (go figure). My teammates and I all got asked our expectations for the tournament, what we hoped to accomplish, what it was like playing so close to Madison, etc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we hit the floor for our open practice, we clearly had the biggest fan support by far. Wisconsin fans are loyal and some of the best around, and I truly mean that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast forward to game day. Now I don't want to call myself superstitious, but I have a pre-game routine that I repeated every single game for most of the season. After pre game meal, I would go up to my room and use a leg recovery machine called a Normatec, eat a healthy portion of honey dew while drinking a bottle of pedialyte, take a long, hot shower, get taped, then finish it off with a few games of FIFA 14 with my road roommate Duje Dukan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Going into the game, I didn't want to say it but I knew we were going to beat American easily. You always have to respect your opponent but I just saw no way we were going to make that early of an exit in the tournament, especially in front of so many badger fans. It was exactly the first game we needed. Get a big lead, get everyone into the game, and advance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Frank Kaminsky</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Founder and CEO of The Moose Basketball</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-17423623146023353422014-03-11T11:23:00.001-05:002014-03-11T11:23:20.062-05:00This Is The Best Video Of The College Basketball Season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"From old man leagues, to high school games… From the NCAA tourney to the NBA… As a player on the bench you have but one responsibility… GET WILD" </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Colby College Men's Basketball Team leads the nation in sideline celebrations. The D-III team from Maine has come up with many spectacular ways to celebrate plays. </span></i><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is absolutely hilarious. Every Bench Mob in America dreams of creating celebrations like these ones. Takes me back to the days where I believed that we had one of the best Bench Mob's just a season ago. </span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcEV95nQZWyha22XNI_XfFNSz-hhJ5ydmBKuuy_IMBHdaRlkY6PJACYBrZHpm625ZAEYljuw6BmDyE17fa8wsFSdHe1OvNVb7JHCqBfEnvVNvPRThOL-H-lU_wY-VyYhzabZkLazwgncD4/s1600/steady+mobbin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcEV95nQZWyha22XNI_XfFNSz-hhJ5ydmBKuuy_IMBHdaRlkY6PJACYBrZHpm625ZAEYljuw6BmDyE17fa8wsFSdHe1OvNVb7JHCqBfEnvVNvPRThOL-H-lU_wY-VyYhzabZkLazwgncD4/s1600/steady+mobbin.jpg" height="231" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That was until I saw this video. </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every single one of the celebrations that took place for the Colby Mules Bench Mob made me laugh uncontrollably. These players found a way to make being on the bench something to look forward to. </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Personal Favorite: the "I got you man"</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>This one is the funniest to me because sort of unwritten rule of basketball etiquette is that every player on the bench stands and gives a high five to the player coming off of the court. Not every player is happy to be coming of and </b><b>doesn't want to give his teammates their five. This happens so often. The one player waves his general five at every teammate on the bench, but he won't take no five for an answer. He proceeds to give every teammate on the bench their due five. Priceless comedy. </b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This video was perfectly timed, right before the NCAA tourney. Hopefully we will get to see some fantastic bench celebrations throughout March Madness. Colby College has set the standard, so let's see if anyone can top them. </span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5974277105383375978.post-57915603341624921522014-03-04T11:26:00.001-06:002014-03-04T16:13:47.684-06:00LeBron James 61 Point Performance<br />
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<i>MIAMI -- Best player. Best game of his career.</i></div>
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<i><a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/1966/lebron-james" style="border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LeBron James</a> clearly isn't ready to concede his MVP award to anyone yet.</i></div>
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<i>Dazzling from inside and out, James put on the best scoring show of his NBA life Monday night, pouring in 61 points -- a career high and franchise record -- as the <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/mia/miami-heat" style="border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Miami Heat</a> beat the <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/cha/charlotte-bobcats" style="border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Charlotte Bobcats</a> 124-107. It was the eighth straight win for the two-time defending champions, who are starting to roll as the playoffs get near.</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i>James made 22 of 33 shots from the field, including his first eight 3-point attempts.</i></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">This was an incredible game from Lebron James. He showed every aspect of his game from getting to the bucket, shooting the three, and his midrange game. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">But mainstream media is blowing this one out of proportion…. again. He scores 61 points and it is like he is instantly crowned the MVP. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">I mean SportsCenter's top 10 plays (the only reason I watch the show) were dedicated to LeBron James' top 10 50 point games. To understand my upset here… LeBron James has exactly 10 50+ point games. 10! It was a top 10 for all the times that LeBron has scored 50 points or more. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">To put things in perspective even further, for the entire 1961-1962 season, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points per game and 25.7 rebounds per game. Wilt rarely ever got to turn on the TV the next day and see people rave over how amazing he played. For his efforts in the 1961-1962 season, Wilt was NOT crowned the MVP. LeBron James is averaging 27.5 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game, but a 61 point performance is what is going to put him over the top for MVP voting half-way through the season? </span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"><b>For now LeBron James' 61 point performance is nothing short of spectacular, but I don't want to see this be the reason why he wins the MVP. At this point, I believe he is second behind Kevin Durant, and in my opinion, the award is Durant's to lose. </b></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075116713159774199noreply@blogger.com0