for posterity

Brent reminded me that I really should document the fact that I blocked former NBA All-Star, Antonio Davis in a game this week. Twice actually. I don't care that he's 40 years old and out of the league. He was a former All-Star (2000-2001 season). He's still in great shape, at 6'9" and I would guess around 250-265 pounds. One of the blocks was really more of a tip, but either way it prevented it from going in. The other was pretty sweet. His team threw the ball down the court to him, and he had it near the block, he pump faked to get one defender in the air. Then he shot, and he either didn't see me coming from behind or just didn't care, and I rose up and swatted it back past the 3-point line. Yeah, he got plenty of dunks in, but none were on me. Most of them were wide open because they lobbed it over me and I didn't get backside help (probably because no one else wanted to get dunked on either). It was a disappointing game though, we were up by 15 at half, and then lost by 6. But I still blocked a former NBA All-Star.

Griffey broke my heart

I was so excited earlier this week when it appeared that Ken Griffey jr was going to sign with the Braves. Since our seats are in the outfield it would give me multiple opportunities to watch him play. He’s always been a favorite player of mine despite all of his injuries. But last night when I heard the news that he had chosen Seattle, I was crushed. Even though he’s nowhere near his prime, I was convinced that he would be able to immensely contribute to the Braves team. I was especially shocked that he chose the Mariners because he is supposedly big on spending time with his family and Orlando (where he lives) is just a 1 hour flight from Atlanta – Seattle is 6 hours!! And from what I understand, the monetary offers from both teams were very similar. Griffey remarked that he would now only be able to see his family 2-3 times in the next 7 months by choosing Seattle over Atlanta. So much for being a family man.

My disappointment in this outcome was only worsened because of the bad luck the Braves have had this offseason. Attempts to trade for Jake Peavy ended up nowhere, they tried to get A.J. Burnett to sign, only to be burned by the Yankees and their huge offer, then Furcal agrees then disagrees to an offer, and then John Smoltz leaves us for the Red Sox! I’m still excited for the season to start, but Griffey choosing Seattle has dulled down my excitement.

I went to Utah

I am officially crazy. Last Saturday I got up at 4:15AM to go to the airport for an early flight to Salt Lake after staying up til midnight. I left Salt Lake late Sunday night, or Monday morning if you want to be specific, at 12:50AM. I got back into Atlanta around 6:15AM, took the rapid transit train home, slept for an hour and went into work. Why did I do this to myself? I don’t know, and that’s why I am officially crazy.

Actually, Delta had a cheap last minute fare for $220 roundtrip (including taxes) and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to visit a friend, catch a BYU basketball game, and see Melanie. While there I also made the requisite trip to café rio and also went to the BYU bookstore for a brief walk through. The trip was fun, but the lack of sleep before, during, and after definitely took its toll. If any of you have any questions about my friend, you can ask Melanie, she met my friend and they seemed to get along splendidly.

Everything was back to normal this week. Had 4 rec league games this week, one each night (Monday-Thursday), and last night’s overtime victory gave us back to back championships in that league. I played all 40 minutes of regulation and the 3 minute overtime and even stayed up to watch the Lakers defeat the Celtics in overtime, so I’m a little tired today. Another fascinating tidbit, its been freezing cold here. I mean, ridiculously cold. The little lake in front of our office was almost all frozen. The other day it was 16 degrees when I woke up but with wind chill it was zero, and it only got up to 34 that day. Thankfully, tomorrow is supposed to be in the 60s, so life will be even better. To end... here is a funny video.