Reminiscing

As I sit here and relax after both practices today I am just thinking about everything that has happened in my life to get me to this points.  Life is never as bad as it seems and never as good either.  Just going to write about some of things that have gone through my head tonight. This will jump all over but ill try to make it easy to follow.

First, I was thinking about my family. Lets start with my brother...thinking how we always used to fight and obviously I would get the best of him in those battles.  One that sticks out was couple years ago and he was running his mouth while some people were over and he just pushed enough buttons for me to be get him outside and try to "take me down."  In about 2.5 seconds I had him on his back and in what looked like a human pretzel with a bloody nose from his leg hitting his nose. Whats crazy about that is that now there is none of that between us and we get alone great....probably because I spoil him and get me about anything he wants.

What comes to mind when thinking about my mom above her yelling at me when to make my free throws or at the refs when the gym is silent is a time when I was younger and wanted to work on my pitching for baseball.  She crouched down and gave me a target as I wound up. Delivered the pitch as if she had on full gear and was a normal catcher...BAM.  The ball catch her on the inside of her leg and instantly was bruised and completely swollen.  I felt pretty bad after that and obviously my pitching workout was cut short.

I remember playing 1 on 1 against my dad and going to all of his games at Community Gym in Huntington.  As a lil tyke I would go over to the side goals with some other kids whose dad was playing and we would chuck the ball towards the 10 ft rim getting lucky every once in a while.  This is where my love for the game started.  I traveled with him to his game just to get a chance to shoot even if I couldn't get the ball to the rim.  1 on 1 obviously wasn't fair since he was a lot bigger than me but he would let me score a few points as he would shoot 3s and stuff.

Secondly, just thinking about basketball and all of the opportunities it has given me in my life. Chances to play all of the US and visit places I would never have imagined going in my life. All began as a kid playing at the Salvation Army, on my strategically stacked team with buddy and beast John Wall and then another one of our best friends.  Playing in Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournaments and getting invited to Gus Macker Nationals in Celebration, FL. Playing AAU for Indiana Stars and Indiana Elite traveling all over the US and having a blast with the guys that shared the same dream as I.  Gotta give respect to a friend/teammate thats life was taken as a Frosh at Ball State..RIP Travis! High school basketball playing with all of my best friends and being able to clown around before and after games as well on bus trips. Chance to continue my dream and play in the B10 for the Boilers.  Play beside multiple NBA and Professional players on our journey to a B10 Championship, BTT Championship, and 4 NCAA appearances.  Traveling to workouts, playing summer league, and preseason for NBA teams. Just getting a taste of what its life at that level.  The D-League last season playing so close to my friends and family and for a great organization.  Puerto Rico in the summer was a blast and got to meet some awesome people.  Now, sitting here in Germany still playing the game I loved and still dream about to this day.

So many memories with my friends that I could write all day about those, but my friends and family help shape me into the person I am today. I haven't had it as "rough" as some people, but I am not going to say I have had it easy.  It is hard work to get into this position but I feel like I made the right decision. Through everything in my life there has been at least some adversity that I have had to battle through.  It has all made me a stronger person.

Love my family! Love my friends! Love this game!