How do I hate texASS ... let me count the ways

Yes, it's been quite awhile since I've checked in on the blog and I promise I'll catch everyone up on the wanderings through Serbia, Vegas, NYC, Philly, Uncasville, Chile, Ekaterinburg, College Park, Storrs / Hartford and Knoxville. But first I feel I must get this off of my chest before I explode.

We've been in texASS for about 40 hours now. That's 40 hours too long if you ask me.

Arriving on a (shocker) delayed flight from Knoxville on Nov. 5, once we loaded the luggage onto the bus I proceeded to pick up my rental car. Anyone who's ever rented a car here in dallASS knows that it's about 15 minutes away by shuttle. So I get my vehicle and head south to wacko where we'll play Baylor the next night.

By the time I arrive at the Hilton the bus has unloaded and my bags have been sent to Ellis' room.

I get my key and head to my room. UGH! The hotel is in the process of renovating to improve the rooms from the Motel 6-style rooms to much nicer abodes. As luck would have it, there aren't enough of the renovated rooms for everyone so three of us are stuck on the fourth floor.

Ok, I can deal with that.

I get my bags, unpack and set up my computer. I can't get online for some reason so I resort to ... DIAL UP!!! Even in Siberia they have ethernet connections or wireless in the rooms. This state sucks.

Turns out the hotel's wireless is not working. But you can walk down the block to their sister hotel and use the wireless there. Well, isn't THAT convenient!?!?!?

Because we're playing every other day and traveling on the off days on usually the first flight out I haven't gotten a lot of sleep every other night. So Tuesday morning - game day - is my chance to sleep in. I need it, especially knowing that I'll be up working on post-game stuff until at least midnight.

Seems the hotel folks have other thoughts. Precisely at 8 am the hammering, sawing, drilling, banging, etc., etc., etc., begins RIGHT ABOVE MY HEAD. So much for sleeping in OR getting in an afternoon nap.

At least I got a run in during the afternoon along the river :-)

I start to get ready for the game and the blow dryer in the room goes out. Great. Add another straw to the camel's back. They finally bring up another one, 10 minutes later, by which time my hair is almost completely dried naturally and looks like poop.

Game on. We win. I get back to the hotel and am excited that the restaurant is still open! Psych. The lights are on, but it's closed.

Heading up to my room and back to the dial-up to finish up a few things. Should take about 15-20 minutes, but dialing in extends the time to more like an hour. Pack. Go to sleep. 4.5 hours later the alarm sounds. Get up. Shower. Load bags on bus. 6:30 ... head back north to dallASS.

Get to the rental car place and read that our gate is C26. Take the shuttle to C26. Flight's not listed on the screen. Ask the agent, who states, "oh, we don't list those until about an hour before the flight."

Huh???

"So why are we supposed to get here two hours early?"

Blank stare.

"Oh, you're at A11."

Great.

Shuttle over to A. Get through the line and then through security. Ahhh, time for some food!

I head to Au Bon Pain.

"May I have an orange juice, large black coffee and a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese?"

"What was that?"

Repeat order.

"would you like orange juice, water or coffee with that?"

Repeat order.

"Oh! I'm sorry, but we only have decaf. We've been so busy that we haven't had a chance to make more. Would you like decaf instead?"

"Uh, no. What's the point of decaf?"

Blank stare.

"Would you like orange juice or water instead?"

Repeat order, minus the coffee.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we only have one plain bagel left."

"Fine. I'll take the plain bagel."

I pay. Wait in line for the bagel before being told that they were mistaken. Someone miscounted and the guy in front of me got the final bagel.

Five minutes later I have my refund and head to (gasp!) McDonald's. Yes, I went to McDonald's. I was hungry and in need of coffee and very desperate.

"Hi, may I have a large black coffee and an egg mcmuffin without any Canadian bacon?"

"A small coffee?"

"No, I would like a large black coffee and an egg McMuffin with no Canadian bacon please."

"Do you want bacon instead?"

"No. I do not want any meat on it."

"Was that a small coffee?"

"No! Large please."

"And would you like room for cream?"

ARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! GET ME OUT OF THIS STATE NOW!!!!!!!

And the worst part? Three days from now I'll be right back here. But at least I get three glorious nights in Phoenix.

Oh yeah, driving past texASS stadium I flipped the birdie the entire time.

Touring the Kremlin

This was taken inside the Kremlin with my camera phone. Many people think that the Kremlin is simply the government buildings, but it's actually the red walled (former) city that houses numerous cathedrals and other museums AND the government buildings.

More later!

My Top Ten List of the Day

Our top ten reasons to love Moscow ...

10. Beers at sunset on the 24^th floor.

9. Where else do you have to brush grit off your teeth after you run?

8. Healthcare is free and rehab starts right when you get hurt (i.e. get up and go).

7. Gymnasts in the gym and Red Square.

6. Man bags and mullets.

5. Everyone works but no one does anything (except for wiping the locker room floor at halftime).

4. Lenin’s Tomb Raider ride.

3. More people come out of an elevator than clowns out of a Volkswagen.

2. Where else can you eat snacks out of a shoe?

1. Best drink in the country is cok and who doesn’t like cok?

Moscow Musings

• I went on a run today and saw a little girl, about nine-years-old, squatting behind a bush and peeing.

• People here are pushy. They don’t like to stand in lines, nor are they afraid to cut. You’d better learn to box out or you’ll be the big loser. It probably has something to do with the population, the more people there are, the bigger the need to push your way to the front.
• We found out from our interpreter that nothing in Russia was allowed to be printed in English until about a year or so ago – menus, hotel phone information, etc. We found that interesting. Our doc told her it could mean the slow decline of the Russian language. They’re going to end up getting swept into the English language wave that’s rounding the earth like a tsunami.
• The meal room has quite possible one of the bottom five buffets I’ve ever had. It is a shock to the system after eating so well in France. BUT, the pickles are AWESOME and the soups have been quite good.
• You must pay cash for just about everything. They don’t like to take credit cards – even for hotel restaurant charges. And you can’t charge things to your room.
• The air is dirty. The traffic is the worst I’ve ever seen anywhere. DC, NYC, Southern Cal and Atlanta have absolutely nothing on Moscow.
• There are a ton of Asian tourists in our hotel. They all smoke. A lot. Is Moscow a huge tourist destination for Asians or do they just flock to this hotel?
• Circulation. Forget about it. There is no air circulation at all. Anywhere. Unless you go outside. I’m serious. This is probably why many people smell. You’re just sitting in the lobby and the air is stagnant and you feel yourself getting damp. Simply put: it’s gross. I nearly puked on our bus heading back from practice yesterday because there was no air on and no windows open. That and we were stop and go and it was making me totally nauseated. Ugh.
• The sign in the meal room for the juice is “cok.” Suffice it to say that we’ve been over abusing all the jokes you can imagine with that! Mmmmm, I love the cok. Ellis & Dave? They LOVE the cok. It’s a scene from Jay & Silent Bob.

I think that’s all I have for now. As an aside, you should take a look at the features page for the team I’m currently with. There are some pretty good photo galleries. Oh yeah, when you view the one from Red Square, I need to point out that I gave props to Rudy and the guy doing hand stands was actually our doc doing round-offs in the square. Good times!

Goodbye France ...

June 25, 2007

NOTE: this is what I used to intro the team's blog today. I figured it was close enough for blogging efforts -- I do have to go out one last time and look for little goodies for birthday girls you know! I also have some lovely musings from this week, but will pull them all together on the flight tomorrow and post from MOSCOW!!!!

Well, it’s sad to have to type this, but by this time tomorrow we’ll all be gone from Antibes and the French Riveria. It’s been a fun trip, very productive on the court and the team is beginning to gel. They didn’t look very crisp when we first arrived, but that’s slowly changing and by the time Friday rolls around, they’ll be a well-oiled machine.

Speaking of Friday, Australia is the first team the U.S. will face. Nothing like being tested right from the start. While there are no ‘gimmes’ at this level, it would be nice to dip the toes in the ocean first. But what the heck, jumping right in has its advantages also. Australia, by the way, likes to name their teams and the U21 squad is called the Sapphires. They’re not the only nation that names their team. Much like in soccer, nations around the world have catchy names for their squads. We’ll report on this later after we arrive in Moscow and find the other nicknames.

Ok, the Sapphires just won a pre-U21 Worlds tournament in Spain, defeating Brazil 94-77 and China 93-52 before taking the hosts 75-68. They will be a good challenge for the USA on Friday.

After the three-game series against the French, the USA squad scrimmaged a local cadet boys team for the team’s final two-a-day. That was Friday night.

On Saturday we hopped in a bus and headed for a nearby town, Juan des Pins, where we all ate a delicious lunch of salmon or lamb (we had our choice), followed by a couple of hours to spend swimming, reading, walking around ... whatever. During that time a man had what appeared to be a heart attack and our team doctor saved the day. The lifeguards, who I’m sure are very capable and able when it comes to a drowning victim, were out of their league when it came to this. So after a few back and forths, he convinced the lifeguards to let him take over while awaiting the ambulance. He’s our hero.

After that bit of excitement we all boarded the bus once again and drove around the coast a little further to Cannes, home of one of the world’s (Sundance being the other) most famous film festivals. We toured around town a bit, with our bus driver pointing out all the pricey shops and the hotels where all the big stars stay when they’re here.

We were able to get out and walk around a bit to explore the town. All the Gucci, Prada, etc., shops were on the main boulevard that lines the water. All the little kitchy places were a block back. Guess where we shopped?

We then ate at one of the best pizza places in the French Riveria, La Pizza (that means The Pizza for those of you who don’t speak French), and it definitely lived up to its name. What a great way to end the day!

That was followed by a post-practice excursion on Sunday to St. Paul, a little old fortress town built up on top of a nearby mountain. It’s very quaint and rumor has it that Marc Chagall is buried there. It’s a very artsy town with a lot of art galleries and other very $$$ shops. But they also had some “normal people” priced shops to peek into.

After a few hours of shopping and walking the hilly cobblestone streets, it was time to board the bus again. It was time for a siesta, actually! We returned to the hotel and had about 90 minutes before it was time to leave for dinner (I smell a theme here ... eat, practice, eat, tour, eat ).

We were met by the French coach and a former player from Philadelphia who came to play when he was 24 or 25, played for the professional team here until he was about 40 and never left. But who can blame him!? He knows all the Philly guys and I believe he said he played for Jack Ramsey at St. Joe’s. For real.

So, they take us to this wonderful little Italian restaurant that is frequented by all the big stars who come through. Magic Johnson was just there two nights before us and rumor has it that Beyonce and Jay-Z were there the night before us. The restaurant’s name is Michaelangelo and the food and decor would surely have pleased one of the world’s most famous artists.

In a nutshell, we’ve been enjoying the calming sea breezes, the blue sky, warm weather, French cuisine, touring some of the sights, while at the same time getting ready for why we’re really here: the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship (that and to eat, drink and be merry when not working).

Travel Day Blues ... June 16 & 17

Ahhh, the travel day. Nothing like getting about five hours of sleep, hopping on Flight No. 1 from Colorado Springs and disembarking from Flight No. 4 in Nice, France.

Traveling alone has its advantages: no herding cats. It also has its disadvantages: nobody to joke with. But I managed to enjoy myself all the same.

I watched Shooter with Marky-Mark from Denver to Dulles and knew in the first 15 minutes why it was in the theaters for a blink of an eye. It was awful! However, it helped pass the time. My first movie over the pond was Breach, about the FBI spy and his capture - that was pretty good – then I saw the final 15 minutes of Zodiac and during the remainder of the flight I caught 10 minutes here and there. I also watched Catch and Release featuring Kevin Smith. Ok, so Jennifer Garner was the lead, but Kevin Smith rocked. Yeah, boring stuff.

Early on – we’re talking during the boarding process – I managed to get irritated by and summarily piss of some Eastern Euro who was as loud as can be. Traveling with his wife and two kids, he was probably miffed when he boarded since two of the seats were 19E & F (777, 2-5-2 configuration), while his wife and other child were in 20D&E. I was in 19G. He spent about five minutes trying to figure out what to do with his luggage (and wasn’t quiet about it in his native tongue).

Then he sent his younger son through row 20, up one row to 19 and across me to get into seat 19F. Mind you, at this point there is not one other soul in Row 19 OR 20. Why he couldn’t scoot across 19 and not climb over me was a mystery. Then he got his wife and other son settled, scootched his butt across 20, made a lot of noise and commotion trying to get their two large roller bags into the bins, smashing my laptop bag in the process. I stood up and asked him to be careful for other people’s stuff. He then proceeded to climb over me and his son to get into 19E. I’m still confused about all the commotion when he leans over to me and tells me that the bins are for ALL passengers, not just me and my bag was taking up the whole bin (clearly not the case since he got his bag, bigger than mine, in there). I told him with my face that he was an a**hole, but my voice simply said,”all I was saying was that you should be more careful of other people’s belongings.”

So I think we’re all settled, right? Wrong.

Somehow, while I had my eyes closed trying to ignore the remainder of the boarding process in my happy place, he managed to talk several people in 19 to move back to 20 – including someone on the other 19 aisle. Then he woke me up and asked me to switch aisle seats with his wife, who was in the left side of my five-seat row.

Huh?

Yeah, he wanted to be near his luggage, which was in the compartment above my head and the one directly behind me.

Alllllllllllrighty then!

At least it gave me a little bit of amusement for a few of the 20ish hours I was traveling.


NOTE: These pictures have nothing whatsoever to do with this post. However, the top one is me at the beach by the town of John the Pin Head, locally known as Juan de Pins. The next one is of the waiter we had by the outdoor cafe. We got a kick out of him -- total rocker clothes (80's) in th 80' heat. Hmmm, 80's in the 80's!! The final one you will see the wonderful man-bag. Murse. Whatever you want to call it. It's very functional. The guy got too far away before I could yank out my camera, but there's a Betty Boopish sketch on his bag. The Euros are famous for the man-capris, man-bag and man-sandles. They're all starting to creep their way to LA and probably NYC, which means that by the time it hits Colorado Springs ... WHAT AM I THINKING!?!?!? It'll never fly there.

Off to do whatever it is I do.

Memorial Day at Moab

Ok, so I'm a little delayed. I've decided NOT to go back to Italy and rehash that trip. Instead, we'll forward to Memorial Day Weekend with good friends Chris, Janice & their 8-month-old Charlie, as well as Don and Leah. All of us met way back in another life at Fat Tuesday's and in the last year and a half I've reconnected with them.

Chris and Janice arrived on Wednesday so that Thursday morning they could go scout out camping sites and found a GREAT one right on the river. I arrived at 6 pm that night and cracked open an ICB while setting up my tent. Don & Leah, coming from San Diego, were overnighting past Vegas and we'd see them tomorrow.

I brought my road bike (yes, I know, it's Moab) and Friday morning we all struck out at the same time for the end of the road at Arches. I realized on my 10-day trip around the Four Corners in '05 that riding through National Parks is an amazing way to really see the landscape. They went for a hike and we met at the end of a looooooong uphilll climb. Let's just say that of the 20-mile road in the park about 1.5 of it was downhill. I kid you not.

Because of the time of day, heat (not a cloud in sight) and dry air, I took my time and stopped at nearly every pull-out or overlook in the park. When you're driving in, you miss out on some of the views and it really does get tiresome to get in and out of your car constantly, walk over, read, view, etc. SO much more peaceful and enjoyable in the saddle.

That night, after D&L arrived and set up their tent while sipping on an ICB, I pulled out steaks from Ranch Foods Direct and we all had ourselves a great meal (heck, ALL meals that weekend were delightful), great conversation and then sat around the fire until the wee hour of probably midnight.

We hit Arches again the next day and did a few hikes around there and then Canyonlands Island in the Sky District the following day. It was hot, we didn't get started early (11:30 at the trail head) and went on a 6-mile hike. Janice is a MACHINE!!! She carried the baby on her back in a pack the entire time. After the hike, where we saw an arch, several garden oasis, beautiful desert wildflowers, geckos, canyonlands and sky as the eye could see.

We did Arches one final time -- Delicate Arch and a few other small hikes -- before it was time for our last night of camping.

C,J & C are in the process of moving to Sedona. That was the plan since moving out to Arizona from NoVa and they've finally done it. We saw some pictures of their new place and I can't wait to see it! I'll see Don, who brought his guitar and serenaded the group at night, & Leah probably before next Memorial Day if I'm able to go to San Diego again. We brunched with them in March before Dave headed overseas and I'm looking forward to it again.

Sadly we had to head home and back to reality after five nights in the camp ground, but it was a good time. We're going to look into renting a house boat on Lake Powell and then exploring some of the canyons that are reappearing in Glen Canyon these days. We'll have to bring kayaks along to do some of the exploring, but it should be a good time!

I think we probably ate better during the camping trip (I usually do) than during a regular week. We were totally gourmet! Peet's coffee, steaks, brats, salad, you name it, we ate it. After all, if you're going to pull your car into a spot, you're not roughing it and should definitely reward your afternoon hikes with some good food / beer / wine / margs :-)

I have to say that Charlie was an amazing camper. He didn't cry much at all, was mostly giggly and totally into the outdoors scene: eating dirt, watching geckos run around, taking camp showers, going on hikes, etc. Nothing fazed this little guy. Watch for him in about 20 years in some amazing adventure race. He's getting primed for it now!

Ciao!

Stay Awake

April 7, 2007

Once we got checked in, unpacked & showered, we all met for a walkabout. One thing you never want to do when arriving in a new time zone is go straight to sleep or you'll never adjust.

We hopped in a cab at 1:45 and arrived at the Spanish Steps a few minutes later. After some pointless wandering – we were sleepwalking really – we came upon a sidewalk café (in Rome! Imagine that!) and decided it was time for some food.

After our late lunch we continued strolling along and found ourselves in San Pietro Piazza (St. Peter's Square). It was fairly busy and we were fairly brain dead. After walking around it a bit we ended up leaning against a railing, then Carol sat down and the rest of us soon followed. We sat there for some time people watching and not really saying anything. And then fell asleep. Right there sitting on the cobblestones at St. Peter's. Yeah, we were tired. I was nodding in and out, Carol was totally out and Ed & BJ were also dozing.

After our refreshing nap, which only ended because someone felt some raindrops, we began the walk back to the hotel. If you're familiar with the layout of Rome, our hotel was on the north side of Villa Borghese. If you're not familiar with Rome, it's still a very long walk. One that was interrupted by a downpour or two. We ducked under a bridge and sat out the first one, made it to the next bridge before the next heavy rain and during the third Carol and I found a café and had some espresso & magnums (YUMMY!).

That night was filled with a very long meal at a great place around the corner from our hotel. The host and staff were most excellent and come to find out that's the same place we were to have a few team meals over the next week.

We all crashed HARD that night and I didn't move until about 9:00 a.m. Then I rolled over and went right back to sleep for another hour.

We spent that afternoon walking around the neighborhood to figure out what was nearby, where we should tell the players to go, etc., and then the arrivals started rolling in that night.

You have HOW MANY bags?

April 7, 2007

Just to be up front about this, we never travel light. Ever.

Carol, Ed, BJ and I were arriving in Rome a day ahead of the players and coaching staff and Carol had already called ahead to let our host, Maria Christina, know that even though there were only four of us, there would be many, many, many big bags. We needed a short bus or a luggage truck.

"Yes, yes, no problem!"

Well, since we had a total of 34 checked bags (thankfully two never arrived that day, including the oversized training table), in addition to our large carry ons, there was a BIG problem. They sent a driver to pick us up in a large nine-passenger van. It was big and boxy, but not nearly big enough for our bags. No matter how hard we tried, they just weren't going in .

It became even more comic when some of the skycaps' people came to watch. We dubbed one guy the supervisor because he stood behind the bags smoking and pointing. We've all had to load bags into small spaces – we have issues with an entire team and buses on a regular basis – and attempted to assist in the loading. Nope, they were like three-year-olds and wanted to do it all by themselves.

Nothing was being stacked, everything went in all willy-nilly and therefore even less would fit in the van.

However, the driver called one of his friends with another ban of the same size and after another half hour or so of shoving, packing, repacking, etc., we finally had all the bags in the vans and, miraculously, still had room to fit the four of us ... barely.

As an after note, when the bulk of players and coaches showed up on Saturday, most of them were loaded onto a bus. However, we still had four who were coming later so BJ and I hung out at the airport and waited. This being Easter weekend, you can only imagine how busy the Rome airport was and more bags were lost. There was a driver sent for three of the players (the fourth person had missed his connection thanks to delays out of COS – shocker – and wasn't on the pick up list), but he was driving a sedan, one with a normal trunk. Thankfully (although not for them) some of the bags didn't arrive otherwise we'd be taking a cab full of bags back to the hotel in addition to the car.

More on Jackson

So this is more of Jackson, my lil cutie. He's a trip. I think of him often, especially after Cheryl's cat got mauled by a pack of wild dogs roaming the streets of Atlanta (another reason to not like the south). Poor thing :-(

Looking Ahead @ Another Busy Year

So I went through my calendar yesterday and starting marking it up -- it's pretty full!!! Italy in April, Hawaii in May, Russia in June/July, Serbia in July, Vegas (maybe) in August, Chile in September ... it never ends! However, I'm sure I'll have some great stories that come out of all the travels.

On an unrelated note, I have a new cat. Ain't he cute!? His markings are very similar to Zeb's, with the exception being black & white versus grey & white. I got him from the pound at the end of January and nursed him back to health (the pound crud). He's now a non-stop kitty. The one funny thing about his fur is that he was almost named Roots. As in bad dye job. His black fur comes with white roots. Half & half. It's cute!

He was almost a dead cat last night ... he somehow managed to squeeze his newest toy under my neck right at the edge of the pillow. Then spent the next seven hours trying as hard as possible to get it out. He was nudging, pawing, purring, nudging, anything he could think of to make me stay awake. I thought he was just being a royal pain in the arse. Nope. He was just trying to pry his toy from under my head. ARGH! Yes, I drank a LOT of coffee today, but still feel like nodding off this afternoon ... anyhoo, back to Jackson. Nicknamed Boo Boo Kitty. He's a pound kitty, turns two in July, is the most active animal I've ever known, likes to play fetch with my ponytail bands (I toss them down the hall, he runs them back to me, I toss them down the hall ...) and is Chatty Cathy. Big time!

It's Springtime in the Rockies and you know what that means ... snow or 70' on any given day. Or both!

I'm outta here to go finish off my day with a run at the Jack Quinn's Runner's Club 5k -- a Tuesday night social run. Good times!

Catching Up ..

Not much going on here. Zeb died in my arms on Nov. 4. Dave started his one-year deployment Dec. 4 and left the state to train in Southern California on Jan. 4, I tore the UCL in my left thumb skiing on Jan. 29 and have been out of commission since that time, had surgery Jan. 10 and got a cast put on it today. Hopefully skiing will be in my immediate future!

I've been told I've been pretty lazy about writing ramblings and one of my non-resolutions this year is to log onto this blog no less than once a week to babble incessantly about the most inane items. It'll be like you're listening to talk radio .... only better!

This picture was taken in early December with four good friends up in the mountains. We were doing some backcountry skiing around one of the 10th Mountain Division Huts and found a log upon which to place the camera for a self-timed pic. We got dumped on for the two nights we were up there, drank plenty of Hut Slushies, ate more food than one could possibly imagine and had a freakin' blast! We had the whole hut to ourselves with a large group of friends (they were skiing elsewhere when this shot was taken). Basically you pile all your gear, food & sleeping bag into a backpack and head into the wilderness. For those of you who think "roughing it" is a hotel without room service, this is NOT for you!

Ok, I'm outta here. Too much food & drink during the holidays. I must work out after work daily or I'll never be able to wear anything but sweats again.

Bit O'Brazil

NOTE: This is from last September while I was in Brazil...

So, in addition to the organizing committee ignoring us about the fact that
we have needs for 34 rooms for the finals and us having to spend all day
hunting down a hotel that has room in the inn for us (btw … France also had
the same issues because they also have extra room needs), going on a joy
ride through the streets of Sao Paulo to get to the arena tonight with a
brake-happy driver (I think we may have been on two wheels at one time
also), arriving to the arena only to find that there were about 100 people
hanging out ready to watch the practice, music started playing just now as
Anne was trying to talk to the players. I look around for someone to ask
about having the music turned off (thinking, silly me, that the sound is
coming from within the Thunderdome), when Horovitz turns to me and says,
“you know there’s a rock concert next door tonight, right?”

“WHAaaaaaat the???”

“I think it’s actually in the parking lot.”

But of course it would be.

Oh yeah, and the bus stalled on the way to the gym.

You can’t make this sh*t up!