61-Day Road Trip

for real? Hells yeah. Try this on for size.... And now, this image has nothing to do with days 1-35 or so. I just thought I should make sure you're doing what you're supposed to be doing and taking care of your private thing :-)

Day 1: June 26, 2008
Colorado Springs to Las Vegas (718 miles)

After a morning of finishing up errands and a couple of last minute shouts out for a ride, Dean and I were headed to the Colorado Springs airport. He simply to drop me off, me to begin my longest odyssey yet with USA Basketball.

Of course leaving early afternoon from COS comes with a steep price – the agonizing, yet inevitable delay. Our flight was about an hour late due to the afternoon storms we see this time of year. But it could have been worse – I could be Jenny stuck in the airport until close to midnight. Ouch!

Finally arrived in Denver, ready to “O.J.” from one end of the terminal (gate 84) to the other (32), but found my flight to Vegas was also delayed and therefore I had time for a little Que Bueno …mmmmmmmmmmmmm! And of course the pit stop at the Red Carpet Club.

I slept through most of the flight, despite the bumpy air and screaming baby during the first 15 minutes. I think I was just a little zonked!

HEAT WAVE
As expected, getting off the plane in Vegas was a treat. We were hit by some dense, hot air and then came the cluster @#$(#@$*( that is also known as the worst baggage claim in the WORLD.

As if my day wasn’t long enough, they checked me into a smoking room. That just won’t do. So when I finally got into my room and had dinner I was done for the night. No going out for me tonight!

Day 2: June 27
I got a 45-minute run in and spent the better part of the day in the office before the 7 pm team meeting. Here’s a shocker: we had dinner at Corso. Same place we ate the night before and what has become the most eaten at place for me in the town of Las Vegas. Night after night after night. I think I’ve tried nearly everything on the menu at least once.

Overall the day was what most of my days moving forward would become – a total blur. But it was good to see the guys again, CP asked about my knee, wanted to make sure it was all better. He doesn’t want to be walking me up anymore hills this time around! He was on our U20 team four years ago and I was still in a knee brace after my ACL surgery and the tournament was in Halifax. If you’ve ever been there, you know what I mean by the hills.

Also got to see and briefly catch up with many NBA and NBAE peeps who I hadn’t seen in awhile so that was good.

Day 3: June 28
I’m definitely eating too much and need to slow down. Eating on the road will kill you – eating on the road while on a 8-week road trip will pack on the lbs. But there should be a forced diet in Argentina and at least the first part of China so I’ve got that going for me.

Nike had a professional crew to film practice and put together b-roll for a commercial they’re doing with the team. They were EVERYWHERE. Can’t wait to see the finished product.

For the first time in three straight summers at Vegas I got to sit by the pool and order a drink. I did it right – a 5k calorie daiquiri. I sat out there for all of 30 minutes until the sun dipped too low in the sky and I was in the shade. But it was 30 of the most wonderful minutes of the summer!

Here’s a shock and surprise: I went to Corso for dinner. Crazy, I know. But I like to live on the edge.

But I did do over 100 flights of stairs in under 55 minutes and if I can keep that up at least every other day this summer I’ll make it through the night.

Day 4: July 29, 2008
Vegas to Denver (tease!!!) to DCA (2,104 miles)

Up at 3:30 a.m. to catch my flight – that totally sucked ass.

Because the training camp in Vegas was cut short I was able to get to DC a day early and mom picked me up from the airport and whisked me straight to Nina’s house where I saw little Emily for the very first time! Toooooo cute! She is SUCH a doll and Sarah is ever the doting sistah. They’re going to have great times together.

It was good to visit with everyone, it had been too long.

Mom then took me downtown to my hotel. From the Wynn to the Red Roof Inn. Hmmm. Can we say “step down?” Oh yeah. And the area didn’t look too good. Mom was not pleased about dropping me off there. Needless to say she made sure I checked in and headed to the elevator before pulling away. The hotel room was everything you could imagine … if you imagine fleabag hotels. I’ve stayed in better places in the most remote corners of the world. I didn’t even want to touch the remote control with my bare hands. I used a wash cloth – wrapped it around the remote to turn the tv on/off and change channels. It was also musty and moldy and all around gross. But it was what it was for 10 days – home base. AND it had an Irish bar in the lobby where I grabbed a couple of pints of Guiness before heading to bed. Although even that was scary. Some random drunk wandered in off the street and started bothering me, asking very personal questions and getting me pissed off – all I wanted was to read the paper and have my Guiness in peace. So I had to have the barkeep toss the guy out. Turns out he’s a semi-regular. Probably harmless, but definitely annoying as hell.

Day 5: June 30, 2008
I spent all day working in the room, getting the media guide finalized, working on women’s Olympic stuff, pretty much put the hammer down and hit it. I think I stayed in my jammies all day long! When I finally emerged to the world around 5:30/6 pm, I did so to get a little exercise. I had a GREAT run along the National Mall. Went all the way down to Arlington Cemetary, made a pit stop in the women’s war museum and ran back. There was a light rain falling most of the way down and that kept most of the people from getting in my waay. The way back, however, was much different. Throngs of nasty tourists emerged from their hiding places only to wander aimlessly into my running path. That’s so frustrating. They SEE you, look right AT you while you’re running in a straight line and then decide to wander into your plane of existence. FUCK ME!

Day 6: July 1, 2008
I got in a 1:12 run around the Mall in the morning before everything began and then finished up a few things the rest of the morning in my room. Prior to the first trials session for our U18 men’s team I ran into JT & JB in the lobby. JB and I exchanged looks that said it all about the hotel. Then I commented that it wasn’t the Wynn.

JB: It’s no Plaza either.

ME: Oh no?

JB: Butlers on every floor.

ME: I think you might be able to find an ice machine (not necessarily working) on every other floor here.

JB: It still isn’t worse than that place in Brazil.

ME: That’s always something!

Trials started that day with 18 players – 17 who were healthy as one kid came in from California with a bad ankle and was sent right back the next day.

We went all the way to Chevy Chase for dinner that night for Maggiano’s. Not sure what the method was behind that madness. It took about 45 mintues to get there from the Verizon Center and there are SO many great restaurants around that area. Oh well. We ended the night back in the Irish bar. Not a bad gathering place!

Day 7: Wednesday, July 2
Big news of the day? My computer is seriously having issues. I’m trying to finalize the women’s Olympic media guide and this is NOT helping. Definietely NOT.

Another day, another trials session or two. Nothing exciting there. I did meet up with Steve and TS in the Irish bar and had some wonderful conversations. I had no clue TS was from the area . He grew up in Southern Maryland in a family of like 5,000 kids. Ok, maybe not that much, but many. Neat guy. I’ve always liked him, especially for the fact that unlike so many in this biz, he can actually have an intelligent non-basketball conversation.

My computer by the end of the day is seriously flawed. I start moving as many files as possible onto my external hard drive. Come to find out later that my hard drive was shot and needed to be replaced. At least I was able to save most of my files. And Brittany was there at trials so I would eventually send her home with no laptop and use her old POS through ARRgentina. ARGH. To add to my woes of the day, I never got a run in. Ugk.

Day 8, July 3
The computer is still pretty crappy. Brittany and Steve head back to their respective places and the team is down to 14 finalists so we take them all out to dinner at Clydes. I know, since when is there a Clyde’s in Chinatown? Who knows but it’s there.

Another bummer on the day: I’m supposed to go hang out with Cyndi tonight but with all the computer crap that’s been happening, by the time the team dinner is over with, it’s late, I’m tired and have to bow out of the evening. Too bad, too. It sounds like she had a great time!

No run, but I did get in a 35-minute walk. YAy me.

Day 9: July 4
So much for independence. I had no breakfast, no lunch, no exercise and I fought with the computer all day long. Yes, I still have it. I was sent discs to try and reload programs and everything but it’s becoming more and more apparent that I need to give up and send it back to the office for repair. I actually feel much better once this decision has been made so I can concentrate on other things.

Did get in a nice dinner at Matchbox with the coaching staff so I have that going for me. It rained most of the evening so I opted for the dinner rather than stand out in the rain watching fireworks. Good option.

Day 10: July 5
Coaches gave the players the night off and Sunday morning’s practice was also cancelled. That gave me the chance to steal away to NoVa and crash Madeleine’s 10th birthday party. HooooooRAAyyyyyyy! It was a Harry Potter-themed party complete with races, Quidditch, taste that bean and all sorts of other cool things that Matt & Deb made up. The evening, which was filled with fireworks that were never lit on the 4th due to the rain, was capped with a showing of the Harry Potter flick and a sleepover. All-in-all a great day!!!

Middle of the Top of the World

April 16/17, 2008

My goodness, it’s been a long time. But I’m traveling again and need to really step it up. I’m having a hard enough time trying to keep in contact with everyone on a regular basis. Thus, the purpose of the blog. However, I really suck at that also!

I’m pretty sure that I told all of you about Spain and the Fallas (fire) festival. If not, I’ll have to circle back at a later date and explain all of that. However, I’m on a plane on my way to China – Beijing to be exact – for the Olympic test event. What is an Olympic test event? Each Olympiad the organizers put on a pre-Olympic event to make sure everything in the venue is in full working order and that way they have the opportunity to fix what’s broken. Or not. Sometimes not. There have been many before us and will be several more test events before the 8-8-8 opening ceremonies.

Nuff said.

FINAL FOUR // Tampa
I got to see cousin Kathy and her kids and Brian and their new house!!!!! Ok, so I still owe Shane a birthday pressie and card (bad auntie!!) And it was a pretty quick visit as I didn’t have much time and neither did they since they were trying to unpack from the move and I was working but the few hours we had were wonderful! Their house is amazing (if I only had that much closet space ...) And I’m very, very, very happy for them.

The purpose of my trip to Tampa was the Final Four. It was a work trip, however, I really wasn’t in my normal working mode. We didn’t have a training camp down there and there was no real purpose for me being there and having the org. pay for my being there. But ... there were three USA WNT members playing in the Final Four; there were a TON of media who not only might be covering the Olympics, but who cover college bball and whom I deal with on a fairly regular (every summer) basis; media who cover both women’s college bball and the Olympics; coaches with whom I’ve worked throughout the years, etc., etc., etc. Yes, it’s a little of a boondogle, but I think it’s a pretty good one to be able to talk to people face to face about USA Basketball. Oh yeah, let’s not forget the always and often forgotten sports information directors!!!! There are SO many of them who I work with every summer and never see their faces, so the Final Four is a good opportunity for me to actually put a face with a name (and they get to do the same).

The moment which impressed me the most was Candice Wiggins on the podium after losing the championship game. She was amazing. Instead of dwelling on the negative (losing), she spoke about her four years at Stanford, Tara, her teammates, etc., and how much she really appreciated everything about the university, etc. It was refreshing.

BACK TO THE FLIGHT ...
We have passed the international dateline and are somewhere over Siberia. Amazing. I don’t think our parents would have (or could have) imagined this in their lifetimes. And here it is, my third time in China.

I remember being in grade school and our class went on a trip (most likely Vienna) and took a side trip to a border control area of what was then Czechoslovakia. I remember seeing the guard towers with men (always men) in the towers pointing their guns at us. There were fences, several fences, moats, etc., with razor wire, everything and anything imaginable, between us and them. And now? I’ve been to the Czech Republic. I’ve been to Slovakia. But I’ve never actually stepped foot into Czechoslovakia. Only the memory of Czechoslovaki.

I’ ve also ridden a bike through Berlin. Run through the frozen streets of Krakow. Run across the beaches in Rio. I tried to find a bridge across the swamps in Valdivia, Chile; experienced Italy, Spain, Germany, ...... the list goes on and on. And my point is what? My point is the fact that the world truly is tiny. And I have decided that I’m NOT catching up. I’m here. I’m ready for adventure and hopefully I’ll keep up with everything from now on :-)

WYF?!?!?!?!??!
Can I remind people of what I said last time I was in Beijing? I can’t fully quote what I had to say, but with all the frustrations I had with the 2001 World University Games organizers, I’m pretty sure I asked someone to shoot me if I was still working for a summer sport in 2008. While I really don’t want to be put out of my misery, I really think someone should have shaken the (almost) life out of me back when I had other job offers (with non-Beijing sports)!!! I seriously have enjoyed all the work travel I've done and it'll be interesting to see any changes / contrasts to my last trip to Beijing (or even China, which was in 2002).

THE LANGOLIERS
Every single time I fly through time like this I think of Stephen King’s short story about the Langoliers. They have eaten a day out of my life once again .... I think. We departed on April 16 and will land on April 17. I’m a little more used to it now than I was back when Dave and I went to Australia for the most fabulous walkabout I’ve ever dreamt of, but it’s still a little surreal.

Recapping 2007 as Promised

As I mentioned in my previous post, because I was very delinquent in posting for much of last summer, here's a recap (a few months at a time). My 2008 resolution is to get much better (weekly posts)....I promise!

JANUARY
skiing with Nina with my cast on (tore and had repaired the left UCL – thumb ligament). The arrival of Action Jackson the Sick but Cute Cat from the Humane Society. He fetches! He plays in the snow! He thinks he’s a dumb-ass dog!

FEBRUARY
Vail with Matt, Wendy, Dave for a belated New Year’s bash

MARCH
San Diego early March with Dave (saw Don & Leah), Cleveland late March where I saw the Skinners @ Final Four

APRIL
Rome, Viterbo, Napels, Pomezia & back to Rome with the WNT … ahhhh, life was good back then! Spent my 40th birthday wandering around the city while Dawn & Renee shopped until I dropped and then had a most amazing dinner with most of the staff at a lovely little place a few blocks above the Spanish Steps. I think I gained about 10 pounds from the wine and pasta for the month and I was forced to wear sweats all through May because none of my spring clothes would fit!

MAY
I tried to lose the weight put on in Italy, wore sweats all month, Moab with Chris (aka Spanky), Janice & Charlie and Don & Leah. Bagged two more parks on my bike that weekend. Camped along the Colorado River right outside of Moab. Life didn’t suck for six days straight. Spent a week in Honolulu with many family members for the wedding of Chris & Jessica. In addition to the most beautiful seaside ceremony I’ve ever witnessed, Cheryl, Nina, Vince and I flew over to the Big Island and toured around Volcano National Park. It was simply amazing - like walking along a moonscape. We did a long hike (8 miles?) and a few short ones. Then on Saturday the four of us, plus Chris, donned grass skirts, coconut bras and leis and ran in the Jamba Juice 5k. We were the only ones (aside from a guy in a Spiderman costume) in costume so we got on TV and were asked to stage our finish for the cameras a couple times. Good times!

JUNE
Elephant Rock Cycling Classic, did the 50-miler with Scottie Burns, kicked his ass up the hills, he killed me on the downs & straights, stood RIGHT behind Gov. Bill Owens (I have photo proof) when he signed a bill promoting cycling in the state. I even made it on Bicycle Colorado’s web site!

The following weekend I was in the French Riviera. Well, the poor man’s French Riviera at least. Antibes is more of a working person’s area than a celeb-infested part of the shore. But hell, I wouldn’t kick Clint Didier out of bed (pretend it’s 1986) for eating crackers so I won’t complain about being in Antibes in June! We also hit: Monte Carlo (game), Le Garde (game), St. Paul (tour) and Caen (tour) during the two weeks there.


From Antibes and the Nice airport, which is replete with the most inept Lufthansa agents (even the Munich Lufthansa agents agree) came Moscow Region (don’t make the mistake of calling it Moscow in front of someone from there). Dave Walden kept me sane during this time. We saw Red Square, the outside of Lenin’s Tomb, the GUM Factory Building (biggest department store in Moscow proper), changing of the guard outside Russia’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, 4th of July back on U.S. soil (ok, so it was the U.S. Embassy’s gym in Moscow, but still we were back ‘home’ for a few hours!!!), the biggest U.S. Embassy party of the year at the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Russia on the 5th of July (he had to go back to hold Bush’s hand when Bush met with Putin), inside the Kremlin walls for a few hours of a tour (what once was sacred to Russians is now mostly a tourist attraction --- attracting thousands of Rubles a day that is!!!). You can’t get into the most secret areas of the Kremlin, but what I did see was the inside of a few cathedrals that, while amazing in the fact that they were so old and beautiful, and situated inside the Kremlin, really didn’t hold a candle to some of the ones I’d seen in other parts of the world. The biggest canon in the world sits inside the walls of the Kremlin. Not that it ever shot anything – too big! The biggest bell in the world sits inside the walls of the Kremlin. Not that it ever rang out – too big! Seems the Russians once were more concerned with appearances than they were with making things that actually worked (hmmm …. Cold war, anyone?). Russian subway. Don’t talk. Don’t laugh. You might be shunned. Mexican restaurant? Not quite. Hotel for Asians? Yup, that’s where we stayed. Russians (as far as I knew then) are very miserable. Running through ‘Central Park’ I saw many with scowls on their faces.

JULY
Moving from Russia to Serbia was sad, but fun at the same time. Goodbye U21 women, all of whom were great, hello U19 men. They’d been training together for two weeks. How would I fit in? Would they accept me? Ha! Crazy! Almost from the start they welcomed me into the fold. I will be forever grateful. I will also never forget .. it was either Patrick or Johnny who first started the conversation right outside of passport control in Belgrade…. Too long to write at the moment, but it ended with one of them asking me if I was excited to be there with them, to which I replied, “sure, it should be a good tournament.” And then the other one responded, “Idiot! She’s probably done many of these before!” Ok, I had to chuckle at that. The (SP) naievete of the young kids – they’re All-Americans and have been in the sports news all across the country so, of course, anyone would be DELIGHTED to work with them (which I was because they turned out to be such great kids).

Novi Sad, Serbia. Rolling hills like southern Hungary. Danube running through town. Petrovian Fortress across the Danube. Exit Festival. Adoption by a departing team, the Lebanese weren’t strong enough, but I became friends with that staff and it was sad to see them go. Our interpreter Emri Tokaj (or something like that) asking me, “running by yourself? You are very brave.” Said with all seriousness of an older brother looking out for his younger sis. Despite his warnings, there was never any problem running through town or the countryside alone.

Beastie Boys! Making friends and turning people back to liking Americans one bartender and one cabbie at a time. (one cab driver even tried to set me up with his son – “Are you married?” “Yes.” “Oh. That is too bad. I have a son that I think you would like very much.” “Thank you, I’m very flattered. I’m sure he will find a very nice girl to marry someday.” 24-beersy.

Herb Parris was adopted by the hotel staff. Greg Farnham & me running into all the interpreters at Laze Teleckog. Novi Sad’s square … churches at the east and west like they’re getting ready for the battle of the bands, cows everywhere like the artwork in Chicago. The Irish Pub on the 2nd floor of a back alley. Finding that Italian restaurant and hitting it three nights in a row. Ahhh … July was filled with so many great memories!

AUGUST
Lisa, Kurt and family came to town and I went white water rafting with Lisa one afternoon. On another sunny lunch hour I headed to Uncle Wilbur’s Fountain to spend lunch with Lisa and the kids. Big Breakfast (was it breakfast?) at Ed’s (Kurt cooking, whatever the meal was). Sadly leaving town (the Skinners were still there) for Las Vegas.

The Wynn doesn't suck, but we spent most of our days at UNLV. Maureen was there for the tournament, but saw her very little outside work. I found a Wetlands Park east of town to run in some mornings. I also ran (three times each) every stairs from the Wynn to the Bellagio and back (I puked one morning after my run b/c it was so hot and I ran too long and hard). There are plenty of interesting people walking The Strip in the mornings – people just returning home and those out for their morning coffee. I found the public track at UNLV one afternoon and hit that a few times for sprint workouts. Hit the Freemont Street Experience with Jenny & Ned one night and then saw the sun coming up when we came home a few hours later!

Ok, that's about it for now, I have to save the rest of the year for next week!

Peace,
Moi