So I had a bad dream that woke me up at 7:07am and the worse thing I could possibly do is try to over analyze and interpret why even the dream occurred. I say that because off about 2 hours of sleep my brain is so tired that whatever I try to think of will either be irrelevant or I’m just going to forget later. The only thing I think I should do is to try and not let it become any bigger than it is and that is just a bad dream.

I sometimes talk and listen about dreams in general with my friends. We would discuss what the premise may have been and try to interpret if there is any meaning to what we dream of. Often we suggest how real the dreams feel  and that they are only a pre-cursor as to what’s to come in the future.

I won’t get in to the specific details of what the dream was about because it would be a tad much. What I can say is it kinda scares me to think that I can even be close to that state of being in my nightmare. I was a different person than what I really am about and believe in. I wasn’t a happy person and let’s just say it wasn’t a place I imagine myself being in my conscious world.

You can’t really control your dreams can you? Your sub-conscious good or bad actually allows your mind to really think and let go without any restrictions that would be attached if this was going on consciously. You know that I can’t think of this because I don’t want to sound (insert your politically incorrect adjective here) feeling. I guess thats a good thing that comes out of dream world but it’s only good depending on how you interpret it and see it for what it is.

So the only thing that were able to control is our conscious world and the actions we take are very real. So right now I’m going to get that glass of water, go use the little boy’s room and do my best to fall back asleep. I just hope that this bad dream gets put in to a little box and gets buried deep deep in to my sub-conscious never to be found again. Wish me well and wish me luck.

Good night or should I say good morning.

DB

The last point feels very real. I feel this pressure that I can’t let anyone know if I’m feeling down. I gotta stay strong no matter what. It kinda sucks because I need a break from having to stay strong. I do also have complications in my life that I wish I can share.

I have feelings and emotions just like everyone else.

I am Human too.

DB

I feel trapped. I feel this way because basketball the last couple days haven’t been what they use to so it’s been real tough trying to escape  lately. I just feel so trapped, I wish I could just get up and go sometimes. Where is irrelevent at the moment. But it’s so tough when you have responsibilities your not exactly free from.

I figure this will blow over in a few days and things will be back to normal. Just in time too, when the weather is suppose to be getting warmer. I can’t wait for spring so I can lose the weight of layered clothing I have to pack on to my frame just to go from point A to point B. It’s such a drag but hey that’s Canada for you.

Like I said, it should blow over and I’ll get some justice and hopefully get what I deserve.

DB

P.S. I actually feel a little better bloggin it out and my offer still stands to “escape” from reality for a brief moment in time.

These should be the fundamental reasons why you partake in competitive sports period.

When your not getting paid to play the game you love, it’s a lot easier to put things in to perspective. Your not comparing how many zero’s are in your pay cheque or worried about your playing time and how it will effect your stats or worse off your ego. But if you are worried about those frivolous things then you need to get check yourself because it’s just plain stupid.

Yes statistics are sexy and were attracted to the next big stat line but if you drop 50 and lose where’s the fun in that? Go ask Kobe every time he drops 50 plus how it feels when they leave with a loss? I bet every time he’ll say he’s disappointed in how the game went for his team.

What is often not publicized are the contributions are the guys who do the little things who help make the team win. For instance, at the Y when I play pickup ball, I’m more selective on who I run with as a team. I do this because there’s absolutely no point selecting two random guys you’ve never played with and expect to win consistently. Maybe you get lucky but most often times it’s a quick run and then your off again waiting for your next turn. Last Thursday was the exact opposite. My team and I were on an absolute run for two hours straight easily and you can chalk it up to team chemistry.

Playing against all kinds of teams big, small, young, old, quick and strong it didn’t matter that day because all of them had nothing on us. I really think this bothered a few of the teams who were sitting that we were winning so much. I know for sure they were getting frustrated and this is what made it so worthwhile. I could hear them on the bench yelling at there guys “GO AFTER HIM HE’S A LIABILITY”. So they did try to post me up at will on each possession, scoring with relative ease in some cases. But you can only go to the well so many times and when I eventually stop you it’s our chance to turn the game around.

The funniest thing I heard during our game was my check talking to the bench “HE’S A SHOOTER?!?!?! WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME” right after I pump faked him up in the air and took my one dribble jumper *swish*. I guess if they had all the time on the bench to disect my game to figure I was such a liability on defense they forgot to know that I have a pretty decent jump shot. Or that time when this kid trying to guard me who was trying to get in my head all game, I drove him baseline and 1 for the win. He got pretty quiet after that real quick if you ask me.

Winning gives you an ultimate feeling of confidence. Winning gives you the swagger you never thought you once had. But lastly winning gives you the respect that nobody else would give you.

DB

February 21st, 2009 is the end of an era for late night and a dawn of a new beginning for Conan O’Brien as he leaves New York and heads off to Los Angeles to host the Tonight Show which will premiere June 1st, 2009. There are notions from the Tonight Show purists that Conan O’Brien’s comedic antics would not fly at the 11:30pm crowd but I beg to differ mightily. Conan’s a comedic genius because he’s always been able to take risks with his comedy and it has paid off handsomly if you’re up to date on the latest in news and gossip. Conan’s brand of comedy is unconventional but this is what make’s him unique to his character. His outlandish random behaviour makes it cool to be different from the rest and because of this he will now be able to thrive to a much larger audience and has a great chance of being more popular than ever.

All I need to say is, 16 years of comedic gold is what I would describe Conan’s run on his show Late night with Conan O’Brien and hope he stays on at the Tonight Show for the next 16 years if not longer.

I’ll leave you now with a clip of Conan’s farewell tribute. Enjoy as much as I do.

DB

On tap for tomorrow: Got to wake up early and meet a friend for brunch. Oh boy this will be a tough task waking up before 10:00am. Still don’t have a venue so need to make an early call as well and finalize plans.

After chilling, I get to run my errands at the bank and go to the grocery store and stock up on this weeks sale items!

Day off from the Y until Saturday.

Get to watch Nip/Tuck and Lie to Me, watch any basketball games on tv and call it a day.

I hope I can fall asleep in a timely manner tonight *crosses fingers*.

Goodnight

DB

It’s 4:45 am right now and I’m going to call it a night at number 16 and work on it some more tomorrow. It’s time for me to hit the sack *yawns*.

Goodnight
DB

My local “Y” is where I go when I need to put some shots up and just work on my overall game. It’s where I go when I look for some good competition, meet new company but most importantly it’s also a place where I can feel at peace with the world. The basketball court will forever be my place of solitude.

But what pisses me off are some of the bad apples who play ball and think just because of my skin colour you need/have to respect me and my game. A couple of days ago, I was watching this team play waiting for my run to come on and ball. When it was finally our turn, the guy who was guarding me had no respect whatsoever. Maybe because I’m not 6 feet and over, maybe because I’m 145 pounds soaking wet or maybe I’m just not “one of them”. Be that as it may the dude didn’t know me, has never met me, or even know if I can ball or not. This guy was looking at me as if I’m basketball challenged and I have no place on the court. So I thought to myself, “alright that’s cool, I relish it when ignorant people underestimate me”. It’s not like it hasn’t before and isn’t something I haven’t overcome in my life. I just got to make this dude look stupid and stupid is what he will look like when he’s finished guarding me.  As the game goes on and I have the ball at the top of the key. This guy who’s suppose to guard me turns his back on me and leaves me wide open. Talk about disrespect! If that’s how you want to play you might as well not be on the court and waste your time.

But to be honest, him underestimating me wasn’t what irritated me. It was when he had the ball and drove to the basket and would call these cheap ticky tack fouls. Let me put this in to context, I probably had a good four inches in height advantage. Even though I’m not athletically gifted, I do know my fundamentals when it comes to defending. When this dude went up for his layup attempt, I just stood there with my hands straight up in the air (space that I’m entitled to vertically) and he called foul. Right then and there, I knew that this dude has nothing on me. He can’t shoot over me or he can’t drive passed me and finish. But this dude was ever so relentless trying to go through me to the basket with each time him calling those cheap fouls. At this point what was pretty funny to me is that each time this dude called foul on me everyone on the court (including his teammates) started getting irritated with his actions as it slows the pace of the game down dramatically. I laughed on the inside. The dude then threatened to elbow me next time he drives to the hoop. I laughed some more on the inside and thought “geese what are you trying to prove here?”.

We ended up winning the game 9-0 in less then five minutes it seems. Normally the losing team would have to sit off, but since it was so quick they wanted a rematch. Which we reluctantly granted because it’s not proper basketball etiquette to do when other teams are waiting to play. Half way through our second game the dude who was being a prick decided to quit. Not the team, just him! Dude called in another guy to sub in for him. What a guy eh? You have no respect for me, you slow down and ruin the pace of a pickup game, you threaten to hurt me with an elbow and now your just quitting?! I guess deep down I was happy for a couple reasons. First I don’t have to worry about getting injured and secondly I proved him stupid in front of his peers. That’s right quit and do your wind sprints on the sidelines.

The game of basketball has gone global and I don’t need to list the amount of players playing in the NBA from all over the world. All you need is a ball and a hoop and your good to go. So the moral of my story is pretty simple. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover because if you do and you meet me on the ball court you will hear that sexy sound from long range all day dropping on your head and that’s a promise.

DB

One of the most irritating thing in the world is getting a call from a blocked number. Whoever came up with the idea to block phone numbers from being shown on a call display is an idiot. Also the person who uses this so called “feature” is nothing more then a lowly coward. Well, a coward if they call with the number blocked and when the person they call answers the phone they don’t say anything but hang up. Who does that?!

Okay, I suppose you could recommend just not picking up these blocked callers when they bother you. But I normally take each call as if they dialed my number they need to get a hold of me. What if it was an emergency? Like a hospital landline (or something similar like the government) which I could understand them having there phone number blocked. Secondly, I have a close friend who calls from a blocked number so it’s tough knowing if that friend is the one calling or some nut job who just happened to dial my digits.

Since now were living in The Obama era and were talking about change here. I think I’ll do some changing of my own like not picking up any blocked numbers. If that caller needs to get in contact with me, hopefully they realize to call me from a recgonizable number! So here’s to change in 2009! Thanks Mr. President.