Playa's take two

After going off on that last tangent about the word playa, thought I'd tell you a little story about my trip to the airport. To pick up real players. Basketball players.

The team is finally starting to take shape. It's pretty exciting for the staff (and observers like myself)after months of laying groundwork to see the pieces of the puzzle finally falling in to place, and taking shape.

I went with Mark (a Flash sales guy) to the airport to pick up three players. I filmed their arrival and trip back to their apartment. One of them ended up missing his flight, so we just got Kevin Krugger and Kevin "Butter" Johnson. It was interesting to see the contrast between the two.

Kevin K. was very reserved and quiet and hard to draw out. His dad is Lon Krugger and he's been around the basketball world for a long time. He just missed the NBA cut and was the first pick for the Flash. He seems to treat this as a job and he's just biding his time.

Butter on the other hand was THRILLED to be here and was excited about everyone and everything. He's been in the league for a couple years and hasn't made it to the NBA yet, but he has high hopes. He loved the mountains, the opportunity to play in Utah, the apartment, the gym, you name it. I had two takeaways from this meeting.

1. It is important to be a positive person. Butter had so much positive energy it gave me energy to just be around him. Even little things he framed positively. We were pulling in to a parking spot in our 15-passenger van and I was making jokes to Mark about his "interesting" parking job. Butter just said, "Hey Mark, don't sweat it, this is your first time in this car, you doing great, you doing great!" I just thought, wow - it was a simple thing, but it really lifted Mark and made him feel good. How simple it can be to be positive and to lift - and how much better.

2. There is a difference between approaching something as a job and approaching it as your dream. Butter may be giving me a "snow job" as our jaded PR friend Kent told me, but he couldn't wait to hit the floor and to practice. Kevin wasn't in a hurry at all. This is Butter's life and something he's wanted since he was a kid and he LOVES it. He will do anything to make it happen. I don't know exactly what I want to say here, but I just thought the contrast was interesting and I wanted Butter to get there much more than Kevin. A dream is more inspiring.

That's it. I'm excited to see how the cuts turn out. I'm afraid I'm going to get attached to all these guys as I interview them. It will be tough to see almost half get cut and to know they are still battling for a dream they may or may not reach, but that they're one more step back. When do you stop fighting for a dream?