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?

Goin' to the airport Playa

Yesterday I had a lunch date scheduled which I was forced to cancel because I found out it was airport pickup day and I needed to be on call with my camera. I sent a text message to my date informing him that I couldn't make it, but as some of you may be aware, your text message is only allowed so many characters before it cuts it off.

As fate would have it, mine ended a little shorter than I anticipated and read like this, "Just found out I have to film an airport run at noon, player." I got an immediate response: "I'm not a player.." He may or may not be, but regardless, it wasn't the message I was trying to send.
Lesson learned: Technology can thwart as at every turn. And if you don't believe me, let me remind you what Creed taught us in probably the best Office episode this season:

Creed: That's some fun stuff. When does the website go up?
Ryan: As fast as possible. We want to start retraining people A.S.A.P., so we can hit the ground running with a new system.
Creed: Cool beans.
Ryan exits.

Creed: We're screwed.
Michael: Who is?
Creed: Us? You and me. The old timers.
Michael: I am not old. You are old. You are like a hundred.
Creed: You're over 40, that's the cut off. Are you listening to what he's saying? Re-training. New system. Youth. I'm telling you this kid is the grim reaper. You deal with this or you, me, Sammy, Phyllis, the chick you hit with the car, we're goners.

Oscar: Creed?
Creed: Yes, sir.
Oscar: Everything OK? [Creed has made his hair jet black]
Creed: Everything's cool, dude.

Michael: Still my office, Ryan. [Ryan sits down] Well, there has been a lot of talk about new ideas today. Well, new ideas are fine, but they are also illegal, because they are a form of ageism. What? Yes, I am right. Did you know that the Age Discrimination and Employment Act of 1967 prohibits employment discrimination based on age with respect to employees 40 years of age or older? I did.
Toby: Technically, he's right.
Michael: Hey, shut up Toby. Look, why do we as a society hate old people so much?
Creed: Because they're lame.

Ryan: [speaking on the phone] Yes, I understand that David. I just felt that if we were to downsize Kelly and then outsource customer service to India which a lot of companies... Yeah, no, yes Kelly is Indian... I understand that's confusing.
Creed: [looks at vending machine] Hey brah, I've been meaning to ask you, can we get some Red Bull for these things? Sometimes a guy's gotta ride the bull, am I right? Later skater.

I realize this is a long excerpt, but seriously, it bears another look. Maybe the funniest dialogue EVER. Anyway, my point - Technology can screw you. On the positive side, my date is still on, just re-scheduled. I'll let you know if the "player" text was foreshadowing.

S/S/S (Sorry So Sappy, not Short)

I just read Lisa's blog about how much she loves and respects her parents and how grateful she is for their example and it reminded me how I was feeling about 17 months ago when my parents were about to leave, so if you're not a fan of sappy sentimentality, now would be your cue to leave and come back for tomorrow's blog.

A couple weeks ago Travis taught Sunday School (he's quite good) and in his lesson he read the letter that he wrote to mom and dad at duck beach before they left. I had forgotten how touching it was as he read about how much he loved them and the kind of example they were for us, and how they were his best friends and practically perfect in every way. Obviously there are always flaws in all human relationship, but from a parent perspective I can't think of any two who have tried harder, given more, or lived as better examples of Christ-like lives.

I was just thinking the other day about how dad is often recognized in the business world by colleagues and church-folk, etc..for the ways he's touched their lives, but mom probably has no idea the depth and breadth of the people she's touched. So this blogs for you!

People that only come in contact with mom once love her. I was remembering how Mike Bell in DC was telling me dish for dish the meals that mom prepared when he came to our house 8 years ago and how great it was and how he wanted to marry someone like her. And how a friend I just ran in to (ED) from my freshman year of college wanted to know with his first breath -"How's Delsa?" Before he even asked what was new in my life he asked about you. It must feel good to know that people you probably haven't thought about in 15 years, still think of you. I can't think of one person who has crossed your path that you haven't touched and made them feel loved and special. You have a gift, and I know you are currently touching hundreds of more lives on the other side of the world - I witnessed it in the missionaries reactions to you. (And in that crazy investigator who looked like Albert Einstein and pushed me out of the way to get to you.)

So, I realize this is neither light, nor funny, or maybe even interesting to most of you, but it's from the heart and it was time for a little shout out. In the interest of recognition and not being too sappy I will remind everyone that not only has mom touched everyone she's come in contact with, but chances are she has also flashed them. If there was ever a contest for most likely to take her clothes off in public unintentionally, the prize would have to go to you mom. I love you.

Garrett in Real Life

After much arm-twisting and just the tiniest bit of begging I managed to convince Garrett to go see the movie, "Dan in Real Life" with me. I'm not sure what he was so opposed to, but I guess he thought it be another dumb, formulaic, chick flick. Boy was he wrong.

If you haven't seen the movie - you should. Even Garrett found himself laughing several, nay many times during this flick. It actually reminded me of our family a little - they even had a talent night, which in our lingo would be family game night. Garrett leaned over to me during that part and said, "Our family is WAY more talented than that." OK.

There were some great lines, like "This corn is an angel." and "I would even call you to tell you I'm not going to call." and "You are the murderer of love!!!" Garrett's favorite part was when they were setting Dan up with some girl who for obvious reasons was called "Ruthie pig-faced Draper" and his two brothers made up a song about her and sang it to the family before she arrived. He especially loved the line, "You can be her big bad wolf." It was pretty hysterical and awesome.

It won't win any Oscars, but it was entertaining, and sweet and even a bit touching. I liked when he arrived at his parents with the rest of the family and his mom told him that since his brother invited a friend, Dan would have to stay in the "special room" aka the laundry room with a bed in it. It reminded me of how Travis, Garrett and I got the special room at Duck with the bunkbeds. No mate, no kids= special room. Incentive enough.

The Polls have closed.

It's official--
although both races were tight, well only one really, the results are in and the people have spoken.
Apparently popular opinion is that I will get married before Travis and Garrett, (although no one was also a popular choice.) I am actually very disappointed in all of you and your ability to choose. I hope none of you are gamblers. Sorry Travis, maybe you'll win next year when we're all still single. You've got my vote!

In the other poll it was decided in a VERY tight race that I will have to choose marriage over blogging. You think you want this people, but I think we'll all regret that choice. Or we would, if the option was really there. I guess its a win-win-sort of. whatever. thanks for voting.

Dreams do come true

"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity."
-Nair, Keshavan

This week I have had the opportunity to see courage up close.

When I told Brandt about one of the kids that had tried out for the team and some of his circumstance that not only physically handicapped him from making the team, but also made his life challenging (father passing away 11 mos ago, mother losing job, etc..) he wanted to do something for this kid to give him a lift. Each day a new challenge seems to confront this family, and they never fail to face it with optimism.

Today I brought the crew out to shoot b-roll of this kid and his little brothers shooting hoops in their driveway. We arranged for Thurl Bailey (one of the kids' heroes) to show up with Brandt and surprise them. They brought a signed ball, flash gear, season tickets and an offer for this boy to help with the team in training camp. Pretty great surprise for kids who get excited by a yearly chance to go out to dinner.

When they drove up in their Mercedes hummer-like car the boys and their mom were wondering who was there. I asked them if they were expecting anyone and the 16 yr old turned to me and said, "We don't know ANYONE who would drive....that!" As they watched, Thurl and Brandt climbed out of the car, and their jaws dropped. They immediately recognized Thurl and they were thrilled.

The mom got up and said, "Oh my gosh - Thurl Bailey at our house. They love you." The boys were excited by everything and couldn't believe an actual NBA player was at THEIR house. Fred got to play horse with Thurl and was excited to tell everyone he got to play horse against an NBA player.

Their mother summed it up by saying, "This all happened because my son had the courage to go out and do something that nobody else thought he should do. Good things happen when you believe in yourself and try, even if it's not what you anticipate." The youngest boy looked at me and said, "This was the best day of my life. I forgot that good things can happen."

It was so generous of Thurl and Brandt to make this happen and it was amazing to be a small part of it and a witness to it as we captured it on film.

The Internet is scary

What an odd thing to say...why is the internet scary? Is it the online predators, or the credit card fraud? Oh no, that's not it.

Let's pretend for a minute that you are part of some kind of online network. Something like facebook, or I don't know, maybe LDS Linkup. Ok, yeah, let's say linkup. Imagine that people are checking you out on this site and maybe even attempting to contact you. Let's pretend you don't answer them, but you don't worry about it because they're online and you will never meet them in REAL LIFE. And then you do. Maybe you end up going to visit an old friend for dinner and that online person says, 15 minutes after meeting you, "I know how I know you." Maybe you would even respond, "I didn't know you did know me." And then, bam! They hit you with the sneak attack - "yeah, yeah, I know you from linkup." And then it all comes rushing back. Yikes. That could be really, really uncomfortable. And hey, I'm not saying that happened to me tonight (it did), but if it did, or does, you should DEFINITELY hope that they are at least a little bit loony (the odds are in your favor) and that they tell stories like this at your dinner:

" I remember when I got back from my mission and I was tryng to date people, you know just friendly people in my neighborhood (Brian H. interjects: You mean like the mailman or garbage man?) and I asked my dad if I should be looking to marry someone I was attracted to. My dad said that was a normal expectation, but then dad asked me, "Do you know when I was most attracted to your mother?" This guy (who if he was real, might be named Jack) said, "No."
"Well, I thought she was most attractive when she was 7 months pregnant because of the life inside of her and the glow thing." He showed Jack a picture of Jack's mom wearing a sundress and t-shirt when she was pregnant. So fast forward and Jack says shortly after that conversation he met a girl that he thought was attractive, but they only had time to go out once or twice before she moved. He said when he was saying goodbye to her she was wearing this red sundress with a t-shirt and suddenly he got dizzy and he told her, " You know what, I think you'd look beautiful 7 months pregnant." I'm not sure what went through this girl's head, but I do know what would go through mine, and I also know that he is still single.

If you think that's good stuff, it gets better. Roommate number two got home midway through dinner and shared with us some of his success stories. He said he never has a girlfriend at Christmas and when he has given girls gifts they always break up with him. I asked him what some examples might be. Here was my favorite:

"I gave this one girl a nutcracker for christmas. She didn't like it. What's wrong with that?" (By the way, lest you make the same mistake I did and think it's a really random gift- he meant the character, not the tool. Both still baffle me. Later it came out that his mother picked out the gift. Huh??) He ended all of his stories with "what's wrong with that?" ie. I gave her cash, what's wrong with that? The best was when he told about one girl who kept losing her keys and so he bought her a key finder for christmas. "So I bought her a key finder, what's wrong with that?" We said, "nothing, that's thoughtful." He answered, "She was offended. She hated it." The poor guy can't catch a break and I ask you, what's wrong with that??

It was great to see Brian and he made some delicious moroccan couscous. I was very impressed with his cooking skills. I also met his very nice girlfriend Kim. They seem to be very happy. And I can see why - they live with constant, unintentional entertainment.

Manny Being Manny

If you want to see a hilarious clip of Manny on Leno - check this out. Stay tuned and you can see hilarious Ortiz/Papelbon banter as well. True gems for the Red Sox fan.

http://www.boston.com/partners/worldnow/nesn.html

Keely's Brilliance

Halloween came and went without too much excitement. Normally at Root we dress up, so I decided to keep the tradition alive. No one was here to appreciate it, so I made sure to give myself plenty of attention. Not all positive, cause truth be told it wouldn't have been that way at Root and I wanted to keep the experience authentic. After work, I headed over to Debbie & Steve's house in Lehi to see Shawn & Lisa who are in town with my by beautiful niece Keely and nephew Benji.

When I walked in the house, Keely (she's brilliant too) looked at me, paused and then said, "Hey...you're Shauri!" I swear I can't pull anything over on that one. She also insisted I take my wig off. When I refused she pulled a sneak play and suddenly flew at me from behind tearing it off as she ran. I could have been upset, but I had to recognize the brilliance of the plan and the tenacity.

As you can see in the picture to the right, Keely pretty much loved the Flash Draft Party the next night. And she kept the face painting table pretty busy. She would have them paint something on her face, then come show her mom, and march back for a new piece of art. By the end of the evening she had stuff on both cheeks, her forehead and up and down both arms. I'm sure the dancers NEVER tired of painting this girl. I would suggest to Lisa and Shawn that they never introduce her to tattoo parlors.

Overall, I think the draft party went really well. I had a couple guys there filming the event and I think we got some good footage. It's interesting to see the process from the inside, which was the idea - to let the fans see how an NBA draft would work. The Flash ended up getting both of the guys that they wanted for their first two picks. Shawn was disappointed that they didn't go with Air Georgia of Michigan fame, but apparently they weren't looking for high flying thrills, just solid performance and a good attitude. Crazy. :)

At the end of the evening I was talking to the younger brother of one of the assistant coaches (Kevin), and he said something I thought was cool. He talked about how he and Kevin used to play at being coaches and picking teams when they were little, and how cool it was that Kevin was actually doing it for real. I thought this was another simple, but great illustration of what the film is all about - dreams - and the different ways that people realize them. And how exciting it is to reach them. What a great moment to sit at that draft table and be picking players for a real semi-pro team just like you imagined when you were a kid. I really love hearing these stories, and it's interesting that now I notice them and find them even when I'm not looking.

A-Rod Saves the Game

Special shout out to Bridget Kaiser of Root Learning fame (and nannying for Doug Mirabelli fame) for sending out this hilarious article from the Onion.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/slow_month_in_baseball_saved_by_a?utm_source=EMTF_Onion

Definitely check it out if you hate A-rod. And I have to believe at this point, that's most of America.