me vs. MJ: My Journey to Jordan Camp

So the goal of this blog is much like My Date with Drew, which was a movie about a regular guy using the theory of six degrees of separation to get a date with Drew Barrymore.  Of course trade out Drew and replace her with Michael Jordan and sub out the “date” for a game of one-on-one to 15 points.

I watched, My Date with Drew, over a year ago and was amazed that this super fan of Barrymore’s could actually achieve his goal, which was to get a date with her.  The process wasn’t easy, and almost didn’t work out, but in the end it happened!  Success was achieved!

Being a HUGE Jordan fan, I thought why not see if I can get a game of 1-on-1 with the greatest basketball player to ever live.  Besides, I don’t think my wife would appreciate this blog if its goal was to get a date with, say, Natalie Portman;-)

So that’s how I came up with Me vs. MJ.

One game.  Me vs. Michael Jeffrey Jordan.

Simple right?

The last time I remember playing good basketball was over 12 years ago.  Good basketball of course, on the regular guy scale.  I never played any level of pro ball, or college, or even more than one year of high school basketball (sophomore).  On any court USA I was a pretty good player back in those days.  Nothing more.

This is what I am today.

Six feet, two inches (almost), 175 pounds and nowhere close at this time to where I want to be physically for this challenge.  I’m 33 years of age and call Central Florida my home.   I spend my days working for a large financial institution.  My nights relaxing with my lovely wife, of just over two years.  I play basketball a couple of times a year.

That’s me.

That wasn’t always me though.  As I said, I am a HUGE Jordan fan.  Growing up sports was my life.  Countless hours were spent playing and studying the game of basketball and the man, Michael Jordan.  I will detail that in future blog posts.

Before entering the financial arena, I also worked for four years in sports television.  In future posts, I will tell you about my life as a fledgling, wanna-be, sports reporter and the interactions I had with Jordan back in those days.

So can you picture me?

A 6 foot almost 2 inch caucasian fellow, who once could play a decent game of roundball, and was introduced to the game of basketball by a guy from N.C. who went on to be the greatest basketball player that ever lived.

A youngster who poured his heart into the game he loved, his only teacher in those days, a man who was growing to Worldwide hoops fame.

I wanted to “Be Like Mike” and growing up, Nike and Gatorade helped me believe I could be.

Fast forward through life to where I am today.

Michael Jordan turned 47 years old in February.  In the last part of May I turned 33.

This is a dream, no doubt about it.  Though, why not dream?  There are only two outcomes that are possible for this endeavor.  As Michael once said, to paraphrase, you can’t make a shot you don’t take.

So this is my shot.  Maybe one of you will help the ball go in the hoop.  I thank you in advance.

If someone does stumble across this blog and have a connection with Michael Jordan; If someone reads this writer’s posts and wants to help; This is what you will get from me.

You will get dedication.

I begin today a journey to reclaim my physical fitness and basketball prowess, of which I will also detail going forward.  Look, I know it really doesn’t matter how good I am at the game.  I could be five times better than I was at 21 and still not be able to beat MJ in a game of one-on-one.  The goal isn’t to win though.  The goal is just to play.  I merely want to be at my best if or when the opportunity comes.   That’s it.

Mr. Jordan can pick the location.  I am prepared to fly anywhere in the United States and meet him for the game.  Heck, I’ll even bring the ball if need be.

If my shot at the one-on-one game doesn’t go in and I know every shot can’t be a game winner, then I am saving my money for Michael Jordan Senior Flight School.  The school is basically a fantasy camp for guys 34 years and older to go play basketball and mingle with Michael Jordan.

Cost is $15,000 plus airfare for the three day event.

MJ’s Flight School usually takes place in August, which means I have exactly one year before I am eligible for Jordan Camp.  It should be noted that when I turned 30 I actually wrote to the camp and asked if they would make an exception on my age if I had the money to go.   I received no response.

No hard feelings.  I took a shot and missed.  It happens.  Hopefully this time the shot will go in.

Hopefully…now you in some way understand a tad bit better from where I’m coming and where I’m going.  A kid with a dream, who as a man still maintains that dream.

The road ahead may be a curvy one, but the ride should be fun.

Me vs. MJ.

My journey begins now.  Thank you for following along.

I orginally wrote this post in December 2009, with the hope of launching me vs. MJ much sooner.  Since that time, I have begun working out (which I will detail going forward).  Rather than rewriting the whole post, I updated the dates.  I thought it was important to see where I was when this journey began.