He faked right, crossed over left, lowered his shoulder and exploded to the rim. It was game point, in game number three this past Sunday and Robert Brown, one of the top basketball players in the country (#80 by ESPN/#54 by Bob Gibbons), was about to freeze the gym.

Just one long stride past me and into the lane and he was in the air for what would be an emphatic windmill slam-dunk finish to our day. As the ball, seeming to weight at least 1,000 lbs, crashed to the hardwood court, I could feel all eyes of a fairly packed gymnasium looking our way.

The gym full of kids and young men hoping to one day fly in Brown’s shoes had just witnessed what I’ve experienced up close and personal during our last five of seven games over the past six months.

Honestly, I was just as amazed as they were. Every single time we play, usually a few months apart, he comes back even better than the time before, with something new added to his arsenal of moves.

Sunday he unveiled his deep 27-foot range and his wicked step back jumper going either way from three-point land to go along with some monstrous dunks.

He once again showed myself and every one watching, the reason Hokie Nation is beyond excited to see him step on the court next year for Virginia Tech.

In case you were wondering, Robert improved his record to a perfect 7-0 against me, but I had a blast and I got better!

The Best Don’t Get Tired

Each time I face a professional basketball player or a top tier talent like Robert Brown, at the foundation of all skills and athletic ability is premier conditioning.

They don’t get tired!

Against pretty much anyone else that I play basketball with, that has a job or doesn’t do basketball for a living, my conditioning is really good. It’s actually usually far superior to theirs and that HELPS GREATLY when we play.

BUT…when I match-up with guys who get paid or will get paid one day, it’s a different story.

As Robert and I talked after the games and shooting work, he explained to me just how important the conditioning aspect is to his game. He shared that when he first got up to Hargrave Military Academy, running suicides was tough, but by the time the season was over, running 25 suicides in 40 seconds or under with at 20 second break in between was nothing for him. In fact on one occasion they had even run 50 of them, to go along with practice of course.

So with that in mind and a craving to improve, I slipped on my shoes and went to the court yesterday morning just to see where I currently stood.

25 Suicides (A New Personal Mission to Improve My Conditioning)

After 12 minutes and 43 seconds of pushing myself, I was making my way to the bench located just to the left of the court. I needed a break! I needed water! I needed Oxygen!

13 suicides, each in 40 seconds or less with a 20 second break, had me spent and dripping with effort.

I sank down on the hard metal bench, pulled in as much air as possible, and thought about how much more explosive I would be when I got to my new goal of 25 suicides.

Every Day Until 25!!!

To make sure that I maximize my potential, I am committing myself to running suicides every day until I reach my goal of 25 suicides in 40 seconds or less.

Of course I have no idea exactly how long this process will take, but I guess I’ll soon find out!

Thank You Mr. Brown!

Most likely the next time I see Robert Brown, I’ll be sitting somewhere in Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia. I’ll be there to cheer on and support the young man who was the first BIG name to say yes and agree to help me on my journey here at mevsMJ.com. I’ll be thrilled to watch him show the rest of the World what he can do, but I won’t be surprised. I’ve seen his amazing game up close and personal.

For that, Robert Brown, I say THANK YOU!

Now go show Virginia Tech what you can do!

Note: I apologize for not getting video once again of our match-up this past Sunday. All I can tell you is the initial video of me playing Robert Brown doesn’t do him justice. Like I suspected, the first time we played he was just cruising. The last five times we’ve played he has upped the intensity and I wish you could see the difference, as I have. I guess we will just all have to wait and see next year when he suits up for Virginia Tech!

Later this evening I will jump in the car and accompany my wife to Miami, Florida, where she will audition for “The X Factor”, the new Simon Cowell television creation that is set to debut this fall.

My wife sings, for fun.

The first time I heard her sing, I had just finished throwing down some Usher on a Karaoke video game (that’s how I got the nickname “white usher” haha) and handed her the microphone thinking I had just shown her how it’s done (I can’t sing well, but I try).

She took the mic, dropped a perfect score on Evanescence’s “My Immortal”, smiled and handed the mic back to me. I just sat there with that “Daayyyyuuuum” look on my face.

Chase the Dream!

I’ve been encouraging Charissa (wife) to do something with her singing for the longest time. Growing up, she played lots of tennis and was really good (had college scholarship offers), but her passion was always music. She played in the high school band and auditioned for numerous plays, even though she could never really participate in them due to the amount of time and focus the game of tennis required.

Her first year of college she won the school talent show with her voice, but talent shows don’t pay the bills, so she did what most do and pushed the dream of singing in the back of the drawer and moved on with life.

Unless you’re brand new around here, you know I have a super cool and rather BIG DREAM here at mevsMJ.com and that is to play Michael Jordan 1-on-1.

I’m an optimist, a dreamer and I BELIVE IN CHASING THE DREAM!

Because of that, I’m constantly dropping words of encouragement and belief into the lives of those around me with dreams. I just don’t see a downside to chasing the dream!

Finally, after nearly six years together, Charissa started up her own YouTube page just a couple of months ago and has been posting new songs twice a week ever since.

DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!

I can’t tell you how excited for and proud of her I am.

It takes a lot of strength to DO. Every single person reading this post has some skill, some gift, some dream that they could pursue. Yet, the majority won’t for fear of failure.

Fear of Failure

I bought my ticket to the seventh grade dance. I had no interest in this dance whatsoever. What I did have an interest in was this girl.

I talked with my Dad about how pretty and popular this girl was. I told him how I would really like to dance with her, but I was afraid she might say no. I would be humiliated, devastated. I was scared. I feared failure.

My Dad told me, “The worst that she can say is no…but she could say YES!” He encouraged me to go for it. He made me believe this amazing girl would want to dance with me and I went to the dance confident.

That confidence escaped me as soon as I walked in the door. I stood like a wallflower waiting for my moment. I paced in and out of the small auditorium. I was so nervous.

Hour by hour, time passed, until there was just 30 minutes left before the dance was over.

I took a deep breath, made my way over to her and her friends, tapped her on the shoulder and asked, “Would you like to dance?”

Time stopped. My heart raced faster than Usain Bolt and then she responded.

She told me, “No.”

Dumbfounded, I turned around and retreated. My worst fear had come true. Not only had she said no, she had done so in front of the other “cool” girls.

Having just a moment with her was all I had thought about in the weeks leading up to the dance, but my dream wouldn’t be coming true on this night. Instead my small heart was crushed.

My Mom picked me up, all my hope spent, shortly thereafter.

It’s Better to Know

This past Saturday while I was at the gym working on my hoops game, I began telling a gentleman in his late 40s about my match-up with the 54^th ranked player in the country according to Bob Gibbons, Robert Brown.

He had seen us up there playing the other day and was amazed by Brown’s skill and ability.

Us talking led him to tell me about his feats when he was a young man and how as a junior in college he had turned down a tryout invite from the school’s college football coach. At the time he said he was just having too much fun with life and intramural sports and the thought of stopping that to try and do football just didn’t make any sense to him.

He told me how he still kind of regrets that decision because he still wonders, what if?

While the rejection I faced at the dance in the seventh grade was a tough pill to swallow for a young man trying to find his way, I did learn an extremely valuable lesson.

IT’S BETTER TO KNOW, than to wonder what if.

You NEVER Know, Unless You Try

One of my favorite Michael Jordan quotes is, “You can’t make a shot that you don’t take.”

Michael goes on to say in reference to taking game winning shots, “If you miss, you’ve done it before. Though if you make it, well, you win the game!”

It’s the same exact advice my Dad gave me leading up to that dance in middle school.

The point of both: You never know what is possible, unless you try.

Until you put effort forth, all of the dreams and hopes within you lay captive, bound by the fear of failure.

The X Factor

So tomorrow morning we will leave our hotel room and make our way to the BankUnited Center in Miami, before the Sun says hello to this side of the World.

We will wait amongst thousands for a chance at living out a dream.

She will sing, be judged and face the fear of failure.

She could just be the very first winner of “The X Factor” here in the States. The only downside of trying is that they say no, and life continues, until the next opportunity arises.

Either way, she will know.

Either way, I’d say she’s already won.

####

Comeback Update:

If you missed it, I made my comeback after being out eight weeks due to injury, last Wednesday against Virginia Tech signee Robert Brown (54^th ranked player in the country by recruiting expert Bob Gibbons).

Thank you all so much for your support though my injury and rehabilitation. Every encouraging word helped ease the pain and now I’m so EXCITED to be back on the court giving my all, preparing for the great, Michael Jordan!

If you like what I’m doing here please share on Facebook/Twitter! Thanks!