If you follow me on Twitter (@KennyEller) or have liked my mevsMJ.com Facebook page, you’ve probably seen me mention the push-up challenge over the last couple of weeks.

Thank you to those of you that have partaken in the fun!

Simply put, I pick a player that I think will score the most points during an NBA game and commit to doing 5 push-ups per point scored.  20 points = 100 push-ups and so on.

Well, that’s the modified version anyway.

The Story Behind the Push-Up Challenge

The original push-up challenge was born in 2008 during the NBA Finals.

I would routinely have my brother and a couple of friends over to the house to watch games.  With me loving challenges and competition (Are you ready to play yet MJ?) I wanted to make the Lakers vs. Celtics series a bit more interesting since none of us really had anything more in the game than just a love for hoops.

At the time, McDonald’s was running a special on cheeseburgers on certain days during the week for something like 59 cents each.  This will be relevant in just a bit…keep reading.  Oh and yes, back then I ate fast food much more than I do now!

So as the guys got to the house, I announced something like, “Let’s have a push-up challenge!”

Of the four of us there, everyone was really into it, except one, so they asked what the challenge was.

On the fly, I explained that we would all pick a different player and do 5 push-ups for each point that player scored.

AND

To make sure that we all pushed ourselves, the person who picked the weakest player would be penalized every single quarter.

The penalty was, if your player scored the fewest points, resulting in you doing the least amount of push-ups, you had to eat a McDonald’s Cheeseburger at the end of each quarter.

Also if your player finished the game with the least amount of points scored, you had to eat another cheeseburger.

So if we all picked strong players, we all had a chance at the penalty, on top of a lot of push-ups.

That was the goal anyway and it started out just as planned, for 30 seconds.

My brother called out, “I’ve got Kobe!”

I said, “I’ll take Pierce.”

Another friend said, “Give me Garnett.”

Kendrick Perkins?

And then Karol, who stands a legit 6’5” (I’ve measured him with tape measure) and who vehemently detested push-ups (he does have long arms), let us know with a laugh that he was taking Kendrick Perkins.

During the 2007-2008 NBA Season Perkins averaged 6 points in just over 24 minutes per game.  He ended up mirroring that in the playoffs.

Kobe on the other hand averaged 28, Pierce 19 and Garnett 18 in the regular season and their numbers only improved in the post season.

Can you see where this is going?

You got it, that night my good friend; the other “KG”, did just a few push-ups, but ATE 5 CHEESEBURGERS!!!

Seeing him get up for each “cheeseburger penalty” at the end of every quarter and then at the end of the game was one of the funniest things ever!  We all had a good laugh about it!

Who knew that would be the last meat he’d eat?!?!

He immediately thereafter went vegetarian and then later vegan and while I’m sure he’d give that night a lot of the credit as the turning point in his dietary ways, we can’t forget about Kendrick Perkins!  For without Perkins, who knows what Karol would be eating these days?

That was the last night we included the cheeseburgers in the challenge.  I think it was more due to them not being on special, than Karol’s unwilling indulgent experience, but for whatever reason we kept the challenge to just push-ups.

That’s the story behind the push-up challenge.

OK, there’s a game tonight!  Who’s In?!?!

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Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.

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If you’re new to the site, I set out in August 2010 to get a game of 1-on-1 vs. my childhood hero Michael Jordan.  This site is about that journey…through every valley, to every mountain top of triumph!

Only thing left to do now is buy lots of socks and more basketball shorts!

The next BIG STEP

On October 18th, I will take my Journey to Jordan Camp to the BIG TIME and attend professional basketball training at Impact Basketball, in Sarasota, Florida.

I will be there for one full week (18th-22nd) to train like a PRO.

I’m extremely excited and to be transparent, a bit nervous!

The Real Deal

Impact Basketball is the real deal.

They have trained everyone from Baron Davis to Chauncey Billups, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard, Corey Maggette, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, Tayshaun Prince, John Wall (recent #1 pick in NBA Draft) and the list goes on and on.  (See Alumni)

As you can tell by the list of players above, I’m not their typical client.

Typically guys attending the training are looking to make a living playing basketball or at the very least get a free college education.

When I contacted Impact Basketball, they really connected with what I’m looking to accomplish here at me vs. MJ.  The gentleman from Impact who called me to discuss was almost as excited about it as I am.  His exact phrase was, “Don’t ever grow up!  I love it Kenny!”

So they are doing something they don’t typically do.  They are going to train a 33 year old guy, who was never a great basketball player, in an attempt to get me as ready as I can be to face off against the best hoopster to ever live…Michael Jordan.

I have worked on getting this set up for a couple of months now and for it to all come together, feels amazing!

The Doubt

The nervousness I feel going into this training, has actually caught me a little off guard.

Doubt of my ability.  An inability to belong in such a group of basketball players.  The thought of other players there, wondering what could I possibly be doing training at Impact Basketball.  The thought of the trainers wondering the same.

All of those doubts have put their arm around my shoulders and tried to be a friend, but I sprint forward.

I sprint forward because I KNOW I will learn!

I sprint because I KNOW they will make me better!

I sprint because I CAN NOT let doubt EVER beat me!

I sprint so that I CAN climb my peak of ability!

I sprint so that I can LIVE!

The Process

I don’t know much of what my training will consist of at this point, other than I’ll be working out around 5 hours per day.

I plan on doing some updates from Sarasota, if I’m able to do anything besides train and sleep.

If you’d like to follow along daily, the best way is probably through Twitter.  (You can follow me by clicking here)

Exercise and Prayers

For the 11 days until my training I’ll continue along my workout schedule (see on right side column or click here).

If you could pray for me, I would much appreciate it!  If you don’t pray, wish me luck!

I’ve included a video below to give you a better idea of exactly what Impact Basketball is.

Thanks for following along!  This is about to get really fun!

ps:  Mr. Jordan:  I’m about to get a lot better

Impact Basketball Promotional Video:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koLhFrwv1xY