Sometimes I dream

That he is me

You’ve got to see that’s how I dream to be

I dream I move

I dream I groove

Like Mike

If I could Be Like Mike

Again I try

Just need to fly

For just one day if I could

Be that way

I dream I move

I dream I groove

Like Mike

If I could Be Like Mike

Now two years down the timeline.

Soaked with sweat, the result of playing hours of basketball in a high school gym with no air conditioner, amongst the sweltering heat that is Florida’s life companion, I would throw myself into my car.  Imagine Patrick Ewing a few minutes into any game when he was with the New York Knicks.  Did anyone ever sweat more than Ewing?

I would drive down East Avenue, which was the width of two normal streets in most towns today.  It was a reminder of a slower time, when space and land weren’t at a premium.  Just a mile or two from the gym was an oasis or what is commonly referred to as a convenience store.  I would pull my then 16 year old, thin frame, out of my car and mosey into refreshment.

The cool wave of air from the opening of the store’s metal and glass doors would welcome me like Festus would U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke).

I though, was there for one thing.

Citrus Cooler Gatorade.

I had read somewhere that Citrus Cooler was Michael Jordan’s favorite flavor and it just so happened to be mine as well.  Merely a coincidence.

Sliding open the refrigeration case door and not finding the Citrus Cooler Gatorade was the equivalent of opening that beautifully packaged Christmas gift and seeing some socks.  You needed the socks and were thankful, but for Christmas?

More times than not though, the Citrus Cooler was there.

In those days, I was probably Gatorade’s number one individual consumer of their Citrus Cooler flavor.  It was my go to drink.

In those days, just like the lyric in the jingle, I would imagine waking up and having MJ’s abilities for just one day.  The ability to take off and soar to the hoop Like Mike.  To be the best basketball player in the World for a few hours Like Mike.

I was a dreamer then and now!

Some 19 years after its original release, Gatorade’s “Be Like Mike” commercial is still one of my all-time favorites.

Anytime I hear that marketing jingle I immediately want to grab a basketball and work on my game.

I know at this point, I won’t be Mike Jordan.

My goal is to merely push Kenny Eller (already thinking more like an athlete with my 3^rd person reference…haha) to be the best that he can be.

I’m now less than a week from Impact Basketball training!  I’m hoping to get a glimpse into what MJ did to become Like Mike!

Sometimes I dream…that he is meeee….

Gatorade’s “Be Like Mike” Commercial

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AGiq9j_Ak

Note:  I woke up Monday with a sore throat.  Everyone around me has been sick.  Pray for me and my health…please!  I need to be 100% for Impact Basketball training on the 18^th. Thanks!

The closest I ever came to throwing one down was repeated attempts in high school during gym class.  Each attempt thwarted by merely a few inches in jumping ability.  At the time, I could take a step or two and grab the rim with both hands, but I never could quite get the ball over the rim and down through the net on those attempts.

It was never really that disappointing though, because the logical side of me knew that jumping would never be how I made an impact on the court.  Not being able to dunk just focused my attention more on shooting and defense.  While the other guys, who could dunk, would stay on one side of the court attempting things they had seen on the tube, I’d practice shooting.

I had known the thrill of the slam from playing on the adjustable goal at my parents’ home.  We would lower it to 9 feet 6 inches and play games of 2-on-2 or 3-on-3.  There was nothing better than beating my man while the defense was looking the other way and dunking one.  I would get some sort of the feeling Mike had when he went baseline over Pat Ewing.  It was awesome!

My reality at 18 years past my birth was not dunking, but just trying to be the best overall player I could be.

I didn’t totally give up on the dream of being a high flyer though.  Around the age of 22 I bought a book written by the famed Tim Grover, called Jump Attack.  Tim was the guy that trained Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and many others. The list of famed athletes that turn to Tim’s Attack Athletics today is staggering.  At the time, it was mostly about MJ.

My brother and I went though the training for a few weeks.  It consisted, if I remember right, of a lot of polymetrics and strength training.  The workouts in the book were no joke.

At the time I was working in the sports department for a local Orlando TV station and the Orlando Magic had drafted Corey Maggette out of Duke.  I saw in the book where Corey also trained with Tim.  Maggette could and still can jump out of the building.  After one game, in between interviews, I asked Corey about Grover.  The training was kicking my butt and I needed to hear from someone with experience if this was really going to help.

Corey confirmed that he did workout with Tim and was emphatic that if I did the workout it would add at least six inches to my vertical.  That was exactly what I needed to hear, but I still had questions.  I knew that talking about working on my vertical wasn’t the most professional thing to be doing as a young journalist in the making, but I didn’t really care.  I had a goal of being able to dunk and we were close to the same age, so I asked away.  Corey was beyond nice enough to answer each question and we even compared verticals (verbally), which gave him a good laugh:-)

Imagine not being able to dunk and then talking about your vertical in the locker room of an NBA team, to a guy who has springs in his legs.  That’s a enough pressure to make a polar bear sweat:-)

At the time my vertical was around 23.5 inches.  Corey’s was around 38-40 inches.  Over the following weeks, I would ask a question here and there.  He could tell I was into basketball and was really working my way through this book.  He even offered to allow me  to workout with him during the summer if I wanted to, so that I could see how he prepares and trains.

This was my chance to join the aerial elite!  Training with an NBA guy like Maggette would surely take my jumping ability to the next level.

Unfortunately for me, Orlando traded Corey a couple of months later, so that never happened.

I in turn slacked on the Grover workout program and to this day still have not dunked.  I haven’t even tried in over nine years.

Today I have little desire to slam, but it would be nice to get some of that limited jumping ability back.  When I match up with Jordan I at least need to be able to grab the rim.  The last time that happened was 10 years ago:-)

Note:   All those looking to improve their vertical, I highly endorse Tim Grover’s Attack Athletics.  Don’t let my lack of focus keep you from giving Attack Athletics and Jump Attack a try.  While I never achieved my goal, I did see improvement.