Work and travel has kept me quite busy, but I do want to share my recent trip to Europe – or at least some of it.
My wife Mari and I joined 4 other couples on a surprise trip to Paris for our friends’ 30th wedding anniversary. Yes we are getting old! Paris might be the most beautiful city in the world! We did all the touristy stuff – Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, etc and had great dinners all over the city. The Eiffel Tower created the most excitement though since our friend Janice got her money and passports stolen out of her purse – most likely on the elevator going up. She realized it soon after and we headed back hoping that they dropped them somewhere. We were so relieved to find them jammed in a corner of the upper platform. 1000 Euros lighter but very happy we went for lunch and drinks to celebrate!
After 4 days enjoying sunny Paris I went on to rainy London to do some PR for the NBA pre-season game between the Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls. I got to hang out with the Chocolate Thunder - Darryl Dawkins and do some appearances with him. Double D is a nice guy and still dresses old school! At least I could take it fairly easy since his loud suits drew all the attention. The game was in front of a sold out O2 arena, close and competitive all game and came down to a last second shot. Definitely a good exhibition for the NBA.
After the game in London I flew the Jazz charter plane to Madrid. The NBA leased a regular Delta plane for the 3 hour flight with only 16 First Class seats. One by one the players came on board and moved into the front cabin until it filled up. A couple Rookies had to sit in economy with the rest of us riff raff. Then the coaching staff and wives came on board and it was quite interesting to see Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan move to the back. I wonder what I would have done as the 14th guy trying to make the team – offer him my seat and receive the scorn of the team or sit there with my headphones on engrossed in a movie. Anyway nobody offered and it probably would not have made a difference in selection anyway. You do wonder though when a week later 4 guys got cut. And what the heck is wrong with the NBA and the Collective Bargaining Agreement that a 60 year old head coach has to sit in economy whereas a non-proven, snot nosed 21 year old is enjoying the luxury of First Class?
We arrived at the hotel in Madrid at 5 AM – welcome to the NBA! It is not all fame and glory and travel can be extremely difficult and tiresome. That afternoon I did a Special Olympics basketball clinic with the Jazz and I must say that Andrei Kirilenko, Eric Maynor and Ronald DuPree did a great job with the kids in our station! The Jazz played really well against Real Madrid and put on a good show for NBA basketball. Utah will definitely compete for a high play-off spot if they stay healthy.
Since the game started at 9:45 PM I did not get to bed until around 1 AM. Got up at 4:30 AM to catch my flight back home. Not surprisingly the hotel lobby was very busy at that time from people just getting in – that is Europe.
My wife Mari and I joined 4 other couples on a surprise trip to Paris for our friends’ 30th wedding anniversary. Yes we are getting old! Paris might be the most beautiful city in the world! We did all the touristy stuff – Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, etc and had great dinners all over the city. The Eiffel Tower created the most excitement though since our friend Janice got her money and passports stolen out of her purse – most likely on the elevator going up. She realized it soon after and we headed back hoping that they dropped them somewhere. We were so relieved to find them jammed in a corner of the upper platform. 1000 Euros lighter but very happy we went for lunch and drinks to celebrate!
After 4 days enjoying sunny Paris I went on to rainy London to do some PR for the NBA pre-season game between the Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls. I got to hang out with the Chocolate Thunder - Darryl Dawkins and do some appearances with him. Double D is a nice guy and still dresses old school! At least I could take it fairly easy since his loud suits drew all the attention. The game was in front of a sold out O2 arena, close and competitive all game and came down to a last second shot. Definitely a good exhibition for the NBA.
After the game in London I flew the Jazz charter plane to Madrid. The NBA leased a regular Delta plane for the 3 hour flight with only 16 First Class seats. One by one the players came on board and moved into the front cabin until it filled up. A couple Rookies had to sit in economy with the rest of us riff raff. Then the coaching staff and wives came on board and it was quite interesting to see Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan move to the back. I wonder what I would have done as the 14th guy trying to make the team – offer him my seat and receive the scorn of the team or sit there with my headphones on engrossed in a movie. Anyway nobody offered and it probably would not have made a difference in selection anyway. You do wonder though when a week later 4 guys got cut. And what the heck is wrong with the NBA and the Collective Bargaining Agreement that a 60 year old head coach has to sit in economy whereas a non-proven, snot nosed 21 year old is enjoying the luxury of First Class?
We arrived at the hotel in Madrid at 5 AM – welcome to the NBA! It is not all fame and glory and travel can be extremely difficult and tiresome. That afternoon I did a Special Olympics basketball clinic with the Jazz and I must say that Andrei Kirilenko, Eric Maynor and Ronald DuPree did a great job with the kids in our station! The Jazz played really well against Real Madrid and put on a good show for NBA basketball. Utah will definitely compete for a high play-off spot if they stay healthy.
Since the game started at 9:45 PM I did not get to bed until around 1 AM. Got up at 4:30 AM to catch my flight back home. Not surprisingly the hotel lobby was very busy at that time from people just getting in – that is Europe.
Det, I just drove by Jerry Sloan's southern Illinois hometown of McLeansboro last week. My brother played against him in high school. I think I watched every game he ever played at University of Evansville (then E College) either on TV or in person. Word is that he still has his McLeansboro house and in the summer sits on the porch in his John Deere hat, still just a country boy at heart.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you last Friday.
Detlef is the man!
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