from the MEG website: summer update 4

When I was a freshman in college I went to a New York City comedy club and was sitting right next to Cuba Gooding Jr. The entire time we were at the show, people kept running up to him and asking him questions. Obviously, there were the people who wanted autographs, "Can you sign this? Can you sign that?" Then there were the people who wanted to show they were really his fans and asked him more specific questions like "When you did Jerry Maguire was it hard to play a professional athlete? Or do you get nervous showing your bare bottom in movies?" It wouldn't be NYC if someone didn't come up to him and ask how to get into the acting world and wanted to know if Cuba Gooding Jr. could help them get their foot in the door. And then of course, there were the drunk people who just wanted to take pictures with him. The whole time this is happening I'm sitting there thinking, "how do you deal with this everywhere you go?" but he was asked enough questions by that point, so I just kept it to myself.

Us MEG players have, what we call, D-list celebrity status...meaning we're not REAL celebrities. We benefit from a few perks like skipping long lines or getting faster service but we don't have to really deal with paparazzi or fanatical fans 24/7. That may also be the difference between being a celebrity in America and being a celebrity in Europe. The difference between being a BBL player and being an NBA player, or the difference between American media outlets and European Media outlets. Whatever the case may be, I have spent more time around REAL celebrities this summer than ever before. First it was the NBA draft, where I met a bunch of soon-to-be NBA rookies. Then it was the movie shoot where I met (rapper turned actor) Common and (rapper turned actress) Queen Latifah. Then there was the Rock The Bells concert where I was within arms reach of some of the best Hip-Hop artists in the game today. And now there is the Nike Pro City summer league, where I get the chance to play with/against some of the best players in the world. It's definitely contagious too because Holly has already run into both Steve Nash and Zyldrunas Ilgauskas walking down the streets of New York City.

As I'm sitting here writing this blog I have ESPN Classic on and I'm watching an NBA game from 2003 between the Mavericks (Dirk, Nash, Finley, LaFrentz, Van Exel & Najara) and the Kings (Bibby, Webber, Turkoglu, Stojakovich, Christie & Jackson) and at this point (OT just began) Dirk has 30pts and 18rbs. As a highschool senior (which I was in 2003) I couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams ever playing against someone that stepped on an NBA court, especially since I was preparing to go to a Division 3 University. But a lot has changed in those six years and my summer has been filled with basketball stories against some of the world's best players that I will remember as long as I live.
Our last regular season game is this week and between the weekly runs at the New York Athletic Club and the Nike Pro City Summer League, I've played with/against NBA stars (past and present) like Allan Houston, Al Harrington, Jason Williams, Ryan Gomes, Ahmad Nivins, Ron Artest and Marko Jaric. It was good to see Houston can still get up and down the court. Al Harrington has more swag than anyone I have ever played against, but his new Protege sneakers that can be found exclusively at K-Mart are awful. Jason Williams, who could have really been a solid NBA player didn't impress me much. I wasn't a big fan of motorcycles before but after seeing what it turned him into, I will definitely NEVER be riding on of those. Ryan Gomes got caught up in the bickering back and forth and let it affect his game, although he ended up playing well in the clutch and helping secure a win for our team, so I'll leave it at that. Ahmad Nivins can be decent in the NBA but he definitely needs to get stronger and more disciplined. He did however, have more goaltends in the two games he's played with us than I have had in my career. The guy can definitely jump out of the gym, as of right now, let's see what 10lbs of muscle and 82 games does to those hops. Ron Artest got a little testy at one point, and I thought we were going to have another "Palace at Auburn Hills" but he was just mad his team was losing. And last but DEFINITELY not least, Marko Jaric is married to Adriana Lima...enough said.
After my movie hits theaters and Marko Jaric lets me babysit the baby he's expecting I think I will be well onto my way of a D-List celebrity...but in the meantime I can't wait to get back to my D-List celebrity status in Gottingen. Four weeks and counting.

from the MEG website: summer update 3

Rock The Bells is an annual Hip-Hop Festival that tours the entire country. The best show is always in New York because, as we all know, Hip-Hop was invented in (my hometown of) the Boogie Down Bronx. Therefore, the best rappers of all time come from New York City and it's no surprise that NY always has the best show. Besides the obvious ones like Notorious BIG and Jay-Z, there were also rap pioneers like Rakim and KRS-One. All from NYC...but if you ask me who is the best Hip-Hop MC of all time I'd have to say Queensbridge's own Escobar Ceasar Nasty Nastradamus (better known as just NaS). I specifically didn't refer to him as a rapper because he is so much more. Nas is to Hip-Hop what Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong are to Jazz and what Mutabaruka and Bob Marley are to Reggae. And speaking of Bob Marley, the Rock the Bells tour was also a preview for the "Distant Relatives" album that is coming out in the near future. It's a collaboration between NaS and Bob Marley's youngest son Damien.Being a big fan of both NaS and Damien Marley I really wanted to get tickets to the Rock The Bells concert at Jones Beach but unfortunately it was sold out in two days. But no need to worry, I was going to find a way to get there, even if it meant standing out on the beach all day and scalping tickets. But that would end up not being necessary. Why, you ask?

Well, there is a guy who organizes a lot of highly-competitive New York City basketball workouts. His name is Milton Lee and he's worked with NBA players, college players, and overseas players alike. When Ben Jacobson and I played on that ESPN NIT college all star team back in 2005, he was the one responsible for getting us in shape. His resume is unmatched and on top of all of that, he is a really good guy. Since people know him, and the high level of basketball players that he deals with, he is often contacted whenever someone needs basketball services. I get emails from him all the time asking if I can give a basketball lesson, work a basketball camp, or be an extra in a basketball movie.
Usually I don't respond because my schedule is always up in the air, but being an extra in a basketball movie definitely caught my attention. Ever since my German Premiere Debut commercial I've always wanted to see what doors would open for me in the entertainment business. Turns out the movie is called "Just Wright" and it stars Common (the Chicago-born rapper turned actor) Queen Latifah (the NJ born rapper turned actress) and me (the NY born basketball player turned actor). Actually it doesn't star me, I don't even know how many scenes I'm going to have in the movie. All I know as of right now is that Common is a professional basketball player (like Charles Lee) who gets hurt (like Charles Lee) and Queen Latifah is the physical therapist (like Peca) who works at the rehab center (like Rainer Junge) and gets him back on his feet (like Peca did). So it's just like the Charles Lee story, although I want to say there is a kissing scene in the movie (and to my knowledge, there were never any kisses between Peca and Charles).

So this production company was looking for New York City basketball players to be extras in the NBA basketball scenes but didn't want to pay 300 people to come "tryout" for the part, so over a 3 day training session, where we did every basketball drill from 3-man weave to 3-point shooting, they weeded out enough players to be left with 4 full teams and one practice team. All of the guys who made the final cut (yours truly) got tickets to see Common perform at the Rock the Bells concert...and we sat up front. Unfortunately, when Paderborn beat us in the last regular season game, someone ran down from the stands and stepped on Holly's pocketbook, crushing my camera, and I haven't been able to purchase another one yet, but the concert was amazing, there were a lot of special guests (Ice-T and The LOX) and a lot of drama (Slaughterhouse/Wu-Tang beef) resolved. The best part of the concert was Damian Marley's jacket...you guys gotta let me know if you recognize that flag?

Quick Sidenote: I just bought the Slaughterhouse CD and it was the best CD I've heard since the last Nas album...

I'm pretty sure my next Nike Pro City game is against Ron Artest and Queensbridge (NaS doesn't play but he definitely supports them) and we are looking to keep our winning streak alive. Although we had both Ryan Gomes (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Marko Jaric (Memphis Grizzlies) on our roster for our last game was a hard fought battle against a bunch of local talent from Brooklyn. We all know how it goes when a scrappy hard working team (Gottingen) matches up against a much more popular bigger name team (most of the other BBL teams)...the scrappier team gives it all the have. It was nice to be on the other side for once, especially since we won, but I'm definitely looking forward to getting back out there with my "rat-pack" and give these other BBL teams 40 minutes of hell.