I'm always here

One thing basketball has taught me, of the millions of things, is that the bond amongst a team is a great thing. The relationships you can build in this game can last longer than any one game.

Me, well basketball has taken me a lot of places, all over the country. I would have never been to these places without basketball. Also, I've met a ton of great people, who are good friends to me, because of this game.

As a coach, one thing I've always been pretty open about, is I will do anything for my players, and I value the relationships I have with my basketball family. I can vouch from personal experience, that I've played for coaches who some days maybe I would be mad at because they pushed me, but I always respected for it. Now, those coaches are some of my great friends, who I can call for anything. Trust me, I had a bad day of college practice or two, and I'd call Coach Hill (former Asst. Coach at Matoaca HS, now Asst. Coach at Petersburg), and he'd help me through it. As a coach, if you can build relationships like that, you've done your job. I've always aimed to be there for my players just like Coach Hill, and others, have been there for me. By the way, Coach Hill never took a day off when it came to getting after us in practice, and I was a tougher person and player because of it. I used to come home and be so mad, and then once I thought about it, Coach Hill was always right. Love you, Coach.

So, just to clarify and make it known, I'm always going to be here, one call away for my basketball family. I am a man of my word, and plan on following through on promises I made to always be there to help out whoever with whatever. Why? Because basketball is 24/7, 365, here before you were born, be there after you die, CONSTANT. Therefore, if you love it, you are also all about it, everyday, all year long. There are obstacles and road blocks, but again, it always go back to a simple concept of teams working together, setting goals, building relationships, and attempting to put that ball through the hoop a few more times than the other guys. Through whatever challenges, all the other "stuff", it goes right back to simple concepts. It's a beautiful game, all day every day.

So what's my deal? I've been pretty basketball heavy the past 2 weeks or so here. Let's go to the change up...

Awesome weekend. I haven't been able to say that in a while, huh? Well after getting off work at 1 Friday,  I took a power nap, hit the gym, and then took off for Newport News to visit my best friend and one of my former baseball teammates who live down there. I could do this because, I actually had a Saturday off of work! For me, that's huge. Friday night was excellent. I got back to town Saturday morning for my good friend/fraternity brother/former high school volleyball teammate's wedding to his long time sweetheart, also a friend from high school. The awesome part about this wedding, aside from seeing their true love on display, was getting to see not only brothers I don't see too much anymore, but also old friends from high school. It was a great time, I was so happy to see everyone. I followed it up last night here in Richmond with some of those same brothers, taking them to some of my favorite spots in the city. Just a great way to end a great couple of days with great people.

So what did I get out of this? Most people look for an escape when they go through tough times. I'm blessed to have hundreds of brothers and friends in my life, and I'm even more blessed to be able to keep making memories with them. I was reminded this weekend of a lot of things. My best friend said it best, when he reminded me that I am one of the most positive, motivated, self-confident people anyone has ever met. That means a lot coming from him, but he's right. That is who I am. I've built myself around certain values and morals, and those are a few of them.

I'm proud of where I've been and who I am. I say this with the utmost confidence, I do a damn good job at a lot of things. It's not an accident. I'm better because I work harder. I don't turn and run from weaknesses, I attack them. I have a ton of people in my life who know me well, and are always there for me. There are also a ton of people who play the heel to who I am, and want to see me fail. That's life. But I say, who cares about those "trolls" (Charlie Sheen reference)? Thanks for the motivation.

So, remember, I'm always here for anyone that needs me for anything. That's the right thing to do. I value the positive things in my life, even after losing some of them along the way. If you know me, you know that about me.

The beat goes on, I just decided to turn it up a little more.

--TP