2000 -2009 Recap

Happy New Year..everyone. As we enter into a new decade I would like to share with you..the last 10 years of my life and what I hope to accomplish in the next decade.

Lets see..where do I start...so many things have happened during this period.

Ok, lets start with the lows...that way we can end with the highs.

I lost a player (Patrick Dennehy) who was murder in 2003. Patrick was like a son to me and I took his death very hard. Its been almost 7yrs since he was killed and I miss him so much. Pat drove me crazy at times...but I loved him like my own. I've tried to keep his memory alive by hosting the Patrick Dennehy memorial Rumble in the Bay basketball tournament. The event has grown over the years and has become the premier spring tournament in the west.

I had some personal things that I had to overcome also. I spent the most of the early part of the decade of fighting the temptation of committing suicide because of all the things I was going through. I was able to get past that and I haven't had those feelings in years and I'm in a much better place mentally, so I won't be having those feelings again.

I also discovered that I had some fake ass friends who never really were my friend at all. Its amazing how you can be there for someone in their time of need and be a support for them and their family and then have them..have them stab you in the back and then not talk to you..like you did something wrong to them..that shit is really hilarious to me. I guess those kind of people usually expose themselves sooner or later and then you should just walk away because cussing them out doesn't really solve anything even if it feels good at the time.

Ok, enough of the lows..let here about the HIGH'S

My kids were born and I love them with everything I have. The are the main reason why I work so hard. I have 3 tattoos that I have of them "D3P" one of my tatts says "the best of me"..because I hope and pray that they are the best of me.

I've meet some friends that have really inspired me to go after all my dreams and to not stop until I make them happen and that is what I'm working on.

The Ballers had a great decade...we were strong the early part of the decade and then we dipped and had to rebuild during the middle part of the decade..but we finished the decade off very strong.

I had the great pleasure of coaching 24 boys that played their ass off this spring and summer. I wouldn't any of them for any other player. They were a very special group for me to coach.

My adopted Aussie sons Josh and Scotty had been a blessing to my team and to my life. They are two great kids and its been a pure joy to coach them and to have them apart of my family.

My other guys I also love like they were my own kids..I could write a novel about all of them.

My goals are not just for 2010 but for the whole decade and there are:

• Become a college coach at the Division I level.
• Finish my 300 hours and become a certified sports psychologist
• Get more tattoos about my kids and where I'm from (Long Beach...Baby)
• Keep the Ballers playing at a top level.
• Love my kids more each day
• Make sure people don't take my kindness as a weakness
• Put people in their place more often
• Stop being so damn politically correct.
• Stop dealing with fake ass people who pretend to be your friend
• Workout more than I do now
• Keep eating healthy

That is about it right...but I may add more later.

Thank you for reading my blog and have a very Happy New Year

Peace & Love

Big Nellie

Its been too long

Hello People,
Its has been way too long...since I lasted blogged and I'm sorry about that. Sometimes life just gets in the way. As u know from my last blog a few months ago the Ballers had a really good summer. Here is an update on some of the Ballers.

Demitruis Owens: Is a freshmen at Cal State East Bay and he has a very good chance at starting as a freshmen. He was hoping to walk-on at CS Northridge but things didn't workout. He is very happy to be at East Bay U.

Josh Tueta & Scotty Kenny (the Aussies): They are both at Blinn Community College in Brenham, TX...just outside of Houston. Everyone is very happy that they are both back here in the States and playing basketball. Both have a good chance of starting and making a huge impact on the team.

James Osorio: Will attend Seattle University next year as a non-scholarship freshmen on the basketball. All that means he is on the team and that he will have a chance to earn a scholarship later.

Tyler Johnson: He accepted a scholarship offer from Fresno St. University. He actually had 6 offers total from Sac. St., Northern Colorado, St. Mary's College, Hawaii University, Utah St. and of course Fresno St. who he picked.

Spencer Britsgchi: Has some very good opportunities also and is currently trying to figure out what is going to be the best situation for him. I will keep you posted on him and the other kids in the Baller family once more information becomes available.

We also have 5 Ballers playing in the Super 100 camp in Richmond next weekend..which is a camp for the top 100 players in Northern California. Drew Dickey, Sean Dawkins, Zayn Kirkendroll, Ivan Maragetric and Zach Thomas are the Ballers attending the camp.

That is the lastest with some of the boys and as for me I'm very excited about their opportunities and I've been busy with all their stuff...I did manage to get a new tatt recently which I'm very excited about. Well I gotta run...thank you all for your support and remember GO BAllers!

Day 4 Best of Summer

Day 4
The last day of the tournament and we are all tired...but we have 1 more game...the championship game of the Gold Division. We arrive at LMU at 11am for our 11:30am and the boys seem ready. I'm a mess already crying...because its the last time I will get a chance to coach this group as the Bay Area Ballers. All the kids on the purple squad will be moving on to college either in the fall or after their senior year...coming up. Some how I manage to pull myself together long enough to coach :) We start off slow...but like always our defense which has been great all summer kicks in and we start rolling. Every single player contributed to our 16pt win over NW Houston. The purple squad was on a mission all summer and I'm so proud to say that they completed that mission by how hard they played all summer long. July 14 is we started our summer tournament and we played 20 basketball games during that time and our record was 18-2...not bad at all...I was very impressed. I would like to say Thank you to: Tyler Johnson, Spencer Britsghchi, James Osorio, Suhail Mohammadi, Tyler Atwater, Josh Tueta, Scotty Kenny, Matt Johnson, Robbie Vaughan, Alex Stephenson, and Demitruis Owens for given me the opportunity to coach you all...it has been my pleasure and I feel bless to have had that opportunity...I love and will miss coaching you all...please remember that I'm always here if you need me for anything.

My Ballers-Grey squad thank you for working hard you all improved throughout the summer: Tim Wang, Ryan Tana, Jordan Rubin, JR Olson, John Pellarin, Jason Riland, Zayn Kirkendoll, CJ, Sean Dawkins, Jalil Eppenger, Nick Reddy and Sam Kelley...for all the returning players...lets have a great run again next year.

Take Care

Big Nellie

Go Ballers!

Day 3 Best of Summer

Day 3
Had both teams playing two games.

Ballers-Grey had a moring game at 11:30 and they played really well. Which turned into a 20pt win. The boys really moved the ball around well. The second game wasn't as good as the first game. They didn't play as well...which in turn resulted in a loss for them and the end of the tournament for Ballers-Grey...My grey team had a very good summer and we have a lot of really good players returning for next spring.

Ballers-Purple didn't play until 5:45pm and that meant win or go home. The purple squad started the game off slow...by giving their opponent an early 7-0 lead. They got it going behind TJ, Josh & D and a very tough defense. They won the game by 18pts. The second game of the night was at 8:15pm and the purple squad hasn't always played their best when they have multiple games during a day and with a short amount of time between games. The purple squad played Mass River...from Massachusetts and they were big....but that didn't matter because Scotty came ready to play...he hit 7- 3pters and finished the game with 28pts...Big Tueta was huge in the middle as he scored from the inside and rebounded like crazy as well as blocking shots. Scotty & Josh's play helped the team fight through being tired and sparked a 24pt win...which put the Ballers-Purple in the semi-finals tonight at 8:15. The winner of tonight's game plays for the Gold division championship tomorrow morning at 11:30. I'm hoping to have some good news for everyone later tonight.

Go Ballers!!!!

Day 2 Best of Summer

Day 2 at the Best Summer was a little tough on both teams.

Ballers-Grey played hard in the 2 games they had yesterday going 1-1 on the day. That put them in 3rd place in their pool and will now be in the bronze division for the playoffs. If, they continue to play hard they will have a great chance to go deep into the playoff.

Ballers-Purple played hard as well in their 2 games yesterday but finished 1-1 on the day. Which dropped them to second place in the pool. They will enter the playoffs in the Silver division...the purple squad is more than able to make a deep run...if they get back to playing Baller basketball...which wasn't the case in last night's lost. The purple team is pretty hard to beat when they play Baller basketball...but like any team...sometimes there are days when those things don't happen. You live and you learn...today is a new day for both teams...and the boys will be ready. Gotta Run

Go Ballers!
Big Nellie

Day 5 Main Event and Day 1 of Best of Summer

Day 5 of the Main Event was very exciting...we started off with a 9:05AM game against a team from Colorado. They had some very good guards but the Ballers-purple guards were a lot better. TJ, Spencer, Scotty and Oso (James Osorio) were too much for them and big Josh was a beast in the middle with rebounding and timely inside scoring. Robbie Vaughan took an elbow to the head and wasn't able to continue playing in the game. The purple squad won the game and that put them into the finals.

The championship game pitted the Ballers against Nike Team Florida...the game was back and forth early...until TJ got hurt with a knee injury...the ballers was only able to cut the lead to within 2pts after being down 8. It was the Ballers first lost after having Scotty and Josh join the team. They had won 11 straight games prior to the championship lost on sunday. The lost hurt a lot...but I was so proud of how hard we played and to have a ton of people watching us was great. The crowd was truly pulling for the Ballers. There were several people who came up to me and said we would have won had TJ hadn't gotten hurt. It was great making the finals...but I wanted to win so bad for my boys...because they played and worked so hard to get to the finals. We got a second place trophy...which is kinda cool I guess. Making it to the finals came at a price...we didn't have any airline tickets home...so myself and 7 players were suck in Las Vegas until monday morning.

Day 1 Best of Summer
We got suck in Las Vegas and had to fly out monday morning to San Jose and then turn right around and fly out to Long Beach for the Best of Summer tournament...which started today.

The Ballers Grey and Purple both played at the same time today...so I wasn't able to help coach them.. They weren't able to come out with a victory...they had a couple of chances to cut the lead..but not for a lack of effort.

The Ballers - Purple squad won...but it wasn't anything to write home about...talk about playing ugly...but getting a win. It wasn't a good game for the group. I'm chalking it up to just finishing up another tournament and traveling all day and being suck in Vegas until today. I'm tired

Peace
Big Nellie
Go Ballers

Day 4 Main Event

Ballers-Grey...started off Day 4 with a 6pts victory in the 1st round of the playoffs. In the 2nd round of the playoffs the grey squad fell...but had a winning record of 4-2 in the Main Event tournament. The Grey squad played really hard and should be able to carry their good play into the next tournament in LA at the Best of Summer. Good job fellows...lets keep it going in LA.

Ballers-Purple started off Day 4 with a 16pt victory over Fieldhouse Indiana Elite...that victory put the purple squad into the field of top 16 teams. The purple squad then beat Grant Slate from New Hamphire by 17pts to advance to the final 8. The final 8 game was a hard fought battle which the purple squad won without TJ who was suffering from a severe migraine. Final 4 tomorrow at 9AM...and I hope the boys are ready. The are having a great run and the championship is within reach. One game at a time has been the slogan for the team...take care of right now and not worry about other stuff. TJ is feeling better and he will be ready to play in the morning. Suhail really stepped up in TJ"s place and played great. Spencer hit a few 3's from Utah. The boys have really come together and are working super hard as a team...Well its late..I need to get some rest so I'm ready for tomorrow.

Go Ballers!
Big Nellie

P.S. Hard work beats talent...when talent doesn't work hard