AWARDS!! PCTI XI - Dallas, the Rebrand

 Here we are again... the lull of PCTI offseason. I hope this is a shot in the arm, provides some ammo for shit talking, and boosts the excitement for XII. This year seems like we had more people get a least 1 vote than year's past. It was also very balanced for how many players from each team got a vote, which shows how even the match up was. I'll start with those that didn't make the cut.

Missed The Cut

Sabin - 1 vote (1 AT) 

I thought Sabin played great, but didn't think it was better than the people who made all tournament. The masses tend to agree.

Joe - 1 vote (1 AT)

Not enough love for the Doc? Guess we should open the voting up to TikTok!

AHOP - 2 votes (1 D-MVP, 1 AT)

The most deserving person on the list that didn't make it. They got it wrong this year, plain and simple.

DK - 3 votes (3 D-MVP)

Dan deserves a lot of respect for his defensive efforts. Other parts of his game probably suffer due to the fact he puts so much energy on D. Didn't get him an award this year but will most likely always be in the conversation.

Juice - 9 votes (3 D-MVP, 6 AT)

Godon has had some solid performances in the past but this may have been his best year. Juice's stats weren't jumping off the page but his energy did. In a weekend that requires high energy players for success, he was constantly running, chasing loose balls, and giving everything he had on the defensive end. Barely missed an All-Tourney selection. Maybe next year...

Now for the actual awards! Starting with MVP, then Defensive MVP, and finish with the 3 All Tournament players. All played great this weekend and well deserved!

MVP

Kyle - 16 votes (15 MVP, 1 AT)

One of the hesitations to add Kyle to PCTI was that he is too good. Clearly he has proven why. Just some fun facts on Kyle in his first 3 years: 

• Averaging 17.9 PPG (3.5 more than 2nd place), 7 RPG (3rd highest among active)
• 2 MVPs (other than Abe, no one else has more than 1), 1 All Tournament 
• 12 wins, 8 losses (60% win pct is highest out of all active players) 
• 2 consecutive tournament wins as a captain
• Most importantly 3 and 0 in tournaments. 3 wins in a row is hard for anyone, much less the key player for the team. Congrats on another MVP! 

Defensive MVP 

TP - 11 votes (8 D-MVP, 3 AT)

It is wild to think that the primary guy the D-MVP was guarding just won MVP but TP deserved it. He had 23 STOCKS (16! steals + 7 blocks) and led the tournament in rebounds. He goes out harder than anyone and still has as much energy as my kid when I tell him we can watch Paw Patrol. He had the best highlight of the weekend with his absolute beating of Kyle's fast break layup. This award probably pales in comparison to being officially added to the QuadPod. What a weekend for TP!

All Tournament

Spot -11 votes (11 AT)

Anyone that saw the competition in England Spot was playing knew that the prep was there. He struggled day 1 (assuming due to jet lag) but then he took off! The last 5 games he average 11 PPG on 47% shooting (52% from 3!!). Spotlight adds to his trophy case as he was All-Tournament back in PCTIV. Is he going to be a constant in PCTI Award SZN or will it be one every 5 years? Next year could be the biggest indicator.

BC - 12 votes (12 AT)

Day 1 he was quiet but then was solid the rest of the tournament. Game 4 he put his team on his back and had 21 of Switchbladez 52 points. BC does a little bit of everything and this is his 4th straight year winning a PCTI Award. Can he carry that momentum to being MVP in PCTIXII, which would be his first since PCTI I?!

Abe - 14 votes (1 MVP, 1 D-MVP, 12 AT)

The most decorated player in PCTI history gains another award! Abe has been MVP or AT 9 out of 11 years (4 MVPs, 5 AT) which is just phenomenal. This guy is a workhorse and someone the other team has to game plan for. With Kyle coming in and establishing himself as the best player in PCTI, Abe is now 0-2 when he and Kyle are on separate teams. How will that narrative play out of the next few years? 

Congrats to all those who won an award! Hopefully everyone enjoys the holidays and then turns their attention to what's most important... PCTITWELVE!!

PCTI OFFSZN HAPPENINGS

 Here is the link if you missed Part I – recapping XI

PART II – LOOKING TO THE OFFSEASON

This offseason has more hype and momentum than most PCTI’s with some questions that will hopefully keep us going until next year. Usually there are a couple things that trickle in that may give a quick shot of life into PCTI but quickly fades away. This year I am hoping that we can keep the chatter up throughout most of the offseason. To help this I wanted to dive into the things that will be happening the offseason!

• Videos (Oct 21, 2021) – Deuce was on it this year! Usually it is a pretty quick turnaround but this year seemed to be quicker than years past so thanks to Deuce for that! Now the question is how do we help this connect us this offseason? Maybe @foodtraveltoilets has a twitch we could tune in to and watch collectively (not sure if that is how twitch works)? Maybe like a book club and we assign a game to watch certain week or days and can create some chatter in the chat. Either way I always enjoy watching the vids randomly throughout the year. 
• Stats (Oct 22, 2021) – Sabin joined Deuce and gave us stats at warp speed! Sabin has sent me an advance copy and let me tell you something, we are all great defenders because shooting percentages continue to be sub 40% (Kyle doesn’t count). I will let Sabin send out the final copy when it is ready BUT I have started updating and all time spreadsheet that I hope everyone will enjoy. TBD on the release date of all time stats. 
• All Tourney Awards (Nov 17, 2021) – Usually we do this pretty quickly after the stats and videos come out. I’m going to give it a few weeks and let everyone soak in the vids and stats before I compile the votes. We are going to stick with the same as last year with MVP, DPOY, and 3 AT. More on awards later in the post… 
• Rosters (TBD) – With Ben bowing out this year (thanks for the whole 10 days heads up!), he cracked the door for CUM to rejoin PCTI and he kicked the door in! Assuming BTW wants to come back, now we are in a weird spot that we aren’t going to kick someone out but have an odd number of people (thank god Smooth only turned his ankle and didn’t actually break it because we know how DK handles people with broken legs). So unless someone retires, we have 2 suggestions: one suggestion that I personally do not like is to have one team with 9 and the other with 8 but if someone gets hurt, one player goes to that team. Another was to add another person and get to 18. This makes the most sense to keep the balance correct but also because 7 games is tough and this could help prevent some injuries. The downside is playing time for some might be limited. Also, we already struggle to find enough sleeping spots for everyone and will make it that much more difficult. 
• Adding another player (TBD 2022) – IF we decide to move to 18 players, adding another player always energized the offseason chatter. Also, who is a good fit for this? The additions in the past have been great so far that I don’t doubt the next one would be awesome! 
• Draft (LIVE?!? – Feb 19, 2022) – Drafts have come in various forms over the years. I think we have had one via email, the blog, google hangouts, podcast/calls, and also LIVE IN PERSON! This has only happened twice before: Palo Alto, CA on October 27, 2012 and Franklin, TN on October 27, 2018. The first came on Stanford’s campus (clips 1 & clips 2) and the second one at the Beasley Campus. Both were a blast and included some good hoops in the morning. This year it seems that we are going to be trying to get some 3 on 3 runs going and I think I may announce awards that weekend (TBD). Either way a live draft always seems to end in a drunken mess. I cannot wait! 
• Location and Dates for XII (TBD) – Before COVID, we were locked in for Seattle. With uncertainty still hanging over us as we tried to plan how to get back, Dan said just get to Dallas and he would hook it up. Of course Dan did absolutely nothing while Sabin and Juice did all of the planning. At least he delivered on his promise of SatNite meet up with a cool group of gals! Anyways, I thought that Seattle was locked in to be the host of the 12^th running of PCTI but in a shocking twist, Donley will be moving away from Seattle. He says this will not affect his planning and I tend to agree and think Seattle would be great but it seems like this is not set in stone. Will we have an official pitch of another site?

I’m pumped for all of these things to take place but one thing I am always pumped for is the random hangouts from people within PCTI throughout the year. Whether it’s lifelong friends getting together or friendships created in PCTI, there are always trips, hangs, and nights out random places throughout the year. Hope to see you all at some point this off season. PCTI seems to be in a great spot and this offseason will continue to shape the future of PCTI!!

 

PCTI XI RECAP

 

I want to start by saying how great a weekend PCTI XI was! I think everyone showed up not knowing what this weekend was going to look like and it turned out to be one of the best weekends we’ve had. Kudos to everyone that helped planning behind the scenes, which is usually not mentioned at best and ridiculed at worst. I am breaking this post into 2 parts to ride the momentum of the weekend (held on to this to let the initial high wear off). Part I – recapping the weekend, Part II – Looking to the offseason!

PART I – RECAP OF THE WEEKEND

I am well known for loving the social aspect of PCTI but the competition level of the hoops is what I love most about this weekend. It is hard to find games or any activities that let you compete at this level and not feel like an asshole. Honestly, I was worried about how the hoops portion would turn out. It far exceeded my expectations and I think there is a lot of momentum to each show up better for PCTIXII!

As much as the hoops passed my expectations, so did the social aspects. I feel like everyone does what they enjoy doing, whether that’s watching games at the house, going out to bars, sleeping, etc. The pressure to have everyone do the same thing is gone (except Saturday). There is always a chance the group splits up in cliques the entire weekend but I felt the whole group was engaged and enjoying the time we had together. The more I talk to others about their vacations/guys trips, I appreciate these trips and our time together even more. Enough of the rambling, let’s hit some #bulletpoints:

Lowlights:

·       Injuries – We have always had people hurting, especially when it goes 7 but having Bruiser and Joe struggle to finish sucked (even as an opponent). Of course Smooth got the worse of it. Hope everyone recovers quickly! T&P’s!!

·       Hangovers – OOF!

·       Traffic – Dallas traffic was brutal. Which is also included below in…

·       Travel – Retrograde is real!

Highlights:

·       Competition – Previously mentioned but especially a 7 game series is always a good sign for hoops. Each team had one blowout but the rest of the games were tight. I thought both teams were well balanced and got contributions from everyone on their teams. I loved the hoops this year!

·       Smooth’s reaction – Is it ok to make fun of him yet? I felt so bad at the time but my god was that reaction was all time.

·       Hangs – Watching football/baseball, at the bars, downtime at the house, golf course, restore, and all other places; the time spent together seemed more connected than in years past.

·       QuadPod Expansion – One of the biggest news stories to come out of PCTI in years! Dan took this well at the time but I have a feeling he will give us his true opinion soon enough.

·       SatNite – (Missed you Smooth!) My favorite night every PCTI and this one lived up to the hype. Dinner was top notch and the partying was great!

PCTIXI - Mercury in Retrograde Edition - SOTU

Fellas: I laid in bed for a good hour, and finally acknowledged I would not be falling asleep until I wrote this post... I know how hard it is to read anything this long, let alone when it's not about you, but I ask that you read as we approach this week. 

After the last 18 months, no matter who you are, you have been affected by the "new world."  We were forced to put things we love and cherish on hold for extended periods of time, and replace those with whatever we could find.  Everything has become a chore, even the smallest of tasks.  The majority of us have become significantly more introverted.  Rather than enjoy a night out with friends, we chose to stay in because we don't want to deal with the uncertainty and discomfort of who stands where.  

A commonly used phrase that I've never been a fan of is "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder."  18 months ago we were in a theater in LA watching Project X and talking about how much PCTI means to us.  Now, here we are 18 months later walking into our longest layoff with all sorts of questions about the now, and the future.  Let's just call it like it is... What used to be something we thought about year round, we now walk into with less hype, more discomfort, less preparation, and many other feelings.  The layoff didn't make us want this more, and we all know it.

Now that some realities have been addressed, let's change the tune of this message... And let's start by saying although the layoff might not have made us want this more, I think we can all agree that we NEED this more than ever.

I truly can't put into words how meaningful it is (to me, at least) that we are walking into this year with near perfect attendance.  We could have EASILY been broken, and there was likely thoughts from just about everyone that if there was every a time to retire this thing, it was now.  But we aren't... And here we are, ready to get back to doing something we love.  It might be ugly.  It might be a little uncomfortable.  It might not be the best one ever... We will have to get back into socializing shape, just like we will hoops shape. But we are back in the arena, and the memories will follow.  The brotherhood is still in tact, and we are not going anywhere.  

We talk a lot in this thing about the importance of the camaraderie that comes of PCTI... It connects two things we all love - Hoops and Friendship.  To be real, this last year has been a grind for me personally.  It's tested me in all sorts of ways.  It's turned things I loved to do into chores, and I've neglected them because of it.  It's filtered over into all aspects of my life, and I'll be the first to admit I've not done my best work in planning for the weekend.  I was beating myself up over it recently, but something dawned on me on a recent trip to Vegas with high school friends.  The itinerary looked great and was well planned, however the group dynamic was just off... So, let me say this... Although my itinerary might be the ugliest one I've ever put out, I promise I'll give every ounce of my terrible personality into making this trip as meaningful and enjoyable for everyone.  I hope others will join.  Kick back.  Spend time together.  Don't stress.  Play hard and laugh afterwards.  Have meaningful conversations.  Talk hoops.  Make fun of each other.  Give each other our bests both on and off the court, and the rest will take care of itself.  

In all my posts, I try and put something out about each person (it's usually negative), so I'll do the same... But this time, just thoughts that come to mind when their name pops up in my head as we walk into PCTIXI.

• Beast and Smo: Your personality alone  can single handedly make a weekend fun for a group.  When you two are together, there's no better duo.  You both embrace the pressure that comes of that, and you deliver every time.  We all need a good laugh now more then ever... Abuse me, Dawson or whoever else you need to maximize the production this year.
• Sabin: Your love for hoops and the spirit you bring filters into all of us on the court, in the offseason, and during every PCTI weekend.  PCTI came out of the dark years when you came back.
• Hops: I honestly don't know if we would be walking into this week if it wasn't for you.  The patience, level head and desire to get everyone's schedules coordinated (a thankless and brutal job, times 10 during these times) when we needed it most will forever be remembered.
• Abe and Act: Arguably the two best weekends of my life were with you two this last year, and our friendships grew because of it.  I'm not sure I've had even a little fun without you two since COVID started, and I'm desperately in need of another.  Side note - I know Act has chosen me as his bulletin board guy and that's fine.  But I miss talking to you and hope we can go back to being boys post PCTI.
• Dawson: I've never seen anyone play the long game better then you have, and when the opportunity presented itself, you were ready... And I'm thankful for it.  I'm glad to have the Horseman back together.
• Smooth and Juice: People don't understand how much of a grind the gypsy life is.  The sacrifice.  Where everything you do is a chore because you have no routine or home base.  It's easy to neglect the things you love with that lifestyle, but you both are always ready and give everything you got.  Very few people in this world would be able to do what you both have done, and it deserves big time props.
• Donley: This isn't the forum for jokes about your career... But I'll say this.  You live in the city where this thing started spreading.  You work for a major corporation.  This thing has been in your face more then anyone (I would guess), and let's be real, there's nothing positive about it.  It would have driven a lot of people crazy, made them depressed, and never want to do anything ever again... But you will be there, in a good mood like you always are, ready to find every open spot on the court.
• TP: You have a two week old baby, and will be there ready to go.  We all are committed, but I'm not sure more then three other guys are THAT committed.  PCTI gets elevated over those kind of moves.
• Spot: Damn if I don't get emotional every time I think of the trip you have to take to show up every year... But you do it, even when traveling is an all time most brutal.  It's when I think about you making that trip that makes me want to put my pathetic planning effort aside, and give the best of myself for four nights and five days (my max quality output is two nights).
• Bruise: You bring an energy to this weekend that no one else can.  You epitomize what this weekend is built upon (Sports, loyalty, camaraderie, competitiveness, fun), and you at 50% (I've come to grips with the fact that you will never admit to being in any better condition then that) is better then a replacement imposter Bruiser.
• Beas: You're really the glue guy in PCTI.  Your personality lends itself to every type of person in this thing, and are one of the guys that everyone looks forward to seeing.  It's a role you never asked for, requires a lot of effort and focus, and you deliver every year... For everyone.
• Deuce: My goodness I can't wait to see you.  You're the only person universally loved that I can't (and don't want to) villanize.  You have been the best decision PCTI has ever made, and we are all forever grateful that you make this a priority every year.
• Kyle: You're the standard in PCTI.  This year might be ugly, but I got a hunch everyone will come back next year better than ever, and it will be because you set the standard so high.  To be able to bring someone in after nine years and have them fit in perfectly off the court, elevate the game on the court, and also be one of (if not the) most committed... We are lucky to have you.

I'll leave you all with this - We have been through a lot together.  Over a decade.  Before getting on the plane to Dallas, think about the memories we have made, and the memories we will make moving forward.  We have had an incredible run because of our commitment to each other, and we have an incredible future ahead... For the very same reason.

Can't wait to see you all.

Dan the Credit Man

Not the Post I Hoped to Write

 Gents,

I find nothing but depression in typing this out, and it won't subside for awhile I'm sure. I mean it when I say this is one of toughest decisions I've dealt with in quite some time.

I cannot attend PCTI XI: The Rebrand. Damn that hurt to type. I do thank Dan for sitting on that for a couple days so I could address the group myself. And hopefully, a replacement can be lined up. But I assure you, I will be back next year better than ever if I am not voted off the island. Please don't do that to me.

I won't lie and say there aren't several things weighing on me (Covid can forever fuck off) in making this decision. First and foremost, losing OG status. But the main deciding factor is the physical aspect. I ran into some knee/back issues all at the same time about 4-5 months ago. I thought some rest/self rehab would eventually take care of it, but the ailments never went away. After trying some injections/chiro/ortho to no avail, I did 6 weeks of PT that ended 9/23. I felt a little improvement, albeit minimal...I was disappointed/frustrated at the slowness of the recovery. But we decided I could push it a little bit to see how the body would respond to basketball.

So, I played for the first time since March 2020 last week. I shot it way better than I thought I would, and displayed all other motor skills as poorly as I thought I would. But in the 3rd game (3 games to 50 by 2's and 3's), I had no burst to jump/cut and felt like I was just jogging up/down in straight lines. One knee and the back just didn't have much to give me (not as bad as Abe's back it sounds like, get a white collar job for Pete's sake) and I spent the majority of that third game protecting my overall being. I did emerge un-injured from the session, which was positive. But there is no way I would have been able to play the next 2 days after that, and don't feel I could make the necessary improvement before XI tip to compete.

If I'm attending a PCTI, I'm attending with the notion I'm giving everything I have - but I just can't give that to this year's edition. I feel like I would be doing a disservice to my team to play the first 2 games (Lord willing) and then be done for the weekend. Plus, I still want to compete too badly to let myself be OK in doing that. Additionally I don't want to run the GD scoreboard again. My hope is that the Dallas locale will afford the Bored an opportunity to find a local fill-in if there isn't already another replacement in the wings.

At the end of the day, I felt the best decision was to bow out than to not be able to give what I wanted to the competition.

What I'll miss most are the non-ball hangs with all of you idiots, and I hope you all do not hold a grudge against me or alienate me based on this decision. I hope I stay on the group chat. I hope I'll have an invite for next year. And most of all, I hope I can still be a part of the brotherhood.

If you made it this far, thanks for listening - I felt compelled to lay it all out there on where I'm coming from. I hope to be seen at XII.

Yours truly, BenWilson.

2021 Blueprint: The Year of the Rebrand

OBJECTIVE: Re-Instate PCTI.

TIMING: Effective Immediately.

POSITION LOCATION: Dallas, TX

POSITION REQUIREMENTS: Rigorous training regimen, 100% attendance commitment, dedicated to camaraderie.

POSITION START DATE: Thursday, October 14 (click link and save): https://calendar.google.com/event?action=TEMPLATE&tmeid=NjdvNW5sOGtiZWFqdDdkc3V0b3RyMzMzZjYgZGFuaWVsa3Jvd0Bt&tmsrc=danielkrow%40gmail.com

CONTRACT LENGTH: Lifetime commitment.

SUMMARY: A privately held organization with active membership, PCTI has shown an ability to evolve over time, and will not be a casualty of the 2020 pandemic.  PCTI will be back, and stronger then ever.

PERSONNEL/TEAM MEMBERS: 

Great Generation:

• Captain: Kyle Huckins.
• Member: Anthony Hopkins.
• Member: BEAST Carney.
• Member: Juice Godon.
  
• Member: Andy Cibotti.
• Member: Danny Krow.
• Member: Ben Wilson.
• Member: Michael Orr.

Baby Boomers:

• Captain: Josh Stephens.
• Member: Scott Donley.
• Member: Tyler Powell.
• Member: Joe Thompson.
• Member: Michael Beasley.
• Member: Spotlight Higdon.
• Member: Ian Van Unit.
• Member: Jeff Sabin.

COMMENTARY (one liner what comes to mind when I think of everyone's pandemic).

• Kyle: Got frustrated for two weeks because his routine was off.  Overpaid on equipment and built a home gym. Got back into a groove and life was no different.
• Hops: Moved all over the country to keep himself stimulated because he is too social to be bored.
• Beast: Lost a bunch of weight.
• Juice: Bumped his running mileage up 50%.
• Smooth: Reduced his walking mileage 50%.
• Ben: Watched a lot of news and spent the time freaking out.
• Smo: Upped his vitamin intake by 50%.
• Abe: Retired.
• Donley: Got promoted and was busier then ever.  
• TP: Reduced his work schedule by 50%, upped his income by 50%, upped his time on the lake by 75%.
• Actor: Created 100 different businesses in his head and contemplated moving to 50 different cities.
• Deuce: Broke Danny's heart.
• Beas: Managed his blood sugar levels better than ever and as a result, looks better physically then ever.
• Spotlight: Came up with some random idea that totes the Spotlight brand where you wonder if he's the smartest or dumbest human on the planet, and no in between.
• Van Unit: Increased video game usage by 200% and reduced physical activity by 50%.
• Sabin: Gave up all his favorite hobbies to ensure maximum misery to where undoing will be extra hard.
• The Boy: Thrived due to everyone else's misery.