Ranking the Captains of PCTI's History

A ranking of PCTI's Captains

I had a chance to listen to Abe’s recent podcast and I was struck by his “laissez faire” captaincy. In other words, he has been completely hands off this offseason with his team. No motivational emails, no updates to his roster, no communication with respect to offseason workouts, and limited blog posts. His proponents suggest that this is a strategic tactic aimed at reducing the amount of pressure his team feels to perform well. And of course, his critics argue that this level of aloofness will be detrimental to his team’s performance. After all, critics propound, not knowing who your teammates are simply cannot be a winning strategy in PCTI III.

On the flip side of this coin is Sabin, who has been noticeably more involved and heavy-handed in his approach. His methods include monthly email updates with respect to conditioning, strategy, and personnel decisions. He has also formulated a strategic vision with his lieutenant DK regarding how LFTW wants to play. Critics of this approach might argue that the Wolfpack might reject such exhortations, but insiders understand that the Wolves are a group of hardened, nasty hoops junkie-veterans who receive this pressure and become better from it. Naturally, this gave rise to the thought that there have been 6 different captains in PCTI, all with varying styles and approaches. The following is a list of the best-performing captains in PCTI’s history, along with thoughts from the author:

6) Abe. The phrase “reluctant captain” seems to apply here. Because he is PCTI’s most physically gifted player, he will always have a shot at the captaincy. But embracing the role has been another story altogether. He prefers to “lurk in the shadows”, or as I like to call it, leading from behind. And let’s not forget that Abe called DK a few minutes before the PCTI III draft and asked him how many players there were and who was participating. He has also stated on occasion that “he doesn’t care who is on his team”, indicating a palpable disdain for having to concede shots to lesser players. Some argue that his star’s brightness is diminished by the nuisance of “teammates”, whose constellation cluster is dull by comparison. Will this one-man gang be able to mold his team into a cohesive unit in III? PCTI participants are suggesting that the odds are long indeed.

5) Eskildsen. PCTI’s resident “high-IQ” basketball player had a mixed performance in PCTI II. His virtuoso performance in PCTI I (10 PPG, 11 RPG, 3 APG, led his team in productivity) earned him the MVP and PCTI II Captaincy. Yet, his PCTI II draft can only be described as “confusing at best, self-serving at worst” as he used the top pick on Chase Hardin, whom he had never seen play before. He followed that up by drafting 3 of the shortest PCTI players, allowing the other team to gain a strategic size advantage. Add in to the recipe that he made some odd substitution choices at critical moments of winnable games, and it becomes clear that perhaps the stage was a bit too bright for this “cerebral” player. Yet, after getting knocked out of Game 2 with a vicious Josh Stephen shoulder, he showed tremendous heart and passion coming back in Game 3 and finishing with a good showing for the remainder of the tournament. His return helped the team to rally from a 3-1 deficit and ultimately to force a deciding Game 7. Unfortunately, his team came up just short in the end.

4) DK. The Godfather was PCTI I’s inaugural captain along with Hops. He constructed a roster from the draft that in theory should have had a reasonable chance to win the tournament. But since nobody had any expectation of the physical toll that PCTI takes, it was difficult for DK to get his players completely prepared for the mental and spiritual grind that is PCTI. Add in the fact that he did not get the performances he was expecting from Sabin and Pitto, and it led to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of a depleted Inglorious Ballers roster. DK critiqued himself after his captaincy performance with this gem: “I was worried about everybody having a good time and making sure all of the preparations were made for travel and Saturday night’s dinner. That was the most important thing to me.” With his time and efforts being pulled in a hundred different directions, he did not muster the requisite “badassedness” to tell Sabin and Pitto to play better. Instead of lighting a fuse into us, he tried to make us feel better by pointing out his own dismal FG%. We needed a kick in the ass, but DK gave us a pat on the butt.

3) Sabin. Perhaps a premature ranking since his team has not played yet, but since I feel confident of victory, I will leave myself here for the time being. Perhaps the only captain that made no mistakes in the draft, this player’s draft is a template for team play and for the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. With an emphasis on physical conditioning, many of the Wolfpack have committed themselves to showing up at III in terrific physical condition in anticipation of owning Breaking Bad. And with a belief that his team is simply the superior group, Sabin has allowed his team to gain confidence at the expense of Breaking Bad. Yet, his team intimated at a mutiny earlier in the year that has since been quelled. It is yet to be determined if Sabin is holding the reins too tightly. I suppose we will see in 30 days. When LFTW brings home the hardware, it is anticipated that his current #3 ranking will be immediately pushed to #1.

2) BC. Awkward lefty earned the PCTI II Captaincy on the heels of a PCTI I performance that included 15PPG, 10RPG, 3APG, 5 blocks, 4 steals, and a DPOY trophy. He also led his team in productivity by a wide margin. I only mention that because I know how important it is to him. His PCTI II draft included snapping up most of the size in the player pool, and also picking a few salty guards. His biggest challenge was figuring out a way to cohesively gel the excess of talent that his team possessed. He figured it out just in time as his team held off a hard-charging Eskildsen group and survived 4-3. Yet, many of his teammates came away from the tournament not having enjoyed playing together even in victory. Apparently, minutes were mismanaged and a few players got frustrated at not having the chance to contribute more. And with 41% of the available shots and 58% of the available FTs being consumed by just 2 players, it seems that his team was at the point of fracture. Also allowed a player to prematurely leave the tournament early in what quickly became a free-for-all. As manager of his team, it seems that perhaps he forgot to manage expectations in terms of minutes, production, attendance, and roles and responsibilities. Critics have argued that it was an uneven performance that was made to look better by virtue of the result, and that he could’ve easily switched rankings with Eskildsen had the outcome been different.

1) Hops. Leader. Warrior. Athlete. Guy who Struggles with Layups. All of these describe Sir Anthony Hopkins. Led his inaugural group of players to a 4-2 victory over DK’s Team 2, and consequently gave his team the 3rd best moniker (Inglorious Ballers) in PCTI history behind LFTW and Breaking Bad. Earned his PCTI Captaincy the old-fashioned way…he convinced Danny to let him do it. His draft was flawless even if he drafted JT number 1. He was still able to secure a wealth of talent including Abe, Hite, Esk, and Bruise. Coaxed Wes Strings into a great performance. Cunningly scooped up Dorry to fill in for an injured Esk. And even though this diluted their talent pool, Hops still guided his team safely home. Ironically, his best captain performance did not come until a year later at PCTI II when he shepherded Esk’s team when we were leaderless. Analysts are predicting that Hops will never be captain again because of his limited MVP chances, but this guy simply has the “it” quality that leaders possess and will be a positive influence for whatever team he plays for. That being said, Sabin will most likely own this spot in 30 days or so…

Sabin

What Would You Brag About?

I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect my "Distractions, Distractions" post to be so highly scrutinized by the Bashette Brothers (Spotlight and Scott), calling my post "A self-indulgent humble brag." At first, I was a little confused. Then after re-reading over my daily meals I realized not only was a I bragging, but it had nothing to do with what the post was supposed to be about. Do I care? No. Will everyone be surprised that despite eating that daily, that I look the exact same? Probably.

Anyway, last night I was talking to some scrub in PCTI and I had a great idea for a blog post. If everyone were going to make a post like I did bragging, what would they brag about? I don't know everyone extremely well quite yet, but I'm confident I can offer some sort of insight into what each guy is impressed by themselves about.

Ian Van Horne-Beer Drinking

Anyone that has spent any time with the Bruiser knows the dude prides himself on being able to flawlessly execute any sort of beer drinking scenerio. Whether it's chugging for time, funneling, flip cup, beer pong, etc... Dude is fluid and really good in all facets. Additionally, he looks at ease and comfortable with a solo cup in his hand-A very important look that not everyone can pull off.

Michael Beasley-Fluid Hips

It's more specific then this. If you want to see a work of art, catch Beas on a dance floor with a lady he is interested and watch his hip action. Fluid and quick, he shakes it to perfection. The best part is not the overall ability he possesses, but watching whatever girl he is with go wild watching him. At that moment, she knows she is the luckiest girl at the bar at that specific time.

Wes Murray-Well Cultured

I haven't really dug deep into Wes yet but from what I've gathered, the guy has been there done that. If he hasn't, you can count on the fact that he knows about it. A prime example of my claim is he immediately commented on the post about potential destinations, saying he refuses to go to Cincy until the waterfront casino is up and running. He loves posting pictures of being on the Grand Canyon, overlooking the water in Seattle, etc. Clearly, he is impressed by his well-traveled ways, and appears to be a guy that fits in perfectly with my high school friends, none of which I like.

Ben Wilson-Knowledge of Music

I don't know where Wilson and I went wrong but it doesn't surprise me that the one thing that stands out about him is something that I would hate more than anything. NOTHING makes me more angry than people that claim to know everything about music. The only thing worse, are the people that think they have a better knowledge than the next person because they like bands no one else has heard of (I assume Wilson is like that). I didn't know this about Ben until last year when I said we need music and everyone starts going nuts about how Wilson is the guy to solve our problem. I turned to him and said "You have an extensive library?" and his response was "You want it, I got it." To expand on how impressed he is by his music knowledge are the posts and video updates about The Tabernacle (Not sure if that's music or a museum) and OAR. Music sucks.

Michael Orr-Sarcasm

I've known Smo since 4th grade and never once have I heard the kid brag. Therefore, I'm answering this based upon what myself and most people that really know him would brag about on his behalf, and that's his sarcasm. It's interesting that Smo is so popular in PCTI considering so few people actually know the real Smo. He does a great job of portraying himself when you first meet him as Mr. Nice Guy. Is he nice? Sure. However, there is a much darker side to this guy. Never in my life have I seen anyone execute sarcasm the way this guy does. Listening to him rip someone (Or himself for that matter) apart is one of the great experiences you will have. Whether or not he is proud of it is one thing, but it has to be noted that he is too good at it to not warrant recognition.

Josh Stephens-Basketball Talent

Listen, he can't do the things he does on the court and not clearly be impressed by himself. What I mean by that is you can't shoot the shots he does and not care when his teammates yell at him without really being confident and impressed by his abilities on the court. He is so confident that despite being an accomplished post player in HS that by all means was tough to stop, he decided the game was too easy so he re-invented himself as a SG in college. It's not an exciting answer, but it can't be denied.

Dumb Ass Brent Carney-Prowess With Women

Look, you don't get a nickname like "Big Pun" without gaining a ridiculous amount of notoriety for your abilities with females. There were some great moments after earning the nickname where one girl said "He thinks because he is Brent Carney he can get anyone he wants" and another said "I avoided him because no other women would" that made the nickname that much more fitting and fantastic. He has since been slowed by a relationship, but never will his prowess be forgotten by him.

Joe Thompson-Humor

It takes a guy that is unbelievably confident in his ability to make people laugh to move to LA and study Improv Comedy. Granted, everyone likes making people laugh.. But to decide you're going to devote your life to it shows that you're sure you're good at it. Another one of Thompson's traits that he loves about himself are the white lies he likes to tell, then laugh at you for believing him. He has gotten me on that over 5,000 times the last few years, and he enjoys it more every time. I'm not sure if he is using me as a practice dummy for his acting career, but there is no doubt he is in the right industry.

Anthony Hopkins-TV Watching

You don't find guy's that have TV swag like Hops. It takes a special person to not only sit down and watch TV for long periods of time, but to be impressed by himself for it. I'm not sure why, but when he tells me he likes Californication I can't help but to think Hops either 1-Wanted to be like Dave Duchovny or 2-Thinks he could be like Dave Duchovny. Regardless, let's throw it up to Hops for having bragging rights on what is in my opinion the least appealing trait outside of passion for music.

Jeff Sabin-Cross Fit

I don't think it's any secret at this point that Sabin loves Cross Fit. It's one thing to do it to get into good shape, it's another thing to do it to be able to brag about doing 50 power cleans during one trip to the gym. Sabin will talk about his Cross Fit accomplishments to anyone that will listen (Wife, kids, PCTI members, hoop friends, bosses, admin assistants, etc) and think it has officially triumphed everything but PCTI in his life. It's going to be a scary time for the PCTI blog the first time he enters himself into the Cross Fit competition.

Spotlight-Being a Renegade

"RENEGADE! Never been afraid to say what's on my mind at, any given time of day, cause I'm a RENEGADE! Never been afraid to talk about anything (ANYTHING) anything (ANYTHING), RENEGADE!" I know there is a lot to the man they call Spotlight, but all I can go on is what I've learned about him since we stumbled upon each other two years ago. He graciously accepted an invite to a fantasy baseball league last year in which he knew next to no one and within two weeks was sending hate mail to each GM anytime they didn't accept one of his trades. On the first fantasy hoops email chain he was on he was invited by Sabin to join forces as they were the old veterans in the league. Spotlight immediately declined saying he wanted no affiliation to the old man. As far as PCTI goes, I don't think it's any secret that he has been no different. The guy prides himself on taking shots at anyone and everyone, promoting himself as the second coming, and not caring about what feathers he ruffles along the way.

Brian Eskildsen-Having an Unwarranted Rep as a Bad Boy

Well, this is pretty easy. There is no question ESK has fallen in love with his reputation the last few months and is going to do everything he can to hold on to it. Then again, who wouldn't want to be known as a bad ass when they aren't one? The best part about this rep is that the storyline came from real life opinions from real life PCTI members. This isn't something I thought up myself and decided it should be promoted. D/A Brent talked for months about how no-nonsense ESK was and how he doesn't mess around. If you want a back up of ESK's attempts to garner this rep, look no further than watching the 15 second clip when he busted his lip. He calmy walks around for about five seconds touching his lip... Then out of nowhere let's out a ground breaking ****... Then walks around for 30 seconds with a tough guy face on like someone was about to pay. He comes back the next day with an attitude trying to cheap shot at a select few and VOILA, the bad boy is born. Dude is going to ride this out as long as possible.

Josh Pitto-Softball/Women

I'm not sure if anyone has had the pleasure of having this conversation with Pitto, but dude is DANGEROUSLY impressed by how good he is at softball. To my knowledge he plays a few times a week and occasionally travels for it. I'm a little confused because I'm not sure his measurables match up to anything that could be an accomplished player on the diamond. It wouldn't surprise me if he prided himself on being a pitcher that uses masterful spin, something I find to be the most overrated quirk in softball. In addition to softball, Pitto has accomplished what no one else has. Make a girl fall so in love with him that she follows the PCTI blog. Not that I blame her because this blog is fantastic, but damn how smooth does he have to be to get her interested? Donley, Hops and myself are all married and we can't get our women to even consider trying. BC couldn't get his girl to show up for a half in PCTI-II. Pitto-Whatever you're trick is, please fill us in.

Bryan McKinney-Metablolism Speed

At first, I was going to say you wouldn't have guessed this from looking at him but last year the no exercise and excessive eating finally caught up. Despite that, he was still relatively skinny (Just fat for him). I consider myself one of the leaders in lack of portion control in the entire country. I can put down any amount of anything you put in front of me without a problem. The difference is that when I do, you can tell. McKinney is another story. I loved to eat as often as possible and yet this guy can sometimes annoy me with how often he is hungry. He will throw down a steak, five pieces of bread, some pasta and beer and start asking if I'm hungry in another 30 minutes. He probably eats 4-5 FULL meals each day and somehow continues to be outrageously thin. I personally hate it about him, but it's definitely something he should be proud of because I have never seen anything move so fast.

Scott Donley-His Body

Don't let his lack of response to Sabin's hype of him being chiseled out of stone fool you into thinking Scott doesn't enjoy it. I can guarantee you that dude spends quite a bit of time behind the mirror looking at himself thinking "How could anyone not be impressed by this?" He likes to say PCTI has changed the way he conducts his workouts, but I highly doubt he skips over the beach workouts and focuses on his core. The guy enjoys himself, no other way of looking at it.

If you made it this far, congrats. If you only read your segment, I don't blame you.

Scottsdale...sunshine state, gorgeous!

This is definitely not going to be an extravagant post on why PCTI should be in Scottsdale, because its not that hard to understand:

1) There's more solid breakfast joints than we'll know what to do with (DK)

2) There's plenty of Chik-Fil-A (Wes)

3) It's by far and away the cougar capital of the world (Abe)

4) There's plenty of amazing gyms to rent out, not worried about that.

5) There's 340 days of sunshine a year.

6) In April it won't be too hot at all and for anyone who thinks it will be, that's why there's such a thing as air conditioning.

Distractions, Distractions

It probably comes as a shock to most of you that I could write a post about what distracts me from focusing all my team and effort on PCTI, given how often I'm blogging. In reality, the max a blog post can take is thirty minutes. Granted, I've become an avid PCTI G-Chatter which has a way of taking up some time (My main squeezes are Hops, Wilson, Wes, Bruiser and occasionally Thompson for anyone curious) but outside of that, I don't do all that much.

When it's all said and done, I probably spend about 15 out of 168 hours (11% if my math serves me correctly which it rarely does) of my week focusing on PCTI. That includes working out, hooping, gchat, phone convo's, blogging and podcasting. The way I look at it, that's not nearly enough.

What is distracting me from increasing my time output? Let's take a look....

1. Work: Whether I like it or not, someone has to make sure new, hot items like Slim Jim Steakhouse (Try it, I wouldn't steer you wrong), Slim Jim DARE Jerky and Slim Jim DARE Monster are on the shelves of as many convenient stores as possible from Northern California all the way up to Spokane, Washington. In addition to that, I pride myself on forecasting my customer's business each month accurately, something I do 100% based on instincts (Something I'm sure my boss would love to know). One thing that many people in the CPG industry love to say is that you never want to tie yourself to one product. Good news for me is that when I'm maxed out on Slim Jim, I can move right into David Seeds and battle with the likes of Bigs, Spitz and Frito. Did I ever think my job would be battling it out for space in c-store sets for Sunflower Seeds and Meat Snacks, two things I absolutely despise? I hope you know the answer to that. The only thing worse would be energy drinks.

2. Fantasy Hoops: I have no problem spending time on this as it's my favorite fantasy sport. Managing my squad has been a bit of a roller coaster this year. With Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, Ricky Rubio and Deron Williams you would think I would own everyone each week in assists, right? WRONG. I'm currently losing that category to BC who is lead by Kyle Lowry and Ramon Sessions (Not sure what is worse, the fact that those were the top guy's he drafted or the fact that I'm losing to him). Sabin is winning this league and I finally figured out how/why a few weeks ago. He went in and calculated each player's 2011 productivity level, and drafted based on that. No wonder he is killing it.

3. Time w/Significant Other: We are pretty low maintenance around here. From 7-9:30 Kels and I typically sit on the couch, she watches whatever she wants to while I stare at Stat Tracker. The only shows I watch during the week are The Bachelor, One Tree Hill (Scariest thing on the TV since The Fugitive), Shark Tank and whatever Kardashian show is on Sunday nights. Long story short, I hate TV.

4. Eating: Damn I know how to spend time and $ on this. In the rare case anyone doesn't know my eating habits (I voice them quite a bit) I'm a health nut that is prone to BAD breakdowns and serious portion control. Last year I showed up to PCTI at my all-time skinniest (Also my all-time weakest) because I had a very strict diet. My go-to meal was 3 eggs in a whole wheat wrap with feta cheese and a lot of Tabasco. I put that thing down about twice a day and despite the carbs, I lost a bunch of weight. I have cut out cheese and wraps which has in turn added about 8 pounds to my stature (Don't ask how). I eat so much that I go to the grocery store about twice a week (I shop at Trader Joe's for packaged stuff and Costco for anything fresh). Each morning I start with Organic Whole Grain Steel Cut Oats, Organic Blueberries, a TBSP of Raw Organic Honey, and cinnamon. Two hours later, I go Three Caged-Free Farm Fresh Organic Eggs with Organic Spinach and a lot of Tabasco. About four hours later, I go with an Organic Spinach Salad with Raw Almonds, Organic Free-Ranged Chicken, and Organic Black Beans doused in Srirachi. For dinner I go Salmon (Wild caught of course), Organic Black Beans, Organic Brown Rice, and Organic Spinach Chris Doused in Sririachi. Granted, I didn't include a few Cliff Bars a day plus my favorite snack of Frosted Mini Wheats but outside of that I eat really healthy. In addition, I have a system of tea drinking that starts every morning with a few cups of Yerba Matte, then I have a glass of Hibiscus, then a few glasses of green, then a glass of white. Our tea bill each month comes out to around $65. I better live long that's all I can say. Long story short, for whatever calories I save eating organic and healthy, I make up for by using Sririchi and Tabasco. I would venture to say no single person on the planet goes through as many Sririchi bottles each year as me (Seriously).

5. Social Media: Since I got on Twitter three months ago, Facebook has really gone on the back burner. I check it a few times a day but am so outrageously sick of it being 1-A public forum for self promotion, 2-A public forum to let everyone know everytime a fat ass does any sort of workout (Co-incides with 1), 3-A public forum to let everyone know anytime a baby slept more than six hours, and 4-A public forum for every woman to let everyone know they have the best boyfriend/husband ever because they were sent flowers on V-Day (Not sorry if I just insulted any of you). Most of my time is spent on Twitter. That's how I stay up on news, the stock market, politics, sports, health. Problem is that I read almost every article and follow a lot of people, so this can take up an outrageous amount of time each day.

My favorite follows:

Motley Fool-Stock tips made easy to understand.
Jim Cramer-Very influential and is a big Philly sports fan.
Donald Trump-Because he is the most immature and ridiculous human on the planet.
Dr. Mercola-THE BEST HEALTH TIPS. Ask Big Brent.
Forbes-Who doesn't love their articles?

6. Travel: I used to like traveling, now I hate it. Maybe it's because I've lived in the only two big cities in the US that don't have direct flights everywhere (San Fran and Boston). My success rate on flying direct anywhere is like 30% and the only reason it's that high is because I went to LA and San Diego this year. This year I have to fly to Memphis twice (Minimum of a 9 hour trip), Cancun (Somehow got a direct flight thanks to Virgin airlines), Philly (Direct flight but is 6 hours), Des Moines (Don't ask), Omaha (Definitely don't ask), Nashville (Stop in LAX, atleast a 7 hour trip), and New York (Direct but flight is 6 hours). What used to be fun, is now miserable.

Long story short, I have 6 things that are really distracting me from what's important. I'm sick of it and am making a vow to myself to cut down on each dramatically to re-focus on PCTI.

Thanks for listening.

No Contest - The Queen City

My guess is that the interest level in holding PCTI IV in the Queen City is limited. But like Ireland to Steven in Braveheart, I own this city.....it's mine. So sit back and enjoy this informative briefing of your unequivocal choice for PCTI IV -

Location: most would be surprised to know how easily accessible Cincinnati is too the bulk of the PCTI brethren. Specifically for you Nashville poors, check out the link below to get an idea on how long it would take to drive (just over 4hrs if you account for speeding):

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

For those of you who would be traveling our lovely skyways, there are two potential options:
1. Cincinnati/NKY airport (CVG) - Delta hub and for anyone who has ever traveled Delta, I assume you've spent some unwanted additional delay time in my city
2. Dayton Airport - can be a cheaper option for non-Delta flights, but would most
likely require one stop
Both are easily accessible for pickups/dropoffs, but hopefully all flyers would fly into the same airport.

But mostly when it comes to travel, ya'll can suck it up because I drove 11 hours last year and am flying out of MKE (1hr 30min from home) to Dallas this year. And with it being proven that I'm the least committed person in this thing, I expect no complaints.

Downtime/Nightlife: I'll let you peak at this article before I proceed, so that you clowns don't think I'm blowin smoke (see #3):

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/travel-tips-and-articles/76941

• One of my favorite places to frequent when in town is the Hofbrahaus, one of a few built in the US and they serve 480z beers (and they have 8oz cans for Bruise to sip on, milk for Pitto, etc).


• Mt. Adams is an old school bar scene on the east side of downtown that resides in the rolling hills (rewatch Airborne and carefully watch as Mitchell Goosen slices and dices down Devil's Backbone because that is Mt. Adams)


• Newport - across the river from downtown, but still considered Cincinnati and is the most newly devloped nightlife area around


• Actual Downtown Cincy - typical downtown, cool bars, restaurants, don't walk down the wrong street, etc


• Aquarium and Zoo - for Pitto and the Bad Boy


• Kings Island - greatest amusement park of all times, potential stop for when my team goes 4-0 two years in a row


• AND THE MOST IMPORTANT 'NEED TO VISIT' SPOT IN CINCINNATI: The Root Beer Stand - yes, it is a mom and pop restaurant owned by the Donley family. Home brewed non-carbonated Root Beer that will undoubtedly lead to cramps after over consumption. I'm also predicting that a sandwich will be named after Wes once he takes his spot at the counter.

http://www.therootbeerstand.com/

Gym: the word here is options....

• Lakota East High School:(http://www.flickr.com/photos/52095034@N02/5335755171/ - best picture I could find). My good friend's step-dad is the superintendent and played bball in college, so would be an easy sell. A guy I graduated with is the Freshman Athletic Director and my 7th and 8th grade coach is the assistant principal. Basically, we'll be able to get in the gym. Main Pro - probably the nicest facilities we could play in. Main Con - furthest away from downtown.


• Sharonville, OH: my dad's best friend just retired as the gym teacher and asst bball coach (after 30+ years) and still has major pull in the district. Main Pro - down the street from The Root Beer Stand. Main Con - not as much to do close, but is closer to downtown.


• Ft. Thomas, KY: my mom's hometown and current residence. Very small town feel and is a Varsity Blues, Friday Night Lights type of place when it comes to sports. Sure enough, moms graduated with the principal and has her number when I need to call and make arrangements. Main Pro - closest to downtown and probably provides a cooler/throwback gym feel (think Hoosiers). Main Con - only one I can think of is that it is technically in Kentucky, which is lame.

Hotel: An in with folks that work under the local Marriot umbrella that could probably get us a group/employee type rate dowtown.

Refs: My dad's buddy (same guy as before) knows all the refs in town and could point us in the right direction and probably at cost.

Stats: yet to look into at this point, but not worried with all the ties within each area. Hell, maybe the folks from Lexington would drive the hour and half North for the weekend for a little PCTI/Vacation.

I'm not overly passionate one way or the other when it comes to hosting, but if we decide to bring this thing to the house that Nick Van Exel built....this is a glimpse of what you will get.

PCTI-III Playlist

In my eyes, NOTHING is more important than some shootaround tunes. For whatever reason, the past two years we have not put a value on pump up music but I promise that will be put to rest this year.

Below is my list for PCTI Multimedia Officer Ben Wilson to compile for what needs to be the official PCTI-III playlist. We also need a PCTI theme song (I propose WAR or No Easy Way Out from the Rocky Soundtrack), which needs to be discussed in detail.

Anyway, here are my choices:

Ballin Boys-Miami Remix-No Good
Showtime-Young Jeezy
85-Young Bloodz
Shorty Wanna Ride-Young Buck
Puff Daddy-Come With Me
Self High Five (Smells Like Teen Spirit)-Diamond Dallas Page Theme Song
Sam Spence-A New Game
Ride Wit Me-TI
Getting It-Chingy
Good Life-Kanye
Tupac-Hail Mary
Nice To Know You-Incubus
Paper Chase-Do Or Die
Surviving the Times-Nas
Drive-Incubus
International Players Anthem-UGK Featuring Outkast
Say Yeah-Wiz Khalifa
Live Your Life-TI
All Or Nothing-O Town (Just making sure you're still paying attention)
Right Above It-Lil Wayne
The Show Goes On-Lupe Fiasco (Never gets old)
Stronger-Kelly Clarkson (Yep)
Money Grabber-Fitz and The Tantr whatevers
Work Out-J. Cole
The Glory-Kanye

Leave your requests in the comment section. This will be Ben Wilson's biggest task going into PCTI-III, so let's hope he can execute and arrange the order perfectly.

My Weekend Hoops

I got called out last week for not getting enough hoops together in Nashville. Also Sabin has been making a big deal about the courts being 94 ft. I decided to call everyone close to Nashville and offer them some great runs in a decent gym with 94 ft length courts. To my chagrin, Pitto, Bruise, Smo, Ben, and BC could not make it in. Oh well. The setting was very intimate. WHOOPSIE!