When I played basketball for Maryknoll High School, I dreamed of the day where we could have our own homecourt. It was always awkward claiming Mid-Pac’s court as ours; even more so when they’d be the “away” team. I’m convinced, if we had a homecourt to defend, we would have at least won a game.

Fourteen years later (maybe 50+ years for some), the dream is realized. On September 4, the Maryknoll Community Center will have it’s grand opening, ushering in a new era for the school. I got a sneak peek into the facility on an alumni tour and it was nothing short of amazing. See for yourself in the little photo tour, above.

They mentioned that alumni will also have access to the gym and all it’s facilities. That being said, maybe I can get a photo of me wearing my old #31 jersey on the Spartan logo, center court.

Here’s Oren starring in yet another fantasy football intro video, this time as Jerry Maguire! As far as the profanity, don’t worry. The line I fed her was “you my mother father”. As always, working with my daughter on these vids is a blast. She takes direction well. She knocked out most of her lines in one take!

And in case you missed it, here’s her unleashing hell on her opponents in 2008.

Charlie Villanueva, a power forward for the Detroit Pistons, recently held a Photoshop contest on Twitter. The assignment, tagged “Hairless”, was to give Villanueva some digital hair. Charlie has a condition called alopecia – a skin disease which causes hair loss – and thought this would be a good idea to raise awareness for the disease, as well as have a little fun with all his “Tweeps”. He announced the winner on “ESPN First Take” and I’m proud to say that… I didn’t win. But out of the 200+ entries he received, I did make the top 5 and my entry got a nice chunk of airtime. My theme? “Charlie and the Villanueva Factory”. You can get a close look at my work here.

My name wasn’t mentioned in the piece, but Villanueva did say my entry was his favorite and the most creative. Props to the winner, though. His “Charlie Ventura” poster with Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh as a dog nipping at his heels was awesome and very clever.

All in all, it was an exhilirating experience. Love doing this stuff, and it’s just a bonus to have someone appreciate your work, especially on national TV!