Hardwood Journals
When my website debuted back in 1995, it bore the title "Kollege Sucks", and had the distinction of being the first and only website of its kind. No, it wasn't because of some innovative use of HTML or JavaScript trickery--smoke and mirrors never have been "my ite unique was the section entitled BigDan in the BigTen--a collection of as-they-happened stories, a diary of sorts, giving the world a peek into the life of a Division I basketball player. Unfortunately, my last game playing for Northwestern University in February of 1996 marked the end of an era, and the stories stopped.
For the next three years, I took on basketball as a full-time occupation. For the most part, it was a very interesting experience which gave me a chance to go places and do things most people only dream of or read about in books. On the other hand, there was a lot of travel involved--every time I turned around, it was time to hop on a plane on a moment's notice. Take a look the list of places I've been, starting in Jun 1996 and finishing up on July 2, 1999:
- New York, NY
- Istanbul, Turkey
- St. Paul, MN
- Minot, ND
- Houston, TX
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Yakima, WA
- Cincinnati, OH
- Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
- Amsterdam, Holland
- Rattlesdorf, Germany
- Innsbruk, Austria
- Sienna, Italy
- Verona, Italy
- Milano, Italy
- Toronto, Canada
- Milwaukee, WI
- Vancouver, WA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Riga, Latvia
- Rapid City, SD
- Seattle, WA
And these are just a few of the places I've been! All in all, I've been to 9 different countries on 3 different continents, 40 of the 50 States, and have worked-out with or been to camp with five different NBA teams (some multiple times).
After college, I couldn't find any motivation to continue writing (aside from a piece about my time with the Houston Rockets, and my games against Shaquille O'Neal), but even I like to read my old collegiate tales from time to time.
