Back from my vacation business trip

All in all, I had a great time and met some great people. While I was there, I went ahead and did some work and spent some time layin’ around my hotel room like a bum. Before I left, I had grand plans of seein’ the sites and hobnobbin’ with the celebrities. Well, as I said in a previous post, I did get to hang with a celebrity for a little while, but that was the extent of my glamorous experience in Hollywood (or en route, really). I really don’t have much to report except that I had a good time, California is beautiful and I hope I can go back some time soon.

Finally bought some clothes

Since I was in middle school, I’ve been in a clothes-buying routine that landed me at the mall every couple years and rarely afforded me any significant changes to my wardrobe. Well, before I graduated and headed out here, I decided that was gonna’ change and I was going to have some sort of a respectable wardrobe. Now, I’m not really into having tons and tons of clothes for all occasions, but I would like to have a good amount of clothes for the situations I encounter regularly: work, workin’ out, sittin’ around my apartment and going out with friends. Although I don’t feel I’ve got everything I need, I’m starting to make progress and much of that progress was made this weekend at the GAP. I bought a few shirts and some pants and such and I’m well on my way. The thing that slowed me down most was my tendency to be picky when selecting clothes. It’s nice to be limited by my tendency to be particular rather than my wallet for a change, though.

Gators in the SEC Tournament Finals

Well, it seems we’ve decided to take a shot at winning our first even SEC Tournament. Yesterday, we played ok against Alabama and our team showed a lot of heart as we held on to win in overtime on a tough baseline jumper by one of our freshman. Today, we struggled early against Vandy, but we pulled away in the second half and turned what could have been a nailbiter into a cakewalk. Tomorrow will certainly be the most difficult game we play, though. We’ve lost to Kentucky four or five consecutive times (although we should’ve beaten ’em earlier this season, but we choked late and totally blew the game) and they’re just the kind of team that gives us fits when they’re on defense. They’re really nothing special on offense, but they know how to jam our perimeter players and deny passes into the paint for our big guys. Their defense–in your face, fast, aggressive and constantly pressing–is the kind of defense that our guys have the worst time with. Essentially, we’re not fast or aggressive enough to take them out of that defense. We’re going to have to find some aggressiveness by tomorrow afternoon if we want to win.

I honestly think we can win, especially if Roberson and Walsh can combine for almost 60 points again, but I’m afraid we won’t. This season, I’ve only seen a few instances (and for very brief durations) where our team played with enough energy to potentially thwart an aggressive team like Kentucky. We’re capable of it, but I just think our guys are too young to understand the necessity of stepping onto the floor at 100% effort and maintaining that intensity for 40 minutes. I hope they prove me wrong.