michael jordan

So yesterday morning Hunter comes bounding into the room saying got a text from his friend Larson that Michael Jordan was going to be at the D-League basketball game in Orem last night. My initial reaction was a "Pfffftthahahaha okay, yeah, right, ha" but as the day wore on, rumors were flying that he really was going to be there to challenge Brian-whatever his name is, the ex-Jazz player, to a one-on-one game. The Flash owner had invited MJ to come and settle the score (whatever animosity they had between them) on the court and the winner would receive a $100,000 donation to the charity of his choice.

So 6:30pm rolled around and curiosity got the best of Hunter and me. We didn't want to miss out on a possible opportunity to see the big man himself, so we headed over to UVU. The traffic was HORRENDOUS around the arena. I mean just baffling, never seen anything like it. So our blood starting pumping...thinking there would be no other explanation for such an exodus to the lame Utah Flash basketball game. As we finally got a parking spot and headed into the arena, it was packed (probably 10x's more than I had ever seen at one of those games), and I overhead several anxious conversations about Michael Jordan possibly being there. At about 4 minutes until the half, a voice came on the loud speaker and the crowd went WILD as he announced that "BRIAN (whateverhisnameis) IS GOING TO BE PLAYING ONE-ON-ONE WITH MICHAEL JORDAN AT HALF TIME"....I was still in disbelief. Still skeptical, but Hunter was practically bouncing in his seat. 2 minutes until halftime, another announcement- "MICHAEL JORDAN IS HERE TO PLAY BRIAN WHATEVER!" People are going crazy. The guy in front of us was practically pulling his hair out. Then the clock runs out....its officially half-time...The lights go out...strobe lights and spotlights start swirling and Bulls music is blaring...I'm officially converted to being a believer. Every person in the arena had out their cameras and phones and were screaming, wide-eyed, waiting for the basketball legend to make a personal appearance for the good people of Utah Valley. After about 5 minutes of this build-up, Brian whatever comes out in his basketball gear and starts calling MJ out..."Come out come out where ever you are!" The crowd, as you can imagine, is deafening. It's unbelievable...Michael Jordan! Here!? Then suddenly...surrounded by 5 body-guards...OUT COMES MICHA--uhhh no> that is just a fat little black guy. Brian whatever: "Well, guess he didn't show up. See ya!" And the lights come back on, music stops, and the crowd goes silent. The court is cleared. Everyone is just standing there in shock, not willing to believe that the Flash would make such fools out of their patrons.

But well, it was true. Nothin'. And this story was just about as pointless as us going to that dumb Flash game and thinking we were actually going to see Michael Jordan. Bottom line: I am baffled how the Flash owner thought he could promote blatant LIES (the rumors were one thing, and I could understand if it stopped there, but the announcements? and the build-up? unforgivable) and get returning customers. You got me, Flash, you got me good. But are you going to get my business ever again? Most likely not.

It's funny because Hunter was SO excited I practically wanted to cry for him when MJ turned out to be a myth. But he cracks me up because he is still talking about how fun it was, even though we didn't really see his childhood hero. I do love this crazy husband of mine and his perpetual good attitude.

Everybody's Fine

I know that I don't write on this blog very often and I now Aubrey does a fantastic job of showing everyone what we are up to but I thought after last night I would post a blog for all to read. Last night Aubrey and I headed out across the street to the movie theater to watch what we believed was going to be a Christmas themed movie. We chose Everybody's Fine because Aubrey is a big fan of Drew Barrymore and it had a good cast (Robert DeNiro) and seemed to have a good trailer that we had seen from watching other movies. We walked in after getting our popcorn bucket filled and our Large Mr. Pipp (really enjoying the movies) and sat in our seats.

As the continual trailers for other movies played, I thought that we had come to a movie that might not be as good as I was hoping but I have to admit that I thought this movie was a top 5 for the year of 2009 that I have seen. I don't think Aubrey enjoyed it as much as I did but I really, really enjoyed it. Without trying to spoil the movie for others, the movie is basically about a widower father that has four children that live all across the country. He was a father that always pushed his children for success and always wanted them to have the best for themselves. Because of this they would tell their mother everything (bad things) and not him. One holiday when he all four of his children flaked on him he decides he will go to their homes and surprise them. He gets on a bus and train and shows up at his chilrdren's places hoping to surprise them. Each child acts excited to see him but then makes excuses of why he can't be there with them. He then leaves to go to the next child's house. While this movie didn't have the cheer and joy that I was hoping for from a Christmas movie it touched me in a way a movie hasn't in a long time. It was very heavy, even so much so that Aubrey said she liked it but likely would never want to see it again. The moral of story and what I got out of it could be entirely two different things but I thought the movie was attempting to portray that the most important thing is not how successful you are but rather that the most important thing is family. The movie had Aubrey and I walking out speaking how lucky and grateful we were for our family and how lucky we were to be put in a situation where we could succeed. I felt inspired enough by this movie that I thought I would even post a blog about it to publicly express my gratitude for my family and my new family. I am very lucky for the people that I have had in my life and for their influence on me and in this Christmas season, the most important thing is certainly family.... not items. Merry Christmas to all, and if you get a chance, go watch 'everybody's fine'.