March Madness Hoop Dreams



March Madness Hoop Dreams

Computer problems lead to me having to hand write my Weinke at the last minute before go-time at Chiseled and I came in hot to the Five Stones lot starting the DICCs as I hustled from the car to a great turnout of men in place at the COT ready and raring to go.25 SSH (cadence)…Let’s mosey…

After a mosey to the Five Stones entrance and back to COT we circle up and begin.

WARM UP:

25 SSH (cadence)

10 Moroccan NCs (cadence)

20 Imp. Walkers (cadence)

20 Squats (omd)

10 Potato Pkrs (cadence)

Hamstring Stretch (bend to the ground and hold)

Calf Stretch

Upward Dog

 

First Exercise Set:

Linebackers: I tried to incorporate as many basketball-themed exercises in to the workout so, of course, I start out with…Linebackers?  Yeah, but today we reckoned back to those sweat-filled basketball practices of our youth, the squeak of hi-tops parading the court, and the screams from coaches telling us to get lower into that defensive crouch as we circled the court.  Today we circled our parked cars 2 times.

Second Exerscise Set:

20 Calf Raises  (cadence) – this is a new exercise, I think its challenging and isolates the calf muscles.  They were named Wooden Soldiers when debuted at MASH the day before.  On level ground you perform a calf raise on one foot and switch to the other foot.  This is done in cadence.  Feedback on whether this exercise was worth-while or should be scrapped is welcomed!

20 Chest Pass (cadence)

20 Freddy Mercurys (cadence)

25 Merkens (omd)

 

Third Exercise Set:

20 Bobby Hurleys (omu)

10 Free Throws (omu) – Another new exercise…hold your coupon in one hand poised to shoot a foul shot, brace the coupon with your other hand and let your mind drift back to that championship game, score tied, you’re at the line, no time on the clock…now, let ‘er fly (then flapjack).

20 Heels to Heaven (cadence)

25 Urkens (omu)

 

Fourth Exercise Set:

Sprints (2x, 2=1) – we sprint a 3/4 parking lot distance, stop and do 5 LBCs and sprint back for 5 low slow squats.  We do this 2 times.

10 Over & Back (cadence, 2=1) – I’m sure there is an exicon for this, but I called ’em over and backs…we lay our coupons flat and bunny hop it over and back – DON’T RUSH!

10 Dominique Wilkins Reverse Dunk (omd) – just a different name for the overhead Tri’s…though, keeping with the basketball theme…if you don’t know or never paid close attention to Dominique Wilkins, check out his highlight reel…I think his dunking ability was and never will be matched – MJ was great, but “Nique was the best!

20 Russian Crab Dips (cadence)

25 Heel Curb Squats (omd)

25 Derkens (omd)

 

Fifth Exercise Set:

10 Lunges (cadence)

50 Chest Press (omu)

20 LBCs (cadence)

25 Urkens (omd)

 

Sixth Exercise Set:

Indian Run from COT around Mt. Chiseled and Back

 

Last Exercise Set:

15 Side Bend Ups (omu and flapjack) – not sure if this is in the exicon, but we get in side plank position and raise our hips to the sky, then flapjack.

Time is running short and we Chest Press the last almost-minute…that’s a wrap…GREAT EFFORT BY EVERYBODY…thank you, you inspire me and we all inspire each other…what a gift!

 

Moleskin:

Basketball was my life as a kid and come Big East and  NCAA Tournament time I was on cloud 9. Growing up on Long Island and discovering basketball in the early 80’s, and being the son of a St. John’s cheerleader, Chris Mullin was the one and only basketball giant of my youth.  He wasn’t Bird, but not too far off.  I spent nearly every free minute from ’84-’90 in my backyard with my brothers, friends, or on my own shooting hoops.  What a sanctuary!  My teams were always good, but somehow winning the championship always eluded us.  I played against some of the greatest players NYC had to offer – most notably, Kenny Anderson.  As a freshman at Molloy, me and my buddy (because his brother was on Varsity) got to scrimmage with the Varsity on one occasion and I had an encounter with him that left me in disbelief.  Off some play, Kenny broke free and was driving to the hoop through the key and I hedged to cover him and as he is gracefully barreling down on me I’m thinking…I’m about to make my mark…I was always one for stepping in to take a charge…it seemed to me to be a lost art back then (today it’s very en vogue and too often, in my opinion, called favorably even though defenders are clearly late to the play…anyway)…so, there I am, thinking I’m gonna stop Kenny and make a name for myself, the All-City Senior State Champion…well, no mark was made…I stood there like a tree bracing for impact and, POOF, Kenny blew by me like a whisper, graceful as can be and laid it in…I don’t know he breezed by me without so much as a brush of the shoulder…he was amazing and I didn’t leave my mark then, I was just another in a long line of defenders Kenny, like a magician, made disappear into obscurity.  A few years later Kenny (and Vince Smith, Kenny Smith’s brother) was coaching my team and he gave me the best backhanded compliment ever…in an effort to motivate the team he  said something like, “you may be more skilled than Gallagher, but you’ll never have half his heart and hustle.”  Thanks, Kenny (I really mean that).

I think about that time in my life a lot these days.  I was in great shape and very athletic…weight was never an issue.  Nevertheless, even though I was a  primed athlete, there’s always someone more skilled, more conditioned, whatever, out there.  That’s not a bad thing, in fact, it’s a motivation…a motivation I re-discovered when I joined F3.  I’ll never be the fastest or most in shape in this group, but you know what?  I have improved every day since my first workout and I’m better than myself a year ago and that’s inspiring to me.  So, when you come across an F3 brother or someone outside the group looking to hang it up because he can’t compete with the others…remind that person that you don’t have to be the best to be your best self.

 

Announcements:

The Rooster this Saturday at 6 am in SC – a team marathon with each team member running 5 miles individually and a sixth mile as a team (sign up and see details on GroupMe).

CPR training on Monday, March 29 (I think) at Five Stones (see Surge and GroupMe for more information).

The Fuse Box 100 burpees Asylum this Monday (support Fuse Box by coming out, especially if you are not a regular at Asylum, and bring an FNG so you can reduce that burpee count to as little as 10)

 

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