Minor League Basketball back in Orlando/Kissimmee???

It sure is nice to be in Orlando this time of year. 70 degrees in December? Now that's quality of life. The holiday season has been swell for us. Having a baby and all of the excitement that it brings is definitely adding to the holiday cheer. We had Bernardine visit this weekend (she's my wife's 2nd eldest sister). She is the founder of Tech Bridge World, which is under the umbrella of Carnegie Mellon University.

She is leaving to teach in Qatar soon for 6 months and wanted to see Florence before leaving. They went shopping and got a new wardrobe for Florence. She's getting bigger, so things just aren't fitting like they use to (for now anyway). We had a great time. It was a short visit, but it's always a blessing to see her.

Bernardine is quite an inspiration to me. She had this vision of utilizing her education to help other developing countries close the gap and find self-sustaining power. After attaining her PhD in Robotics, she's founded and developed Tech Bridge World to be a program making an incredible difference in the world, all in just a couple of years. She's a wonderful example of how someone can take an incredible vision and implement it. It's just incredible.

This leads me to some pretty bold news. You should already know that I've decided to stay home this season. I've made a decision as to what I'm going to do while I'm at home. I'm putting things together to establish the Minor League Basketball team that I had been talking about for such a long time. I've connected (and keep connecting) with some great people, and all of the connections that I had while working with the Orlando Aces of the ABA are still strong. In fact, so far all of them are willing to climb aboard with whatever minor league basketball I get involved with.

I've made a decision to shoot for a 2 year launch, which will provide more than enough time to get everything together. I should be able to establish a solid sponsor portfolio, plan plenty of promotional events and spread them out over the next 2 years, and also put together a large enough event to make a huge media splash announcing the establishment of the team. I've not settled in on which league I will play, and quite frankly, there are a few others interested in basketball down here in the Southeast region. My hope (and what I'll be working towards) is we can establish a 3-4 team unit down here and form our own division to compliment whichever league we decide on. I will say this - with the state of the CBA and the ABA, the PBL is the STRONG favorite.

I plan on attending a few coaching seminars this year and the next. People can say all they want about me as a player, but my basketball intellect will not be questioned. As much as I'd love to play still, it may not be a reality any more. Skipping out on this season is only going to hurt my playing career. It's more than worth it to me though. I have a baby on the way, and that, in itself, is a dream come true! I've had some opportunities that I've made the most of, I've trained and developed myself into a better player than anyone thought, and, more than anything, God has, as His word says, given me the desires of my heart for delighting in Him! It may be time to seriously look at moving beyond the playing field.

Stay tuned for more information about the project. The vision for this venture is strong, exciting, and, if done right, will be very promising. The fact that it will be a 2 year launch will only bolster the promise of success. Too many people jump straight into the business without the proper preparation. I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't, I'll be able to keep budgets low and keep from going into a spend frenzy (thanks to my Orlando Aces days), and the best thing is I have a lot of people already intrigued and ready to assist/partner to make the venture happen.

It's going to be great! Big things...big things!

Until next time...