High Intensity

Julie and I were excited to be in Las Vegas last week to watch some basketball and see some of the sights. The basketball was focused on a huge national AAU basketball tournament featuring both men’s and women’s teams. We rooted for High Intensity – a team from the Oakland/Bay Area on which our good friend’s son, Brandon, plays.

This is basketball at a very high level! Let’s just say that many of the teams stayed at our hotel, the Orleans, and by the time the week was over I was feeling very small. You see, every time I would get on an elevator to go to our room I, at 5’11”, would pretty much be the shortest guy in the elevator. These boys are TALL.. and BIG.. and STRONG.

The games were played at a variety of area high schools. The high schools we were at usually had an A gym and a B gym. During our visit we got the feeling that A stood for air-conditioned.. and B stood for Blast Furnace. (Note: it was about 110-115 degrees every day.. with lows in the mid to high 80's at night!)

It seemed like most of the time we were relegated to the B gyms for some reason! High Intensity played great and made it all the way to the finals of the Gold bracket. In my mind, that was quite an achievement when considering the Blast Furnace gyms were easily over 100 degrees! I think I might have simply said.. ‘why don’t we lose so we can go lay around the pool’!

High Intensity is a very athletic team with a bunch of guys that can just get up and run the court! One of my favorite plays the entire tournament was when Damon (#32) took a made basket out of bounds and threw it in halfway up the court to a guard breaking towards the other end. A couple of passes later.. a shot was made. It bounced off the rim.. and who caught the rebound and STUFFED it back in? Yes, Damon! He had made the inbounds pass and ran the entire length of the court before the shot was off.

The final game was close fought.. but by two teams that were playing their third game of the day (3 games within 5-6 hours).. and they were TIRED. High Intensity just missed winning and settled for the runner-up trophies!

Griffioens - you will be pleased to hear that the winning team was from Terre Haute Indiana! They were just what you would expect from a midwest farm team. All midsized, fit, and great shooters!

Hannah also made the trek to LV with our friends and a number of her girlfriends. This is the social highlight of their summer as they all go – do tons of shopping, see shows and just have a great time hanging out. It’s a pretty busy and amazing schedule.

One night we had a special dinner at NOBU, Las Vegas. This is a premier restaurant made famous by many celebrities. The flavors are amazing as this is a traditional Japanese cuisine mixed with bold South American and Western flavors which create a whole new style. It is great to see the girls mature and enjoy a place like this. This is definitely NOT a place they would have enjoyed 5 years ago. However, they all had an amazing time trying the many sashimi, sushi, and tempora dishes we dined on that night. I think the consensus favorite were the lobster tacos! They were memorable.

Another night we enjoyed Le Reve at the Wynn Hotel. Le Reve is a spectacular performance by a cast of 85 performers in a circular ‘aqua theater’. This is a 360 degree, circular theater that, in the middle, features, essentially, a pool with a bunch of stages that come and go as the elaborate choreography is executed. It is more or less Cirque De Soleil meets marine world. There we so many spectacular moments. One such moment is when some of the cast members are suspended 50-100 feet in the air and then are literally dropped into the center of the pool. Your heart seems to stop for a second and you wonder if they are all right as the spotlight loiters over their point of entry – awaiting their return to the surface. It was very amazing.

The last night of our trip we went to see Jay Leno perform. He was pretty funny.. but with all the basketball, 115 degree weather all week.. and just running ragged having so much fun… I think it might also have been fun to be laying in bed and just fall asleep to his monologue!

We had a great time and appreciate the generosity and friendships that made it all possible. It definitely was a High Intensity week!