July 2007 Blog

It’s great to be back in Indy, we have had a lot of good memories and results here. A lot has happened in the past few weeks so here it goes:

Huge congratulations to my friends Stu and Lauren. They made it down the aisle last weekend…hopefully they are off enjoying their honeymoon…I’d say the wedding went off without a hitch but I definitely messed up twice in the ceremony…walked the wrong way, stood in the wrong place….sorry about that guys.

Just started wearing the Foundation’s new wristband…we created a limited edition red, white and blue No Compromise band as a summer fundraiser in the spirit of the US Open and Davis Cup…looking forward to seeing a bunch of you guys wearing them!

The ESPY’s are always fun…I’m that guy who annoys all the athletes because I’m such a huge fan…I met Wayne Gretzky and he invited me to play golf the next day….still shocked about that…I sat behind Shaq at the awards…if it weren’t for the announcements I wouldn’t be able to tell you who won…pretty much saw about a quarter of the show but hey, it’s Shaq…Jimmy Kimmel and LeBron were really funny…I’m sure a lot of people enjoyed seeing LeBron out of his element.

We also went to Leinart’s charity event in LA. It’s good to see athletes in his position giving back…it’s only his second year in the league and he already has an established foundation…I tried to talk him out of bowling as I am especially bad at it, but I improved towards the end…Nick Lachey was on my team…we held our own.

I also filmed a Lexus commercial in Los Angeles …at one point we were rigged on this huge trailer apparatus driving down the streets…felt like I was in an action movie…excited to see the finished product.

The Countdown continues: 5 weeks to Fantasy Football. Is it a little obsessive that I sent out the League invites six weeks in advance? I added a few of my friends from Austin to our league but I’m still pretty confident that I can repeat the ’06 victory.

Saw that Laila Ali got married this weekend…I imagine asking a father’s permission to marry his daughter is already intimidating, what if the father was Muhammad Ali, greatest boxer of all time and probably the most inspiring athlete ever…how would that go?…Sir can I please marry your daughter…please don’t give me the right hook, and can I have your autograph?

I am quickly becoming an avid golfer…after sitting inside watching rain in Wimbledon…I was determined to be outdoors when we got back in the states. In the passed few weeks we have played golf at least six or seven times…even have the look down, got the golf shoes, plaid shorts…I’ve definitely improved but I’m sure any skills will be lost now that we are back on the road.

Had a huge training week in Austin , Michael Russell and I crushed it….two a days…lots of fitness…feeling good heading into the hard court season.

A side note on the life of a tennis player courtesy of Michael Russsell….you know you are on the road a lot when your room requests includes queen bed, non smoking, not near the elevator and close to the ice machine…the lady who checked us in at the hotel in Indy looked at Michael like, “travel much?”

Have not gotten the new Harry Potter book yet…that’s on the summer reading list…on my to watch movie list; Shrek 3, Chuck and Larry, and I still haven’t seen Knocked Up

And the Fines…

Fine of the Week – John and I were driving back from practice, when randomly John sees this guy walking down the street and is convinced it’s his friend Dwayne. After I made a highly illegal U turn, honked at the dude for several blocks and finally pulled up to him, John took one look and said “Oh, that’s not Dwayne.” At this point we had already committed to stalking a complete stranger so I rolled down the window and told the guy “love your shirt.”

Gingerism – Ginger wanted to take John to this ice cream shop she loves in Austin. After circling the block for ten minutes she was convinced it had moved in the past two days and a new store had immediately taken it’s place….it was on the next street over.

Butthead – Lots of pending due process this week in sports…we have Michael Vick’s alleged Dog fighting operation and the NBA ref who bet on games he was officiating…makes you wonder if some people just sit around wondering “how can I screw up?” to come up with these elaborate schemes.

Self Chuck – the reality shows have kicked in this summer which pretty much boils down to how many different ways can we knock off American idol? Who knew professional karaoke would be so popular? If you are one of those regulars who tune in…WALL! Get off the couch and go sing your own karaoke!

Johnny’s You Tube Key Words - Bob Knight Top Ten Sound bites…for those of you who aren’t familiar with him, Bob Knight is a coaching genius…all-time winningest coach in college basketball history and says absolutely whatever he wants to…his quotes are legendary.