Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your's. I haven't had the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with my family since 1999, so if you are spending time with family, thoroughly enjoy today. I am so very thankful for my family and can't wait to see them again for Christmas. It is important to be thankful for what it is that you do have instead of worrying about what you don't have because if you think you have a rough, I'm sure there are millions of people who wouldn't mind trading places with you. Take time out to reflect upon all the great things we each of been blessed with. I'm really happy for one thing, I was able to do this blog post, which means I'm still inhaling and exhaling, the opposite is clearly worse.

Back In The Game Baby!!

I got a phone call from my local Verizon and I'm back in action with my BlackBerry Storm!! Touchscreen withdrawal was getting tough for me.

Hopefully I won't mess this one up! This week keeps getting better........

Things on the Up-Swing

After a weekend to forget, things are coming around at the beginning of this week.

I got the Sub13 Air Max '90s in, they are very hot.

Kitchie has lined me up a clothing deal with CAVI clothing line. I have some very hot pieces. I will take photos and post them up after Thanksgiving. Thanks Fadie, you can check out his blog at Cavi Worldwide they have a lot of info on there, check it out.

I also had the opportunity to have a sit down with James G. Brown, one of the higher ups with the ESPN Rise. They're main focus is on celebrating high school athletics. He was a very cool guy, we talked about the upcoming events they are going to be hosting a the Wide World of Sports Complex.

He invited me to be a guest tonight at the opening ceremony for the Old Spice Tournament they are kicking off tomorrow. There are major college basketball teams coming to Disney for this event. It should be really exciting.

James and I

It's Been A Weekend To Forget.....

-Broke my BlackBerry Storm touchscreen, now I've got to wait two weeks to get another one, I am still sick on that one, but I'm a firm believer in you can't cry over self inflicted wounds. I did it, so I have to deal with the consequences.

-Dolphins got beat down by the Patriots

-My fantasy football team is on a continued downward spiral. I need a miracle to make it to the playoffs

-I got sick

The Storm is by far the hottest phone I have ever seen. The screen resolution for the video is the highest on the market, it looks like you are watching HDTV on your phone. The internet is as fast as I am. It comes with an 8gb memory card, that's a whole lot of music, pictures, videos you can hold on the phone. I'm really big on that. The only con to me is that while in portrait view, my fingers are too big for the letters, but you still don't mis-type because you have to actually press the letters, so I guess it's not too much of a con. I can't wait to get mine back, I was just starting to master it too!

Got That Blackberry Storm Action!

I had been waiting months for this phone to come out, so when it was released, you know I was first in line, literally.

The Verizon store around my way opened up at 8am, I got up at 6:45 and was at the store at 7.

The phone sold out in that store at 8:20. I'm glad I got there early or I would have been sick!! I have been on that thing all day too. It will definitely give me something to pre-occupy my time with this weekend.

I'm loving it so far too! McLean, you gotta catch up man......

Give A Laptop, Change The World

While I was sitting back enjoying an interesting episode of House that I DVR'd last night, a commercial came on that touched me a little bit.

The commercial was from the One Laptop per Child Foundation. Their mission is to create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing them with a rugged laptop full of learning content.

So I hopped on to their site at amazon.com/xo to find out more information on the foundation. I liked what their focus was and what they were about, so I bought some laptops for their cause. I have a soft spot for kids, hopefully this will help in my continued efforts to try to effect kids lives positively.

If you're interested, check the website above.

Miami Dolphins Welcome David Oliver!

Pre-game ceremony

Miami Weekend

Rida, Yo-El and I had a hell of a weekend down in the 3-0-5 this weekend. Like I said earlier, we headed down Friday and hit the beach as soon as we got down there. Our hotel was right on South Beach, two steps from the actual beach.

Friday was hot, started out with us taking a stroll down Ocean Drive of course. Had to hit our spot Wet Willie's! Joel looking at that Superman's Kryptonite like "Do I really want to do this?" LOL.
We saw the Heat beat down the Wizards later on that evening. It wasn't even a good game, but the seats were great. We had feet on the floor across from the Heat bench.

Juan Dixon was almost sitting in my lap while trying to knock down this three point attempt.I had never experienced a NBA game from this vantage point, it was a very good look. At the game, they had me up on the big screen, shouting your boy out. That was super tight. After the jumbotron love, I ended up signing a whole lot of autographs myself. Pretty cool. Thanks Nevin for the seats.
I got to holler at Micky Arison, the owner of the Heat for a hot minute after the game as well as Pat Riley earlier on.
After the game, we hit Prime 112, an exclusive, really good restaurant. I couldn't even finish all of my food, that has to be a first for me. The filet mignon I had was the worse tasting thing on the plate!
We needed to get that good meal in before we hit my party up.
It was such a hot party too. 400 Club is a very nice spot. They party for a LONG time in Miami! I don't think the party ended until well after 5am. Of course we weren't there that long. Man we had a great time.
Saturday

We had an easy morning, just sat around and watched a little college football before we rolled out to met Luther Campbell and catch one of his NFL Youth League football games. Those kids looked like they could stop right now and suit up for the Miami Hurricanes, they were that good.
That evening, there was some very hot events going on. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and after party that we attended at the Fountain Bleu hotel was a highlight. We saw a whole lot of beautiful people there as well as a lot of phony looking individuals which was hilarious!

We got tired of being there, so we rolled to the rooftop lounge at the Gansevoort Hotel and hung out with Ty Law for a while. We had a ball as usual.
Kitchie, Rida and myselfJoel and his new best friend Mclovin' were providing instant comedy all night
Sunday

I was looking forward to Sunday all week long! Dolphins v. Raiders. Do I need to say more? We had pregame sideline passes, so we got to see the players during their warmups

NFL legend and former track star himself James Lofton went out of his way to come and holler at your boy and congratulate me. That really meant a lot to me. Aub, a big Buffalo Bills fan, Lofton's greatest moments came while a member of the Bills, was really happy as well.They had me on the pregame run down, when I saw that, I got crunk!
I got introduced to the stadium right before the Dolphin player introductions, it was a great moment. I got to be on the field of my favorite team in front of the fans.
I got to hang with a few of the Miami Dolphins Ring of Fame members
We watched the Dolphins tap out the Raiders from Dan Marino's box seats.

Dolphin wide receiving legend O.J. McDuffie was super cool, after the game, we stopped by his postgame tailgate party for a hot minute.
After the tap out of the Raiders, we got postgame player access. Down there, I took several photos with the Dolphins and a couple with some Raiders.

Joel's homeboy Ted Ginn Jr.
Joey Porter
Akin Ayodele and Ronnie Brown
The players were cool as hell, they all signed my football and were giving me some props as well. Eventually and unfortunately we had to head back to Orlando.
Before heading back, we stopped back at Nevin's baller house! The hottest house I have ever been in in my life (until my own, eventually....) He was a great host as well.
We surely didn't want to leave. But time to get back on the grind.......until next time.

GOOD LOOKS ON EVERYTHING KITCHIE!! YOU MIGHT HAVE A PERMANENT JOB!!!! THANKS FOR MAKING ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE.

3-0-5 M-I-Yayo!!

4700 rolled down to Miami for the weekend, it has already been fun time, we got in yesterday afternoon. Pool side suites at the hotel, floor seats at the Heat v. Wizards game last night, hosted a party last night which was FIRE!!, still have a couple of more events to do before the weekend is over, culminating in the Dolphins v. Raiders game on Sunday, we've got that field pass action! Thanks to my publicist Kitchie for having all of this lined up. I will do a more thorough update when I get back home.

OCPS Tech-In Day

Today, Tiff, Joel and I were invited to Richmond Heights Elementary School for the Orange Country Public School System's annual teach-in program.

We had a great time with the classes we spoke to. We talked to them about goal setting, the importance of getting your education, believing in yourself and staying drug free. The kids were remarkably intelligent and most knew exactly what they wanted to do when they reached adulthood.

We brought in autograph cards and of course, I brought in the Medal. I traded my medal with a young girl for her hall monitor sash. We had a ball with that one. You know kids like things they can touch, so the Medal was a hit.

I really like talking to kids and sharing my experiences with them. I always believe at least one of the kids will become inspired by something I have to say.

On a lesser note, those 300s at practice today nearly killed your boy! But back at it tomorrow.

Sub13 Enterprises

The process of getting myself incorporated has finally been finished and I am now the Owner/CEO/President/CFO/COO and employee of Sub13 Enterprises.

I'm not a businessman, I am a business, man! Thanks to Marc Brodnax for getting all of this going for me and to Harold for setting all of the meetings up and being there step by step as well!

D.O. Update

As everyone knows, I started back training this past Monday. Boy hasn't waking up in the morning been a constant reminder of why I hate this time of the year.

One thing that I enjoy is those long 30+ minute runs. It sounds funny coming from a sprinter but those runs have really given me a chance to process a lot of information and really reflect upon my accomplishments to this point in my career. It also feels good to start working out again, I am really looking forward to the 2009 season, which will be my fifth as a professional, wow where has time gone? I know that this season there is a big target on my back and I will be forced to work even harder than I have in the past, this is just the beginning of a rigorous fall training cycle.

A film group from Full Sail University, led by Thomas Keeling have been shooting a documentary on me, home life, practice, etc. I'm not sure how long it will last, but when I get some footage, I will surely post it.

Off the track, I've been just as busy as on the track. Getting the incorporation thing going and house hunting have taken up a lot of free time. I think I found the house that I want, keep your fingers crossed for me.

I had some people over for the Calzaghe/Jones Jr. fight, I'm a Calzaghe fan, but everyone else was going for Jones, of course we saw what happened.

I had the painting that Dan Harris made for me custom matted and framed, I picked that up from being in the shop for a couple weeks. It looks 10 times tighter now.

My Dolphins won and are over .500 for the first time in years. My Nuggets picked up hometown hero Chauncey Billups from the Pistons, great move if you ask me. My fantasy team is currently winning as well.

Did I mention that Barack Obama is now 72 days and counting from officially taking office? This has turned out to be a great week!

CONGRATULATIONS BARACK!!!!

This is way bigger than any Olympic Medal, World Record, Superbowl, World Series or any other type of "win" you can compare this "win" to.

We have a Black President in the United States of America! He will be the 44th President of this great country. In January, 2009, he will officially go down in history.

I never thought I would see the day, this is emotionally overwhelming to me right now as I type this. Aub, Joel and I have been watching this ever since we left practice. Even though we knew he would win, it's official and it feels so good.

Congratulations Barack Obama. If we as Blacks can accomplish something this big, there is nothing that we can not do as a people, no more excuses! WE DID IT!!!

What an incredible night!

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

No matter who it is you are voting for, get out and hit the polls if you haven't already. It's your civil duty, right and privilege. This was the third time I have gotten to vote and I feel great about it each and every time.

Let's get out and make history.

"Sub 13" Air Max 90's

These shoes are hot if I must say so, the D.O. inspired Nike Air Max 90s. I designed these, they feature a nice color combination of bronze (of course) and black. I got SUB13 written on the back and on the toe part it's got some sort of flying hurdler on it, I think Liu Xiang inspired that part. I'm guessing that David Payne has the silver ones and Liu has the gold pair. I'm pretty excited about these kicks. Good looks NIKE.

Could We Possibly Be Playoff Bound???

I had the pleasure of watching the wonderful beat down of the Denver Donkeys we administered yesterday evening. We are now back to .500 at 4-4, obviously the new regime has come in and changed the entire attitude within the organization. After the game, I sat back and thought to myself, "could we possibly win 10 games this year after only one last season?", it's quite realistic, the schedule consists of:

Week 10: Seattle (2-6)
Week 11: Oakland (2-6)
Week 12: New England (5-3, we beat them already)
Week 13: St. Louis (2-6)
Week 14: Buffalo (5-3, we beat them already)
Week 15: San Fransisco (2-6)
Week 16: Kansas City (1-7)
Week 17: NY Jets (5-3)

Is 10-6 a stretch? I don't think so, let's go Phins!!!

In other unfortunate news, this afternoon will see me return back to Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex for my first practice of the 2008-2009 season. Vacation is officially over.

2008 Opening Convocation - Acceptance Speech by David Oliver