#9: Exercise
Not that I didn't exercise before this decade, but this was the first time I made sustained efforts simply to exercise, even if none of them stuck. My motivation to get to the fitness center before 6AM in 2003 was to set the TV to Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns before the FoxNews/CNN guys showed up - maybe a little silly, but it worked as well as anything. I did more walking, biking, racquetball, weightlifting, and basketball (at various times) than I'd ever done before. Speaking of which...
#8: Played for an undefeated team
In the spring of 2005, I played in a church league on a team of 5 leftover players. Fortunately two of them had played junior college ball, and the other two were far better than I was. We went undefeated (including some great overtime games when we had no substitutes) all the way through a 10-game regular season and 4 playoff games. I was unquestionably the fifth-best of five, but my presence kept us from forfeiting a few games, and I contributed more than that on some nights - you know it's a fun team to play on when the double teams leave the tallest guy open. :-) But my favorite undefeated team was...
#7: 2005 National Champion UT Longhorns
If your team's ever won a title, you know what I mean. The rest of my viewing party gave up at 6 minutes to go down 12, but I had faith (although the kind that left me nervous enough to pace the rest of the game). We drove down by campus afterwards to briefly join the celebration and the feeling was just amazing. USC's hype and Vince's historic magnificence enhanced the experience incredibly (and made sure it will always repeat on ESPN Classic!).
TOMORROW: So many places, so little time.
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