From There to Here

I’m so sick of that Charles Barkley/Dwayne Wade commercial… so this post is named after it.

Got back yesterday from Lenox, Mass. after being away from Wednesday through Friday for the Providers’ Council Board and Staff Retreat. Definitely a great experience, and I think we have a great, ambitious plan in place for the 2008-2009 year. It’s going to be a pleasure, a challenge and incredible opportunity to go out there now and execute it.

I’m watching the C’s game right now, and at the half, an 18 point lead on the road seems pretty good. But nothing is safe in the playoffs and definitely not on the road. Just ask the Spurs after they got torched by Kobe in Game 1, and now they’re down 2-0 heading home.

But at the half, they just had a special: a conversation between Kevin Garnett and Bill Russell, a true Celtics legend. They talked a lot about basketball, but then they talked about life. And Bill Russell’s advice, which I’ll hold with me.

“The first thing I knew, as a human being, was that my mother and father loved me. That’s what you got to give your kids. And by doing that, it will enhance your life so much.”

The kids thing doesn’t apply yet, but someday it will. And I’ll make sure I remember Russell’s words. I need to get a biography on this man. Any recommendations? Admittedly, I don’t know enough about him as I’d like to, but he seems like an incredible person and ballplayer.