The 33-year-old's character, Dr. Christopher Turk, has had a number of scenes over the years playing ball and even painted his "basketball head" in one episode.

"Turk likes to blow off steam by playing basketball before surgery," explained Zach Braff's character before one of their many pick-up games in the parking lot outside "Sacred Heart Hospital."

Faison will get a chance to blow off some steam on Saturday when the actor competes in the Suns' Jack in the Box Celebrity Shootout at US Airways Center (2 pm). But before the 8^th annual exhibition, Faison and his fellow entertainers enjoyed some inspiration courtesy of the Suns and T’Wolves on Friday night. Well, maybe just the Suns.

Prior to tip-off, I caught up with him for a few minutes in the “B-Lounge” to talk about tomorrow’s run and his love of hoops.

Faison: This is the best city to come and play in. Phoenix takes care of us. That and it’s always good to play in the same building as Steve Nash. It really is. I played here when Steve Nash wasn’t here and it wasn’t that much fun (laughs). No, but I love the fact that I get to play on the same court as Nash and pretend I am him.

McPeek: What do you like about Steve’s game?

Faison: He’s just perfect. Well, he could play a little better defense, but let’s be honest, he and Jason Kidd are the best point guards in the game right now.

McPeek: Tell us about your game. You’ve been playing for a number of years. I remember interviewing you at an *NSYNC charity game in Las Vegas way back when.

Faison: Yeah, my game is getting old (laughs). I’m 33-years-old and it’s a lot different than when I was 26 playing these games. I hurt afterwards now.

McPeek: Are you still in the NBA Entertainment league?

Faison: I am. I’m on an undefeated team this year. The only undefeated team in the league! We’re 8-0. I play on the Cavaliers. James Lesure (actor, Las Vegas), who is also on this trip, is on our team and he is a really good basketball player.

McPeek: What do you enjoy about playing in that league?

Faison: You get to wear official NBA jerseys! I told my girlfriend, “I’m in the NBA!” She’s like, “No, you’re in the NBAE,” and I say, “No, it’s the NBA; there’s just an E at the end. I’m an official NBA player!”

The talent’s really good. There a lot of guys from the entertainment industry, but a lot of people that would never know, because they are agents or managers or producers. Let’s be honest, when we buy records we don’t always look to see who produced the albums. We only know who’s on the cover. But there are a lot of great basketball players in entertainment right now.

B-Lounge Fan #1: Are you Donald Faison?

Faison: I am. How you guys doing?

B-Lounge Fan #1: We love your show!

Faison: Oh, thank you.

B-Lounge Fan #2: You’re a lot taller in person.

Faison: I’ve got my platforms on tonight.

McPeek: How long have you followed the NBA?

Faison: Pretty much ever since Patrick Ewing came into the league. I am a Knick fan. I’ve been a Knick fan my whole life.

McPeek: That’s got to be rough right now.

Faison: Well, we’ve won three in a row. Going for four tonight. Nobody thinks we can do it, but I believe cuz I’m a fan. But yeah, it is kind of difficult. For some reason, we just can’t get it together in New York. We’ve got a great team. We do! We’ve got a lot of talent, we just can’t put it together.

McPeek: What are your thoughts on this year’s Suns team?

Faison: I thought they’d be winning more games to be honest with you. They’ve got the best record in the Western Conference right now, but the West is so stacked. There are so many good teams that it’s going to be a real battle. Grant Hill was a great addition.

McPeek: Do you think the Suns have what it takes to win it all?

Faison: I think you guys need to get a little tougher. I’ll say that. Nash is a pretty tough player, but him going up against 7-footers, he’s getting thrown to the ground. I would like to see Amare get a little tougher. If Amare gets tougher, it’s a wrap!

McPeek: Who's your favorite Scrub in the NBA?

Faison: I love "Mad Dog"… what’s his name? He played for Minnesota, played for L.A… Mark Madsen! He's fun to watch.

McPeek: Last question… why should fans come out for the Shootout tomorrow?

Faison: If they want to see bad basketball, they should come out (laughs). No, it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ve got funny people, we’ve got a great group, and we put on a great show for the fans. And also, midnight basketball is a huge deal. That’s great. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard of, getting young men off the streets to play basketball. That’s amazing. If anything, that’s a great reason to come out, to support that. But it’s also going to be a great show.

I remember the first time we ever posted video on the site in 1997. It was a 10-second, choppy clip of rookie Marko Milic hurdling a car during a dunk contest in Europe. That was some classic video!

I’ll never forget taking digital pictures of Jason Kidd and Penny Hardaway eating breakfast at the team hotel in Flagstaff during training camp 2000, and having the revelation that THIS was the kind of behind-the-scenes content that fans would eat up on Suns.com.

I remember all the live chats we scheduled during the weeks of camp, only to end up banging on players’ hotel room doors, trying to get them to wake up and answer the NBA moderator’s calls.

I’d like to forget our first-ever episode of Nothin’ But Net, which featured a very nervous Kayte Christensen as Cedric Ceballo’s co-host (she got much better as the weeks went on), and a very confused Bryan Colangelo, who had to be wondering why we kept interrupting his interview to put goofy props up in front of the camera lens. Thankfully, very few fans actually ever saw the debut, as an arena maintenance worker mercifully tripped over our extension cord, pulling the plug on the live webcast. True story.

I could go on and on, of course, but I thought I would share a few screen shots from Suns.com of years past instead. After all, a picture tells a thousand words, right? I hope you enjoy this 6,000-words worth of flashbacks, courtesy of the Wayback Machine, as much as I have, and enjoy the new-and-improved Suns.com even more!

1996-1998

1999-2000

2000-2002

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

The Suns' Gorilla staked out his spot in the new Suns.com Newsroom on Thursday. (Jeramie McPeek/Suns Photos)

Far from it!

Now, I do admit that I spent more than a few of my summer hours as an intern in the early '90s playing H-O-R-S-E on a Nerf hoop with Frank Johnson and David Griffin. But those days are nothing more than a distant memory at this point.

Summers for the Suns.com staff are almost as hectic as the regular season these days, though. From the moment the playoffs end, we move into full NBA Draft mode. Then there is Summer League and the free-agency period with press conferences and introductions of new players, a la Grant Hill. And in recent years, we've had Suns players and coaches participating in USA Basketball to keep an eye on, as well.

Throw in the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, who we also cover for PhoenixMercury.com, and Suns front-office maneuvers such as the hirings of new GM Steve Kerr and assistant coach Jay Humphries, and we are running like the LB on a fast break.

[Quick tangent: I can't forget to mention that we were also asked to record video tours of a couple of potential new homes for Hill and his wife, Tamia, who was eight months pregnant and unable to travel to Phoenix to see them in person. Not that I'm complaining. My crew enjoyed it and we now hope to feature the Hills on a future episode of Suns Home Court!]

I personally, however, did very little of the above this year. Instead, I've spent the majority of the summer playing GM. Thanks to the vision of Suns owners Robert Sarver and Sam Garvin, and President Rick Welts, not to mention the full support of Suns Sr. VPs John Walker and Lynn Agnello, I was given approval to double the size of our Suns.com team!

So for the past two-plus months, I have been evaluating talent, recruiting free-agents and negotiating contracts. Or something like that. After sifting through more than 300 resumes and conducting some 40 or 50 interviews, I am proud to officially introduce the newest members of our team:

Dan Hilton: I don't think I could have found someone better suited for our newly created Web Analytics Coordinator position than Dan Hilton. Not only does he bring more than nine years of web metrics experience with him, but he is a lifelong Suns fan and actually ran his own Suns fan blog site in his spare time!

[Read an interview he did with his successor at BrightSideoftheSuns.com earlier this week]

Dan will be responsible for analyzing and reporting on the daily, weekly and monthly traffic on Suns.com, as well as the online behavior pattern of our visitors, to assist in sponsor integration, search engine optimization and ease of site navigation. Confused yet?

I have also asked him to take over moderation of this official Suns blog. It wasn't in the original job description, but his license plate reads "SNSBLGR," for crying out loud. How could I not ask him to oversee the blog?

Stefan Swiat: With two years on NBA.com's newsdesk writing articles and blogs, posting photos and videos, and updating both the teams and league sites on game nights, Stefan Swiat was another perfect fit, filling our new Web Content Coordinator role.

Convincing him to leave NBA.com in New Jersey and move to the opposite side of the country was the only tricky part. Not that coming to work for the three-time Pacific Division Champions AND the NBA's reigning Web Site of the Year, wasn't attractive. After all, Stefan did apply for the position. But changing jobs and coasts is, understandably, a life-altering decision. And so I called in a little favor.

After playing at least a wee bit role in helping to recruit Steve Nash back to Phoenix in 2004 – putting together a coffee table book custom-made for the then-Mavs' playmaker – I figured Mike D'Antoni owed me one. Okay, not really, but Coach is such a great guy, I figured he wouldn't mind helping me out. So I called Mike, Mike called Stefan, and the rest is history. But I'll let him tell you more about that in his intro blog, coming soon.

Daniel Banks: Although talking, typing or thinking about this past playoff run is still painful for me and most Phoenix fans, our new Suns Structure Coordinator wasn't quite as hurt by the circumstances surrounding the Suns' pre-mature exit. You see, Daniel Banks is coming to the desert fresh off an NBA Championship parade (or would that be championship float?) down the Riverwalk, as a web manager with Spurs.com

But we can forgive him for that, as long as he doesn't wear any "rings" around the office, for he has thankfully seen the light. Or, as I've proudly been announcing his impending arrival, he's wisely chosen to "leave the immediate vicinity" of the Spurs' press box to sign with our team. Let's hope he becomes the first web geek (no slight to Daniel; I often refer to myself as a web geek) to win championships in back-to-back seasons with two different teams!

Daniel, a creative web designer, who brings a wealth of online talents and experience, will be moving to the Valley this weekend and is scheduled to officially begin his career with the Suns on Wednesday.

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In addition to adding to our award-winning team, I'm thrilled to announce the promotions of Suns.com's veteran All-Stars, whose names you might recognize:

Josh Greene, aka "JAG," has been promoted to Web & Publishing Manager. Josh crossed the street from then-Bank One Ballpark to US Airways Center back in 2003 after a year as a ballpark tour guide and several years as a TV sports & entertainment writer in upstate New York prior to that.

In his new role, Josh will continue to oversee the Suns' print publications, including Free Throw (we’re looking for more fan artwork!) and the Suns Yearbook, in addition to helping manage the day-to-day updates of the Suns and Phoenix RoadRunners' web sites.

Steven J. Koek (he says "the J stands for J") has been promoted to Web & Multimedia Manager. Steven joined the Suns in January 2003, but was already a familiar face to many within the organization as he produced video features for Suns TV broadcasts in the early '90s while with a local television production company.

In his new role, Steven will continue to oversee all of Suns.com’s multimedia productions (webcasts and podcasts) in addition to helping manage the day-to-day maintenance of the Suns and Mercury’s web sites.

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“So what will you do the rest of the summer?”

Good question. I thought I’d just take the next couple months off and let my staff of seven (which also includes our “swiss army knife,” Web Content Assistant Brad G. Faye, who does a little of everything on the sites) handle things around here for a while. You guys don’t mind, do you?

I wish. My wife and I did get a few days in San Francisco for our 10^th Anniversary last week, and my son and I spent a day at Comic-Con last month, but I don’t think I’ll be leaving the office again anytime soon.

Now that I’ve got my team in place and we’ve officially opened the new “Suns.com Newsroom” (special thanks to Gambo, Burnsy and Sports 620 KTAR for all of the love!), my full attention turns towards some exciting new projects we have on the horizon.

I don’t want to reveal too much too soon, but I will tell you that we have been working closely with the NBA’s Creative Services department for the last four months on a complete redesign of Suns.com, which is scheduled to for an early October unveiling.

As part of the relaunch, we will also be introducing an expansive social network for Suns fans, which will allow you to create your own fan profiles, write your own blogs, and upload your own photos, artwork and video! The new fan network will also contain Suns message boards, which I know you have been asking for, and we will be organizing a team of die-hard fans to help us moderate the boards. Stay tuned to details.

Let’s see, what else? We’ll be providing in-depth coverage of the Mercury’s playoff run over at PhoenixMercury.com. We’ll soon be putting up an official page on MySpace. We’ll be featuring more historical content on Suns.com, as the Suns celebrate their 40^th anniversary this season. We'll be launching a new 2007-08 Suns Dancers section. We’re planning on offering more behind-the-scenes video and live webcasts. We’ve talked with several Suns celebrities about joining our blog squad. More, more, more.

But again, I don’t want to give away too many of our secrets just yet. Instead, I’ll just ask you to circle October 1 on your calendar, as all the online fun tips off with our annual live Media Day Webcast, followed by exclusive camp coverage from Tucson.

Only 53 days of summer left and I can’t wait!

Now, as you can probably imagine, there were a lot of colorful comments and intriguing opinions expressed on the late-night flight back to Phoenix after the Suns' dramatic Game 4 win in San Antonio last night. But the exchange that I couldn't help but listen to intently was one that had nothing to do with the Robert Horry incident.

Sitting directly behind Al McCoy and I were Suns guards and good friends Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa. Nash, who is currently reading a book on Pistol Pete Maravich, was telling LB all about the late-great Jazz guard, who he said he wishes he could have met. It wasn't long before Suns Chairman Jerry Colangelo and assistant coach Dan D'Antoni were in on the conversation, as well.

D'Antoni, who said he actually played against him on the playgrounds of South Carolina, called him the original Magic Johnson. Colangelo told a story about the time he scored 50 against the Suns, after several of his temmates had gotten into a car accident earlier in the day and his team was short-handed. And Nash told Barbosa how Maravich once scored 82 points in a game at Rucker Park. How he averaged more than 40 points over his four years of college. How he was a wizard with the ball, and could do all of the "And 1" moves in actual NBA games.

The history lesson on Pistol Pete went on for a good 20 minutes, at least, with Nash doing most of the teaching. It was very evident, and even a bit surprising to me, just how much respect and reverance the Suns' playmaker has for Maravich.

All the while, I kept thinking that someday, 20, 30 years from now, there will be some NBA player telling a younger player about the greatness that was Steve Nash. How the diminutive unknown from Canada elevated his game to elite status and won back-to-back MVP awards.

How he once handed out 23 assists in a playoff game in Los Angeles, in front of Magic. How he once scored 48 against his former team in Dallas in the Conference Semis ('95) and followed that game up with a triple-double (34 points, 13 boards, 12 assists) against the Mavs.

How he had his nose busted open, took a knee to the grapefruits, and was sent flying into the scorer's table in one particularly memorable playoff series against the Spurs in 2007, and never stopped fighting (in a basketball sense, of course.)

But most of all, I'm thinking that the next generation of NBA players and Phoenix fans will be telling stories about how the one-of-a-kind Nash guided and lifted the Suns to their first-ever NBA Championship.

If I didn't approve your reply at the bottom, it was either because, 1) You were asking about potential suspensions, of which I'm not at liberty or informed enough to discuss, 2) You were a Spurs fan, who took out your dissapointment over the loss on me with a diatribe of profanity; or 3) I probably just missed it, as my eyes are a little blurry at the moment.

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FINAL SCORE: SUNS 104, SPURS 98!!!

The Suns win the "biggest game of the year" and if they go on to wrap up this series, this could go down as the biggest win in franchise history!!! Yes, I'm exclamation point happy. Sue me.

I've got to sign-off for now. Got to send out a text alert and update the playoff index page real quick before heading downstairs to the locker room.

Keep your comments and feedback coming. I'll post your replies as soon as I can get back to my computer. And from a dead-silent AT&T Center, I sign off with one more... "HUGE!!!"

4th Qtr, 00:18.2 -- WOWWWWW!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!!! I think the Spurs just proved STAT correct with that one. Don't be surprised if Robert Horry misses the next game after body checking Nash into the courtside press table. UNBELIEVABLE!!!

And boy am I impressed with Raja that he didn't completely lose it. He got a technical for getting up in Horry's grill, but he maintained his composure. I'm really surprised no one threw any punches there. That could have really been ugly. I say it again, UNBELIEVABLE!!!

This game isn't over yet, but Spurs fans are heading for the exits! I LOVE IT!!!

4th Qtr, 00:32.5 -- ANOTHER BUCKET BY STAT, right over the outstretched arm of Duncan. Suns lead by three! Suns TV Producer Marc Goldberg and I are going crazy up here, pounding the press table. I don't think anyone minds. Most of the reporters who were up here with us left minutes ago to head down to the "victorious" Spurs locker room. The crowd's "Go Spurs Go!" chant is pretty weak. They don't sound too confident. I think we're going to pull this one out!!! Can't give up any threes here.

4th Qtr, 00:53 -- SUNS LEAD!!! SUNS LEAD!!! SUNS LEAD!!! That last sentence typed with "Good 'Ol J.R.'s" voice in mind. I'm sick of saying "huge," so I'll say enormous bucket by Amare. Suns first lead since mid-way through second quarter.

4th Qtr, 1:48 -- Duncan scores. Nash scores. And the fans in front of me are standing! I can't see the court... Huge pass from Raja to Marion under the basket for two! It's a ONE POINT GAME!!!

4th Qtr, 3:58 -- STAT's back in the game. Suns trail by seven... Amare drives inside and scores! 22 pts for the big man. If he can just keep from getting his sixth foul. Raja drives inside for the bucket and San Antonio's lead is back down to three. Wow, is this intense!

I'm having flashbacks to Game 1 of the 2003 playoffs when a rookie STAT drained the three-pointer to send the game into OT, and then Stephon Marbury went full court for another three at the horn to win the thriller. Although I'm not sure my heart can take an ending like that tonight. I think I'd much prefer a nice 2-point win in regulation.

4th Qtr, 4:22 -- Hard foul by LB on Parker. Suns are in the penalty. TP hits both, Spurs lead by five once again.

4th Qtr, 4:38 -- "Throwing any object onto the court will be subject to ejection." That's Spurs fans for you! Sorry, I coudln't resist.

4th Qtr, 5:35 -- Two-point game! Kurt knocks down a pair of free throws... ARGGHHH... would someone please cover Michael Finley?! Spurs back up five.

4th Qtr, 6:47 -- @#$%*&%@$... two quick fouls on Amare! He's got five now. Not at all what we needed. And the Spurs follow that up with a big three-pointer by Michael Finley.

And now Duncan's got five fouls! And Raja' hits a jumper. I can't type fast enough!

4th Qtr, 7:34 -- I don't know about you, but I'm so nervous. I can't stop fidgeting in my seat. Although that could also be the 16 oz's of Full Throttle... HUGE shot by Steve! Spurs lead down to three! It's anyone's game!

4th Qtr, 7:56 -- I don't know how many times I can say "huge," but that was a huge three by Marion... and now another big shot by Trix, a running floater to cut the Spurs lead to 5!

4th Qtr, 8:55 -- The Suns are getting some good breaks, they just need to take advantage of them. Duncan just got his fourth foul, an offensive foul this time. Now -- right now -- the Suns need to make their push.

Quick reply to Natasha of Canada's reply (see bottom). Your dad turned off the game for CSI Miami? And he's from Canada? Where's the love for Nash?! Tell your dad that's just cruel and unusual punishment. He can always watch CSI Miami, New York or Vegas on Spike TV. If you get that channel in Canada that is.

4th Qtr, 10:08 -- Huge sequence there. Nash steals from Duncan, pushes down court, Amare slams home a missed shot by LB. 8-point game.

4th Qtr, 10:56 -- Okay, letting Duncan dunk it, and then sending him to the line on the next trip down was not exactly what I had in mind. Spurs 83, Suns 72.

3rd Qtr Break -- Here we go fans. In last night's blog, I said this was the biggest game of the season for the Suns. That makes this quarter the biggest quarter of the year for our team. They currently trail 72-80, but there's 12 minutes of basketball to be played. I still feel like they can pull this out. But they've got to give it everything they've got right here, right now. I'm looking for Steve and Amare, in particular, to step up and show the world why they are All-NBA First Teamers!

3rd Qtr, 1:40 -- Another big bucket and an "and 1" for Amare! Suns need to keep going to him down low.

3rd Qtr, 2:44 -- Nice dunk for Amare! Want to see more of that... but don't want to see Parker drive the lane uncontested... or Brent Barry draining threes!!! Ugh.

Speaking of ugh, Juan from Fort Worth, I'm not even going to post your reply.

Sorry I've slipped a bit this quarter, fans. I'm trying to blog and crop photos for our game coverage gallery at the same time. Not easy to do. But I will step up in the fourth quarter, just like I expect our Suns to. Don't give up. You and I know both know this Suns team can reel off a dozen quick points just like that!

3rd Qtr, 7:05 -- And Duncan takes a seat! Time for Stoudemire to take control down low. Although the Suns have to stop giving Parker and Co. open looks! Timeout Phoenix. Spurs take a 10-point lead. Let's go fans! Let 'em hear you from back home!!! Scream at that TV! Just don't scream at your computer screen while reading my blog, please.

3rd Qtr, 7:27 -- Well, I don't like the way this quarter began, but I love the fact that Duncan just got his third foul, as Steve Nash drove inside.

3rd Qtr, 9:41 -- Back from the Cowboys room. Yes, they have a Cowboys room and a Cowgirls room. Isn't that cute? A whole lot of testosterone flowing in the restroom, by the way. Lots of inebriated Spurs fans hooting and hollering about how great their team is. Disgusting.

Saw a great site walking back to my press seat, though... a guy and his gal (Texas talk, of course), wearing Dirk Nowitzki jerseys and wearing paper bags over their heads.

Still Halftime -- Pablo from England (see replies at bottom)! Wow, how cool is that, that I've got live readers in England! This isn't THE Pablo that I met at our Training Camp in Italy is it? What time is it there in England anyway? I'd look it up online, but I've got to go use the restroom, buy a "Full Throttle" and give my wife a quick ring before the game begins. I'll be back!

Halftime -- Suns trail by five, but I still feel pretty good. We escaped the first half with a limited number of fouls, which means Amare can play the majority of the second half. We've played with intensity and passion. Nash is hitting his shots. The second half will be ours!

By the way... if you don't want to listen to Charles Barkley at halftime, open that other browser window to Spurs.com again and watch the halftime show. Some freaky looking, bald gymnast guys lifting each other in the air... On second thought, watch Charles. At least you'll get a good laugh or two.

2nd Qtr, 00:50.9 -- First half almost over. Parker just hit a big shot for San Antonio to give them a five-point lead, and Nash turned it over on the other end.

2nd Qtr, 3:55 -- Did you see that? A huge charge taken by Nash! Duncan barrelled down the middle like a runaway locamotive and MV3 just stood there and took the full brunt for the good of the team. He is so tough!

I asked him a week or two back if he felt he had a better season this year than last. Although always humble, he admitted that he did feel he had improved in several areas this season, and one of the first he pointed to was taking charges. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I know he's taken quite a few of them in the postseason alone.

2nd Qtr, 6:02 -- The Spurs computer specialist was up here before the game talking to their web folks about the datalines they've set up for the live webcast, and told him he'd set it up again if there was going to be a Game 6. I told him he should go ahead and just leave it up since they're will definitely be a Game 6.

2nd Qtr, 6:48 -- Boy Tim Duncan is good. I've really been impressed with Thomas' D on the Spurs' big man. He does not even budge when Duncan is banging into him, but Tim is so good with that turnaround bank shot. I really don't know how you stop that, other than double-him, and if you do that it's only going to leave one of San Antonio's sharp shooters (Finley, Ginobili, Bowen) wide open.

2nd Qtr, 8:43 -- In reference to Mike's question below, the technical was called on the Suns for a defensive 3-second violation. Don't worry. No one's lost their cool or anything as of yet!

Just had the first-quarter box scores delivered to us (we're a long ways away from the press room). Quick hits: Nash was 3-of-3 for the first quarter, Thomas had four rebounds and three Suns registered a block.

2nd Qtr, 10:52 -- Big shot by LB. He hasn't been quite the spark that he was in the Lakers series, which surprises me a bit. I expected this to be another big series for him. Although I guess it still could be. After all, this is only the middle of what's going to be a full seven-game Conference Semis.

In reply to Andrew's comment on Robert... I'm not sure I'd call what he does "Jawing," but he definitely gets into the games. He's as big a fan as any of us, I think!

1st Qtr Break -- Interesting promotion they just ran during the quarter break. A couple of kids had to try and score baskets while being defended by a giant smiling grocery bag. I started to make fun of my Spurs.com friends and then admitted that my kids would probably have loved it!

And the second quarter is underway.

1st Qtr, 0:39 -- That was scary. Trix just chased a ball into the cameras and fans along the baseline and was pretty darn slow to get back up. But he's fine! There are always a few times a year that Shawn goes down hard, putting a scare into teammates, coaches and fans, only to bounce back up 30 or 40 seconds later and get right back into the game. He has the healing powers of Wolverine!

First quarter over and Suns lead, 24-22. Not a bad start. Although the Spurs look pretty good themselves, so far.

1st Qtr, 2:22 -- Foul on Marion. I was a little concerned it was on Thomas there for a second. First quarter almost over and we've only got one foul each on Kurt, Amare and Marion so far. Good start. So is the 64.3% shooting for the Suns!

1st Qtr, 3:24 -- Speaking of fans, there was a pretty big group of them awaiting our players outside the team hotel this afternoon. Both Kurt Thomas and STAT stopped to sign a number of autographs, which I asked Amare about.

"I always try to sign for kids," he told me. "I don't always sign for the adults, though. You can tell some of them are just there to get your autograph to sell."

There were definitely a few of those. There were a number of "fans" who seemed bored by the Suns, even though they had large stacks of color pictures and balls to get signed. A couple of them even had on Spurs T-shirts. They didn't get any auotgraphs.

1st Qtr, 4:15 -- Oh boy! Raja is jawing with some fan sitting in the first row. I couldn't tell what happened from way up here, but it looked like Raja kind of lost his balance and fell towards the fans sitting in the corner. Not sure if the fan grabbed him or just said something derrogatory, but I could definitely tell Raja didn't appreciate it.

1st Qtr, 5:46 -- Big steal by Amare, and another jumper for Nash. Suns 18, Spurs 10. Boy the Suns looke active so far here tonight. They've got to keep up this energy level for a full 48!

Quick reply to Andrew -- yes, that Andrew -- good to hear (read) from you, man! You inspired us with your game-night blogs in Sac-town this year. Thought I'd give it a shot myself tonight. Not easy to do while watching the game, though.

1st Qtr, 6:50 -- Amare's got his first foul. He really needs to keep that in check tonight. But he just answered with a nice little jumper.

1st Qtr, 8:35 -- Steve Nash drains a three! Suns jump out to a very early lead, 9-3. Nice to see Steve hit his first two shots after starting out so cold last game. Spurs timeout.

Real quick, in reply to Justin and Lyle's comments (see below), I'm not actually surprised that Bowen didn't get suspended. Again, similar to the incident with Amare in Game 2, his "accidental" contact with Nash's... uh... crotchal region?... could actually have been an accident. It's impossible to know for sure whether or not he meant to drop Steve like a sack of potatoes. The league can't really suspend players unless it's obviously blatant.

Coach D'Antoni said he thought it was a good decision by the league to give Bowen a "Flagrant 1" foul and send the message that they're watching him closely.

1st Qtr, 10:01 -- I'm switching to the game clock for my time stamps. I'm thinking that will be easier than trying to figure out the time in Phoenix for each note, and hopefully easier for you to follow along, as well. Suns look pretty good so far, playing aggressive, rebounding, and there goes Amare into the lane, drawing a foul on the Spurs' big guy, Olberto.

6:56 PM -- I've got some replies! I was hoping some fans would be logged on during the game to interact with me. In reponse to "Suns r winnin," I wouldn't be concerned that the Suns aren't taking this game seriously. Every player approaches the games differently. If anything, I felt good that the guys seemed loose and confident, not scared. As for Raja, I love his intensity. I'm expecting a big game out of him tonight. Speaking of the game, we're underway!!!

6:52 PM -- The introductions are underway. Interesting to me that they play WWE superstar The Undertaker's theme music for the Suns' intros. I guess they know the Grim Reaper is coming for the Spurs tonight.

6:48 PM -- Took a trip through the maze-like hallways of AT&T Center over to Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich's pre-game media session. He said that he expected to see a different Suns team tonight, much like the Phoenix team that came out on fire in Game 2, noting that it's natural for the team that loses to come out stronger than the team that wins in tightly contested series like this one. He also said that he felt like if these two teams played 15 games, one would win eight of them, the other seven.

6:45 PM -- Not going to say who -- and I wasn't purposely looking -- but I noticed that one of the Suns wore orange briefs to the game tonight.

6:37 PM -- Everyone seemed to be in a pretty good tonight. Well, everyone except Raja Bell, who appeared to be in a zone as he sipped his pre-game coffee. A very intense zone at that.

Shawn Marion had a big smile and wide eyes as he watched the Shrek 3 trailer on the locker room TV. The Matrix, as you probably know, is a big fan of cartoons. Although, I can't wait to take the kids and see it myself.

Speaking of movies, James Jones went to see 28 Weeks Later today. Gave it a thumbs down. He also said he didn't like Spider-Man 3, and I have to admit I was a little disappointed myself. I LOVED Spidey 2, but the third installment had too many holes and too many unrealistic parts. Unrealistic for a superhero movie, that is.

While Jr was at the movies, Sean Marks, Eric Piatkowski, Pat Burke and Tim Kempton went golfing, I hear. I don't know who hit what, but from the sounds of things, Kempton's team won.

6:32 PM -- And here come our Suns, to a chorus of boos , of course.

Not that I want you to leave Suns.com, but you might want to open a second internet window and visit Spurs.com. My counterparts have set up a live web cam to capture the pre-game warm-ups, intros, etc. They're actually seated right behind me, so I thought about lifting up a Suns' game program that I had in my laptop bag and putting it in front of their camera lense.

I wouldn't do that, though, as the Spurs' web guys are good peoples. They've got a pretty sharp looking playoff site, too. And besides, I'm going to steal their idea and see if we can't hook up a live web cam next game. Watch for it.

6:28 PM (Phoenix time) -- The Spurs have just taken the court to some lively rap music. I'm not sure, but it might just be a little number off of Tony Parker's rap album. Excuse me, Tony Fizzle's rap album. Yes, it's true.

Amaré Stoudemire reads the San Antonio reviews of Game 3 before practice on Sunday. (NBAE Photos)

Steven J. Koek, Suns.com TV producer extraordinaire, then asked why I don’t write one.

Good question.

A can of Rockstar Juiced and a bag of peanut butter M&Ms later, and I’m at my keyboard ready to share my thoughts and stories from San Antonio.

Let’s start with the aforementioned dinner. For each of the last three years, Suns owner Robert Sarver has treated the traveling Phoenix media to a nice meal, as a thank you for the press coverage during the season. Coach D’Antoni has joined in the last couple years, but was noticeably absent tonight. Everyone understood, of course, that he’s got more important things on his mind than Tex-Mex.

The general consensus among the newspaper, radio and TV reporters I talked to was that tomorrow’s Game 4 is the most important game of the season, and – if the Suns are so fortunate to go on to win their first NBA Championship next month – could end up being one of the most pivotal games in franchise history.

Think about it. If the Suns lose a second straight here, they’ll find themselves in a deep and dark hole, trailing the Spurs 1-3. And while they’ve climbed out of similar holes before, most recently last season when they came back to defeat the Lakers in seven games, this Spurs team is not that Lakers team.

Amaré Stoudemire went so far as to call it a “must win” after his foul trouble led to the Suns’ Game 3 loss here on Saturday, and I can’t say I disagree.

Should the Suns bounce back, though, and take Game 4 – and no one I talked to doubted that they can do just that – then they have reclaimed the invaluable home court advantage with two of next three games to be played at US Airways Center.

Before the Conference Semifinals started, I told friends and co-workers that I thought the Suns would defeat the Spurs in seven games. In fact, as far back as April 5th – after the Suns lost in San Antonio in their last regular season meeting – I said that the Suns would win in seven IF they were able to hang on to the No. 2 seed to ensure the seventh game between the Western Conference rivals would be played in Phoenix.

I had my concerns over whether or not the Suns could win a Game 7 here, and I have those same concerns over a Game 6 next Friday. Especially if it’s a possible elimination game, where the experience and confidence of past NBA Championships could play a huge role for the home team.

But I’m sticking with my pre-series prediction. The Suns will win tomorrow night, again on Wednesday back in Phoenix and advance to the Conference Finals for the third straight year by winning a Game 7 next Sunday.

What do you guys think? Scroll down below to submit your replies, and watch for my new in-game blog from my upper level press seat at AT&T Center tomorrow night.

ODDS & ENDS & TEXAS GIFTS

I don't know if you saw it, or if the Suns saw it for that matter, but if I was Coach D I think I would show them the video of Tim Duncan's post-game comments, in which he laughed hard when asked if this was a physical series. "Did you see the last series?" he replied, trying to hold back more laughter. "Those guys were a lot more physical than these guys."

Kurt Thomas recorded 12 points and four rebounds in the Suns' Game 2 win. (Jeramie McPeek/Suns Photos)

More often that not this season, the veteran center would dress quietly in front of his cherry-wood cubicle, while next-door neighbor and low-post apprentice Amaré Stoudmire would be surrounded by reporters and cameras after games. But “Dirty” was high on the list of media targets following the Suns’ 20-point win in Game 2 of the Conference Semis, and for good reason.

After sitting out the Suns’ playoff run a year ago, and seeing just 18 minutes a game this regular season – his fewest per night in the last nine years – Thomas drew the long straw and the starting nod Tuesday, and took full advantage of the opportunity. In his 28 minutes and three seconds of court time, the 34-year-old scored 12 points, on 6-of-7 field goals, grabbed four boards and three steals.

“It was awesome,” he told me when I asked how it felt. “It was just great to go out there and contribute, to help the team out and do whatever we can, especially in the playoffs. That’s what you play for.”

The real reason Thomas got a chance to play, of course, was because of the defense Coach D’Antoni hoped he could provide. And, although he downplayed his defense Tim Duncan to just “decent,” Thomas definitely made the Spurs’ All-Star work hard, particularly in the fourth quarter when he missed three-of-four shots.

“I just try not to let him catch the ball, that’s the biggest thing,” Kurt said. “They pound the ball into him and he’s just a tremendous player. He really knows how to use his body, and he has great footwork, and a tremendous touch shooting the ball, especially the way he shoots it off the glass.

“But I definitely could do a better job. You have to realize, he still scored (29) points tonight. So I definitely have to break down the tape and make corrections from tonight. The key is to just make him work, so in the fourth quarter, hopefully, he’ll have tired legs and his shot will come up a little short.”

Now, the question on several reporters minds was does Kurt get tired, running up and down in the Suns’ up-tempo offense? Thomas just laughed.

“It’s fun when you get the opportunity to run up and down like that, so it definitely makes the game very exciting, instead of walking the ball up the floor,” he said. “I definitely enjoy it. It reminds me when I played in college, my senior year, and I led the nation in scoring and rebounding. We would just run up and down, just pushing the ball and pressing. That was college. We don’t really press that much here, but we’re trying to get as many offensive possessions as we can.”

Barbosa Deserving of Hustle Award

I had planned on writing a blog last game about Leandro Barbosa winning the 2007 Dan Majerle Hustle Award, one of my favorite annual honors. But after the disappointing loss – which saw a couple of late-game mistakes by LB – I decided to hold off.

The Blur was back up to speed in Game 2, however, and showed why he was deserving of the recognition with his all-out effort, especially during the second quarter. If you watched the game, you’ll remember the moment when he raced past Spurs guard Tony Parker and his own teammate, Stoudemire, to rescue a loose ball that was headed out of bounds. Then less than a minute later, he was scrapping with the Spurs and diving for another ball, which he came up with and fed Steve Nash for a quick lay-up. They were just two plays, but fired up the sold-out crowd.

“I think hustling is the key for the game,” he told me Sunday. “Whatever I have to do to win the game, I will do with all my heart.”

It’s that attitude, of course, that earned Leandro the fifth annual award, which was voted on by five equally-weighted groups: Suns fans, employees, coaches, players and “Thunder Dan” himself.

“LB’s been great this year,” said Majerle, who presented LB with a large silver trophy shaped like Dan’s retired No. 9. “He comes off the bench and gives them a spark, much like I did in my younger days of my career. So I’m happy for him. He plays extremely hard and has really worked on his game. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year couldn’t have been more pleased himself. I was with Suns VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin when he told the 25-year-old guard that he had won the award prior to Game 1. LB’s eyes, which were glued to game film in the players’ lounge at the time, grew almost as big as his trademark smile.

“Wow, thank you to all of them,” he said of the voters. “I’m very happy and I appreciate that. I always want to do good things for the Suns, so thank you. It was a surprise.

“Dan Majerle was very, very good player. I used to watch him when I was little kid back in Brazil. It’s big time, big time!”

Raja and Cindy Bell welcomed their first child, Dia, on Wednesday afternoon. (Jeramie McPeek/Suns Photos)

Beaming with pride as he entered the Suns' locker room at US Airways Center on Wednesday evening, Bell was met with a series of "congratulations" from teammates, coaches and media. The first-time father was happy to report that his wife was doing well after a prolonged labor and C-Section, and so was their 8-pound, 2-ounce baby boy, Dia, which is also Raja’s middle name.

"Cin's good," Ra Ra (or is it Da Da now?) told me prior to the game. "She's in the hospital, but she's doing really good. And the baby is awesome, so I'm pretty excited.

"It was kind of like an out-of-body experience, man. I was there, but it was happening so fast that I didn’t really get to take it all in. I tried my best, but it was an unbelievable experience. It was once in a lifetime. Hopefully I have more kids but that first time was unreal."

Having been there in Raja’s Nikes twice myself, I was just one of a number of reporters/fathers who were anxious to shake the new dad’s hand and hear about the new addition to his family.

Although STAT led the way for the Suns’ in their series-clinching victory over the Lakers, dropping 27 points and 16 boards on L.A., the largest throng of local media was gathered around Bell’s cherry-wood cubicle after the game.

"There was a whole lot of emotion today," said No. 19, who wore his hospital ID wristband during the game. "I got to see my wife go through something that I don’t know that I had a full appreciation for before I saw it, and God bless her for that. It was amazing. So from that to seeing my son born and getting to hang out with him for a little while, and then coming here to close out the Lakers, and having my in-laws and mother in town, it’s been a great day.

"I don't think that I can fully put it into words, and I don't think it’s fully sunk in for me yet. It’s crazy to think that now I’m responsible for a life. That’s really cool. We tried for a little while and weren’t successful, so I’m very blessed, very grateful and just ready to enjoy it."

Two days after being named to the NBA's All-Defensive First Team, Bell showed off his offense in Game 5, scoring eight points and knocking down a pair of three-pointers in the opening minutes.

The Suns were unsure whether or not they would even have their starting two-guard for the game, after he made just a brief cameo appearance during the team's morning shoot-around, before heading to the airport to pick up family.

Bell had a much better Game 5 tonight than he did a year ago. It was in Game 5 of the 2006 playoffs that the competitive guard clotheslined Lakers' All-Star Kobe Bryant when their war of words and physical play boiled over.

The feud between the two has cooled in recent months, and Bryant even offered his congratulations to Bell on Wednesday morning, and gave him a hug at center court after the game.

"That's always a special time," Bryant told Sports 620 KTAR. "You know, my daughter's birthday was yesterday, so we celebrated it yesterday, they flew out here and, you know, family is extremely important and my thoughts and prayers are with (Bell) and his family."

MY CONVERSATION WITH KOBE

I was browsing a sidewalk newsstand in L.A. over the weekend when I noticed the latest issue of HOOP magazine with Kobe Bryant on the cover.

As a lifelong Suns fan and the Suns’ VP of Interactive Services, my first reaction would normally have been to sigh and think, “Too bad they put Kobe on the cover. He’s going to be on summer vacation by next weekend.”

Only I wrote this particular story. Actually it wasn’t a story, but an in-depth interview with the Lakers’ star that I conducted a month or so back on behalf of HOOP.

You see, I’ve served as the “editor-at-large” for the NBA’s official publications for the last six or seven years now. Now with a very hectic (but fun) full-time job with the Suns, not to mention a beautiful and understanding wife, and two fun-loving kids at home, I don’t have the spare time to take on freelance gigs as often as I used to. But I do still manage to squeeze out a few late-night hours each month for an article or two.

When my editor e-mailed me back in March to ask if I could interview Kobe for the magazine’s May cover story, though, I cringed. I’ve never been a big Bryant fan. I’ve always been impressed with him as a player, but added him to my list of “most hated opponents” when his Lakers beat my Suns in the 2000 playoffs and went on to win their first of three-straight NBA Championships.

Even if they hadn’t beaten the Suns that year I would have disliked him, though. After all, Phoenix fans aren’t allowed to like Lakers players, right? And since I originally became a Suns fan watching them challenge the “Showtime” Lakers in the 1989 Western Conference Finals, those negative vibes towards L.A. are deeply rooted.

Then, of course, there was the whole feud with Raja last season, which I loved. Growing up playing with Star Wars toys, reading Marvel comics and watching pro wrestling for years, I’ve always enjoyed the battles of good vs. evil. Bell, in my book, was the superhero last year and Bryant, the classic villain. It was Luke vs. Darth, if you will. Or Spider-Man vs. Venom, to make a more current analogy.

But after the arch rivals made amends, and even a few jokes, during the Suns-Lakers meeting on March 4, I decided I could put the past aside myself, and conduct an unbiased interview like any good sports reporter should.

I have to admit, I even found Bryant to be quite friendly to talk to. He was thoughtful in his answers, although perhaps a bit PC at times, and patient enough to answer every question I asked. And I asked a lot.

That’s not to say I went easy on him. I asked him if he ever misses Shaq, now that the Lakers are no longer the contenders they were a few years ago. I asked him how he felt when Diesel won a championship with the Heat last year. I asked him about his relationship with Phil Jackson. I asked him how it feels when people call him selfish, and if he cares what fans think about him. I even asked him about Raja. I couldn’t resist.

I can’t divulge his answers here, of course. You’ve got to go out and pick up the issue, which I might add also includes a one-page story I wrote on Bell and another short piece on the baby tigers named after Raja and Steve Nash out at the Wildlife World Zoo.

But after our 32-minute phone interview was over, I told Kobe how Raja had just appeared on our web show, Nothin’ But Net, and said that he didn’t think he and Cindy would ever go out to dinner with him and his wife, Vanessa, but that he wouldn’t mind playing a round of golf with Bryant sometime.

Kobe just laughed. “Man, I suck at golf.”

STAR GAZING

We weren’t in Beverly Hills an hour before our first celebrity sighting last week. After checking into our rooms at the Beverly Wilshire (the hotel from Pretty Woman, I’m told) on Wednesday evening, a few of us decided to hit Rodeo Drive in search of some dinner.

As we exited the glass hotel doors, we practically walked right into Sean Penn, standing there in a suit and smoking a cigarette. We locked eyes for a moment or two, and I wondered if he was waiting around to get the Suns’ autographs, or if he was a Hollywood spy on a mission from Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

Suns.com reporter Josh Greene suggested we go back and ask him for a refund on the tickets we bought to see The Interpreter while in Memphis during the 2005 playoffs.

ALL-STAR GAZING

We ran into several of the Suns at Jamba Juice on Friday morning, which wasn’t all that exciting or out of the ordinary for us. But it was interesting to watch a businessman’s eyes light up when he recognized Steve Nash next to him in line.

Lunging for a fruity flyer on the counter and hitting one of the Jamba juicers up for a pen, he quickly asked the league’s MVP for an autograph. Nash smiled and obliged, and just as quickly, the fan was on his cell phone calling up a friend… “You’re never going to believe who I just ran into…”

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Whenever we travel with the team, we usually pay a visit to the local tourist attraction or two. In Memphis it was Graceland. In San Antonio, the Alamo. And both of the last couple years in Dallas we toured the Book Depository and grassy knoll.

This year we decided to spend a few hours on Hollywood Blvd. We visited Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, had our pictures taken with street performers dressed as Yoda and Elmo (for my kids, of course), and stopped into a few too many tacky souvenir shops.

The best part of the afternoon, though, was our tour of the Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum. I always wanted to go in as a kid, and although I probably would have liked it more then, I still enjoyed it more than I expected to as an adult.

There were a few disturbing exhibits, like the baby skeleton with two skulls and the photography exhibit of people how had lived after being impaled (I’ll spare you the details). But I was particularly intrigued by the old black-and-white film of the world’s tallest man of modern times. Looking up at the 8-foot, 11-inch wax figure, I had to wonder how he would do in the NBA. Probably not too well in Coach D’s high-speed system.

Leandro Barbosa and the Suns host the Lakers at US Airways Center on Friday night (7:30 p.m., FSN AZ/ESPN). (Barry Gossage/NBAE Photos)

But seeing as how Suns.com is a site for fans, we're calling on you to join our team and contribute throughout the playoffs! Whether it be e-mailing us your best fan photo, submitting your unique Suns artwork or sharing your own thoughts and theories, we want to get you involved. 

With the Suns hosting the Lakers tonight, in what could very well be a sneak preview of the opening round, what better time than now to test our new Fan Blog idea, in preparation for the playoffs? All you have to do is use the reply form at the bottom of this page to express your opinions on tonight's game, the first-round matchups, or the Suns' chances in the playoffs.

Please keep your entries to 250 words or less, as that's the limit our blog system will currently allow. If you're feeling particularly inspired, however, feel free to submit multiple replies. Oh, and be sure to scroll down through the posts to read the most recent entries at the bottom of the page. We will post your entries throughout the day and night, upon quick review for profantiy or offensive content.

On your marks. Get set. Type!

Who are the “you people” I’m talking about? Well, there are more than a few yous out there that qualify from China to Canada to right here in Phoenix, Arizona.

You see, the first balloting returns in 2007 NBA All-Star voting were released on Thursday and our Phoenix Suns are nowhere to be found. At least not among the Western Conference starters, if balloting had ended today.

Steve Nash ranks the highest among the Suns’ six candidates with 432,083 votes, but trails the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (720,375) and the Rockets’ Tracy McGrady (668,130) by a healthy margin.

Now don’t get me wrong, Kobe is an incredibly talented player, even if I’m far from a fan.
And McGrady is a solid all-around player, himself. One, who I once lobbied then-Suns GM Bryan Colangelo to acquire back in May of 2004.

[Quick side story: the Suns were considering an offer from Orlando at the time, as the Magic were looking to move Mac. Considering it so seriously, even, that I was asked to create images in PhotoShop of McGrady in a Suns uniform at one point, just in case a trade was completed. Thankfully, BC and Co. voted the deal down, and went after a guy named Nash on the free-agent market instead.]

But McGrady is far from the All-Superstar he was at his best in 2002-03, when he led the league in scoring with 32-plus points a game. While Nash, on the flip side, has only gotten better and better, AND BETTER, by the year.

Tell me how “you” could vote for any guard in the West or any player in the league, for that matter, over the reigning, back-to-back Most Valuable Player?! One who has stepped up his unique game for the third straight season, averaging 20 points and almost 12 assists a night for one of the top teams in the league?!

Then there is the Matrix, who is averaging 20-plus points, 9.6 boards, a couple of assists, a couple of steals and a couple of blocks, while shooting 52 percent from the floor AND playing defense on everyone from Baron Davis at the point to Dirk Nowtizki in the middle. And yet Mr. Versatile, Mr. Vegas – home of this year’s All-Star extravaganza – checks in at only… long pause for dramatic effect… seventh among Western Conference forwards. That’s right, read it again, seventh! Actually, that absurd a fact probably calls for seven exclamation points!!!!!!!

Of course, it can be argued that the forward spot in the West is the deepest position in the league, what with Dirk, Tim Duncan, KG, Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer, Lamar Odom and the ever-improving Carmelo Anthony joining Marion on the ballot. But Shane Battier? Yes sir, Rockets forward Shane Battier, with his 8.7 ppg and 4.1 rpg averages, has actually received twice the amount of fan votes than the Suns’ all-everything veteran.

“Really?! No way!” coach Mike D’Antoni said in shock before Friday night’s win over the Warriors, the Suns’ 13th straight win, I might add. “Oh wait, he plays for Houston. That’s the Chinese vote. They’re voting for everybody in Houston. I can tell you, if he was still in Memphis, he wouldn’t have those votes.”

This is not a knock on Battier. The former Duke Blue Devil is a pro’s pro. He’s a hard worker and a valuable role player that just about any coach in the league would love to have on his team, including D’Antoni. But c’mon!

I have no problem with fans in China or Houston voting for Yao Ming as the starting center in the West. The 7-6 giant is having a career year and deserves the starting nod, even over our second place Amaré Stoudemire. At least this season he does. But I’m sorry, McGrady and Battier do not deserve their votes over Nash and Marion.

“It’s not fair,” agreed D’Antoni, who has a shot of coaching the West team this year, if the Suns can grab the top record out West in the coming weeks. “But the coaches will take care of it.”

Yes, I’m sure the Western Conference coaches will even the playing field and select Steve, Shawn and STAT to this year’s All-Star squad. But our guys deserve to be in the starting lineup, darn it. And I think we need to step up and help them get there!

First off, I’m calling on all Canadians to stand and be counted. Cast your votes for the best basketball player to ever come out of your country, and while you’re at it, cast votes for his teammates, too. Hey, if the fans in China can do it, we can, too, right? Or, I mean, you can, too.

Next I’m calling on all “you” fans in Phoenix, Glendale, Scottsdale, Peoria… all “you” Suns fans around the country, heck, around the globe, to mobilize and make a determined effort to vote for our guys each and every day!

Click here to vote now

Click again to vote tomorrow. Come back and cast that vote again the next day and the day after the next day after tomorrow. Forward this blog to your family and friends, your neighbors and co-workers, and encourage them to vote, too.

Suns.com welcomed more than 500,000 unique visitors to our site in the month of November alone. If each one of those visitors had voted just twice in the last couple of weeks – let alone daily – Nash, Marion and even Stoudemire, would be the leading vote getters at their positions! Impressive to think about, right?

It may sound unrealistic, but I think we can do it. Together, we can win the Feats of Strength, and proudly declare:

“It’s a Festivus Miracle!”
]]>Sat, 16 Dec 06 05:17:00 UThttp://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_12060601.aspxThey’ve both promised to blog from the road during the Suns’ five-game trip out east, however, but I thought I’d return to my keyboard for a quick spin around the blogosphere of my own in the meantime. And I do mean quick. It’s 10:17 p.m. as I write this paragraph, I’ve got a 45-minute drive home from the arena after I get done, and I’ve got an 8:30 a.m. meeting back here tomorrow morning. So forgive me if I ramble or make you dizzy jumping back and forth between random thoughts.

Speaking of random… I shared this story with Raja Bell this evening and he got a good laugh out of it. The pastor at my church this past weekend spoke on anger. Often, before the sermon begins, they show a funny skit or some short movie clips on the big screen that relate to the theme of the day. Well, this week they showed a clip of Will Ferrell from Kicking & Screaming: “I'm angry! I'm spitting angry! I'm like a tornado of anger, swirling about!” One of the only funny lines in that movie, I might note.

They showed a clip from The Office, which I don’t recall at the moment, and a clip of Cardinals coach Dennis Green after the MNF loss to the Bears, “The Bears are who we thought they were!” And, you guessed it, they showed Raja’s infamous clothesline of Kobe Bryant. I probably shouldn’t have, but I clapped. Couldn’t help myself.

Speaking of Raja… I was disappointed when Coach pulled him out of the game mid-way through the fourth quarter of tonight’s blowout over the Kings. D’Antoni didn’t realize, of course, that his starting off-guard was a single three-pointer away from making NBA history. Raja had hit four-plus three-balls in the previous six games and would have broken John Starks’ record for consecutive games with four-or-more triples had he hit just one more in this one.

At that point I left my office, where I often watch the games so I can get some extra work done, to use the restroom before heading downstairs for post-game coverage. While in a stall in the fourth floor office restroom (just the visual you needed, right?) I was surprised to hear a thunderous ovation from inside the arena. Surprised, because you usually can’t hear the crowd from inside our offices. Washing my hands, I heard another eruption of excitement and hurried back to the TV thinking Raja had gotten back into the game and into the record books.

Not quite. Mike had put Raja back into the game for a shot at the record, but it was everyone’s favorite big man, Pat Burke, draining the three-balls (3-of-4) from downtown Copper Square and drawing the fans’ adulation. Bell was disappointed, understandably, but in no way upset with PB.

“You know what? I probably shouldn’t have even been out there,” he said. “That’s their time. They work too hard in practice every day for me to be out there chasing a record. So I don’t care. If Pat’s hot, I want to get him the ball, because he deserves that.”

Speaking of potty breaks… If I had watched the game from press row instead of from my office, I probably would have missed one of the most entertaining highlights of the night. You know what I’m talking about. After Shawn Marion finished the first quarter with a quick bucket, he ran off the court to everyone’s surprise. Pumping his fist enthusiastically, he disappeared into the tunnel that leads to the locker room, as Steve Nash and Jalen Rose were caught cracking up near the bench.

Trix tried to claim he just had to use the restroom when he returned a minute later, but his teammates weren’t buying it.

“I did think it was the end of the half,” he admitted after the game. “But I really did have to use the bathroom. I’d been holding it for a little bit.”

You can’t blame Shawn for thinking it was halftime. The 28-year-old All-Star had 15 points, and the Suns had 41 at the end of the opening quarter.

Speaking of impressive numbers… let’s start with STAT-Man himself. Amaré Stoudemire had 17 points and 13 rebounds tonight, marking his fifth straight double-double and the first time in his career that he’s pulled down 10-plus boards in five consecutive games.

I have to admit, I thought his goal of returning to the All-Star lineup this year was far fetched, but the Western Conference coaches are going to have to vote him onto the team if he keeps playing this way. I say the coaches will have to vote him on, because he will have a hard time getting more fan votes at center than Houston’s Yao Ming.

And how about Steve Nash, who is a virtual lock to start for the West again this year? The Suns’ floor general, who also has to be the early season favorite for MVP yet again, distributed two dollars worth of dimes vs. the Kings.

“I didn’t know he had 20 assists,” a surprised Bell said after the game. “That’s pretty impressive. I think my career high is five.”

Nash, who has recorded nine 20-assist games in his career, wasn’t nearly as impressed with his feat as the rest of us.

“Some nights you get a lot, some nights you get a little,” he said simply, before dishing the credit to his partners in purple. “Tonight was a good night for assists, but it really comes down to guys making great plays.”

Speaking of good nights… good night.
]]>Wed, 06 Dec 06 07:45:00 UThttp://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_10310601.aspx7:18 am: I haven't had a chance to write a new blog entry since we got back from Europe. Things have been pretty hectic of late.

They always are this time of year, as we are on deadline with our Suns Yearbook and game night progam, and just getting everything ready for the start of another NBA season.... Excuse me while I go pick up my dry cleaning. Be right back.

7:25: Forgive me as I'm going to be a little random in my thoughts and notes today as I'm going to attempt to write this on my way to work this morning.

7:32: I live out near Arrowhead mall in Peoria and usually take the 101 south past the Glendale Stadium to I-10...

7:38: Got to type faster. Decided to take Grand Ave today in an attempt to write another entry at red lights. Might be my only chance today...

7:42: Going to upset some drivers if I don't pay attention to when the lights turns green.

7:46: How great is it to hear some basketball talk on the drive in for a change?! I'm sorry, Cardinals, but I can't listen to it anymore. Although, you're probably happy the NBA is tipping off tonight too, I would imagine.

7:49: Tonight's going to be fun! Going to race home after work (no blog tonight) so I can walk Elmo and Spider-Man around the neighborhood for some candy. (My best Halloween costume as a kid? Hulk Hogan. Worst? Michael Jakson. Shouldn't admit that should I?)

7:55: After the tricks and treats, I'm going to settle into the couch for the season opener: Suns at Lakers! Could there be a better opener?

7:59:  Boy I hope Kobe plays tonight. He's missed the entire preseason after surgery this summer, but I'm thinking he's had this game circled on his calendar for months.

8:03:  I don't think I shared this story during camp. I was walking around Rome one day and ran into a couple teenagers in a book store, one of which had a Suns jersey on. I tried to talk to them a bit, giving him a big thumbs up and patting my chest, "Work for Suns." They seemed pretty excited for some reason, giving me the "we're not worthy" bow...

8:11:  Then the jersey-less kid says "Kay Bee 24 number one!"... Took me a minute to realize he was talking about Kobe and his new jersey number. I just smiled and said, "Raja Bell Kobe stopper!" I don't know what he said next, but I don't think he liked it.

8:20:  Speaking of the KB24 stoppa, I've got to congratulate Raja and Cindy, my favorite Suns couple, after the D'Antonis that is. The two are expecting their first baby and after talking to them during camp... Hearing them talk about kids, education, discipline... Having noticed how affectionate the two are together... Having seen Raja's face light up and then distort in an effort to ammuse Steve Nash's twin girls during the playoffs last spring... I think they're going to be amazing parents.

8:30:  Okay, I've arrived at US Airways Center and am now parked in the garage wrapping this up. Gotta run as I've got a full plate today. We're planning to launch a new flash intro and a new Podcast section of the site today. I'm really fired up about the podcasts!

I will try to submit blog entries a little more frequently as the season gets going. But in between, watch for more thoughts and inside stories from our new bloggers James Jones, Eddie Johnson, Tom Leander and Brad Faye.

Now let's just see if they can blog on the road!
]]>Tue, 31 Oct 06 15:04:00 UThttp://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_10120601.aspxWe landed here in Detroit at 11:15 a.m. this morning [I’ve already adjusted my watch back to Phoenix time] and are just now lifting off the runway as I type this (1:47 p.m.), my final blog entry of training camp 2006.

The mid-way point of our 15-hour flight home brought the customary check-in at Customs. Most of us, however, thought that meant a Customs Agent would come on board, compare our manifest to the head count on the charter, check our passports and we’d be on our way. That is until we found out we had to actually disembark the plane with all our carry-ons, claim all of our checked baggage, re-check it all at the airport counters and go through security once again. All while our plane was being searched.

I had a lot of bags, too. I brought two suitcases packed with clothes on the trip, and three bags of equipment (laptop, video camera, still camera, digital encoder, etc., etc.). Then while roaming the streets of Rome one night, accumulating several souvenirs along the way, I decided to buy a third suitcase, because I knew it was the only way I was going to get everything home. Which, of course, made for a humorous site when I got lost and was pulling a bright blue suitcase down a mile or two worth of sidewalk. I finally waived down a taxi, who drove me, oh, about a block, the other direction to the hotel.

Back to Detroit, trying to pull three suitcases and carry three bags through the airport was a challenge to say the least. I liked it a lot better when the equipment guys took care of everyone’s luggage for us. Thankfully I didn’t have any wine in my carry-on bags, as several people in our traveling party had their bottles from Italy confiscated due to the current U.S. ban of liquids on planes.

I’m not complaining, of course. I’d much rather have tight airline security than a “cross our fingers and hope nothing happens” approach. But I was a little surprised by the extensive process, which called for the showing of passports at least five times in the old, nearly-deserted Detroit airport, not counting the three times we had to show them before getting on the same plane in Germany.

I probably should have pulled out the cameras and taken pictures of STAT, Nash and Co. pulling their luggage through the terminal. But I think everyone’s had enough of my cameras for a while, and to be honest, I’ve had enough of them myself. I officially shot my last video footage on the bus back to Schloss Bensberg after the game last night. But you won’t see that clip on the “behind-the-scenes” feature that’s up on the site.

The team started their new soccer chant again, hands slapping against the windows and overhead compartments. I figured they would fire it up one more time and thought it would be the perfect close to our closing camp video. But some colorful language and a couple of “no cameras!” sent the Mini DV cam into hibernation for the next couple weeks. Sorry.

Don’t worry, we’ll pull it out again real soon. Our regular schedule of Suns.com TV programming – including Nothin’ But Net, Home Court and Coach D’Antoni’s post-game press conferences – will tip-off with the arrival of the regular season at the end of the month. But this is supposed to be my training camp wrap-up, right?

Let’s see, what else can I say that already haven’t? I’ve been to quite a few training camps over the years and have a lot of great memories.

I’ll never forget my first-ever Suns camp, as a media relations intern in 1994. A couple days into our week-long stay in Flagstaff, the team’s physician threw a party at his cabin deep in the woods. I remember just sitting there in total awe, listening to Kevin Johnson and Charles Barkley debate who would win a game between the first and second Dream Team. The surreal evening ended when then-GM Bryan Colangelo offered to give fellow-intern David Griffin and I a ride back to the hotel. As we raced down the curvy roads through the dark forest, Sinatra blasting in his Mercedes, I wondered if I was going to live to tell anyone about the night.

The camp in 1995 was a memorable one, as well, but not in a good way. That was the year the Suns traded Dan Majerle. I watched as Cotton Fitzimmons went over to Dan during a morning practice and the two left the gym together. I was stunned when the announcement was made that my favorite player had been traded to Cleveland for “Hot Rod” Williams.

A true class-act, Dan held a mini press conference for the reporters in attendance to say goodbye and thank the Suns for all of the great years. KJ stepped in at one point when Thunder got a little choked up, but Dan told him he was okay and wanted to continue on.

Continuing my own trip down memory lane, I remember sharing a lot of birthdays with former Suns staffer Jim Brewer, now an Excecutive VP of the Phoenix Zoo. His birthday is the day before mine, so we would always get the guys together for dinner and a movie at some point during camp. We saw a couple good ones – Meet the Parents, most notably – and quite a few painful ones, too. There was one year in which we left a Jackie Chan film a half hour into it, and then left an Antonio Banderas movie a half hour later. Not a good birthday party that year.

Speaking of movies, there was the night in 2004 that Nash rented out a Harkins theater in Flag for the premiere of Friday Night Lights; a great bonding experience for a team that would go on to win 62 games and advance to the Conference Finals. That was the same camp Yuta Tabuse spent with us, which brought twice as many Japanese reporters as media members from Phoenix. I miss Yuta and Mac, his assistant/manager.

Rewinding a bit, I can’t forget to mention 1999. That was the year my career path changed. It was the first year we decided to try and update the team’s web site during camp. Jim wrote daily reports, and I followed Jason Kidd and Penny Hardaway around with my little Sony Mavica camera, which could only hold about 8-to-10 photos per floppy disk. Yes, floppy disk.

It was that October week, though, that I realized how cool it was to be able to give fans an instant look into our camp and our team. No longer did we have to wait three or four weeks to publish our “official magazine,” Fastbreak. We could write articles and take pictures, and offer them to fans that same very day! I remember calling my wife and sharing my excitement. I knew almost immediately that my role within the organization and my future in publishing was about to change in a dramatic way.

Forgive me for rambling a bit. With so many memories, I could go on and on. But no camp has been as enjoyable as this one. Although it has lasted a little long – I’m missing my family more and more each day – I saw a lot of things that I never thought I would see before (the canal in Venice, the Coliseum in Rome) and they were so much more impressive and inspiring than I even imagined.

Sipping a glass of red wine in the mayor’s office in Rome, overlooking the ancient ruins, is a moment I neglected to mention in previous blog entries and one that I’m confident I will never enjoy again.

This whole European trip has definitely opened up my eyes to the rest of the world. I never had any strong desire to go overseas before, but now I’m anxious to go back and take my wife with me. I’m already encouraging my parents and in-laws to plan a trip to Italy, as well. There is just so much out there to see and experience. I can’t wait.

Camp itself was great, too. Although I’m still a bit of an outsider since I’m not on the roster or coaching staff, I feel like I’ve gotten to know a lot of the guys better than I have in past years. Whether it was talking to Raja about movies (he’s El Diablo, I’m Magic Man), Boris about photography (watch for a photo gallery of his recent safari trip, coming soon), Kurt about his kids, or Trix about the must-see spots in Rome, it was nice to interact with the team on a personal level for a change.

In hindsight, it was a really good thing that we had no Inernet in our rooms in Treviso, too. Although I was frustrated at first, it became a great bonding experience for all of the staff, both of the Suns and the NBA, that spent many a late night working away in the office set-up in the basement of the hotel. Don’t get me wrong. I was very happy to have high-speed in my Rome room, but I did miss the daily interactions with all my new friends.

As I sit here in Row 19, Seat D, trying to think of a way to end this entry, my head is being flooded with more memories from this trip. But I should probably leave some of the stories to my fellow bloggers to share.

So instead, I’ll just thank you for reading. I hope you’ve enjoyed some of my anecdotes and insights into the Suns’ trip to Italy and Germany. I’ll continue to blog throughout the season and am always open to your suggestions for new topics, or overall improvements to the web site.

I also must thank my Suns.com teammates, “Steve-O” Koek, Josh “JAG” Greene, and Brad “Faye Mysterio,” for all their help and their long hours working on the site back in Phoenix. I wish I could’ve taken you guys with me.

And finally, a heartfelt thanks to Robert Sarver, Sam Garvin, Rick Welts, Jim Pitman and Coach D’Antoni for allowing me to come along for the ride. It’s one I won’t ever forget.
]]>Fri, 13 Oct 06 04:35:00 UThttp://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_10090601.aspxI’m sure if someone had entered my room with nefarious intentions, they would have taken my laptop, video camera and still camera. My iPod [Suns.com podcasts coming soon] and Adam Beechen-autographed comic books are all still here, too, which tells me it was probably accidentally left open by housekeeping. So much for the “Bitte nicht storen” sign hanging on my doorknob.

Maybe the Sixers were in here looking for a Suns Playbook, and then realized I’m only the web geek. Just kidding. But I did just see A.I., C-Webb, Steven Hunter and a whole host of Philly favorites playing poker in a common seating area down the hall.

The Suns and Sixers are both staying here at this palatial hotel, which I just learned today was originally a castle built for a prince in the early 1700s. It wasn’t converted into a five-star hotel until 2000. From the mountaintop it rests on, you can see Cologne on the horizon and a beautiful cathedral in the foreground. I spent a good 10 minutes sitting across the street from it last night, just listening to the bells ring. You don’t hear anything like that in Phoenix.

The rest of Cologne, though, feels a lot like a U.S. city. At least what I’ve seen of it so far. The Koln Arena, where the Suns practiced this morning in preparation for tomorrow night’s preseason game, looked more like an NBA facility than the building in Rome. It was even bigger than US Airways Center, as it seats more than 22,000 fans.

The downtown area, which borders the River Rhine, features the historic Cologne Cathedral (or Kolner Dom in German), and all sorts of restaurants and shops, which I spent a few Euros in. Suns assistant coaches Alvin Gentry and Dan D’Antoni, and Sixers Head Coach Mo Cheeks were spotted enjoying the energetic streets, as well.

My ride back to the hotel was pretty interesting in itself. The taxi driver asked where I was from, and then told me that he too was from America. “Iraq, America” he laughed. He proceeded to tell me how he fled his town in northern Iraq several years ago because of Saddam Hussein, and how he’s thankful the U.S. ended his reign. “Saddam no good, like Hitler here. Saddam very big problem.”

Throughout our lengthy conversation – he couldn’t find my hotel – we listened to American pop music on the radio. I couldn’t help but think how odd it was that I was in Germany, being driven around by an Iraqi taxi driver while listening to Mariah Carey, Phil Collins and Madonna. All in a city that was bombed numerous times during WWII by the Allied Powers.

I had a similar feeling when touring the Coliseum in Rome on Saturday. It was very surreal to see the hundreds of tourists snapping their photos and buying their Coliseum T-shirts, postcards and coloring books in the gift stores throughout the ancient ruins, all in a place where so many people had died at the jaws of lions or the swords of gladiators nearly 2,000 years ago.

Speaking of cheesy souvenirs, I had my picture taken with some “Roman guards” outside the massive structure. I was walking past when they asked if I wanted a photo. I thought it could be fun, but the next thing I knew they were shoving me down onto a little stool, sticking a helmet on my head and snapping the picture before I even had time to smile. Ten Euros later and I was feeling as though I’d just been taken advantage of.

Switching subjects and stadiums, the Suns’ game vs. Virtus Lottomatica Roma on Friday night was a lot of fun. The crowd was really fired up to see guys like Steve Nash and Shawn Marion in person. And they gave Coach D’Antoni a roaring ovation, after booing him and his Milan club many years ago. It was a very classy response from an incredible city. One I wish we could have spent even more time in.

We’ve got our next preseason game tomorrow night and then another on Wednesday, before we board the charter bound for the States on Thursday. Even though I’ve had an incredible time, I’m looking forward to it. I miss my family and all the comforts of home.

Enough for now. I’m off to bed. After I go check the locks on my door that is.


]]>Tue, 10 Oct 06 00:17:00 UThttp://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_10060601.aspxI haven’t had a chance to go out and do any guided tours just yet, but upon arriving here Thursday mid-morning, the team was invited to have lunch with the mayor, Walter Veltroni, and I was fortunate enough to be allowed to cover it.

I thought I had a nice office with a few of the Hard Rock Café and the light-rail construction along Jefferson Street. This man’s office looks out over the ancient ruins of Rome and the building itself is filled with historic artifacts and artwork.

But before I get too deep into that, I want to bring you up to speed, as it’s been a few days since we last talked. I’ll try to keep it a little shorter this time. I teased you with my last post, saying I would tell you about a few friends I was hanging out with in Treviso.

Chewbacca: My 5-year-old son, Sam, gave me his little plush wookie to keep me company on the trip. So I’ve been taking some quick shots of Chewie whenever we’ve been out and about, and e-mailing them back home every few days. Sort of the Star Wars version of Flat Stanley, I guess.

Anyway, I’ve gotten some great photos of the hairy gnome riding on the Venice canal, hanging with the pigeons at St. Marco Square, and checking out the Coliseum. I’ve got some funny looks – Cindy Bell actually looked frightened, at first – but everyone’s enjoyed the mission once I’ve explained what the heck I’m doing. Chewbacca even posed for photos with Amaré Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, who proceeded to let loose his best wookie roar.

Pablo: A few days back (it’s all a blur at this point), I noticed a young man in a bright orange Suns shirt sitting in the stands at The Palaverde watching us practice. I was impressed to find out he was a big-time Suns fan originally from Spain, who flew in from his current home in Birmingham, England, just for the day in hopes that he could see them practice in person.

Pablo proceeded to tell me how he had spent three months living with his aunt and uncle in Peoria, Ariz., back in 1999, and had fallen in love with the Suns after his uncle took him to some games at the then-America West Arena.

“I remember seeing Tom Gugliotta, Jason Kidd, Cliff Robinson. My first game was the Phoenix Suns-Sacramento Kings.”

So why am I telling you about Pablo? Well, before he knew who I was, he was telling me how he logs on to Suns.com every day to follow the team from overseas. Happy to meet a loyal reader, I asked Leandro Barbosa and STAT to pose for quick photos with him after practice, which he loved. I then gave him my business card and told him to e-mail me, and I would then e-mail him the pictures. Looking down at the card, his face lit up, “You’re Jeramie McPeek! I can’t believe it! This is the best day of my life!”

I’m not exaggerating, but he genuinely seemed more excited to meet me than the players for some reason. He told me how he used to read all my articles in Fastbreak magazine and how he loves my photos, and video on the web site.

Naturally, with my ego boosted, I told him I would be sure to write about him on the site. Again, it was great to meet you, Pablo! I’ll be sure to shoot those pictures to you when I return to the States. Go Suns!

Adam Beechen: Make that the Amazing Adam Beechen. As excited as Pablo was to share a few minutes with me – believe me, there are not many Pablos out there – I was equally excited to hang out with Adam, a friend originally from Phoenix, and now a rising star in L.A.

I first met Adam through my Suns.com teammate, Steven J. Koek, a few years back. A talented writer, I’d been told, and a Suns fan since the ‘70s, I asked him to write a feature for the Suns Yearbook two or three seasons ago.

He did a great job, but Adam’s specialty is writing cartoons and comic books, which is what impressed me most. A huge fan of Marvel comics in my early-mid teens – even dreaming of being a comic book artist someday – I’ve been completely fascinated with his career, as he is with mine.

We got a chance to hang out some when the Suns were in L.A. during the playoffs this past May, and we spent just about the entire time talking comics and/or Suns basketball. So when he reached out over the summer and said he was thinking about flying out to Italy to attend some of the Suns’ camp and tour Europe, I recruited him to assist me with collecting interviews.

Adam and his friend, Robert Webber, also a great guy and a longtime Suns fan from the Valley, were a huge help for those couple days in Treviso. Adam interviewed just about every member of the team – and did an impressive job with his interviews – while Robert shot some photos and video for me. In fact, after my camera battery died during the third-quarter of Tuesday night’s scrimmage, Robert rescued me by filming all the post-game interviews and autograph sessions.

Thanks so much, guys!

The three of us then hung out most of the afternoon on Wednesday, and had some delicious pizza in downtown Treviso, just a few tables down from Raja and Cindy Bell, and a few tables back from the D’Antonis. To say the least, we had a blast.

Before I leave this random topic behind, though, I’ve got to tell you just a big more about Adam. You’re kids have likely already seen some of his work, writing for such cartoons as The Rugrats, Little Bill, the Wild Thornberrys and, more recently, Puffy AmiYumi. He’s also written scripts for video games and is currently writing both “Robin” and “Justice League” for DC Comics, and has been the talk of several major motion picture studios, regarding his graphic novel, “Hench.”

Remember his name and when he’s a big-time screenwriter someday soon, you can tell everyone how he’s a lifelong Phoenix Suns fan.

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Okay, a few real quick notes, actually related to the Suns, for you before I describe my Roman surroundings…

• Kurt Thomas and James Jones received their own birthday cake, complete with sparklers for candles, at the team hotel on Wednesday afternoon.

• In Sean Marks’s newest blog post, he told you a little about the guy’s trip to Milan for a soccer game early in the week. But he only scratched the surface. From what I’m hearing, the minute their mini-bus got out on the freeway they realized there was something wrong, as they were only going about 50 mph, and the mini cars out with them were flying past. The guys were so frustrated to find out the vehicle’s engine had a lock preventing it from going any faster, they tried for quite a while to call for a limo to intercept them mid-way on the road and take them the rest of the way. The NBA even attempted to have a Blackhawk helicopter pick them up so they could get to the game in time. Unfortunately, they missed the first half, but from what I hear, it was one of the best bonding experiences of the trip so far.

• Back to Beechen for a quick moment I forgot: Adam and Robert were having dinner at some fancy Italian restaurant on Tuesday night, when in came the Suns’ coaching staff and their guest, Bill Russell. Adam says they didn’t say a word the rest of dinner as they sat and listened to the legend tell stories about the Celtics’ glory days. Afterwards, Coach Dan D’Antoni stopped and talked to them for a bit, and Adam asked Dan if Bill had blocked any of the rolls he had tried to pass across the table.

• I almost had to run sprints during our last practice in Treviso. Coach told both guys that if they could knock down five out of six free throws, they wouldn’t have to run. Team orange met the challenge, hitting five straight after Nash missed the first attempt. Then as team white sent representatives to the line, I got ready to take some photos. I wanted to catch the celebration if they hit them all, or the disappointing if they missed. Hitting four of their first five, Eric Piatkowksi stepped up to seal the deal and I snapped the a shot. When it clanked off the rim, Raja and Boris pointed the finger at me! “The flash threw you off! It was the flash! You’ve got to run now, man!” Thankfully, they were just kidding.

• Most of the team traveled into Venice on Wednesday night for one last look around before we headed to Rome. Shawn Marion even decided to stay overnight in Venice, before meeting back up with the group at the Treviso airport Thursday morning. I guess I missed the flooding of the city, though. From what I hear, all the narrow streets and even the famous St. Marco Square gets flooded whenever the canal rises. Head Athletic Trainer Aaron Nelson and his wife, Jessica, had to wade through calf-deep water to get back to the boats. But I’ll let him blog about that.

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Okay, back to Rome. Unfortunately, I don’t have much more time to write, as I’ve got to pack up soon for tonight’s first preseason game vs. Lottomatica Roma. Should be a competitive one. You probably saw this already, but the Sixers lost to Barcelona yesterday. You can watch today’s game on NBA TV or listen live on KTAR. I’ll be sure to film as much as I possibly can, so we can post highlights and interviews on the site sometime this evening, hopefully.

Anyway, our hotel was a nice change. Not that the one in Treviso was bad, but this one just has a rich, historic feel to it, and it has all the necessities I was missing in the other, like room service [although my club sandwich and coffee ran me $45 Euros last night!!!], high-speed internet, a “do not disturb” sign. The room itself has thick velvet curtains, ornate cloth covering the walls, antique furniture, a chandelier above and a big flat-screen TV. Not sure that really fits the vintage atmosphere, but I’m not complaining.

And now I really do have to run. Besides my wrist is starting to hurt from so much typing. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to get into more of the sights I’ve seen so far, but I will. I promise.
]]>Fri, 06 Oct 06 16:56:00 UThttp://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_10030605.aspxOct. 3, 10:54 a.m. (Italy time) 

I should be at practice right now, but I just woke up. Going non-stop the first few days we’ve been here, I finally ran out of gas last night and crashed hard.

I only got two hours of sleep the night before, but I sit down at my keyboard refreshed with a good eight hours in me now.

I apologize for not blogging earlier. I really wanted to submit an entry every day or two throughout the trip, and have even started writing a couple of them since arriving. “Started” being the key word there. But with hundreds of photos to edit, hours of video to encode and send back to my guys in Phoenix to post, I haven’t gotten any deeper into an entry than a couple of paragraphs.

So let me catch you up…

Saturday, Sept. 30

My first day in Italy was a little rough. Rolling up to the team hotel around 3 in the afternoon, I quickly jumped off the bus so that I could pull out the DV cam and capture the team’s arrival. After everyone had gone inside, I went back onto the bus to grab the rest of my stuff, but my laptop was gone. Jason March, the coaching staff’s video assistant, had offered to carry it off the plane for me and said he had put it in the storage compartment under the bus.

I figured he must have put it on the second of our group’s two buses, only it had already left. Finding one of the NBA officials with us, he radio’d the driver and got him to stop a block up the street, as I took off running past the vineyards lining the hotel’s entrance.

My first experience trying to communicate with someone who spoke no English was about what you’d expect. He had no idea what I was saying. I had no idea what he was saying. When I managed to motion him off the bus and open his luggage door, the bag was not there either.

Panicking, I began to frantically ask anyone and everyone I could find in the hotel lobby, if they’d seen my laptop, while remembering my friend Jim joking that my trip to Italy had “international incident written all over it.”

To make a long story short, Jason was looking out for me and had taken it off the bus and brought it back to his room, thinking I’d forgotten it. Relieved, I headed to my room to set up my mini production studio and start editing my photos/video from the plane over. Or so I thought.

I spent the first 10 minutes, at least, just trying to figure out how to turn on the lights. The bathroom light worked fine, but none of the light switches in the room or the three lamps appeared to work. Eventually, I noticed a slot in the wall near my door, which looked similar to the key slot outside the room. Curiously, I slipped my key card into the slot and, what do you know, the room lit up. Apparently, from what I’ve since heard, electricity is at a premium in Italy.

Ready to get to work, I plugged in all of the handy dandy outlet converters that I’d purchased for all of my equipment and fired up the laptop, only to discover that the hotel did not offer internet in the rooms. No data lines, no wireless, no nothing.

[On a related tangent, the tiny room had no clock, no inside lock on the door, no “do not disturb” sign, and no iron either. I guess it’s illegal in Italy to iron in hotel rooms, which considering the fire danger is probably a smart idea. At least I won’t be the only one wrinkly on this trip.]

Eventually, I located the NBA’s hotel headquarters in the basement, which did have high-speed internet access. Meaning, that I’d be spending a lot of time over the next week hanging out there. But that wasn’t the end of my problems, as the connection wouldn’t allow me to dump the raw video onto our FTP server. Frustrated and discouraged, I packed up and headed to the team’s first practice.

Coach wanted the guys to practice right away, instead of going to bed at the hotel, so they could get adjusted to the nine-hour difference in time zones right away.

Afterwards, we all had dinner together at La Ghirada. Coach D’Antoni started it with an inspired speech to the team. I didn’t have my recorder with me, but I’ll attempt to paraphrase:

“For 38 years, the Phoenix Suns have tried to win an NBA Championship. That’s a long time guys. The Suns have the fourth best winning percentage of all time, been to the Finals twice. But 38 Suns teams have tried and failed to win it all. I think we have the group right here in this room that can get that done.”

Next came an awesome video with a classic scene from the Godfather. I’ve never actually seen the movie (shouldn’t admit that, should I?). But there was a scene with several Italians sitting around a table eating dinner and having an animated conversation. The Suns’ version included subtitles about the team’s visit to Treviso, and how the addition of Marcus Banks is going to make the Suns a tougher defensive team. “Fuhgedaboudit!” Just a riot. I really wish I could put it on the site.

To top off the night, rookie Davin White was asked to come up to the front of the room and sing “Happy Birthday” to sharpshooter Eric Piatkowski and Tom O’Malley, Sr. VP, General Counsel, who teamed up to blow out the candle on their Italian cake.

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Sunday, Oct. 1

Day two was MUCH better than day one.

It started out with a morning practice, where I teamed up with Fox 10’s Jude LaCava, who you might’ve noticed pop up in our Day 2 video. He’s getting some great interviews for us and I’m, in return, sending the video back to the guys at channel 10.

It’s funny how things turn out. When I was a senior in high school in 1990, I actually called into Jude’s sports talk show on KTAR once to tell him he was wrong about his prediction that the Bulls would win the NBA Championship that season. I boldly told him that KJ, Chambers, Majerle and the Suns were going to beat the Bulls in the Finals for their first title. This was early in the season, too. Probably November, I’d guess.

He must have enjoyed my youthful enthusiasm, as he asked if he could have me on the show again at some point. A week or two later, he called me at work (I was a grocery checker at Safeway, at the time) and made me a bet. If the Suns won the title, he would buy every item on aisle No. 6 (paper towels and bathroom cleaners, I think). If the Bulls won, though… well, I don’t actually remember what I was supposed to buy or do for Jude. Maybe film some interviews for him 16 years later?

Now That’s Ironic, Part 2: Shortly before beginning my career with the Suns as a T-shirt vendor, I interned in the sports department at channel 10 during the summer of ’92. Jude wasn’t in the TV biz just yet, but I did work with Kevin McCabe, now of FSN Arizona, and J.D. Hayworth, now a U.S. congressman. I never thought at the time, though, that I would ever be behind the camera, covering a Suns training camp for them.

Which brings me back to Camp Italy. Practice was a little more intense today, as Coach D had the team running up and down full speed. He told the guys “we’re going to run a lot more this year,” which is exciting to think about. They slowed things up a little bit last year without Amaré running the floor.

Speaking of, STAT looked pretty good today, too, throwing down a couple old-Amaré dunks, and Jumaine Jones was just draining the three-pointers. Although the court had a closer three-point line than the NBA’s.

Practice was intense, but it was also short. Mike let the guys out at 11:30, so that a number of them could hop on a mini-bus bound for Milan, a couple hours away. Steve Nash wanted to take his teammates to see a European soccer game, which turned into quite the adventure. I’ll let Sean Marks write about that trip in his blog, though. I’ve been encouraging him and Marcus to write some new entries, but they’ve been pretty busy and/or exhausted themselves. They’ve both promised to send something soon, though.

After practice, I got my first chance to get out and taste a little slice of Italy. A group of Suns staffers, including Al McCoy, Mark West, David Griffin, Tom O’Malley and their wives (I wish mine were with me) jumped on our own bus to downtown Treviso, about 25 minutes from our hotel.

We spent about an hour and a half walking the stone streets and exploring the eclectic shops throughout the quaint little town, which is surrounded by a wall and a moat. The buildings are so old and so ornate, I felt like I was in a movie. The artistry is evident everywhere you look, from the statues to the towers to the domes… even in simple windows and doors. Combine that with the rivers that run through the middle of twon, and the vines, trees, grass and colorful flowers that surround you, it’s just beautiful!

It was so nice just to take my mind off the web site for a short while, take some photos for my family back home, and soak in the scenery. I even sat down and listened to some classical music at this covered outdoor patio. Hard to explain, but you can listen to some yourself in my Day 2 video, which my Suns.com TV producer Steven J. Koek masterfully worked into my Treviso and practice footage. Nice work Steve-O!

----------------------------

Monday, Oct. 2

Buon compleanno!

I didn’t even realize it was my birthday until I was about three hours into it.

After returning from Treviso, I headed down to the basement to work for a while, and watch a little NFL football. Head athletic trainer and fellow Suns.com blogger Aaron Nelson was able to pull up the Arizona Cardinals’ game through his laptop, which NBA IT guru Sergio (don’t know his last name) was then able to hook up to a big screen. So there we were in the middle of the night in Treviso, Italy, watching my red birds get their beaks bashed in live from the States. Technology is truly amazing.

Before I get to my birthday, I have to describe this scene in a little more detail. I had been in this room by myself for at least two hours when Nelson and his gang of trainers, strength coaches and equipment guys (all our bloggers) rolled in after a night in Venice.

Next thing you know, the room is filled with the Suns’ familia… Junior Jones, Eric Piatkowski, Phil Weber, Vinny Del Negro, JoAnn Fitzsimmons, Laurel D’Antoni, David Griffin (who proceeded to taunt me, because he was up 30-sumpin’ in our fantasy football matchup, only to lose at the arm of D-McKnaab on Monday Night Football. Hee, hee!)… all watching NFL games, and then Louis Gonzalez’ final innings as an Arizona Diamondback.

By the time 2:30 a.m. rolled around, though, it was only me, Laurel and Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic left. Paul and his wife are actually staying at another hotel downtown, about 25 minutes from here, but that hotel didn’t have internet at all, so he’s been writing his articles from here.

Unfortunately for Paul, and his wife who was waiting for him, taxis aren’t available after 1 p.m. in Treviso. Meaning their only option was to wait until 5:30 a.m., when taxi service resumes, to get a ride back. Laurel wasn’t going to allow that, though, and went hunting for a car. Within a matter of minutes, she had a pair of keys (the night desk clerk offered her his own car) and asked if I would come along, so she wasn’t driving back alone in the middle of the night.

Flying down the deserted and windy roads, Laurel pointed out where she and Mike used to live, where they would take their son, Michael, to play on a playground, and where they would go for walks along the river, all the while giving us a history lesson on Treviso.

Arriving at the Coro’s hotel, we found a sign on the locked doors that, according to Laurel’s translation, said “be right back.” Knocking with our faces pressed against the glass, we waited five to 10 minutes just laughing at our situation.

It was only when someone asked what the date was that I realized it was Oct. 2, my birthday! They all felt bad keeping me out in the middle of the night, but I loved it. What better way to tip-off my 34th than with a 3 a.m. personal guided tour of Treviso, Italy, with friends? Okay, it would’ve been better if my wife had been along for the ride, but still, it was certainly a moment I won’t soon forget.

That was only the tip of my b-day iceberg, though. After my two hours of sleep, I staggered out of bed, showered [The hotel shower is really unusual, too… hard to explain, but it has a glass door covering the wall with the shower head that swings open and to the left, to prevent the water from hitting the floor… and it has a full length wall mirror on the other end of the tub, so you can watch yourself wash, I guess] and ran for the bus, which was taking us to Venice.

Although I was busy taking photos and filming Matrix, Banks, Ju Ju and Davin White on the Water Taxis, and in a glass factory, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I was really impressed by downtown Treviso yesterday, but Venice just blew me away. You would think that after having just edited photos of Eric Piatkowski on the same waterway the day before, I would have known what to expect. But I had no idea.

I hope you were able to get a good feel for it from our coverage, but I’m telling you, if you ever get a chance to go to Europe, make sure Venice is one of your destinations. I was truly in awe of this ancient city on the water. In fact, I had to call my wife, Amy, and leave her a message in the middle of the night, Phoenix time, telling her that I was going to bring her here someday. I don’t know when. But we’re coming and staying a while.

----------------------------

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 1:45 p.m.

Well, I’ve almost got you up to date with my trip. But I’ve still got a lot more to blog about, including some surprising appearances in Treviso by Chewbacca, Pablo and the great Adam Beechen!

Until then, I’m off to the Palaverde arena for a basketball clinic and then the Suns’ intra-squad scrimmage. So long everybody.


]]>Wed, 04 Oct 06 05:30:00 UThttp://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_09300603.aspx
After officially launching our blog site, our training camp section and our new flash-animated intro to Suns.com this morning, we held our annual Media Day Webcast, which was a big success.

With the exception of me starting the video encoder late and missing the first few seconds of host Tom Leander’s open to the show, it couldn’t have gone much better. We planned on an hour full of interviews and ended up with nearly 90 minutes, welcoming Amaré Stoudemire, Shaw Marion, Raja Bell, Coach D’Antoni, Robert Sarver and Marcus Banks, among others. If you haven’t watched it yet, be sure to check it out.

The second the show was over, I raced to gather up all the equipment and accessories that I would need to take with me to Italy, flew upstairs to change clothes in the third-floor supply closet (it was faster than going to the restroom… thankfully, no one had to fax anything at that moment) and dragged my luggage at full speed through the B-Lounge, back to the elevator and Level 0 to make sure I caught the team bus to the airport.

I made it and am now comfortably settled into Row 19, Seat D. Fasten your seatbelts, as we have a long, long – did I say long? – flight ahead of us.

“Attention passengers, we have located a blue blankie with the monogram M. Banks on it. If anyone is missing their blankie, please see a flight attendant.”

2:50 p.m.

I hate flying. Always have.

I love traveling with the Suns, though, and documenting their big trips like this one with behind-the-scenes photos and video for the site. We are so fortunate to have the access that we do. There aren’t too many coaches or GMs around the league that would let their web geeks wander up and down the plane with cameras. Of course, there aren’t many coaches or GMs around the league like Mike D’Antoni, one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people you’ll meet in pro sports.

I’ve often said I didn’t think there would ever be another coach as friendly or as accommodating as the late-Cotton Fitzimmons. But Mike is definitely cut from that same cloth.

I’m not sure the players are thrilled to have me around, however. Most of the guys are pretty cool about it. Raja Bell and Shawn Marion, for example, will strike poses or clown around for the mini DV cam from time to time. But then there’s guys like Steve Nash, who I’ve known since the Suns drafted in ’96, that appears to feel uncomfortable with the cameras in these settings. Which is why I only shot Steve for a few seconds on the plane before take-off.

Which reminds me of Quentin Richardson, who we thought was annoyed by our cameras during the 2005 playoffs. He kept yelling “Turn the camera off” whenever we’d be filming on the plane or in the locker room.

At first we thought he was joking, but the more often he said it, the more we wondered if he wasn’t. After a couple weeks, I finally approached him and asked if he was serious. He just laughed. From then on, he was our go-to guy as far as our Suns.com. I miss having “Q” around.


3:37 p.m.

Okay, that caught me off guard.

We’re 45 minutes into our 15-hour flight now and Al McCoy is leaning on the back of my seat, sharing some stories about the Suns’ trip to Israel in 1983. How the team spent three weeks traveling all over, caravanning on a double-decker bus with a promoter who was a dead-ringer for Dom Deluise.

Captivated, as if listening to the “voice” on KTAR, I can’t help but wish I had my camera turned on to record his memories for our new history section of Suns.com. Until, that is, I am distracted by the nudity.

No, no one was stripping down on the team’s charter. But I was surprised to suddenly see… hmmm, how should I put this and maintain a family friendly blog?… how about a heated game of one-on-one on the overhead monitor just behind Al’s shoulder.

From the 15 seconds I saw, but tried not to watch, of Lucky Number Sleven, I’m guessing it’s Rated R. Good thing there are no kids on this flight.


Posted: 4:18 p.m.

Salmon is served.

If you read my blogs during the playoffs last spring, these next few paragraphs may sound familiar. As I think I said then, I don’t want to brag about the food on the team plane, but I have to share the experience, because it’s such a unique one compared to the peanuts I’m used to on commercial flights.

Upon boarding on the tarmac in Phoenix, we were greeted with trays of appetizers throughout the plane, including fresh fruit, veggies, jumbo shrimp, chicken fingers, chips and all sorts of liquid refreshment. The players were all over the bags of chips, but I dove into the fruit. I was starving, as I’d skipped lunch in all the Media Day madness.

Shortly after take-off came the salads – I passed – followed by the main course. On the menu this afternoon: New York strip steak, grilled salmon or grilled chicken, accompanied by asparagus and a warm roll, right out of the oven.

It was all delicious, too. I consider myself a connoisseur of fine salmon – whatever that means – and I’d say this ranked above average. Better than many restaurants in the Valley, at least.

I’m watching the flight attendants in the back of the plane closely to see what they’re going to bust out for dessert. Stay tuned.


5:00 p.m.

“Barkley sucks! Barkley sucks!”

Julie Fie, the Suns’ vice president of basketball communications and my boss back in my intern days of the early ‘90s, just stopped by and was telling me about the team’s trip to Germany for the McDonald’s Open in 1993.

While the staff and players were out for an evening at a famous German brewery, then-Suns center Joe Kleine hopped up on a table, raised his stein high and started the rousing chant when Sir Charles arrived at the party. I’m sure Chuck loved it.

5:40 p.m

Dark chocolate truffles for everyone.

6:04 p.m.

Sleven must be over now, as I see that Bruce Willis has been replaced on the monitors by Butterbean. Not that anyone’s really watching. Most of the Suns are watching their own DVD players or iPods, or playing poker.

6:41 p.m.

Hot fudge Sunday with whipped cream, nuts and a cherry on top.

6:49 p.m.

Here come the Haagen Daas, Dove bars and popsicles. No thank you.

6:50 p.m.

Knocked over my ice cream dish on top of my video encoder. Thankfully, only a few drops spilled.

7:34 p.m.

“Hot towel?”

After the parade of desserts marched through the plane, a flight attendant next brought hot, damp towels, which she handed out with what looked like chop sticks. I would have preferred Chapstick myself, as my lips are burning. My poor wife, who is back home with Bronchitis, borrowed mine yesterday. I told her to keep it. (Hope you’re feeling better, honey).

Me: So what exactly are you supposed to do with the hot towels?

Flight attendant: “You can wipe your hands clean. Or some of the players will wipe their face or head down with it. I put lemon in it sometimes. It’s supposed to be refreshing.”

A hot lemony towel to wipe down my head, huh? Maybe next time.

7:42 p.m.

“The Northern Lights! Come see the Northern Lights!”

Laurel D’Antoni, who is as amazing and helpful a person as her husband, just came running down the aisle to be sure we all saw the natural phenomena, followed close behind by Kurt Thomas, Eric Piatkowski and Leandro Barbosa, who crowded into Row 19 to take a look for themselves. Kurt’s furrowed brow tells me he was not too impressed.

I could see the light blue glow out on the horizon, but I’m not sure I fully understand what I was looking at. Somebody tried to describe it as the one spot where there’s no day and no night. No clue what that’s supposed to mean.

7:59 p.m.

I just used the restroom. Not that you needed to know that, but I couldn’t help but look around the tight quarters to make sure there weren’t any of Samuel Jackson’s snakes coming down through the ceiling panels or up through the toilet. Bad movie, but for some reason I really enjoyed it.

9:48 p.m.

My laptop still works!

Upon arriving in Goose Bay, New Foundland, for a mid-trip refuel, Robert Sarver and the D’Antoni brothers asked if they could use our table to play some Gin Rummy while we waited. In the rush to pack up my gear (you didn’t expect me to tell them “no,” did you?), I knocked my HP laptop onto the floor with a loud thud.

An hour later and we’re taking off once again for the second leg of our journey. Only for this particular part of the trip, I’ve laid claim to a new seat next to swingman James Jones, who’s currently asleep under a blanket.

What a great guy! We talked quite a bit across the aisle on the first flight, probably more than we talked all of last season actually.

[Quick interruption: I HATE flying! We just took off and the whole plane shook, dipped, turned and bobbed back and forth for a full minute or two, which felt like 20. I’m sure most of the regulars in the Suns’ traveling party didn’t even notice, but that’s one of the roughest take-offs I’ve ever experienced personally. Must be all the wind coming in off of the Labrador Sea.]

Back to our regularly scheduled blog… After spending two or three hours working on a strategic plan for his new foundation, Jones shared some of his plans with me. Teaming up fellow NBAers Keyon Dooling and Udonis Haslem, he is looking to launch a number of education and career growth programs for adults in his hometown of Miami. He also talked about his desire to help kids and teens with diabetes and cancer in Phoenix.

11:58 p.m.

I’ve finished cropping all my photos, as well Andy Bernstein’s photos, for a “Suns Travel” gallery on the web site. Andy is considered the NBA’s best photographer and just an all-around good guy. He’s traveling with us and has offered to share all his photos for Suns.com, which relieves me to focus on video.

Speaking of which, I still need to edit the footage I shot on the first half of the flight. But I’m fading fast. I think I’m going to try and catch a couple hours of sleep before we land. We’re scheduled to arrive in Treviso, around 3 a.m. Phx time, Noon Italy time. Somehow I think my body clock is going to be off for a few days.

More tomorrow.

12:16 a.m.

Told you’d I’d have more “tomorrow.” I just realized that the sun is coming up outside the plane. So strange. It’s midnight back home, but its dawn over the Atlantic Ocean. I think it’s officially time to switch my watch (and my blog posts) to Italy time.

12:56 p.m. (Italy time)

Well, I got about an hour of sleep. Maybe. For some reason my seat won’t recline, so I had a heck of a time finding a comfortable position. I thought about crawling into a ball on the floor, but the flight attendants had taken all the good spots. You didn’t think they worked 15 hours straight, did you?

I woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon, though, as breakfast was served. I chose the French toast myself, with a plate of fruit and some orange juice.

We passed over the Swiss Alps about 20 minutes ago, which I tried to capture on video, but I’m not sure I did. And we’re now making our descent into Treviso. Believe it or not, that went a lot faster than I expected it to.

I’m signing off, so I can power up the camera and film the guys one last time this flight, as they deboard the plane.

Welcome to Italy!

]]>Sat, 30 Sep 06 16:14:00 UThttp://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_09300602.aspx
For those of you who e-mailed to tell me how much you liked my blogs during the playoffs last spring, I apologize it’s taken me so long to pen a new entry.

As I told you in my last post, shortly after the Finals I believe, I was planning to keep my journal going throughout the summer.

Didn’t happen. But with the return of the Suns comes the return of my blog. But even better than that, I’ve brought friends with me this time. Lots of friends!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the launch of our new Suns.com blog site, the first of it’s kind in the NBA. As you can see from the lineup on the index page, we’ve recruited a whole roster of writers, who will check in from time to time this 2006-07 season.

Guard Marcus Banks and forward Sean Marks, our marquee bloggers, will present the players’ side of the season. Suns play-by-play man Tom Leander will offer his expert analysis on the team and the league. Several of the Suns’ Dancers are expected to contribute, providing the female perspective. And then there’s our “Road Crew,” consisting of athletic trainers Aaron Nelson (head) and Mike Elliott (asst.), strength coach Erick Phillips and equipment manager Jay Gaspar, who will take you behind the scenes.

As for my blog, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to give you this season. As a longtime writer for HOOP, Inside Stuff and SLAM magazine before those, I’ll probably give my opinions on the top headlines around the NBA. As a proud 14-year employee of the Suns’ organization, I’ll share some of my stories from the past and experiences in the present.

But as the lead editor of the Suns’ official site, I’m most excited about getting to interact with our readers on a regular basis. Let me know what you think of my blog entries. Let me know what you think of the overall blog section. Let me know what else you would like to see on Suns.com. Send me the good and the bad. I’m a big boy, I can take it.

And with that open invitation, I must say good night. It’s the night before we leave for Italy, and I’ve got to get up in a little over five hours to get ready.]]>Sat, 30 Sep 06 16:05:00 UT