As you may remember from my previous post here, I came across the privilege to dine with Coach Kruger after attending the Coaches vs Cancer Party at the Palms a few weeks back. After a masterful job of matching up the schedules of all the parties involved, the Ladyfriend and myself met up with Coach Kruger, his wife Barb, and another couple from the same event at a restaurant in Mandalay Place last night.

Overall it was a great evening. Coach Kruger and his wife are extremely laid back down to earth people who care about their family and love what they do. It was amazing to get a little insight into the life of a coach, especially one with the stature of Coach Kruger, considering he’s coached in the NBA (Atlanta Hawks) and been to the Final Four (Florida). He’s been successful everywhere he’s coached, so you know his approach works. Community driven good people who care about what they do and truly pay it forward. If you happen upon this, thanks for a great night Lon and Barb.

What does this mean for me? Has Tourney Trip hit the big time? Not so fast. It just so happens that I may live in the basketball capital of the world, which has done a lot to provide me the opportunities the past year or so. No NBA team, but there is NBA Summer League, and USA Basketball hosts several exhibition games as well. In addition are the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, and several pre-season invitational college basketball tournaments. Both the West Coast Conference and the Mountain West Conference host their conference tournaments here as well. When you add it all up, basketball is always around, and if you love the game, it’s hard to not be involved. This is especially true when there are great events such as Coaches vs Cancer, and great hosts like Lon Kruger.

Looking forward, there are a few more days of Summer League, which may prompt a post towards the end of the week. After that, it’s about a 3 month countdown to midnight madness events, invitational tournaments, and starting down the road to Indianapolis. Until then, continue to follow Sam’s trek down the path of gangster paradise, scumbagville, and the things we’d rather forget about but should always remember. Something tells me there may be a link to the Fab Five coming up.

Good Talk.

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