Hey everyone, it’s Brian Daly. Most of you probably have no idea who I am, but I’m the kid on the basketball team who rarely EVER plays. I’m the rowdy one on the end of the bench who tirelessly waves a towel around when we’re playing well. Well, this year, my shoulder has been getting a great amount of work because we are now 6-1 after the trip to Cali. 

Not many people know what goes on “behind the scenes” with our team while on trips, so I am writing this to inform all you avid fans about how the trip went. 

We “hopped off the plane at LAX” with one goal in mind — to come back to St. Louis with a championship and an undefeated record. Wednesday was the first full day in the beautiful state of California. Practice went for the usual two hours; then we had film. In the evening, each team was invited to a dinner hosted by ESPN. 

You probably don’t care, but it was a Thanksgiving-themed meal. Turkey, potatoes, green beans, ham and pumpkin cheesecake were all in attendance. After the meal, my teammates, along with everyone else, were exposed to the wacky world of hypnosis. Your one and only, the Brian Daly, and Femi John, were chosen to take a wild journey deep within the subconscious (“Inception”-style). First, we were put into a deep state of mind and learned that even while doing embarrassing things, we will follow all instructions and not care what others think about it. For example, I was told that the first teammate I noticed had the best smell in the world on top of his head. I then ran to Brian Conklin and grabbed his ears as instructed and never stopped sniffing his head until the location of the smell moved. 

The next two days consisted of downtime, walk-throughs and two victories over ACC’s Boston College and the Big East’s Villanova, which placed us in the Sunday championship game against Oklahoma. Well, Saturday was an off day from games, so we treated it as one. After a quick walk through, we were told that we would be heading to ESPN Zone and Disneyland. Yes, college basketball players enjoy arcade games and Disneyland like you wouldn’t believe. The competition got pretty crazy at ESPN Zone, and fears were conquered at Disneyland on the rides. Cory Remekun conquered his fear of riding the Tower of Terror, but John Manning was “too scared of heights.” No one understands how this is…he stands at 6 foot 11. An ESPN camera crew followed us around for a bit at Disneyland, which also was pretty cool to experience.

Well, I could go on for hours, but I do not want to bore you with strategic talk about how we try to win our games. I also do not want to give away any secrets of towel swinging. Yes, the moves I use are somewhat spontaneous, but I am always looking for new and better ideas to make the game more enjoyable for you fans. Thanks again for all of the support you have given.