No Time in Dubai

Dubai is a city and sheikdom of the Eastern United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf. It can get dull if you spend most of your time sticking to your usual ROUTINE. By me being there for a basketball tournament basically puts me in a day by day ROUTINE. Dubai has to be one of the coolest places in the world and i didnt get to see much of it because i was in the gym majority of the time.. had to play 5games in 7days so you can imagine the NO time we had to go sight-seeing. Got to do what i got to do though..

Eighty percent of the residents of Dubai are foreigners. In Dubai Emirates Mall, you can ski indoors while shopping, measuring 400 meters and using 6000 tons of snow. The mall also has a underwater aquarium and a zoo in it to mention. Also, Burj Dubai will become the world's tallest building, along with the world's tallest man-made structure, when it is completed. And i didnt get to even see any of it.. Extremely pissed but we did win the Cup championship, so something good came out this trip... Better luck next time..

BBall in the Middle East. (QATAR)

Where in the hell have i been the last 3-5 seasons. Why didn't i know about this place yrs. ago.. Qatar has to be one of the coolest places i ever been to and of course played at (SO FAR). But, like any other place in the world, it has its good and bad qualities. Well, i did do a bit of homework before coming here. You got to know a bit of something before heading to your destination. doesn't hurt to get a head start. The day i arrived here i realized things pretty fast.. Actually, before i even landed in Qatar I was chating with this Qatari on the plane. So, given my chance to speak up before I’m over there, I asked him what should i expect when I'm in Qatar and would it be a smooth transition for me? To sum up what he told me, he basically said its like being at home in the states, but with a bit different laws and values of course. When it came to knowing about religion and politics in this area, i was told to pick all that up from AlJazeera. I learned that Qatar has made contributions to freedom of speech through AlJazeera. Aljazeera is a television network that is located in Doha, Qatar. Initially launched as an Arabic news basically.

As my first week went on here in Qatar, you pick up on the good and bad things fast. The Bad to mention a few: I haven’t seen any coin currency. In supermarkets, the total sometimes comes to 56.45, but it is always rounded up to the nearest dollar. Where the extra money goes? There are no streets here. There are, but nobody really knows street names. Everyone finds places through landmarks and roundabouts. To say it is difficult to get around is a bit of an understatement. Each time me and my teammate reach a destination (safely), it is a small miracle. Because they drive very very very impatient. Same as In Chicago, but times 10. lol Friday here is really sunday.. they shut everything down. I mean everything and for some reason I have yet to hear an answering machine on any phone here. Voicemails are nonexistent. your just ass out if they dont answer. lol The one thing that really blew me away was that you can not show any affection in public. No holding hands or even kissing unless its your wife i was told. Been mad as hell if i couldn't kiss the Mrs. right off the plane ride if she comes to visit me. lol

On the other hand, the bright things here is everyone speaks English. Qataries make up only 25% of the population and the other 75% are Americans, British, Australians, and Philipino. That is strange as hell to me.. but cool though.lol Qatar is considered the riches country in the world because of the natural gas they have here. I was told they have enough Natural Gas reserved for the next 200yrs. thats insane. Everyone is driving nice vehicles and you can get all the resturantes from home. McDonalds of course, Burger King, Fridays, Bennigans, Subway, Quiznos and even Krispy Kreme. Its only a 40 minute flight to Dubai. We all know Dubai is off the chain. With all these good things mentioned, im sure its a lot more great things about Qatar that i have not discovered yet.

When it comes to Basketball, its all universal. I have good teammates that respect the game and play with no worries. Maybe because they have six figure jobs outside basketball.. lol Basketball is a hobby for these guys and one day it will be for me too. till then i will continue to do what i love to do and take advantage of the many opportunities that basketball presents me.

If you don't know, now you know

If you don't know; My name is Cory Bradford and Im a professional basketball player overseas.

Throughout my life many things have changed for me. For starters, the TV show that used to be the best of television (Gilligan’s Island – I loved that show when I was little) has now become only my second favorite show (of all time) about people stranded on an island trying desperately to get home while, at the same time, trying to adapt to their surroundings. Funny how that comes about, huh? Me being overseas wanting to be home but at the same time adapting to the atmosphere overseas.

I’ve also gone from using a computer maybe 5 times throughout my entire HS career to absolutely, positively, without it I would probably cease to exist relying on computers every day of my life. Seriously, I can’t even remember the last time I went an entire day without getting on a computer at least once (my guess would be my wedding day a year and half ago). lol

However, through all of the changes, there has always been one constant…one answer to the question "what do you want to be?" My answer when I was a kid is the same as my answer now " I want to be a professional basketball player." I have been blessed with athletic ability to go with my 6’3" 205 pound frame…you know, the type of frame that the average point guards nowadays have , NBA 3-point range, and since the year 1997 I’ve been a specialist when it comes to the tri-fecta (for those who don’t know you have to make one in at least 88 straight games to be on my level) lol

My HS career went very well …I was a starter for 4 yrs at Raleigh Egypt high School in Memphis Tennessee. I was happy with my opportunity and felt that I was able to display my ability to do what i always loved to do on more than enough occasions, but as a player you just got to play, right? Well, In college I really got the chance to showcase my ability. Having a numerous amount of team and individual awards throughout my 4yr career at the University of Illinois. Once the wonderful times of college was over i was on my way to be a professional basketball player.

Will that dream come true of being in the NBA? Its a loooooong shot to make it to the league i tell ya. You have to have the quality of so many things. Things like: GOOD WORK ETHIC, GREAT ATTITUDE, DEDICATION, ETC. i can go on and on and on. But the reality of it all is that there are thousands of other players with the same tendencies and goal in mind. That's when you learn that it is 95% political and you just got to be at the right place at the right time basically. Just because its not the NBA doesn't mean you can't take your ability and passion overseas. I told myself , being able to live that DREAM is not over Cory. In order to be a professional basketball player, you would have to make basketball your life. You would be required to put in very long hours of training and practice. Plus take care of what you eat and drink as these are all connected to your fitness. You would have to build your focusing abilities so that during games you concentrate on the issue at hand rather than being distracted. that's part of how i mold and shape myself to the player that i have become today. Well, if you don't know, now you know.