I went to the Denver Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year banquet that I went to on Friday. I was there with Champ and Boss Bailey, who came with his wife. It was my second year going, I went the year before. It’s always a great function because it is a big fundraiser. They raise tons and tons of money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.
They honor somebody every year – last year they honored Pat Hamill, who is the Chairman of Oakwood Homes. He and I have become friends since then. This year, they honored Pat Bowlen, who is one of my favorite people in the world, he signs my checks. I guess I have to change my name to Pat to be honored by them.
It’s a great event to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club. One of the cool things about it is the entertainment is singing and dancing and poems written and performed by kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. It’s always impressive because the kids are really, really talented. Since I’m normally at the Boys and Girls Club once a week – the Broncos branch – I know a lot of the kids that won and I know a lot of the kids that performed. So, it’s very personal which is pretty cool.
They introduced myself, Champ and Boss which is kinda funny because they said, “We’re happy to have Domonique Foxworth here for another year and Champ Bailey and his brother.” We gave Boss a hard time about that the whole night because at least three of the people who got on stage referred to them as Champ Bailey and Champ Bailey’s brother which is hilarious. Boss thought it was funny too.
Toward the end of the night, some guy got on stage and actually said his name which kinda ruined our fun, but it was nice that he got some recognition outside of being Champ’s brother. I know what it feels like because I have an older brother, so growing up I was “Little Dion.” Everybody knew me as “Little Dion” until I got to high school and scored a lot of touchdowns. Then he was “Big Domonique” I guess. He was smaller than me by then, so he was “Little Dion.” Nobody ever called him that, but they should have. That was probably when I first started to be called by my name and not “Little Dion.”
It’s perfect timing for the week off from training because it coincides really well with my personal life. I’m heading to Washington, D.C. for a friend’s wedding. Rest time is very important. This is the same friend I talked about last week in the bachelor party thing I was responsible for. I took them to Vegas and we had a great time and did a lot of things. We gave the Bellagio a lot of our money. We had a cool experience.
We drove Indy cars which I don’t know if that will be smiled upon by the Broncos organization, but it was fun. I ended up getting my car up to about 150 m.p.h. around the Las Vegas Speedway. It was a good experience. I got a picture of it which is nice. It is not something I would ever want to do again. I am not a “need for speed” kind of guy. I like cars that look fast, but I don’t like to actually drive them fast. It does not excite me. I like to drive slow so you can see how nice my car is. The Indy Speedway was really cool and a lot of fun.
I also did a stop smoking ad. I’m not sure if it is airing yet, but it was for 1-800-QUIT-NOW, the Colorado Quit Line. I’ve found myself in a lot of commercials, but I take pride in the commercials I do being for good causes. The collegeincolorado.org commercials I do are extremely important to teens in Colorado and I think the stop smoking ad is also something that could be important to teens and young adults. I guess by the time you get old and continue to smoke, it’s difficult to stop. I take a lot of pride in doing public service announcements for these non-profits.
I am enjoying the NBA playoffs especially my ACC brethren — CP3 — Chris Paul, is having a heck of a playoffs. I’m a big fan. I like guards and the small guys because when I fantasize about being a decent basketball player, I’m always a guard. I like playing basketball, but my shot is just too inconsistent. I think I’m athletic enough and I guess I would say that I’m tall enough considering guys like Allen Iverson is in the league and a lot of guys who are around 6-feet, I could pull it off, but my shot is too inconsistent and I can’t handle the ball nearly as well. I’m pretty much just an athlete. I’m actually a football player, but when I play basketball, I’m just an athlete on the court. It does not make for a very good player. I’m a hustle man, I get all the rebounds and play good defense.
I’m kinda rooting for the New Orleans Hornets now that the Nuggets are out. I would like to see that young team make a run. I need to pick somebody other than the Los Angeles Lakers because Hamza (Abdullah), is one of my closest friends, is from Los Angeles and he loves the Lakers. I need to find somebody to cheer for and root against him. The last few years, he hasn’t had much to talk about so we’ve all been on him talking about how bad the Lakers are. Now, he is in heaven, so I’ve been kinda happy for him, but not too happy. CP3 is going to take him down.
I’m not a big hockey fan except for the Broncos hockey team. They had their season opener I went to and they won, I think the final was 8-4 (editor’s note — 8-6). A couple of my good friends scored some goals. Mike “Harry” Harrington and Kenny Chavez scored, Chris “Flip” Valenti played well in goal. That’s really the only hockey I watch, but I did watch the Avs in the playoffs just because I try to be a true Coloradoan. I try to cheer for and support all of the Colorado teams. The Rockies have been a little inconsistent, but they are a late-charge team and I’m sure they’ll be great like last year.
All ready!
