PC Board OT thread

[Doctor MJ]

Cool thread.

So let's see: I'm 36. Lived my whole live in some part of southern California. I joined RealGM, wow, 9+ years ago, and started mod'ing the next season.

At the time I was going for my PhD, my initials are MJ, and I grew up a fan of Julius Erving, so I just threw all that together as "Doctor MJ" not really thinking too much about it. I had no expectation I'd be a long-term part of the community. Once I did, I always felt like the name was rather egotistical, but it also felt weird changing it.

My advisor ended up moving to the other side of the country and realistically I couldn't see moving my wife out there, so I ended up dropping out (I'm more Master MJ than Doctor MJ unfortunately) and working at start ups. Cool times and funny stories, but eventually I wanted something more stable. My wife was already a teacher, and she seemed like she was having more fun than me, so I decided to try it.

So now I've taught high school physics for 3 years, and I like it. 1st year was as tough as anything I'd ever done, and it's still not easy, but I do find it quite fulfilling.

Oh, also, I'm 6'9". And this probably contributed to me being here. Growing up I was basically normal-sized, and basketball was my favorite sport. I loved playing almost all sports (baseball was the exception), but basketball just felt so freeing. I was an on-ball guy. Great handles and shooting - and people would tell me I was a great passer, but I was too selfish to do it reliably. I was, in other words, basically exactly the type of player I rail against now. Anyway, I was good, but I knew I wasn't going anywhere with it, and so come high school I really pushed it to the side. Academics was my focus, and other than that I was on the tennis team.

And yeah, then I grew a foot. It happened just slowly enough that there was never a point where I thought, "Wow, maybe I should get serious about basketball again." Before my junior year of high school I was 6'3", which doesn't exactly scream "you absolutely have to play basketball!". I reached 6'7" upon graduation, which does scream "play basketball" if you're in high school, but not if you're about to go off to UCLA and that height doesn't really come with much agility, or power (I was skinny as a rail). Kept growing and filled out, and eventually realized I was NBA power forward-sized, but without any of the years of developed skill you need. So yeah, sometimes I do wonder what might have been, although the NBA life of constant travel doesn't actually even appeal to me, I just really wonder what I could have done out there on the court.

[bondom34]

Wow, this hread is a great read, some real cool stories out there. Seems Doc MJ could change the username to Kobe!

[Doormatt]

i used to do the AAU/Club basketball things as well till high school at which point i basically stopped growing. i was like 5'10" and everyone else was 6'+. i was pretty good but got discouraged cuz everyone was dunking and was so athletic where i went to school (we had put more than 1 player in the NBA) that i didnt even want to play ball anymore. ended up playing soccer and doing swim in high school instead.

when i started playing ball again this year i felt so **** cuz im so bad compared to what i used to be.

[therealbig3]

yeah but i cant tell little kids to fight me irl

Sure you can.

[Quotatious]

Seems Doc MJ could change the username to Kobe!

I wanted to say Magic Johnson (being a 6'9'' ball-handler), but yeah, I guess being too selfish and a great shooter would make the Kobe comp more apt.

[john248]

Better Kobe than Antoine Walker. lol

[Quotatious]

Better Kobe than Antoine Walker. lol

Yeah. LOL, I remember wigglestrue saying that he tried to pattern his game after Walker, when he was younger...

viewtopic.php?p=38785294#p38785294

[Hawk]

Cool thread.

So let's see: I'm 36. Lived my whole live in some part of southern California. I joined RealGM, wow, 9+ years ago, and started mod'ing the next season.

At the time I was going for my PhD, my initials are MJ, and I grew up a fan of Julius Erving, so I just threw all that together as "Doctor MJ" not really thinking too much about it. I had no expectation I'd be a long-term part of the community. Once I did, I always felt like the name was rather egotistical, but it also felt weird changing it.

Spoiler:

My advisor ended up moving to the other side of the country and realistically I couldn't see moving my wife out there, so I ended up dropping out (I'm more Master MJ than Doctor MJ unfortunately) and working at start ups. Cool times and funny stories, but eventually I wanted something more stable. My wife was already a teacher, and she seemed like she was having more fun than me, so I decided to try it.

So now I've taught high school physics for 3 years, and I like it. 1st year was as tough as anything I'd ever done, and it's still not easy, but I do find it quite fulfilling.

Oh, also, I'm 6'9". And this probably contributed to me being here. Growing up I was basically normal-sized, and basketball was my favorite sport. I loved playing almost all sports (baseball was the exception), but basketball just felt so freeing. I was an on-ball guy. Great handles and shooting - and people would tell me I was a great passer, but I was too selfish to do it reliably. I was, in other words, basically exactly the type of player I rail against now. Anyway, I was good, but I knew I wasn't going anywhere with it, and so come high school I really pushed it to the side. Academics was my focus, and other than that I was on the tennis team.

And yeah, then I grew a foot. It happened just slowly enough that there was never a point where I thought, "Wow, maybe I should get serious about basketball again." Before my junior year of high school I was 6'3", which doesn't exactly scream "you absolutely have to play basketball!". I reached 6'7" upon graduation, which does scream "play basketball" if you're in high school, but not if you're about to go off to UCLA and that height doesn't really come with much agility, or power (I was skinny as a rail). Kept growing and filled out, and eventually realized I was NBA power forward-sized, but without any of the years of developed skill you need. So yeah, sometimes I do wonder what might have been, although the NBA life of constant travel doesn't actually even appeal to me, I just really wonder what I could have done out there on the court.

I feel exactly the same I don't know why I put the "Dr" in front of my nickname, maybe I saw some Julius Erving youtube highlight video before signing up on the site and I wanted to make a mix between 'The Doctor' and Olajuwon

Do you keep in mind how many times have the people asked you 'How is the weather up there?'

[ardee]

I just recently turned 22 years old and was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I am currently studying Business Technology Management (pretty much IT and Business mixed into one program) and will hopefully be getting my Bachelor's of Commerce in one year. Ardee, I am also of Indian descent and I'm wondering which part of India are you from? My parents are from Punjab and therefore I'm Punjabi.

I always liked basketball casually as a kid but really got into it seriously around 2007 when the Raptors made the playoffs for the first time in a while. I also really enjoyed watching LeBron and he quickly became my favourite player.

Damn, you and SSB too? Never would've thought.

I grew up in Bombay, born in New York though... Grandparents all from Sindh though.

[ccameron]

He came to my elementary school in '97 (5th grade), I happened to be walking the hallway when I ran into him followed by a camera crew (he was doing some special appearance for the 1st graders). Anyways, I didn't know much about him at the time and when he saw me he actually stopped the whole crew and talked to me for a couple of minutes. Don't even remember exactly what he said, pretty much generic "player meeting a kid fan" stuff. From the brief moment I met him, he seemed like a really cool and genuine guy. By the way he went about it, made me a huge fan of his from that day on. I actually started to watch baseball (only used to care about basketball before then).

Nonetheless about 6 months later the Marlins won the World Series, with Conine a key contributor. Now, I'm not saying the goodwill he earned from my kid self had anything to do with that, but I'm not saying otherwise either...hah

(Interesting fact, Jeff Conine was the only player who was on both Marlins championship teams)

Great story! Man, if that happened to me in 5th grade, I would have gone crazy. I think I'm the same age as you. I'm sure that good will had something to do with that championship!

[drza]

Also majorly into bodybuilding, used to just mess around in the gym but now I discovered Starting Strength and my lifts are shooting up in the last few months (200 bench, 275 squat, for those who are wondering)

I've never independently done a weight program, but back when I was competing (track) we had a circuit training regimen we had to do 3 days a week. Back then I maxed out at 295 on the bench and 395 squat. Of course, that was back in the 90s. 15 years, a wife, kids, and a lot of food later I entered last year way out of shape. I've tried to get back in the gym a bit, but not as consistent as I'd like. I've got "old man strength" now, so ironically weight lifting comes easier now than it did when I was competing. My bench PR has gone up, but I haven't been focused enough to get my squats back up. In a perfect world I'd like to try cross fit, but I'm not quite there yet

[tsherkin]

I am 30 years old, 7'3 and run a combo chicken coop and vineyard on the Niagara Escarpment part of Ontario. I took a BA in Political Science, have been watching basketball since before I learned to read and work for the fire department.

Many of these statements are even true.

[bondom34]

I am 30 years old, 7'3 and run a combo chicken coop and vineyard on the Niagara Escarpment part of Ontario. I took a BA in Political Science, have been watching basketball since before I learned to read and work for the fire department.

Many of these statements are even true.

I only believe that you're 7'3" and run a chicken coop and vineyard.

[tsherkin]

I am 30 years old, 7'3 and run a combo chicken coop and vineyard on the Niagara Escarpment part of Ontario. I took a BA in Political Science, have been watching basketball since before I learned to read and work for the fire department.

Many of these statements are even true.

I only believe that you're 7'3" and run a chicken coop and vineyard.

Hehehehe.

[PaulieWal]

I am 30 years old, 7'3 and run a combo chicken coop and vineyard on the Niagara Escarpment part of Ontario. I took a BA in Political Science, have been watching basketball since before I learned to read and work for the fire department.

Many of these statements are even true.

I only believe the 30 years old, BA in Political Science, and running a chicken coop and vineyard.

As for 7'3 I am going with 6'3 or 5'3 lol.

[Doctor MJ]

I feel exactly the same I don't know why I put the "Dr" in front of my nickname, maybe I saw some Julius Erving youtube highlight video before signing up on the site and I wanted to make a mix between 'The Doctor' and Olajuwon

Do you keep in mind how many times have the people asked you 'How is the weather up there?'

Hehe, I don't keep tallies, and I just try to take it all in stride. Some tall people get annoyed by it, and if you're a women I get how it's different, but for me it's typically just a reason why I have a positive interaction with strangers where I'd otherwise have something neutral or nothing at all. Pretty cool.

The one thing that does annoy me:

"Man, if I had your height, I'd be in the NBA!"

A really stupid statement, as it's implicitly criticizing the giant person with giant fists you just met.
It also hits me in the pride a bit because I really am slow now...but I wasn't when I was normal-sized, and that's typically how things go. (I continue to marvel at Anthony Davis. It's like he made a deal with the devil.)

[Texas Chuck]

I am 30 years old, 7'3 and run a combo chicken coop and vineyard on the Niagara Escarpment part of Ontario. I took a BA in Political Science, have been watching basketball since before I learned to read and work for the fire department.

Many of these statements are even true.

I only believe that you're 7'3" and run a chicken coop and vineyard.

Im pretty sure the Ontario part is correct because I think I've seen him post about being a Raps fan. Im not convinced he can read tho.....

[ardee]

Also majorly into bodybuilding, used to just mess around in the gym but now I discovered Starting Strength and my lifts are shooting up in the last few months (200 bench, 275 squat, for those who are wondering)

I've never independently done a weight program, but back when I was competing (track) we had a circuit training regimen we had to do 3 days a week. Back then I maxed out at 295 on the bench and 395 squat. Of course, that was back in the 90s. 15 years, a wife, kids, and a lot of food later I entered last year way out of shape. I've tried to get back in the gym a bit, but not as consistent as I'd like. I've got "old man strength" now, so ironically weight lifting comes easier now than it did when I was competing. My bench PR has gone up, but I haven't been focused enough to get my squats back up. In a perfect world I'd like to try cross fit, but I'm not quite there yet

Crossfit? What is your goal? Strength, hypertrophy, or weight loss?

[ccameron]

Great topic, ardee. Really interesting reading about the story behind the names, all of you. I think this also helps keep things civil when debating topics, too -- it makes you remember people have a story and a life beyond some particular viewpoint you agree/disagree with on this site.

[SideshowBob]

We really need to have a PC Board pickup game at some point.