The Impatience of VIEWS FROM THE 6

If you ask who is the hottest rapper out right now theres about an 80% chance that they will say Drake. Drake is the king of Toronto, Canada which he refers to as the "6". He refers to it as the 6 because Toronto's area code is 416. Drake pretty much does it all. He can sing good lyrics, rap good lyrics, and now he is showing that he can also be a good reggae artist. Since the summer of 2015 he has been beefing with the famous Philadelphia rapper who goes by the name of Meek Mill. Drake has put out multiple diss track records trying to destroy Meek Mill's career and so far he has done just that. Meek mill has retaliated with some diss tracks to go back at Drake but Drake's were too good.

Die hard Drake fans such as myself have been waiting for him to drop his new album called "Views From the 6" since last October! At first Drake was going to put it out in October of 2015 because the name of his group is called Octobers Very Own (OVO). I guess the album needed a little work so he pushed it all the way back to January of 2016 which felt like 1000 years from October. But, I thought to myself that this wait could be a great thing because then the album would come out right in the middle of my season and I can use is music to hype me up for my games. I was obviously very impatient and just could not wait until January 16, 2016. So, a week before his album is supposed to drop Drake announces that he now isn' releasing his album until April 16, 2016. I literally threw a fit and didn't listen to his music for a good week because I felt as if he was teasing his fans and I didn't like that. This wait from January to April was even worse than the first wait. It's like I was constantly getting stood up by my hot date to the movies. As April of 2016 is slowly approaching Drake then announces he is pushing it back to April 29th instead of April 16th! What is this guy's deal? I could be listening to his album right at this moment if it wasn't pushed back again! However the 29th is two days from now and I am more than excited for it to be released and I am praying that he does not push it back again but as of now it seems like it is pretty locked in and official.

Adidas Elite camp

5 days after I completed summer workouts in Rhode Island and was enjoying the month off I have with my family in my hometown Staten Island, New York I get an unexpected phone call at 11 am. "Hass! wake up wake up you have a fight to catch" still half sleep I responded "huh, whats going on who is this" I haven't even checked my phone to see who had called yet. "It's your head coach asshole now wake up" I immediately snapped back into reality and replied "ohhh hey coach whats up. He told me I got invited to play at an elite college basketball camp called Adidas nations located in San
Diego California. This camp is consisted of 50 of the top college basketball players in the nation. As I am still in shock about the news I quickly called my parents and reveal the good news. My parents were extremely proud and even left work early just so they can drop me off at the airport. I didn't even know what to pack, I just put two pairs of basketball sneakers, slippers, and a bunch of shorts, tank tops, boxer briefs, and shirts. I have never been on a plane alone so made my mom help me check in and make sure I was going to the right place. I first landed in Arizona then took off to California. Traveling alone actually isn't bad after all, I was more aware of what was going on around me and conversed with a few people who asked where I was going. Due to flight delays I didn't get into Cali until 11pm and I was the last player to arrive. As I walked to my luggage I see a man in a tux holding a sign up with my name on it. I walked up to him and said "hey that's me" he responded "great lets get your things and let's go". as he is carrying my luggage to the car I am thinking to myself "man I feel like a king". He even opened the car door for me as if I was some celebrity. When I got to the hotel I checked in and to the left of me was the adidas nations check in. They knew exactly who I was and handed me a HUGE adidas duffle bad with gear in it. When I got to my room I knocked on the door because I had too many bags to reach my key. As the door opened I automatically recognized who it was. It was Isaiah whitehead who I played against multiple times in high school because he is from Brooklyn New York who now has declared for the 2016 NBA draft. I didn't know him to well which is why it was awkward at first. As a few hours go by we started to make  conversation and he is great person who I am still friends with today. The next day we get woken up at 7 am for breakfast the head to the gym to play games. I'm putting uniform and shoes on then I take a second to look around and see who is here. First of all, there are hundreds of NBA scouts present and secondly, I was literally surrounded by elite players who are in the NBA now or sure will be. I felt so blessed to be in the same gym as them for the same reason they are, because we are considered college basketball's top players and I never thought I would be in such position. My coach for the camp is the assistant for the Los angeles clippers and once I figured out he was I immediately knew I had to bring my A game. As the game is about to begin I noticed that Buddy Hield is on my team who won national player of the year this year. I notice he is very humble and he respects me just as much as I respect him. I was put in  the starting lineup and as the game is about to tip off I was so nervous. My  match up was Brice Johnson who is the best power forward in the country and I accepted the challenge. He was bigger and taller but in my eyes he wasn't better than me he just had more publicity. I had a really great game, I finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. I realized that I am one of the better players and I belong on the same court as any elite player and that's what got me through that game. I did things that I didn't know I was capable of doing. All of the coaches saw major potential in me and gave me great advice. This camp was a great experience for me and I hope to go back this august when I am fully recovered from my knee injury.

The Forgotten Borough

If you are from Staten Island, New York you know how annoying and irritating it is when someone from New York says "Staten Island isn't a borough" or "Theres nothing in Staten Island, it's so lame". There are barely any big names that come out of Staten Island. Just a few professional athletes that no one really knows and one of the legendary rap groups that goes by the name of Wu-Tang clan who gave Staten Island its nick name "Shaolin"and which many people are familiar with world wide. People like to say that they are the only reason Staten Island is a little bit relevant today. The only other popular person that was born in Staten Island is Christina Aguilera but she wasn't there for very long. 

Growing up I was always a great athlete which was why I would always go to different boroughs for more and better competition than Staten Island does. So I was on many different teams and played with many different people for New York city. I was obviously the only kid from Staten Island and the people who I played with would always make fun of me for being from there. Since they have never been they would always think that Staten Island is a completely sub urban place with beautiful big houses and a bunch of old rich people. When I tried to explain to them that I actually live in the projects in an area in Staten Island where there is violence everyday they would look at me like I am crazy. It was so highly annoying because they would think that I was spoiled and rich just because I was from Staten Island and I would always say to them "come home with me for a day and you'll see what it's like. As I got older in high school the athletes in Staten Island where evolving and becoming better at sports. Me and about 10 other kids from Staten Island then started to go to play in basketball tournaments in different boroughs. Once the team and crowd we would play against heard we were from Staten Island they automatically thought we were going to lose by a lot. We literally were beating teams by 20 points or more in these tournaments then people would say "wow you're from Staten Island". The stereotypes of Staten Island still go on currently and I feel it will go on forever.

Cancun Challege

Once a year most Division 1 basketball programs get invited to play in a 4 day tournament in another country or in a popular state. My freshmen year we went to Italy and Arizona, sophomore year it was just florida, then my Junior year it was Cancun, Mexico. I have never been to Mexico and I always wanted to take a visit to Cancun during spring break but even better, I got to go to lay the sport I love. The moment we landed in Mexico I was expecting to feel an unusual vibe that indicates I am in another country. Instead, I just felt as if I was in San francisco California, or Orlando Florida. Only difference was there were all Mexican people. As we walked from the luggage to the bus it was pretty cool to have the Mexicans think we were an NBA team and so excited to take pictures with my team and I. A small Mexican lady walked up to me extremely happy and just started rambling on in the Spanish language. I literally just stared at her with a smile on my face pretending I knew exactly what she was talking about until she just stopped and it seemed as if she had just asked a question waiting for my response. I was very confused so I just replied "si" the she went right back to rambling on in Spanish again. Luckily my assistant coach played overseas professional basketball for 10 years in Spain and was able to get what she was saying. He walked over and said something in Spanish then the lady turned to him and had a full conversation with him as I slowly walked away.

When we finally got to the hotel I immediately threw my bags down and went to the balcony to lay on the Hammock and look at the beautiful view of the pools, ocean, and people having a good time at the bars. It was an all inclusive resort which was pretty cool. After about an hour my roommate and I took a walk to just explore the resort and walk on the beach. It was very relaxing and it almost felt as if I were there for an actual vacation not basketball games. As we walk we see other programs such as Iowa state, University of Maryland, TCU, Duke etc. I made friends with some of them and they turned out to be some really cool people.

Our first game was against the TCU horned frogs and it was a very intense game. During the warm-ups and stretch I quickly realized how hot the gym was and thought to myself "I might pass out on this court". It was wicked hot and the gym was small and of course the 90 degree weather outside did not help. About 10 minutes into the warm-up I was sweating as if I just came out of a sauna which is really bad if the game hasn't even started. When the game finally starts, for the first four minutes I was doing really well and had already scored 8 points. we were on a 12-2 run and that forced them to call a time out. When I get back on the court after the time out I ran up and down twice and became extremely exhausted out of no where. Unfortunately I could not get substituted out because most of  my team was already in foul trouble. I could not wait until half time. Eventually we ended up winning in a very close game by two points and advanced to the second round. We finished second place in the tournament and I must say my experience in Mexico was definitely a success.

From Garrahy to the Ryan Center

Having home games are one of my favorite things about college basketball. Which is why I am going to talk about my walk from my dorm room to the arena on game day. I just love everything about game day when it's a home game. Every morning I wake up on a regular day I am always still sleepy but on a game day, I feel alive and energized and even wake up before my alarm for some strange reason. We have a light shooting practice in the morning on game days and my walk from my dorm to the gym is usually just normal. I walk with a few of my teammates and we talk about our opponent and what is key to win the game. It's usually freezing outside so sometimes I just get a ride because I just want to get to practice. After practice I go back to my dorm and take a nap or watch youtube videos of some of my favorite players. Our home games are usually at 7pm and I like to get to the gym early so I leave my dorm at around 5pm. Before I leave my dorm I put my phone on "do not disturb" mode so no one can bother me then I make sure I have everything in my bag, grab my head phones and head out. I like to walk alone the second time I go to the gym because I get in this zone where I just blast the music through my beats head phones and bob my head to the lyrics. While I'm doing that I visualize what I would like to do during the game, I visualize the crowd roaring, I visualize perfect scenarios in my head to remain confident and positive going into the game. As I sometimes stomp through the snow and watch my step for ice, my socks usually get wet and I have to change my socks. As I get closer to the gym I usually already see students waiting on line and I always acknowledge them because it shows their true rhode pride the fact that they get to the arena before me and I appreciate that. It takes me approximately seven minutes to get to the arena from my dorm, but those seven minutes are one of a kind. I feel as though I am literally in my own world for an hour. No one can bother me, it's just me, my music, and my thoughts and imagination.

Travis Scott

Earlier this month, a few of my teammates and I attended a concert here at URI that was hosted by one of my favorite music artists who goes by the name of Travis Scott. I listen to His music very often and I know much of his lyrics. I've been looking forward to this concert for months because I've heard that he is a really good performer who really gets involved with the crowd. On the day of the concert, a snow storm came out of no where which completely ruined my desire to go because I didn't think he would show up and I figured many other people cancelled on it as well. On top of that it was on a Monday and who goes to concerts on a Monday during the school year? Not I. I finally made up my mind to go because I realized I may never get this opportunity to get to see one of my favorite artists live and at my own school. When I got to the entrance of the concert there was no line and I immediately thought the concert was not worth going to. I walked into the Ryan Center and there was a decent amount of people there, nothing crazy just music playing and people rapping lyrics to the songs because he had not come out on stage yet. People are slowly starting to show up and fill into the crowd. I didn't think it would get to almost capacity on the floor. Approximately 30 minutes later this place was packed! Everyone was jumping and screaming waiting for his grand entry to the stage. When he finally came out the crowd went obnoxious and out of control, everyone was getting pushed and shoved side to side. I wanted to get a better view of his performance so I made my way to the front which was a bad idea. As I made my way to the front of the concert the entire crowd is just moving side to side almost like a wave and some people started to get aggravated which caused a couple of fights. I seen multiple females getting clobbered and stomped on the floor with out anyone noticing because it was dark, people were drunk, and there were just too many people. Despite the chaos in the crowd, it was a great concert which made me even more of a fan of him.