I love Basketball... Grabowski

Last updated: 29th October 2008

Grabowski: Supported.... DALLAS MAVERICKS

We all love Basketball. But why?

Well Killester Website has been asking some of the biggest names in the sport/club what makes the beautiful game so great.

This week DART Killester's new Forward Jim Grabowski speaks about his love for the game and reveals what he would do if he owned a Basketball club.

MY EARLIEST MEMORIES OF BASKETBALL...
I actually watched a home video of me recently from my 2nd birthday. My uncle bought me my first basketball goal. I was actually a pretty good shot. And the goal could be lowered so that I could dunk it. So I guess you could say that I was able to dunk at a very early age.

I USED TO GO AND WATCH...
When I was around 5 years old, my family would take me to watch the Division 2 college in my hometown of Bolivar, Missouri. As it would turn out, that is the college team I played on some 15 years later. As far as watching basketball on t.v., I would watch any game that was on. I still remember that I had a school assignment to do as a 7 year old where I was asked to share some of my favorite things. One of the topics was "Favorite T.V." show. Most kids would enjoy watching cartoons or something of that nature. Not me. My favorite show was Sportscenter. I would wake up early so I could catch all of the basketball highlights. As far an NBA teams went, I loved watching Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Now my favorite team is the Dallas Mavericks, which is where I was born.

MY FAVOURITE THING ABOUT GAMEDAY WAS...
I get a certain adrenaline rush from thinking about games that I can't get from doing anything. It isn't a nervous feeling. It's more of a feeling of excitement. This is one thing I will definitely miss once my career is done.

MY FAVOURITE GYM IS...
I would have to say the Southwest Baptist University's gym is my favorite. That is the gym that I played my home college games in. It had a great atmosphere, both from the students and the community. It got very loud in there. Some of my most memorable games took place there. I will always remember Senior Night, where seniors are honored on their last home game. My team won the game that night. It was against our biggest rival in the conference and it clinched the conference regular season championship. So we were able to cut down the nets that night. We finished the season with a home record of 15-0. I couldn't ask for a better way to go out in my college career.

MY FAVOURITE PIECES OF MEMORABILIA ARE...
I won 2 conference championships in my 3 years at SBU. The team received rings for each of those championships. Not just anyone can go and buy those rings. They represent a lot of hard work and some amazing memories.

YOU WOULDN'T KNOW I USED TO ...
Again when I was younger, I would always be shooting hoops by myself in the driveway at my house. I would imagine myself as NBA players. I would actually pass the ball around to myself, and in the process in my mind, I would be passing to other NBA players. I would play a game by myself. And when cars drove by, I would stop playing for a second because I was worried that it could be a scout for another team. I was young, ok? I promise I don't do that now.

IF I OWNED A BASKETBALL CLUB I WOULD ...
I would be exactly like Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. I don't know everything about him, but from the little that I do know, he is very passionate about what he does. He is the Mav's biggest fan. I think it's great to have such an enthusiastic owner.

I LOVE BASKETBALL BECAUSE...
When I was younger, I would say that I love basketball because it is without a doubt the most fun thing that anyone could do. And I still believe that. It is a very fun game. But now that I am older, I must say that I also love basketball because of the opportunities that is has given me. I have been able to travel to places that I would not have otherwise been able to see; for example Ireland. I've met many amazing people from the game of basketball. It, like other sports, is a great tool to teach principles of life such as teamwork, perseverance, hard work, and leadership. I am very thankful to have been blessed by God for the ability to play basketball.