http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/cs-080728-dwyane-wade-olympics-basketball,0,6235341.story
New-look Wade's behind the scenes look at team
By Dwyane Wade
The Associated Press
7:41 PM CDT, July 28, 2008
LAS VEGAS
Dwyane Wade periodically will take a behind the scenes look at the U.S. men's Olympic team in a first-person diary.
Hey, welcome back to inside the mind of Dwyane Wade. It's time to get real as Monday we head to China to begin our march to the gold medal. I can't wait. I was part of the Olympic team in 2004. It was after my rookie season and myself, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer and LeBron (James) really didn't play much. Being on a losing team and not being able to help much kind of tainted us. But it was great experience.
We've been committed to this team for the last four years, and we have the ultimate team. We have an experienced point guard in Jason (Kidd) who has already won a gold medal. We have the most talented player in the NBA, Kobe Bryant, then we have LeBron, who is right, we are going to win the gold medal. And don't forget big Dwight Howard and one of the best point guards in the world in Chris Paul.
The list goes on and on. ... This is something we've been waiting on for four years. As the slogan says "Amazing Awaits."
Everyone is pulling for us. I ran into Denzel Washington in Vegas and he was talking about the Olympics. You know he's got game.
For those of you who haven't checked out my latest video from Vegas, you're missing my new look. I've cut all my hair off. I've gone bald for the simple fact that I'm focused solely on basketball. I'm not concerning myself with waking up in the morning, brushing my hair trying to look pretty. I'm really focused on playing and bringing home the gold. Also, in China I'm not letting anybody cut my hair. If you're not my barber, it's not happening. The bald look will last me the next 30 days.
My head looks good, but my body feels even better. I've pushed my body past its limits to get ready. Since I had the problems with my knee, I've had to get my quads, my hamstring and everything around my knee stronger to take the pressure off the tendon. Since we left Vegas last month, I've been back in the gym five days a week from 9-2.
I did take some time to team up with Alonzo Mourning for Zo's Summer Groove back in Miami. Our foundations, Alonzo Mourning Charities and Wade's World Foundation, share the same vision. There was no point in competing against each other in the same city. The event has been so successful over the years, and I can continue to learn under him for many years. It was a lot of fun, Queen Latifah did her thing, Chris Tucker performed. I even danced at the All-Star Game we had. Or least tried to do the Wu-Tang dance. I think there is a video clip of it somewhere. But it was for the kids, so it was worth all the jokes.
When I get back with my gold medal, I'm going on an Olympic tour, hitting all the hot cities doing Olympic parties. On Sept. 5-6, in Chicago we're going to hold a similar event to what we just did in Miami. The main thing will be a skating party to curb "Gun Violence." But more to come on that.
The next time you get Inside the Mind of Dwyane Wade I'll be in China putting in more work to bring home the gold.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hey, teammate,
I - yi - yi, try the first peron plural, puh-leeze, and drop the Hemingway simple sentence style - you'll make Heather so proud. Play hard and have fun in The People's Republic.
wildbill sb
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/cs-080809-dwyane-wade-diary,0,2104357.story
chicagotribune.com
Wade, men's team soaking in Olympics
Dwyane Wade periodically will take a behind the scenes look at the U.S. men's Olympic team in a first-person diary
By DWYANE WADE
The Associated Press
5:29 PM CDT, August 9, 2008
BEIJING
Hello, everyone. I'm back for my third episode of "Inside the Mind of Dwyane Wade." The last time I ended in Las Vegas, where we were preparing for our trip to Beijing. There were a few stops along the way, Macau and Shanghai.
We departed around 1 a.m. on Sunday on Cathay Pacific Airlines. It was a great plane that had seats that turned into beds. Well at least 12 of us got those seats! When we got to our seats we all received something to sleep in let's just say I felt like Chris Tucker in "Rush Hour." The flight took about 14 hours so I spent that time sleeping and catching up on DVDs.
We arrived in Macau at about 5 a.m., which by this point was Monday. The hotel that we stayed in was amazing, the Venetian Resort, probably one of the best hotels I've stayed in. It had so many amenities that you never had to leave the property, even the arena we played in was at the hotel. The guests at the hotel were very excited that we were staying there and we constantly got bombarded every where we went, especially walking with LeBron (James) and Kobe (Bryant). Now walking around by myself, maybe five people will rush me. With them, its more like 500! The fans chased us and we chased them just to have fun.
We did a lot of goofy things because we get real silly when we are all together. The first morning LeBron could not sleep so he woke everyone up at about 5:30 a.m. just to have breakfast at Cafe Deko. We weren't happy. By the end of the week we created a trend of having an early team breakfast which allowed us to continue to bond with each other.
By Saturday we were on an early flight to Shanghai. We were only there for four days. We played two games in four days, it was like an NBA season.
We were really tired, but we made it work. We beat Russia by 21 points -- that's when everyone started saying that USA might be beatable. Just because we won by 21 and not 36. The next game we played Australia and we won by nine points but it felt like we lost. We know we didn't play well and everyone started saying that USA really is beatable. These types of games keep us humble and focused on what we need to do.
On Wednesday we headed to Beijing, a moment we have all waited for. The USA women's team took a two hour bus ride and met us in Shanghai so that we could arrive in Beijing together, which was great. Once we got to Beijing we were met by a ton of fans all chanting the same thing: Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!
We're staying at a hotel along with the woman's basketball team, staff and our families. But once we got settled, one of the first things we did as a team was visit the Olympic Village. We wanted to meet and talk to some of our US swimmers, including Michael Phelps and the boxers -- pretty much everyone who represents our country. People are making a big deal about us not staying in the Olympic Village and its important for us to let our fellow athletes know that we support them and want to be part of the full experience with them. So we've already visited the village twice in three days and will continue to go and hang out with athletes from other sports.
Last night was the opening ceremony and it was amazing. This was my second opening ceremony and the feeling did not change -- it's special taking that walk for your country. We had an opportunity to take a picture with George Bush, who was in attendance with his wife and father. He came to greet all of the US teams and took pictures with each team which was real cool. It was great to walk around and wave to the fans, especially those that were carrying USA banners. We had a great sense of pride last night.
Tomorrow we play China and it will be one of the most watched games because they are estimating that it will be over one billion viewers. The game features two of China's favorite teams and two of China's favorite players, Yao (Ming) and Yi (Jianlian). I think it's a great game to start with and will just add to the Olympic excitement.
I'll be back soon with an update from Beijing. Rest assured that we are focused and ready. We're taking it one day at a time -- and one game at a time.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.