First Official Visit To Tulsa, Oklahoma

The time of the year has come that I must begin to start thinking about my move to Tulsa Oklahoma. Just recently I made my first trip to Tulsa to meet the staff, workout and unveil the new Shock uniforms. I must say I was nervous about this trip because Im a big city girl and now Im having to go to an extremely small city. I was worried it was going to be like when I landed in Lubbock Texas oh so many years ago. I was expecting to see cows, tumbleweed and just bunches of farm land. Tulsa actually is a very nice city, with limited entertainment. The first person that I met when I arrived at the hotel was my new teammate Marion Jones.

Wow, Marion Jones really is my teammate! What a honor it is to have the World's Fastest Woman(to say the least) playing next to me. On top of the sheer excitement that I was trying to contain, the first thing that she said to me after we introduced ourselves was that she follows my blog! DID YOU HEAR THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUTTA MY MOUTH? MARION JONES FOLLOWS MY BLOG(little old me)!!!! I guess I have some pressure put on these blogs now huh? Ill be sure to say nothing but nice things about her in these blogs! Okay in all seriousness, she's a very nice woman and Im thinking I cant wait to see her on the court.

Well I got my opportunity to see Marion on the court sooner than expected because the coaches called us in for a workout that very next morning. So Alexis, Marion and myself have us a mini workout that morning. For me it was just great to get back on the court after leaving overseas because of an injury. If I must say so myself, for those who have all these negative things to say about the league and even more so about the Tulsa Shock for signing Marion Jones, this woman is an athlete and will prove to each and everyone of her haters that she's not only a track star but also a basketball player. I know that all my teammates will enjoy playing with her, she's a hard worker and has lots of energy! The Tulsa Shock will surprise plenty of people that are overlooking us! Now on to the new leaders of the pack... This staff is no Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn or Cheryl Reeve!

Umm adjusting to the new style of coaching will be difficult for the players that moved in from Detroit. As most of you know, the coaching staff that we had in Detroit was truly one of a kind. I haven't really heard Coach Richardson get after someone but Im sure its nowhere near how Bill was. I think Coach Richardson philosophy will be difficult for a lot of people to handle! I say this because there is a strategy to all the running and trapping! Not only that, the fast paced game will tire us and other teams out, but my motto is nothing in life is suppose to be easy, so all I can say is that Im going to get out there and work hard on my conditioning and endurance so that Im not my teams weakest link. We look to have a great fan base out here in Tulsa!

The people in Tulsa are ready for this new team to come in and bring some excitement. When I say I was only there 2 days and there were tons of people asking if I play for the Shock and telling me they are going to be at the games. I cant wait for the first game to hear these fans get loud and blow the top off of the BOK center. While the fans are trying to blow the top off of the BOK center Ill be starting my process of giving back to the community. I will be getting involved with local youth mentoring programs throughout Tulsa attempting to be a role model that the kids can actually talk to and interact with. I will also try to get them out to the game and try to change their outlook on life! Wish me luck, this is something that I've been wanting to do for a long time and now Im finally putting this thing into action! Im urging everyone to come out and check out the Tulsa Shock because we are going to be exciting!