MattScott9

Team Proccessing

2008-08-30T04:45:00Z

Greetings Everyone! Well the long road to beijing is coming to an end and we will soon meet our destination. Today I arrived at team proccessing at the olympic training center in Colorado Springs, and it was awesome! Today was fairly busy with all of the fitting for official apparel, gathering credentials, plus training as a team. It has been non stop all day, and I do mean ALL day. My flight was at 5:00 am this morning having to be there in time for security checks and factoring that I live an hour from the airport It has been an extremely long day. The excitement and anticipation has provided me the energy to get through it without a complaint. I am enjoying my experience so far and patiently awaiting our departure tommorrow. What I have been working so hard for has finnally come and this is the time to show the world how hard our basketball team has been working and also show our dedication. The three letters on the front of our jerseys give us all the proper motivation to go out and give it our all. Once I arrive at the athlete village I will give you all an update. Keep us in your thoughts! GO USA

Golden Preperation

2008-08-19T21:54:00Z

Greetings Everyone! It is awesome to see how dedicated each of my teammates are. I mean sure, it takes an awful lot of dedication just to make it to the paralympic level, but we are really showing are hunger for gold right now. With this being the national team we have guys from all over the country. We have things that we our mandated to do. Mandatory training camps and such. We all decided to get together and train the week before we leave for beijing not because one of the coaches blew a whistle and told us to do so, not because it was a mandatory thing we had to do, we are together this week for no other reason but to prepare each other for the paralympics as well as we can. Some of the guys trickled in yesterday for a 2 hour scrimmage session. the rest arrived later, and were all ready for an early workout this morning. I believe that our preperation to this point has been fantastic, but the training that will get this week will make us one of the most prepared teams in the tournament. Each one of us wants to perform well for the next guy, and we have a very unselfish mentality on the squad. Our chemistry on and off the court makes this team not only an honor but a joy to be on. After getting together for about 6 hours of ball today. We're all heading out for some grub at damons, and spending some time together. This a great group of guys! Tommorrow morning we will get started again bright and early. Our focus is high and we have a strong determination. We are all proud to represent our country in the game we love, and we will play our hearts out in beijing. Until then preperation will be golden! Go USA

12 days and counting...

2008-08-17T16:17:00Z

Greetings Everyone! In less than two weeks all the paralympic athletes traveling to beijing will head to colorado springs for team proccessing. This is where we recieve a majority of our team USA apparel, fitted for rings, and all come to the realization that we are almost there. As far as training right now it is going well. I'm still lifting three times but more of a maintaining lift that I'm familiar with and nothing intense or too heavy. I have increased shot volume, and am taking more shots per day with an emphasis on freethrows. This is not the time to over do it and risk injury. I am a firm believer that gold medals are won far before the day they are given out. The hard work individually I have put in all summer has been intense and I am very happy with where I am physically. As a team I am encouraged with our growth all summer. We have all gone above and beyond in our training and are really excited to go show the world how hard we have been working. We have had scheduled training camps that have been very benefitial, but a great example of the above and beyond I refered to earlier is all of the team is getting together this week and train all week together. This shows the hunger we all have for that gold medal. With all of us being so spread out across the country it shows remarkable dedication and this is a great oppurtunity to become even more familiar with each other before the games begin. This team is determined and hope to have a good showing in beijing. I will keep you all updated. Go USA!

Final training camp

2008-08-09T13:07:00Z

Greetings Everyone! With Beijing rapidly approaching it is important for us as a team to fine tune, and make sure we are fully prepared. Training is going well. We started our two a day training yesterday, and followed it up with a banquet highlighting the olympic opening ceremonies. What an amazing show that was! I watched in awe, and had goosebumps after realizing how close we are to being there. The great thing about the team is that we have had an amazingly successful summer; however we still realize that nothing has been accomplished until we reach our goal, a gold medal. All of the tournaments played this summer have proved to be great competition and realisticly winning every one of them is a huge accomplishment. The canadian team that we have beaten in the last two final games is always considered the favorite in any game they play. They are the reigning paralympic gold medalists and most teams have to play a near perfect game to even come close to them. Beating that team the l;ast 4 out of 5 has proved to be an amazing source of momentum and confidence we need to roll into beijing at our best, but in the main scheme of things those wins mean nothing if we come up short when it counts. Each team there has the ability to play the game at a high level and the minute you overlook an opponent could be the minute that decides your defeat. All of our focus is high, and although we are a confident team we still are humbled by the fact we do not have the hardware we want yet. Gold is the goal, and I will keep you all updated on my progress.

Eager for Beijing

2008-08-01T18:19:00Z

Greetings Everyone! 35 days left until Beijing and it is coming fast. Training has been going well, especially with the added luxury of so many of my US teammates in close proximity to train with. We are preparing for our final training camp before the big departure. This thursday I will leave for birmingham Alabama for a weekend long camp that will ultimately give us time to fine tune all the little things and strengthen our weaknesses. Although I am very excited about Beijing, Once I am there it is strictly bussiness. As one of the veterans on the team it is important for me to set an example of keeping our focus the entire competition. There can be alot of distractions at a big event such as the paralympics and the stakes are alot higher than any other this current team has faced. With that being said the message has been clear all summer that we are going to Beijing with one goal, a gold medal. The target on our backs is alot larger than it was to begin the summer and every team will be out to defeat the U.S. We have had an extremely productive and successful summer thus far, but we are all aware that every team in the tournament is capable of great things and will not overlook any opponent. There are alot of talented veteran teams and those are the obvious ones to look out for; however some of the youthful squads with a nothing to lose mentality are sometimes dangerous because they are unpredictable and youre not quite sure what they are capable of. Either way our team has stuck together and have a strong bond both on and off the court. Its easy to go out and give it your all for good teammates, but even easier to compete with your brothers. Beijing is coming fast. I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

Roosevelt cup/ more about the espys

2008-07-22T00:39:00Z

Greetings Everyone! I am having big trouble putting my pictures on the site. It's saying the files are too big... any tips? If anyone has facebook and would like to check them out I have them posted. Words can only express so much about the entire experience and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. So I flew into Atlanta last sunday afternoon took a short drive to warm springs and trained all day with the team monday during our 3 a day sessions. I then took off for Atlanta early tuesday hopped on the flight to LA and had the time of my life. Thursday morning I jumped back to reality and headed back for the tournament which began wednesday. When I returned the team had three games completed and won them all, including a huge win against the canadians. Friday we played sweden for first place in pool play and won that game convincingly. Saturday was the semifinal against a young japanese team that was eager to take down the US. Each game we've won this summer has made the target on our backs larger and larger and all the teams want a shot so we are getting really good resistance and great preperation for beijing. We beat Japan and set up a rematch against the Canadians in the final. Having beat them two games in a row they came out strong and ready to prove that they were the better team. They are the defending paralympic gold medalists and wanted to make that perfectly clear in this final. After a great game the U.S ended the game on top 70-63. That was our last tournament before beijing and an important win. Our momentum will carry over to the paralympics and we have high hopes. You will all be updated on our progress. Go USA!

ESPY Awards

2008-07-21T15:47:00Z

Greetings Everyone! WOW! What a phenomenal experience. I Jumped on a plane to L.A. tuesday morning from my training camp in georgia, and from the moment I landed I was in paradise. There was a driver there to pick me up, took me to an amazing hotel and I was amongst not only great athletes, but some of the biggest hollywood stars. The award show was amazing, but all of the parties and social events for the athletes and other celebs was my favorite part. I met some incredible people and didnt meet a single person that showed me disrespect. In fact just the opposite. They all showed me alot of respect and were awesome to hang out with. I have some pics I will put up on my profile for you all to check out. Oh I almost forgot... I didnt win; however it was a victory just being there. I had the time of my life. Being treated as one of the A listers that were there was incredible. Being able to meet people you see on TV on a regular basis was surreal. The fact that they were all so down to earth and easy going was even more amazing. I will remember this experience for the rest of my life. Winning would of been great, but I have no bitter feelings about it at all. I'm sure whoever won was qualified and I wish him the best. I will continue intense training and hopefully land myself in the same position next year. I will update you all on the roosevelt cup later today.

Thanks!

2008-07-13T14:51:00Z

Greetings Everyone! I take off for warm springs, Georgia in just a few hours for the roosevelt cup. This will be our last competition as a team until beijing. We have more training camps scheduled but nothing involving other teams. I am extremely excited for this, and hope to gain more knowledge about our competition and also ourselves. We will train from tonight to wednesday. Games will go on from weds. through sunday. I will be leaving warm springs for LA on tuesday morning for the ESPY's. This will be an amazing trip! Being amongst some of the greatest athletes in the world is the ultimate compliment. I will be there from tuesday through thursday afternoon then return back with the team and continue the tournament. This was a tough decsion to miss games or attend the awards but the entire team encouraged me to be there and made the decision much easier. I will post pictures from the espys and keep you all updated on the outcome. I want to thank disaboom and everyone who voted. you support is amazing, and i'm so glad to have you all on my side. I will also keep you informed about the tournament. Thanks again! GO USA!

Roosevelt Cup Preparation

2008-07-07T03:16:00Z

Greetings Everyone! With a week left to prepare for Warm Springs I will kick my training up a notch. We will face some solid competition who will all be contenders for the gold in Bejing. The most important match of the Roosevelt cup with be our rematch against a hungry Canadian team who will be out to avenge their last defeat against us in the North American Cup. We have had an extremely successful summer and have learned a lot about each other as a team both on and off the court which has helped our success. We have also gained critical knowledge about some of our major competition that we will face in Bejing. I am potentially missing our opening two games of the tournament due to schedule conflict with the ESPY'S; however, the team is showing nothing but support and are hoping for my success. Right after the awards I will return to the team in hopes to use the momentum that we have built to this point for another successful tournament. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. I took some time to go to Michigan to visit with my family who I haven't seen since the holidays. It was great to see them even if for a short time. Tomorrow I will get back to my regular workout routine but increasing shooting reps and spending extra time in my competition chair, also spending a significant amount of time in the weight room. The Roosevelt Cup will be our last major competition before the Paralympics and we will use each game to learn more about each other and establish a strong sense of where we are going into Bejing. I will keep everyone posted on Roosevelt results and also the outcome at the ESPY'S. Wish me luck! GO USA!!

Espy Nomination

2008-07-04T05:16:00Z

Greetings Everyone! As most of you know I was featured in the Nike no excuse ad this winter, and that was an incredible experience! Being recognized on such a large stage by a world renowned company was dream come true. Just as I thought I was awakening from that dream I recieved the news that I was being nominated for an espy award. This is ESPN's way to recognize the best of the best and to be considered as one of the best is such an honor. The winner in each category is decided by fan vote, and I could really use all of your help. Click the following link http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/specialsection/espys2008/#/voting/ to vote. The category is best male athlete with a disability. Being a member of the disaboom community has been great because I have gotten the support of so many of you throughout my experiences. Your support means so much, and your votes will make a huge difference! dont be afraid to spread the word. I am honored to be nominated, and hope to win the award. Winning the award or not your support is greatly appreciated! Votes are being taken through july 12th. Wish me luck and I will keep you updated with how it turns out. Thank you so much for the amazing support!

And the winner is... take 2

2008-06-23T16:54:00Z

Greetings everyone! Sunday morning began with a brief team meeting and video session of the previous loss to canada. The team along with the coaching staff identified some areas that hurt us down the stretch of the game. Also some areas in which we could take advantage of their team. The first games approach was a pumped up RA RA RA kind of game which proved to lack composure on our end. So as we all took the court and went out for warm ups and team introductions you saw a focus in everyones eyes. We appeared to be a determined team on a mission to take the game right from the beginning. Well appearance can sometimes be decieving. The jump ball was tossed up and before you could blink The USA was down 11-0. Coach called a timeout to rally in the troops and stop the bleeding so to speak. His message truly hit home and we hit the canadians with a 12-0 run. The momentum shifted throughout the entire first half and the canadians stormed back to put themselves up six points at half. The second half was just as intense. Both teams made half time adjustments and provided quite the show for the packed alabama gym. We had a very strong third quarter and although we won the quarter we were still down four going into the 4th quarter. A clutch performance in the fourth put the USA in a winnning position and we took the victory. It was an amazing game! The two top teams in the world battling for momentum going into Beijing. No Paralympic gold medals were awarded that day, but our team learned alot about our opponents and more importantly we learned alot about ourselves. We will see that same canadian team at the roosevelt cup in three weeks. I will keep you all posted. GO USA!

North american cup update

2008-06-22T03:58:00Z

Greetings everyone! after the first win against the brits we went into the aussie game with alot of momentum. This momentum was key because this very physical australian team came to play. The first half went back and forth both teams struggling to get control of the games tempo. After two quaters the game was tied. At half time we figured out some weaknesses in their lineups and also found out ways to put each other in successful situations. The second half belonged to the USA and we rolled to an easy victory. Day two began with a highly anticipated matchup against the canadians. With both teams undefeated up to that point everyone was eager to see which of the powerhouses would prevail. We came out fired up jumping out to a nice lead in the first quarter. The seond quarter the canadians fought back and brought it within three to end the half. We threw a big punch in the third quarter and brought the lead to double digits; however this veteran canadian team took our punch and countered it with one of their own. Hitting some huge shots down the stretch the canadians went on to defeat us. This setup a rematch against the aussies except the stakes were higher. The winner between USA and australia takes on the winner of Great britain and canada. A more determined Australian team stepped out on the floor against us. Even after taking the loss against canada earlier that day we did a tremendous job not showing weakness. This game bounced back and forth until the final quarter where we established a solid lead and never let it go. Tommorrow morning is the final between th USA and Canada. It will be an amazing game. Both teams knowing the other so well and having played earlier in the tournament it will be something to see. I will keep you all posted on the outcome. Keep us in your thoughts. GO USA!

Day 1 at the North American Cup

2008-06-20T18:09:00Z

Greetings everyone! After three days of intense training together as a team game day is upon us. We have made huge strides in the short training camp and did so during 3 a days (three training session a day). Its been incredible having the entire team together working towards our goal and started the tournament off this morning with the highly anticipated rematch against the brits. What a great start to the weekend! After defeating them on their home floor in manchester by one point a few short weeks ago, our team recharged our batteries and produced a win with a 33 point defecit. We are all extremely happy with the results but are not settling. We will see that team again this weekend, and they will have alot more determination and will try to seek revenge. Our next game will be tonight against the aussies. I Will keep you all updated as the weekend unfolds. GO USA!!

bama here we come

2008-06-15T19:20:00Z

Greetings everyone! Tommorrow I take off for the North american cup. What an exciting tournament this is going to be. The four teams competing are all gold medal caliber teams. This tournament is going to gauge our readiness for beijing so I am hoping we do well. My preperation up until this point has been going really well. I feel like I am making more and more progress to the top of my game each day. I know that each of my teammates are also working very hard and noone on the team wants to let the next guy down. Each of the twelve players know that we have a goal of winning the gold medal and we are all taking the proper steps to attain that goal. The games this weekend will certainly reveal alot about our team; however It is not the paralympics and the outcome of these games do not win anyone a gold medal in beijing. With that being said if we were to win every game this week we still know that we need to take care of bussiness and continue to work hard. If we were to lose every game we would identify our weaknesses and fix them up before beijing either way this tournament will teach us alot. I am really excited about it and will keep everyone updated with results throughout the week. wish us luck

results from the 3 on 3

2008-06-08T18:36:00Z

Greetings everyone! what an exciting weekend of basketball. I had such a blast. There was a great turnout of both athletes and spectators to watch the amazing event. Overall it was an awesome event to be apart of. My team went undefeated throughout pool play. The semi finals began the next day and we were the only undefeated team until that point. In a barn burner we pulled out another victory to put ourselves into the finals. the heavily favorited team was made up of Joeseph chambers, Jason nelms two usa athletes who will compete with me in beijing, and tim caldwell. My team consisted of Josh rucker, an up and coming player who is fairly new to the sport but very fiesty and jesus. I dont want to attempt his last name becuase Im sure I would butcher it. So like prince or cher he will remain jesus. The first team to score 21 points wins the game. anything inside the three point line counts as 1 point three's counted as 2 points, and you must win by two. It was extremely intense! the game went basket for basket and with the game tied at 20 a piece jason nelms knocked down a two point basket from down town. It was an amazing finish to a good game. It was awesome for the fans to see. Even though I did not come out victoriously it was a fun time. Not a total loss I was the winner of the three point shootout. Winner of that gets a pair of top of the line spinergy wheels for their basketball chair. Grand prize for the 3 on 3 was 1,000 $ second place was 700 $ and third 500 $. I'm back home now, and will rest for the remainder of the day. Tommorrow I get back into training, and leave for the north american cup next week. I'll keep you all posted.