Sunday, March 10, 2013

30 Random Facts (Shaun edition)

{A round at Torrey Pines in sunny San Diego}
Nikki did her random facts so I figured I would share some of mine. Here goes nothing...

1. I was born in Pennsylvania, but only lived there for a year before moving to Michigan.

2. I began kindergarten in Massachusetts after moving from Michigan to Cape Cod, and never managed to pick up the Massachusetts accent!

3. Growing up, my favorite sport was baseball.

4. I do not like eggs... onions... peppers...and most fish. (Most likely to the dismay of my parents since they ran many restaurants when I was growing up).

5. I played soccer, basketball and baseball, but concentrated solely on basketball after my sophomore year in high school.

6. I was the only player in the starting five of my AAU team to not receive a Division 1 scholarship offer out of High School. (I'm sure being 6'3" and 160 lbs soaking wet didn't have anything to do with it).

7. I first attended Stonehill College (Division 2) before transferring to Georgia Tech.

8. I don't like coffee, but love coffee ice cream.

9. I am left footed and hit lefty in baseball, but throw and shoot right handed.  I played golf left handed until I was around 13 years old when my Dad switched me over to golfing right handed. Smart guy..this was way before Mickelson's success gave lefties the options available today.

10. My favorite food is Italian, with Mexican coming in a close second.

11. I never liked tomatoes until I moved to France. Now I absolutely love them.

12. When I was a kid my parents had to set an egg timer for me at dinner because I always ate so sloooow. My brother would have to wait until I was finished until he could leave the table. I now understand why he used to beat the crap out of me. And I used to say that I was full, but somehow always found room for dessert.

13. I wanted to play hockey when I was a kid, but my parents quickly introduced me to a basketball.  Not only were they worried about me getting hurt, but I am sure they did not like the sound of 5:30am practice time. Worked out ok.

14. I first learned to drive on a stick. Good thing because there are not many automatic cars here in Europe. Unfortunately for Nikki, she did not know how to drive a stick when she moved to France and therefore, had me as her "teacher".

15. My parents had a restaurant "Whatchamacallits" (like the candy bar) growing up and it was always stocked with boxes and boxes of the candy bar. I secretly knew where they stored them and that may or may not have lead to all the cavities I had.

16. I love playing golf over the summer but hate that I have to wake up so early to beat the heat and humidity of Atlanta.

17. The first time I ever left the US (not including Canada) was when I began my professional career in France. 3 weeks before I left, my agent called me to make sure that I had my passport... and I said " Do I need one?" I had to have it expedited so I could take my flight.

18. I love dogs. I had a golden retriever when I was younger, but we had to get rid of him because he was not getting the attention he needed since we were all too busy. My parents sent him to their friend's house in New Hampshire because they had a "FARM" with a lot of room for him to run around. As I got older I realized what sending a dog to a friend's "FARM" really meant. My parents swear its true still to this day.

19. I am terrified of snakes. Just the thought of them slithering around makes my skin crawl.

20. I sometimes have anxiety when I fly. It gets worse as I get older. Ask Nikki how her hand feels when we hit turbulence!

21. I think I want to do a mini sprint triathlon after I retire from basketball.  I say 'think' because it sounds good in my head right now, but am not sure if I will enjoy the training for it.

22. I am not the leading scorer in the history of my high school. That honor goes to my brother, who may or may not have threatened to beat the shit out of me if I didn't give him the ball those two years we played together.

23. I like to watch a lot of sports on television, even golf. Cut to Nikki sleeping on the couch.

24. My favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption.

25. My favorite actor in comedies in Vince Vaughn. The way he ad-libs and goes off on tangents in Wedding Crashers amazes me. Would love to have a few beers with him. However, I say that, but I once had the opportunity to meet him at a party during the Final Four in St. Louis but was too chicken shit to walk over and talk to him.

26. Early on when Nikki and I were dating, she asked me if I was good at tennis and I may have replied "I'm an athlete, I am good at everything I do" to try to impress her.

27. Contrary to the announcers here in France my last name is not pronounced 'FEIGN' or 'FEN', it is pronounced 'FINE'. And contrary to my coach's multiple inquiries, I am not Jewish, I am Irish Catholic.

28. I am not a good cook, but I do make a mean raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

29. I would like to be a coach or stay involved in basketball in some capacity after my playing days are over.

30. The best decision I ever made was asking Nikki to marry me!

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