New York Part II

After the tourney we moved to a Hotel in the City by Battery Park. Our trainer, Bob Alejo set us up at a great restaurant called Lukes that he used to frequent pretty much every day back when he worked with his baseball guys in New York. Luigi is a part owner and set us up very nicely. Thank you to both of you.

On Sunday we went to the Yankees game vs. the A's. Pretty good game. Yankees won 2-1 on Giambi's homer in the 7th I think it was. Pretty cool since he was the one that left us the tickets through our trainer Bob's request. Thank you very much Mr. Jason Giambi.

At the conclusion of the game we got the grand tour of the park courtesy of Joe, one of the security guys for the Yankees. Also a good friend of Bob's. We got to go on the field and I took some video footage of it. We also got to go to Monument Park which is just outside of left field and between the two dugouts. Very cool to see many of the greatest baseball players in history memorialized in plaques. When we were walking back Coach Girardi was playing ball with his wife and kids. Didn't want to bother them as it looked they were having some quality family time together. All in all a very good experience and I have thank Joe for taking the time to give us the grand tour.

We took the subway back to our hotel and then caught a cab to the airport. We jumped on a flight to Washington D.C. that night. A bit delayed but got to the Capitol Hilton around midnight.

The next morning I woke up around 6:30 so as to get ready to go to the White House. All the athletes left the hotel around 8am and drove to the East Gate of the White House. We went in and were instructed as to where we would all stand and what would happen. At 10am we filed out of the White House and onto the Rose Garden Lawn to take our places. About a minute later out walks the President. He greets some of the athletes and then speaks for about 15 minutes about Beijing and the Olympics. When he was done he posed for some pictures with the group of us and then shook everyone's hand and asked about what sport we were. It was very cool. He then left and we all filed out to the East Garden figuring we were pretty much done.

To our surprise, a Presidential aid came and told us all that the President would like to see us in the Oval Office. So we all filed into the Oval Office to greet the President. Everyone shook his hand, had a picture taken, and also spent about 30 seconds talking with the President. He asked many of us, including myself, where we graduated from. He gave us a little historical tour of the Oval Office and in particular the President's desk. Cool for me as I had just watched National Treasure II - Book of Secrets on the plane ride to New York. In it they showed the picture of JFK Jr. peeking out of the desk with the President behind him. They also mentioned how FDR had had the door put into the desk in order to hide the fact that he was in a wheelchair. So when President Bush mentioned the history of the desk I fully understood what he was talking about.

Everyone started to file out as we had all had our "moment" with the President. As about 6 of us (including Phil and I) were remaining he began to chat again and ask questions. The 6 of us stopped and continued to chat with the President. Then we continued to file out. I was literally the last person in line and was about to leave the Oval Office when the President stopped me and began to chat again. I looked around the office and the only other person in it was one secret service guy. We talked for about a minute before I left. He asked me about Beijing and the beach volleyball venue and told me how much he was looking forward to coming to the Olympics and watching us all perform on behalf of the United States of America. It was very surreal moment for me. There was no one in there but us two and a secret service man. It was the first time I have ever truly felt a bit awestruck. I think and hope I conducted myself properly. Hate to be on the President's you know what list. :)

That night we had a wonderful dinner at the White House. It was a much larger gathering than the one earlier in the day. Everyone greeted the President and the First Lady and had a picture taken with them. We then sat down for a great meal. Phil and I were at the same table but across the way from one another. At the table was Margaret Bush who is the sister-in-law of President Bush. She was our hostess and a very good hostess she was. Also at the table was the CEO of McDonalds as well as a man from NBC and several people from the USOC. At the conclusion of the meal everyone filed out into the Rose Garden for a short concert. The band was called Seldom Scene and sung a variety of Blue Grass Music. They were a bunch of old coots but they were really really good. One of them must have at least been in his 60's if not in his 70's. I would guess that all of them were in their 50's or late 40's at the youngest. They played 4 songs and then at the request of the President they played a Chuck Berry song for their encore. That ended the night and we filed back to the vans and the hotel.

I have to say that the President was a very cool guy. I think he is really good in small group and one on one conversations. He has that twinkle in his eye and comes across as just another one of the guys so to speak. He made me feel very comfortable when I spoke to him. Of course he is just one of the guys who happens to be the most powerful man in the world. All in all a fantastic visit and one that I would do again if ever invited again.