Your car or your body. Which do you maintain better?

I recently had the oil changed in the van that we use to tour in.  Our mechanic rotated the tires and checked the fluids.  I also got the van washed later that day.  I was reminded of a conversation I had with the fellas about maintenance.  

We had just finished a show where one of the performers tweaked his hamstring and I really wanted to stress the importance of making sure that we were taking care of our bodies.  I stressed the importance of strength, flexibility and conditioning.

We put a lot of miles on our touring van and as a result it requires more maintenance and more frequent maintenance than if we only occasionally drove it around the city.  The same is true of our bodies.  If all we did was occasionally challenge ourselves physically, we would not have to pay too much attention to our strength, flexibility or conditioning.

When I worked with the Houston Rockets, I had access to the weight room, the team trainer and the team doctor.  At one point, there was even a part-time team massage therapist which I too was able to make appointments with.

Now that I am not with an NBA team, I provide these necessities for myself.  I am not one to splurge on much of anything but when it comes to the three most important tools that I possess (my mind, body and spirit), I go out of my way to continually invest in their well being.  When it comes to my body, I have a membership to both 24 hour Fitness and Bally's, an investment that allows me to go to any of their locations nationwide.  The good thing about this investment is that because of the work that I do it is a business expense and can be a tax write off.  Fortunately many of the hotels we stay in have some sort of fitness room even if it is just a stationary bike.  It is definitely not necessary to go to a gym to maintain one's physical fitness - there are all kinds of things one can do with ones own body weight to stay fit.  

I also make what I think are wise investments when it comes to what I eat/drink on a consistent basis.

Going back to the van analogy, when we get our oil changed our local mechanic always makes sure to check our fluids.  He knows that we travel around the country and put a lot of miles on the engine and as our van's "doctor", he is vigilant about making sure he does his job to keep us rolling.

Sometimes I think he is more vigilant about maintaining our van than we are about maintaining our bodies.  Take fluids and nutrition for instance.  We had a teammate years ago that broke his femur.  Now understand that your femur is the largest bone in your body - it's your thigh bone.  He was barely 21 and appeared to be in amazing shape, yet he broke his femur.  Turns out he couldn't remember the last time he ate anything green, had a glass of milk or drank water.  He was basically living on Church's chicken and Coke (the soda).  

Our muscles and tendons and joints need lubrication and our bones and organs and "engine" need fuel.  Unless we are consuming what they need, they are not going to get it and will soon break down.  I cannot stress enough the importance water plays in the effective functioning of our bodies.  Water carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, regulates body temperature, lessens the burden on the kidneys and the liver, helps dissolve minerals and nutrients to make them accessible to the body amongst other things.  The human body on average is made up of 70% water and dehydration is the result of too little water intake.

How water benefits the human body

  

  

Study after study shows that fruits and vegetables are the key to health and wellness.  It is for this reason that I make it a habit to have a banana or apple not too far away.  Another easy way to include vegetables is eating at Subway and for fruit I carry a small cooler when we travel.  Eating well on the road can be very inconvenient but not impossible.  This is no Subway commercial but think about it: Most Subways have tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, onions, bell peppers, cucumbers, black olives, jalapenos and banana peppers and you can get them all with your sandwich at no extra cost.  Why not get them all.  Think of it in terms of your car:  I know this is ridiculous but, let's say your car told you one day it didn't like oil or transmission fluid - the taste just didn't agree with it and it preferred Vodka and Red Bull instead.  Would you stop putting oil and transmission fluid in.  No, you would tell your car to deal with it because you know in order to run effectively it NEEDS oil and transmission fluid regardless of how bad it might taste.  So you feed it to your car anyway and hope it doesn't get revenge by refusing to play it's radio or refusing to roll down the window when you press the button.

Why would we maintain our vehicles better than we maintain ourselves?  I encourage you to feed yourself the things you NEED even if you don't like the taste of them, OR find tastier ways to get them into your system.  Don't be like the 5 year old that wants soda with every meal and refuses to eat his vegetables - that 5 year old doesn't know any better, WE DO!  

Don't be fooled by thinking that because you take vitamins, you are getting what you need.  That multi-vitamin you are taking may be doing more harm than good.  Check out this article and tell me what you think about vitamin supplements.  Not all supplementation has the potential to be harmful.  As diligent as I may be, I do not eat enough fruits and vegetables on a daily basis so I bridge that gap by taking a whole food based nutritional product.  Keep in mind that if you are an athlete, act like it and consume nutrition like it.  Be Great!

GT

GT the Entertainer

                                                                                          

Not too many performers in the acrobatic slam dunk game bring to the table what GT brings to the table.  But before I get into all of that. let me begin by stating the thing that allows GT to deliver what he delivers is he is simply a smart guy.  

Not only in the sense of being able to identify logical patterns which is a big part of intellect but he has the ability to also identify emotional patterns and connect them.  He has a lightning fast ability to see connections and coherently express them at will.  Combined with his penchant for telling it like he sees it, he has the gift of being funny.

His contributions to ACRODUNK are many and varied.  From graphic design to video editing and from show elements that have become iconic to just day to day team entertainment - GT has altered the trajectory of ACRODUNK for sure.

However small or large the impact might be, every member of a team leaves his/her mark.  Sometimes the impact is long-lasting and even permanent.  It is great to witness when a teammate comes to the table and takes what is already effective and powerful and makes it better.  GT has done that very thing with many aspects of our shows.      

Every great team relies on teammates that have deep reservoirs of ability and ACRODUNK has been fortunate to have many.  In recent years it has been GT’s connections that have helped populate our teams with awesome talent.  It is his gift as an entertainer that helps us be more than just a dunk team.  His gift as computer wiz that has aided our marketing, web and social media presence.  His gift of commitment that has saved many a dunk from disaster (you might have to watch the following clip twice to notice the role GT plays to make this dunk happen.  By the way, the graphic with the cool swirling ACRODUNK logo with fire and smoke at the end of the vid is GT’s work).

It was during GT’s first season with ACRODUNK, that his potential to become an effective teammate became apparent.  It was quite a busy season which we kicked off with about 90 shows over the course of 6 weeks.  G-Man got hurt just before Thanksgiving and with GT’s help we were able to get another dunker, Timothy Muscarella up and running to finish that leg of the tour.  Later as the 2nd half of the season was gearing up, another talented entertainer Anthony Grant was brought into the ACRODUNK family through GT’s connections.  (Tae Crawford and Matthew Marzo later joined our ranks thanks to GT's influence).

We went on to end that season with 2 veterans suffering major injuries and a changing roster from month to month and GT was the constant throughout it all - not without his own aches/pains and challenges.  He ended up performing in every show the core team had that season and began to find his voice as the funny man on the team.  

His catch-phrase “Stir at it!” became what was remembered most by audience members at schools across the country.  Being cool & funny is hard to pull off but because of his varied talents - dance, tumbling, dunking, humor - GT was able to win fans over nationwide.

GT’s confidence is admirable - I have enjoyed seeing the risks that he’s taken and the results that risk taking has produced.   Often times a challenge/opportunity will present itself and GT will profess his ability to handle it.  Whether he possesses the ability at the time is a minor detail because in most instances by the time the work needs to be delivered he will have figured out how to do it.

As we develop our stage show, GT’s talents as a DJ have been incorporated into the mix.  From our stint on America’s Got Talent to the shows we’ll create in the future. his role of helping create memorable shows continues.

Thanks GT for your contributions.  Although pint sized, you have gallons of talent and ability and ACRODUNK is all the better for it.

GREGORY L. MUELLER

Mueller at 2011 Univ. S. Carolina performance

ACRODUNK would not be what it is if not for the contribution of the performers who have blessed us with their giftedness.  Gregory Mueller is one of many who have made a particular mark.  As I think about the progress we’ve made, the challenges we’ve overcome and the future that lies ahead of us - I am reminded of how strong we are because of Greg being on our team.

His maturity, professionalism and presentation skills are just the beginning of the depth of his abilities.  As an MC, he is polished, knowledgeable, professional and thorough.  He is able to develop rapport with all the various audiences we perform for from 1st graders at elementary schools to families gathered at festivals and fairs to millions of viewers watching us on TV.

More than all of his other skills and abilities, the core of Greg’s effectiveness is that he is a problem solver.

He quickly considers the tools we need,  the skills we need and the people we should call.  He has the uncanny ability to quickly see a variety of options and assess their viability in light of the objective we want to achieve.  Because he understands what ACRODUNK is about, he is also quickly able to consider and then discard those options that would compromise our integrity and go against what we stand for.  

As an acrobatic dunker, Mueller is a double through the legs master.  His signature ability is that he can finish any pass with a double through the legs dunk.  Any pass!  As a non gymnast, Mueller had to go way out of his comfort zone to learn how to flip dunk.  Over the years and 1000’s of shows later, he can pretty much flip dunk blind folded and clutch-dunk solo and off the pass.

There is a certain level of comfort that comes from having teammates that know what the hell they are doing and will pick up the slack when necessary.  Mueller is one of the few players in the game that can do it all.  Having provided leadership over the course of many hundreds of shows, he has experienced a multitude of challenges that give him a breadth and scope of experience unmatched by others in the game.

There are students enrolled in college right now because they were inspired by Greg Mueller.  There are young people pursuing their dreams right now because they were convinced that they matter by Greg Mueller.  There are dudes in the acrobatic dunk game who have taken their skills to a higher level because they were taking notes from Greg Mueller.

Not to discount any of our other teammates who all bring something special to the table, I have often thought how much greater our team would be if we had a few more Greg Muellers in the mix.  Greg, thank you for being the amazingly committed teammate that you have been over the years.  ACRODUNK and I appreciate you!

Check out the video below with Mueller heading the effort to make a difference in the lives of a local Houston Family.  As we were preparing to set a world record, our biggest challenge was what to do with the basketballs after we dunked them so we wouldn't land on them.  His suggestion to create a chute of some kind to carry the balls out of the performance area is what ultimately led to the ingenious solution we ended up using.

The Michael Jordan of Acrodunking

I read an article recently that referred to me, Jerry Burrell, as the Michael Jordan of Acrodunking. (http://www.peterrobertcasey.com/2008_12_01_archive.html look at the December 8, 2008 posting) At first I thought, “Wow, that’s cool that someone appreciates what I do/have done enough to be generous with their praise.” Then as I thought about it, i began to see that this person’s opinion has some merit.

If you’re sensitve about these issues - this is where you begin to seethe and think “how dare he compare himself to Michael Jordan”, but if you will just walk with me maybe you will see that I did not make the comparison, I am just providing info to support it and maybe you will see the comparison without the emotion that currently has you bent out of shape.

Michael Jordan is one of many basketball players good enough to make it to the NBA and make a name for himself. He joined a sport that had been around for a while and took things to a higher level. He not only made a name for himself, he transformed himself over the years and in some ways transformed the game and those around him. I am one of a handful of athletes good enough to make it to the NBA mascot world that included a form of entertainment that had been around for a while and make a name for myself and in some ways transformed the game of NBA mascot dunking and those around me.

It goes without saying that with the help from Nike and his teammates, Michael Jordan became a household name and many would say he is the best to have ever played the game. He did things no one else did at the time but that many are doing now. He was relentless in his determination to win and this drove him to make things happen by any means necessary. People around him almost out of necessity became better players just to keep up.

He was not just an excellent individual player, he inspired those on his team to strive for excellence. He set the example for the kind of work that was necessary to be great. Physically he was gifted, but I will suggest that it was his mental acuity that led to his greatness. His attitude, his focus, his determination and his desire to win.

I am not an avid NBA fan but I know enough about Michael Jordan to know that it was his attitude, his work ethic and his passion for the game that made him who he was.

Back to the comparison.

Those who know me, know that I rarely toot my own horn. I will talk about ACRODUNK all day long and how awesome the team is but I rarely focus on my achievements. I let the videos, articles and others do the talking for me. Having said that, bear with me as the horn toots.

Prior to 1993, acrobatic slam dunk performers were not dunking from the free throw line. Very few ball transfers were being done and dunking without the trampoline by an NBA mascot was unheard of. From 1992 when I started dunking to 1995 when the Rockets won their second NBA Championship and I was dunking as TURBO, more innovations were introduced to the world of solo acrobatic slam dunking than the entire decade after that.

That is a bold statement, but I challenge anyone to refute it with facts, not opinion.

See the following:

http://www.youtube.com/acrodunktv#p/u/26/xNry33J0KiI

http://www.youtube.com/acrodunktv#p/u/23/csLv1F87iic

http://www.youtube.com/acrodunktv#p/u/25/UOh9CnAaTSE

http://www.youtube.com/acrodunktv#p/u/24/mefN222fl6U

http://www.youtube.com/acrodunktv#p/u/17/mLAx-VKGfSs

http://www.youtube.com/acrodunktv#p/u/21/zmf0MOgb36Y

Here is the partial list of acrobatic slam dunk innovations that were introduced during that 3 year span:

-Dunking from the free throw line and beyond

-Dunking from 1 mini trampoline to another mini trampoline (not double-mini)

-Flip dunking from 1 mini-trampoline to another mini-trampoline

-Flipping from the floor onto the mini trampoline into flip dunks

-Double transfers (Double thru the legs, around the back thru the legs, etc)

-Front flips with transfers (Front flip thru the legs, front flip double thru the legs)

-Roller blade dunks off ramp with transfers and alley oops

-Front flip dunks on roller blades off ramp

-Rappel dunks from the rafters

-Swinging rappel dunks from the rafters

-Two ball front flip dunks

-Two ball 360 dunks

-Layout and pike front flip dunks

-Back flip dunks off the backboard

-Back flip dunks off 16 foot ladder

-Front flip dunks through 12 x 8 ft paper banners

-Front flip dunks through banners with the basketball on the blind side of the banner

-Two-man dunk shows as part of mascot performance

-Creation of the blueprint for NBA dunk teams

-Front flip dunk over 10 ft. ladder

Many of these innovations that were introduced 15-17 years ago are still being done by acrobatic slam dunkers today and some are still refreshing to see.

With the founding of our acrobatic slam dunk team, the High “Impact” Squad in 1994 and later ACRODUNK, even more innovations to team acrobatic slam dunking were introduced. Team TURBO, the Houston Rockets Dunk Team (1996-2003) populated by members of the High “Impact” Squad is the reason there are so many NBA branded Dunk teams around the league.

Acrobatic slam dunkers around the world were studying whatever footage they could get their hands on of TURBO and the High “Impact” Squad.

This was pre-youtube, so it was “hard to get” footage. But it was out there and those who really wanted it were finding it.

I think the main point of comparison between myself and Michael Jordan is that in his game, he was doing things nobody else could come close to doing at the time and he was executing them on a consistent basis in pressure situations LIVE in front of audiences. There are players now that strive to stake their claim like Michael Jordan staked his. Michael Jordan in some ways changed the game of basketball and redefined what was possible.

I believe it is fair to say that in the acrobatic slam dunk game, WE did things nobody else could come close to doing at the time and WE did them season in and season out. There are acrobatic slam dunkers that now strive to stake their claim like WE staked ours. We changed the acrobatic slam dunk game and redefined what is possible.

See how I switched to WE. I was the person on the court performing the amazing but it was all the help off the court that made it possible. Guys like Winn Molnari, Eli Akin, Scott Budge, Kenny Smith, Bill Baptiste, John Leach and later the original members of the High “Impact” Squad - Sadiki Fuller, Keith Brown and Byron Thomas. Of course, I was inspired by Ty Cobb, the creator of acrobatic slam dunking, and his team of Daredevils. There are a couple of other “pioneers” that inspired me like Bob Woolf who made a name for the Phoenix Suns Gorilla and Mike Zerillo who put Super HUGO on the map for the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets. Both of these guys were teammates of mine at Arizona State University and they blazed trails that I was able to walk into.

Since the words ACRODUNKING, ACRODUNK and ACRODUNKER were coined by me, if there is a Michael Jordan of ACRODUNKING, why not me - the guy that not only changed the game but also coined the word.

So if someone thinks I could be the Michael Jordan of Acrodunking, who am I to argue against it. From this point forward, I embrace it.

I wonder if Michael Jordan gets told that he is the Jerry Burrell of basketball ; )

What do you think?

BE GREAT!

Can A Non-Gymnast Become an Acrobatic Slam Dunker

From time to time I get asked if a person has to be a gymnast to become an acrobatic slam dunker. Since I flipped out of the womb and have been flipping ever since, this question initially caused me to step outside of myself and consider the possibilities.

I now know without even thinking about it - NO! Being a gymnast is NOT a prerequisite for being a trampoline dunker. Having gymnastics training certainly helps to shorten the learning curve but I have determined that one just needs to be athletic and have desire.

I am reminded, as I think about some of the performers that have come through the ACRODUNK system, that physical ability is a necessity but heart and desire is what takes a guy from just being able to do dunk shows to being able to WOW!

Eli Akin, Gregory Mueller, and Alain Anderson were not gymnasts but became crowd pleasing extreme dunkers. The common denominators for each of these guys is physical ability and a passion for entertaining. Each of them had different learning curves but all of them were able to include a front flip dunk in their repertoire. One or more of them have mastered the “afro” pass (front flip off the glass), the barani pass, or the clutch dunk (front flip through the leg) which all require an acrobatic mindset.

My training began in the backyard. I flipped off fences and tree stumps and roofs before I ever set foot in a gymnastics gym. It was for the love of the jump that I flipped almost as much as I walked or ran. Keith Brown was a gifted gymnast who trained at Houston’s Gymnast Factory and benefitted from the expertise of Keven Mazeika (2008 USA Men’s Gymnastics Team Heach Coach). Keith was one of the first guys I approached to be a part of our team. It turned out that he had a friend, Sadiki Fuller, who was more of a backyard gymnast that also liked the idea of being a part of an acrobatic slam dunk team. Both of these guys were definitely gymnasts but the first guy to ever perform with me as part of our team was Eli Akin, a basketball player and definitely a non-gymnast.

The first 5 touring performers for our team consisted of me, a backyard gymnast that got classical gymnastics training, Eli Akin - a 6 foot plus basketball player that had to develop his ability to flip, Keith Brown - a classically trained gymnast with mad skills, who could also play basketball, Sadiki Fuller- a 6 foot plus backyard tumbler that could play basketball and got most of his gymnastics training in public school classes, and Byron Thomas - a pure athlete who was also a backyard tumbler that could do anything athletic from basketball to football, track to baseball, soccer to fencing, badminton to chess - whatever. (I’m only exaggerating a tiny bit)

More than athletic ability, these guys all had a deep down desire to entertain, to get air, to wow audiences to “blow them away” we used to say. Other than myself and Keith, the level of elite or classical gymnastics training was pretty shallow.

As more classically trained gymnasts auditioned to be dunkers for our team (and there have not been many), I noticed that these gymnasts had to unlearn a few things to become more effective as acrobatic slam dunk entertainers.

There is a level of rigidity in classical gymnastics. The “toes pointed, legs straight” thing for some is hard to ditch. I had to unlearn some of this myself but for me it was not a conscious unlearning. It was that I transitioned to a smoother, more fluid and cooler swagger than that of the robotic “salute the judge, do your routine, stick your dismount” style of a classically trained gymnast. I had guys like Eli Akin and a whole league of NBA players that I was taking notes from.

So, you do not have to be a gymnast to be an effective acrobatic slam dunk entertainer. A gymnastics background will definitely shorten your learning curve when it comes to the acrobatic part but even without any gymnastics training, you can learn that.

Over the past 5 years, I have learned some acrobatic skills that I had never done before. I will admit that the foundation built through years of flipping helped me but what truly made it happen, came from the heart. All those non gymnasts out there that have excelled as acrobatic slam dunkers know exactly what I’m talking about.

Check out www.acrodunk.com to see some gymnasts and non-gymnasts as acrobatic slam dunkers.

Be Great!