Singing when you're winning

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

HATE. A feeling of intense or passionate dislike for (someone).

My parents, family members, mentors and friends groom me to persevere; to have tough skin and to be immune to all negativity. They also said that no matter how good or successful one is, you'll never capture the hearts and souls of everyone.

I arrived here in Brunei roughly 15 months ago, excited and in high spirits, ready to turn around the state of basketball here in Brunei and get it back on track, but with that came a cloud of skepticism and also of support. Everybody had something to say about Coach K and even some tried to assassinate my character with outright lies. It was in the words of Mike Tyson "Ludicrous". Even on the blogs it got downright dirty; some even went as far as using racial overtones.

Through it all I kept the morals that was instilled in me as a child and with my dignity and strength. I can refer this back to my grandmother's teachings and upbringing and I would hear her voice telling me to refrain; and not to retaliate or to react, because then I would give the haters and naysayers their day.

The other day I had lunch with one of the sponsors for the national team with a few players. He started teasing the guys as we all were posing for pictures. He said to the guys, "remember how scared you were when coach first started training you all," then said to me, "coach they were so frightened of you that they didn't even want to be caught alone with you unless somebody was there with them". I was so shocked and amazed that they were so afraid of me at first. Read More…. The Brunei Times