I have three weeks to get ready for my mini-camp with the San Antonio Spurs. What does getting ready entail? It means that I have practice twice a day, five days a week, with weights in between. It's not bad at all, though. It's fun getting into shape with Matt Barnes and helping Ryan Anderson get ready for the NBA Draft.

I guess that the only downside of the situation is that I have no television, car, or friends in Sacramento. In a way, you could say that it's worse than being in North Dakota, only because I don't even have my 73-inch TV anymore. Thankfully, I have my laptop and I steal somebody's Internet (thanks "Open Network @home995"). My apartment is one of those pay-by-the-week spots that is furnished, but I have no pots, pans, or dishes. Basically think about spending your first night in a new dorm room with nothing in it. Every night I spend here is like that first night.

All that being said, it has been extremely tough to keep up on the NBA playoffs. Not having a television during the NBA Playoffs is not at all Boom Tho. Even less Boom Tho is not having transportation to go watch the games at a bar. If it weren't for Ball Don't Lie, I'd probably have no idea what was going on.

Skeets wrote about LeBron's mother getting out of her chair, which I didn't think was so crazy. My mom would probably do the same thing. My mom has been on the brink of literally running out of the stands many times during my basketball career, and I don't think that she would have any control in that same situation. In fact, most of my teammates mothers would have used the "self defense" mode on their cell phones, meaning they would use their phones as projectiles. A mom with a high degree of Boom-Tho-Ness always knows when to throw a phone at the bad guy, or at least fake it and make him flinch.

I was able to read up on the fact that the Celtics and Pistons already have t-shirts that say "Eastern Conference Champions" on them. It's funny because the Celtics shirt was half the premise behind the movie Celtic Pride. It's hard to gauge the Boom-Tho-Ness of the situation. I feel like producing a shirt too early might inspire some hardcore Celtics fans to do something crazy to protect their investment, like kidnap Rasheed Wallace and keep him hostage in the houses of their ex-wives. If 'Sheed comes up missing, I think the investigation should start with the 50 people who already have their "Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Champions" shirts. If Kobe comes up missing? Find the guy who already has the "NBA World Champions" shirt.

I was able to get out to Chevy's last night to see Game 5 of the Celtics and the Pistons. The problem was that I was sitting next to a woman who had no idea what she was talking about. In particular, she had a big problem with Rip Hamilton's mask. Of course this happened after ESPN played that mad Boom Tho video of Rip wearing his mask among many other masks:

For one, during the video, she complained that it was unprofessional to do a skit like this. That is her opinion, but I disagree. To me, Rip doing a funny, original skit like this and turning a mask that is not flattering into a source of strength is exactly what Boom Tho is all about. He does his job on the court, and trains hard off the court — he is consistently one of the best conditioned players — but he is still a dude who enjoys himself and isn't afraid to show it. In my opinion, this video displays the highest degree of Boom-Tho-Ness in the playoffs yet!

Then, this woman complained that he should not get hit in the eye (Rip got poked in the eye) while wearing a mask. When asked why, she said that it was made of "steel or something," and that it should protect his eye. I then explained to her that there are eyeholes in the mask. Then, and only then did she actually look at the mask and understand what it was about. Oh well, I guess she had no idea what she was saying because she also said that the game was "over" when there were 47 seconds left. Anything can happen in 47 seconds.

Rip, you were disrespected last night, but I'm with you! The mask? It's mad Boom Tho. I loved that video. I love Spiderman, Darth Vader, and Napoleon Dynamite despite the fact that Kip has the "slowest reflexes of all-time." Well, Rip, this masks for you:

Rod Benson is a Cal grad who plays for the D-League's Dakota Wizards. He also blogs one or two times a week on Ball Don't Lie. Read his archive, pay a visit to TooMuchRodBenson.com and always support the Boom Tho movement.

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