I just got back from Hawaii this afternoon. It was a great time. I got a lot of work done in those 10 days. I worked out everyday but 1, my workouts were split between riding the bike for 13 miles and having a basketball workout for an hour. I also got to go enjoy the island of Kona. I went on a helicopter ride of the island. I never been snorkeling before but by the time i left I went 5 times and felt like i've been doing it for years. I also went to some really good restaurants. "Tommy Bahamas" became my favorite spot. I just thank our owner Mr. Allen, my coaches, and everyone who helped set that up. It is a beautiful island and the wind is crazy, and so are the hills and mountains.

I just got into Hawaii today, and it is different out here but it's beautiful. The people are really nice. While driving to the hotel i got to see some of the land and here in Kona, a lot of the land is freshly made from lava... it kind of freaks me out. They said that the island is always getting bigger because there is an active volcano. The Villa i have has 3 bedrooms, a kitchen and like 4 living rooms. It's pretty big and it has a pool and a spa that's heated. The only thing is that there is no food in the refrigerator. I got to go grocery shopping tonight.

I've made it through the first weekend of my break. We didn't make the Playoffs so our season ended Thursday after our exit meetings. I have been traveling since my exit meeting and I've got a couple more places to go. This summer i have big plans to do a lot of rehab with my knee so i can be ready for next year. This is the start of my season with all i have planned but I'm looking forward to it. I also will be going back to The Ohio State University to take some summer classes.

This past week has been pretty lazy for me. I have been sick. I haven't worked out or ran. I've done nothing except sleep. I think its a cold that I got. It's def not the flu or strep throat. I heard that answer like 100 times for people who think they are doctors. This week was not a good one to be sick. My brother was here for his spring break, and my mom and my dad came and visited me to help me decided on this new place that I want to buy. I somehow managed to get a lot done even with the sickness. I also managed to sleep a whole lot. I even missed a game I was so sick. Today was the first time I was really with the team. I went to the game and we lost and Joel got hurt. The injury is going to end his season. I hope everything goes alright with his hand.

Happy Easter to everybody. sorry i haven't posted in a while but there is nothing special really going on with me. The team is on a two game road trip and its our last long road trip of more than one game. We went to Los Angeles and beat the Clippers and tomorrow we play Seattle, hopefully we can get another win. We kind of had an off day in Seattle so we went to our owners Paul Allen's house and got some shots up. Yes he has a full basketball court and tennis court in his house, with an indoor 20 ft deep pool and a locker room thats bigger than ours at the arena (this is in his house). You know the difference between millionaires and billionaires after being at his house. I had fun with my teammates and people in the organization on this Easter but i do miss my family and i know they are doing good i love them and cant wait to see them, the road gets lonely when you cant play.

I've had so many requests to talk to news and radio stations about selection sunday, i feel like im still in school. I dont even know if i'm going to watch it, cause if my Buckeyes dont make it i will be really sad and disappointed. I hope we do get in and from what i was watching, out of the bubble teams we are one of the top ones that should get in. Maybe they can give us sympathy cause we got 4 starters from the team that made it to the National Championship with Mark Titus and Danny Jo Peters on the bench from last years team. So i have my fingers crossed that we make it to the tournament and hopefully upset some people.

I spoke at the Helping America's Youth regional conference about two weeks ago. It was held at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts and I got to introduce Laura Bush. Check out the video.

So earlier this week i announced the organization that i am gonna be working with. It is Oregon Mentors, which is an organization that gets mentors for kids all around Oregon. It is a really good company its just that there is not alot of people signing up to be mentors. Hopefully with me and the little influence i have we can get more to sign up. We will be starting this slogan called Team Oden. Its a slogan for us to reach the goals of 40,000 mentors by 2010. Lots of things will happen with the partnership i will host events during the summer and through out this year for kids and their mentors, it should be a fun time for all! I want to thank the Commissioner for stopping by my press conference when i had it.

I was on Jim Rome's TV show yesterday. Here is the video from the show if you missed it.

Today I got a phone call from Senator Barack Obama. I was so nervous two days ago when I knew it was gonna happen and wanted to make sure he knew I had done my homework on him. I have a lot of respect for him and already had a really good feeling about him. As the time got closer, I got on his website, learned more about what he is about and brushed up on what I knew, so I got more comfortable with the idea of speaking to him one on one.

The conversation was quick - like two minutes but I got to talk to him like a real person. What I got from talking to him is that he is a real sports fan and he knew about the Blazers. He said that when I come back Brandon, LaMarcus and I will be a force next year. He also asked me about my knee, and he said he wasn't feeling my mohawk - lol. I laughed and explained to him that it's just a haircut to me and he told me he liked how I handle myself as a young man - "Thanks Mom." I did not talk politics with him. He talks about that stuff all the time and I'm going to keep learning more about the issues.

He is a very nice man and I am a big fan. I got the chance to go to his website (www.barackobama.com) and read up on some of his beliefs and there are things he is doing that I really support like his plan with education, civil rights, and health care. That's why Senator Obama is getting my vote.

I know people might question my support of education because I left school after my first year but I had an opportunity to become something not a lot of people can be - on a paid vacation. No, I'm just playing - a number one draft pick. Yes I do plan on going back to school and getting my degree. I'm actually going back this summer for sure. Everything I look at I look at the stand point from my little cousins or my family members outside my immediate family. Everything that I'm sure my mother looked into before she voted, when me and my brother were growing up, and before I got drafted. Senator Obama is a real person. Sometimes people forget that people in the public eye are real people also. I know I did with him at first. We are all citizens of this great country and I know I'm putting in my one vote. I know it's just one small vote, but it's big to me.

If the person I vote for wins it's gonna be because of my one little vote, at least that's what I'm gonna think. I think everyone should think that way. This will be my first presidential election to participate in as a voter and I hope that you younger voters will get involved. I think that our votes can really influence the outcome so go out, register and vote for who you think is the best candidate to be the best leader for this country and make sure you and your family will feel good about the new president

that is elected in November.

The All-Star break is over so now im back in Portland. I had a great time over the weekend, i went home back to Indiana and visited Washington, DC over the weekend. I even spent Valentines Day alone, well i went to dinner with my brother. Then the next day we went to DC to visit my cousin who is in the Air Force. All i'm going to say about my weekend in DC is that it was fun ;-). I was glad that i got to go home and see my mother and spend sometime with my friends. I got back yesterday and went straight to practice and got in 2 workouts. So im back to going to work and getting my knee and my body right. I also missed my dog so i glad that im back but i love being home with my mother though.

This weekend is the NBA All Star weekend in New Orleans. I will not be attending, it hurts that i will not be able to play. It just sometimes gets to me, the fact that i cant play this whole year. I would love to be out there and play with my peers like being able to play in the rookie/sophmore game with my draft class. Even next year i wont be able to play with them, i guess there is a rule that you have to play at least one minute to be able to say you played, so ill be a rookie next year. If i would of went to New Orleans i probably would have had to do everything with the media that all the other players have to do i just wouldnt of played in the game. So i decided not to go cause i want to play and it would just dissappoint me and put me in a bad mood if i was there.

Sorry everyone for not blogging for a while. I've been hitting the workouts pretty hard. I have started a lot of different stuff with my rehab and i've been working out twice a day. We have a thing going on between me and Sergio Rodrigez to see who can get the most workouts in a month. Last month he broke Joel Pryzbillas' record of 32 workouts and had 33. So this month I made it my mission to break that in 28 days this month. I can't have Sergio have the lifting record for the Trailblazers.

The guys left a couple a days ago for a four game road trip. I figure I would stay and keep up wit my rehab and get my workouts and shooting in. The guys are 0 and 2 on this trip -- it will be tough but they will play hard and i hope we can go into All Star break on a good note.

One year ago from that day.

I was playing a game against Michigan State while I was at The Ohio State University. I started the game with 3 consecutive right handed jump hooks to the baseline. People in the crowd was all excited and so was i. People who knew me and were close to me at the game or watching was like HE DOESNT KNOW AT ALL.

We ended up winning the game. It went down to the wire, but we pulled it out. My best friend (Travis Smith) wanted to go to the game so bad, but my grandmother was visiting my mom and they were gonna come, so i told him i didn't have any tickets. About 3 hours before the game my mom said they weren't gonna make it because my grandmother wasn't feeling too good. So before the game i went to my dorm to take my usual 45 minute nap before i went back to the arena. I got my usual everyday call from my friend Travis, wishing me good luck tonight. I wanted to tell him that i had tickets for him, but i didn't because i wasn't sure if he would have enough time to make it to the game driving from Ball State University in Muncie, IN. So we talked for 5 minutes and then i went to sleep.

After the game we go see the family and as i walked up everyone kept telling me that they're so sorry for my loss. My brother gave me a big hug, i had no idea what was going on. I finally started thinking that something happened to my grandmother because she wasn't feeling well. Coach Thad Matta and Mike Conley Sr. took me into coach's office and told me what happened.

My friend Travis was riding with some friends and got in a car accident. The driver was scratch-less, the guy in the back seat had some scars, and Travis, who was in the passenger seat, died on impact. I balled my eyes out in my coach's office. I cried so much that i have not cried since, not even at the funeral.

A year later i asked Coach Nate if i could make a trip home for the weekend and he allowed me. I got to see my mom's house for the first time, its huge. I got to see the car i bought her, its so nice and fast. I know its fast because i took a trip on Sunday the 27th to Terre Haute, IN to surprise visit my best friend's family Jimmy, Tami Smith his parents, Courtney Smith his sister, and Jerry and Cookie Dooley his grandparents. They told me i made their day, but in real life they made me, by letting one of the best, most thoughtful people I've ever met in my life be my best friend. How i treat and act around people was the same thing he did. He influenced me in many ways.

Its funny cause as a guy you don't feel right talking to a dude everyday over the phone, but Travis was one person i could. The conversation was different. If i needed someone to talk to i would call or if he just wanted to call and curse someone out i was there. He was and still is my best friend and he will be missed

R.I.P. 5.5.87 TRAVIS JAMES SMITH 1.27.07

Today is the last day of the Trailblazers 12 day, 7 game road trip. It's been a long one. I just want to get back to my own bed and to my dog. I can't wait to get back to Portland. It's been an OK road trip basketball-wise -- we are 3 and 3 but we play the Hornets tonight, hopefully we can get a win and go home over 500. Off the court the trip was so fun. We got to go to big cities like Toronto, Boston, New Jersey, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, and New Orleans. Good times good times ;-). My birthday was over the trip too, so that was fun. Also I got to go to the West Bank Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana with Spalding on my birthday. It was a great time to meet and talk with those kids. I really enjoyed myself and to see that club which does so much for the kids was good. I also got to go to a court that Spalding is rebuilding and making better -- that was good for me to see cause it looks like a great place where kids can go and have some good games.