Michelle Snow Video Blog – June 2009

#11 Tamera Young’s Video Blog – May 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qfLp-NTbWU
Found out how Tamera’s first overseas experience was and how she feels about winning a Latvian Championship!!

Where in the World is… Erika De Souza

Erika’s Photo Gallery
** Translated **

Hey everyone!

 

This is Erika and I would like to share a little about my life here in Europe. 

 

I have been playing for five years in Spain and this is my third season in the city of Valencia.  Living here is very interesting and it’s very pretty.  We have the ’City of Arts’ which is a group of buildings and constructions that follow the river which snakes around Valencia.  There are museums, the aquarium, Palace of Music and other attractions that make the place a center of culture and pleasure. 

 

We have a very strong team which is always in the finals in the championships we compete in – Spanish League, Cope de Rainha and EuroLeague.  We have Spanish, Brasilian, Czech and American players (DeLisha Milton).

 

Here we train two times a day for two hours.  So my days are more or less the following:  I wake up, train, return to the house to eat lunch, rest, then return to train at night.  In Spain we have eating hours very different than the US.  We eat lunch at 3 in the afternoon and we eat dinner at 10 at night.  I thought you might find that interesting. 

 

Since the Spanish language is very similar to Portuguese, after being here five years, I feel at home.  I have lots of friends here and we make good use of the time when I’m not training.   Normally I like to go out with my brother who is here playing “futebol,” go to the movies, go out with the team to eat and travel a little to other cities like Madrid (things are a bit closer together here than in the US).

 

I am very excited about next season in Atlanta.  Our team has changed a lot and we all can expect to get a lot better for 2009.  Our goal is the championship and we will fight to achieve all that is possible, giving back everything that our amazing fans give us, filling the arena and always motivating us and welcoming us in Atlanta. 

 

In a month, I will be returning and I hope to see each of you at our games. 

 

 

Grande beijo da brasileira aqui,       

                                                        

Erika

Where in the World is… Nikki Teasley?

 Click here for Nikki’s Overseas Photo Gallery

Hello all… hope all is well!  Just checking in from Madrid, Spain.

My overseas experience is a little different this time– I am not alone!  As you all know, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter (Yasherae Jonae’ Teasley) last June.  She and my nanny (Chaka) traveled with me this time overseas.  It was Yaya’s first long flight.  I was so nervous because every time we would travel in the past as a team, I would get the seat next to the newborn who cried the whole flight.  Thank God Yaya is a very happy baby… she had a blast on the flight.  She stayed awake almost the entire flight playing and making everyone laugh.  It was also Chaka’s first time flying out of the country.  I enjoyed watching both of them have a good time.

 

As for the city we’re in, Madrid is a great city.  There is a lot to see.  The team keeps us pretty active so I have 1 or 2 days a week to see the city.  Yaya, Chaka, and I try to plan a trip to see the city every Wednesday (my day off-no practice).  We spend most of my days off shopping for Yaya… smile.

 

The team that I’m on is currently fighting to stay in the first division so practices are pretty intense.  Every game is extremely important since there is only one game a week (Saturday), so we train hard all week.

 

Just to give you guys an idea of a typical day for me… Yaya is still not adjusted to the time change yet so she usually goes to sleep around 2 a.m.  She wakes up around 7 a.m. for a diaper change and feeding and then she goes back to sleep.  Around noon, I feel tiny hands or feet slapping or kicking me in the face..smile.  I guess that’s Yaya’s way of saying “Mommy get up- time to play,” lol.  We spend a few hours playing then I get ready for practice.  I kiss Yaya goodbye and head downstairs.  My teammate picks me up and we go to the track where the team runs the mile run.  After the mile run there is weight training, and after weight training, practice.  When I’m done with practice, I rush home to my Yaya..smile.  I shower, make dinner, then give Yaya a bath.  I play with Yaya for a few hours and then Yaya, Chaka, and I watch movies til we fall asleep.  Of course it’s just a nap for Yaya… smile.

 

So as you can see, I am staying busy here in Madrid, working hard.  I am very excited about this upcoming season with the Dream.  I really enjoyed the fan support last year and look forward to more fun and more WINS.  See you soon!

 

GOD BLESS,

YaYa & Nikki Teasley

Where in the World is… Izi Castro Marques?

Hello everybody,

Oi galera,

Hola a todos.

Hope all is well with you all.

I am writing from Spain to let you guys know a little bit about what I am doing overseas.
 
So I am in Vilagarcia de Arousa, a little town north of Spain probably familiar to you all because Tamera Young played here before I arrived.  So just a little reminder of the city… typical town of north of Spain, very cozy city with the beach that helps with the cold.  In this region they speak a dialect call Galego which is very similar to my own language Portuguese.  So it’s pretty easy to communicate over here… gives some rest to my brain hehehe.

 
Ok now a little bit about the team and the league and all that.  We are in last place in the league.  I have only been here for a month and the team got me to try to help them to move at least two positions up so they don’t go down to the B league.  Just a little explanation, in Spain they have the first league and the two last teams go down to the B league and the two top teams of the B league move up for the First league.  So, things are really tough over here and it’s a real challenge to me and my teammates until April.  We also had a coaching change last week so things are starting to heat up over here.  But it is part of the job right?  We can’t win always but we definitely can play hard and give all on the court at all times and if we go down is because they are better than us and not because we didn’t work hard enough.  So we have a lot of work to do until April.  We have two upcoming games that are very important so wish us luck.

 
With the spirit of hard work and fight, I am very excited for the 2009 WNBA season in ATL!  Big changes on our team, more experience for everybody and a very good feeling that things are going to be a lot of better this summer.  So I really can’t wait for that.  And with all of your support, ATL FANS, we are definitely going to have more fun this upcoming season.

 
I think that is that for now.  Keep following up with us and I will see you all next summer!

Ate mais, see you later

Beijos. Kisses

 
Izi Castro Marques #8

Chantelle Anderson’s 2009 NBA Allstar Game Blog

View Chantelle’s Photo Gallery!

Hey Dream fans! I promised to blog again so here it is! This past weekend I went to NBA All-Star in Phoenix with my friend and baller for the Detroit Shock, Cheryl Ford. I had never been to NBA All-Star so I was super excited to go. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint!

 

There are so many different aspects of All-Star Weekend. Of course there is the NBA/WNBA Cares stuff, which is always fun (and I’m not just saying that because I’m supposed to…I really enjoyed it).  The group I was with helped paint the inside of a house. The owner’s name was Mary and you could tell by the look on her face that she was very appreciative of our help.  It was pretty messy though. By the time we were done, I had paint splatters all over me, so thankfully it washed off with just soap and water.

 

The Legends Brunch was another highlight. Where else would you have Dr. J, Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, and so many other of the NBA’s pioneers in one room to honor and celebrate the history of the game? It was one of those moments where I felt honored just to be there. The Slam Dunk Contest was fun too. I liked Dwight Howard’s Superman/raising the basket theatrics, but Nate Robinson’s last dunk was SICK!  I definitely think the right person won. Sidenote: Rudy Fernandez so got cheated on his scores!

 

And of course you can’t talk about All-Star without talking about the parties! The party I enjoyed the most was Amare Stoudamire’s party on Thursday night. It was a real chill atmosphere with great music and lots of people. We went with a fun group and it ended up being really cool. The Players Association party on Saturday night wasn’t as fun as I had expected, but I did love the dress I wore! (wink). I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed walking around with another tall beautiful woman all weekend, because we definitely turned a lot of heads. And I’d be lying if I said the attention wasn’t flattering, but by the end of the weekend, we were so sick of touching up our make-up and flat ironing our hair that we couldn’t put on our sweats fast enough!

 

So the coolest moment actually happened on the way back to Atlanta. I met Dr. J in the airport! I don’t get star struck often, but it was freakin Dr. J! (I played it off well though, lol). He was with his beautiful wife and kids, and was so nice to me. He came to a few of our games last season and I’m sure he’ll be back this summer. Yay!

 

Well, I think that’s about it. Its back to the real world now. I had a great time, but I’m ready to get back to work. Until next time everyone!

 

Always,

 

Chantelle

Where in the World is… Sancho Lyttle?

Hello Dream fans!

 

This is the first blog that I write to you as a Dream player.  I am currently in Spain on one of the Baleric islands called Ibiza.  It is like any other island that I have visited… white beaches and good weather.  But lately it has been raining and cold.

 

As for my team, they started out on the rocky side but we are slowly getting better and are trying to stay afloat so we can make it to the playoffs at the end of the season.  For the past three weeks, I have been MVP for the Spanish League, which is great, but I am just going out there to help my team win, whatever it takes and it is paying off.

 

As for me I can’t wait to get back and get to my new team.  Despite what happened to the Comets I will never forget my start but now I have to be ready for a new beginning and a new city and new people and new fans.  All these things I am excited about and I hope the city of Atlanta welcomes me with open arms.

 

Sancho Lyttle

Ivory Latta Overseas Video Blog

Where in the World is… Ivory Latta?

Dream fans- Find out what Ivory Latta has been up to this offseason!  Latta stopped by the Atlanta Dream offices over the holidays to let fans know about playing overseas in Israel (she hit the game-winner to give her team the Israel Cup!), her plans for the New Year, and why she can’t wait to get back on the court in 2009.  

Where in the World is… Chantelle Anderson?

MTV.com: Chantelle’s MADE Episode

Hey Dream fans!  This is your first time hearing from me in a blog but it definitely will not be the last…I love blogs!  And so much has been going on recently.  I had to update y’all, so here goes.

 

So ya, I recently finished filming an episode of the TV show Made for MTV.  For all of you that didn’t see the show, I had six weeks to transform Avery, a 16-year-old un-athletic couch potato, into a varsity basketball player.  I had watched Made a million times and always thought it was funny.  So when I got a chance to actually do the show, I was SO EXCITED!

 

Going in I had two rules for Avery: work hard, and don’t disrespect me.  It was actually funny because Avery and I both have pretty strong personalities.  So he would say something smart and I would say something right back.  It kept things interesting and light during his difficult workouts.  We ended up getting along really well.

 

So everyone wants to know if we ever fought.  And yes, did we ever.  There was a huge fight about two weeks into filming that didn’t make the show because it wasn’t even on camera!  Avery had skipped his running workout that morning which only added to my already bad day.  We ended up yelling at each other and both threatening to quit the show.  Much to the relief of the producers, we were able to work it out and everything went on as planned.  I’m so glad it didn’t end up on the show!

 

Overall, my first experience with reality TV was a success.  I can’t imagine ever having my own reality show though because I got sooo sick of the cameras around all the time.  You’d be surprised how much they film for just a one-hour show.  I do absolutely LOVE being on TV though, so hopefully it’ll happen more often, in some way or another

 

On top of the Made show, I’ve been doing lots of appearances around the city on behalf of the Dream.  We’ve gotten super busy this holiday season.  My favorite appearances have been the ones benefitting Toys for Tots.  Being able to help put smiles on kids faces is priceless.  So if you haven’t donated a new, unwrapped toy, do it today!

 

I’ve also been working out with our team trainer Dustin and teammate Nikki Teasley.  He’s been making us lift so much that none of my pants fit anymore!  Oh well, I did always wanna be thick No but really, we’re both doing great and I’m happy to report that I am having no problems with my knee.  It was difficult to watch the team play without me last season, but I’m thrilled to see the progress and can hardly wait to show off my hard work next summer!

 

That’s about it for now, so until next time God Bless! (And get your season tickets! LOL)

 

Always ~ Chantelle