From A to B and Everything in Between...

"World Champions."

In 2003, I found my love for sports. I was a "late-bloomer" because my parents weren't into sports. It wasn't until I met my would-be stepmom that things changed. I fell in love with sports and it hasn't stopped since.

Since 2003, it was tough because I had never known the feeling of winning a championship. I had loved the Broncos from 03-06, Dodgers 05-now, Lakers 05-now, and it seemed like they always got pretty close but never won. So when the Lakers won this year, it was meaningful, like truly meaningful and amazing.

The strange thing though is that I didn't feel any different at first. I felt like any other day. I expected to be crying and going crazy, but I was about as excited as if we won a preseason game. It didn't feel like we won. I feel like it's too good to be true that I didn't believe it.

It wasn't until Sasha tweeted "World Champions." that I realized the greatness and significance of this win. Then I realized how amazing it's been to go from disappointment to the very top. But what is also amazing is what has happened in my life in that time period.

Since the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the Finals last year, I've gone through one of the most amazing up-and-down rollercoasters I have ever been on. From being the "Fan Spotlight" on Sasha's site and being known as one of his biggest fans to getting kicked out of another high school and going through my mom and stepdad splitting up.

The creation of Sasha's site was something that I would've never guessed being significant in my life. I remember being excited for Sasha's site but I didn't expect it to be as great as it is. I remember thinking how cool it would be to be the "Fan Spotlight" only after it's first week. And to think that I would be the 2nd ever(first male) to do it, is just amazing. The amounts of friend requests and messages were crazy but I didn't expect it to get as crazy as it did.

Being viewed as this "Sasha look-alike" was silly to me. Some look at it as intentional, but I'm saying it now: I'm not trying to look like Sasha. It started off with just growing my hair, then people said things and others caught on and then it became this big thing, which I don't mind at all. I'm having a lot of fun with it and enjoy every minute of it.

4/4/09. That was the day of the Sasha/AT&T signing in Torrance. If there was one day I'd wish to relive, it would be that day. We were all around L.A. that day. I woke up at like 5( I slept like 3 hours), went to work with my dad, went to Irvine, then Torrance, then back to Irvine where we slept in a hotel for my sister's pageant. It wasn't just the signing that was crazy, it was everything about that day that was nuts.

The signing though, man, nothing like I expected it to be. The idea that girls were taking pictures of me and with me, I've never been in a situation like that. Another unknown thing about that day was that I had to pee before the signing and didn't get a chance till after the signing. I got there around 2 and didn't pee till about 5. If you can imagine, right before I went up to Sasha, I had to pee the most. Haha.

I still can't believe talking to everyone and all that going on. There was one family who apparently really liked me and one girl wanted me to go see a movie with her and all this stuff. Like being known as the "Sasha look-alike" has so many positives and that's why I'm doing it. I'm having fun with it and people like it so why stop?

I'm probably the most featured guy on Sasha's site, being mentioned in probably every other article. I almost feel guilty because I feel like people look at me as 'obsessed' and trying too hard for attention. I just happen to be in the right spot at the right time. I'm lucky, that's all it is. But I still feel like people won't understand. I haven't heard anything yet, but I feel like seeing my name all the time makes me seem crazy. Or, maybe I am wrong and people like seeing my name.

In no way do I regret being mentioned or hope to be mentioned less, because I love it. My life has never been better. I really have to thank Sasha and everyone who works on his site for making my life so much better. Everything that's gone on in that time period wouldn't have been as easy without being mentioned on Sasha's site.

So, there was all this negative happening around me yet all I cared about was positive over the past year. I still can't believe everything that has gone on and really am truly grateful for everyone and everything positive that has happened.

I usually never write about good stuff that happens in my life in fear that I might jinx what is happening but moments like this don't happen often and I really felt it was time. I've always written about the negative points in my life and they were always depressing for people, but I have no idea. I just felt like writing something positive for once.

But anyways, to end this "rant", I really have to thank some people for making this year so great:

1. Sasha Vujacic(obviously) and the Los Angeles Lakers
2. Everyone who works for Sasha's site, you have no idea how much it means to me.
3. TheLakersNation Forums, everyone on that site has been amazing.
4. My best friend Alysa.
5. My family, definitely definitely definitely. Working through everything.

So now what? Life doesn't end here, does it? Right now, I gotta live in the moment and just hope we can do it all over again next year.

It's All A Tribute. That's All It Is.

 When I got comments like "you'll never be the next 'Machine'" or "you look nothing like Sasha" or (my favorite) "you sorta sound gay", I laughed and thought it was hilarious that people had me all wrong. 

 I don't wanna be the next anything. Sure, it would be great to have everything Sasha has, but then I'd be known as the "Sasha-wannabe" rather than Daniel Hays. 

 I mentioned it on my "Fan Spotlight" that my tribute to him was growing my hair out.(like when Pat Tillman died and Jake Plummer grew a beard and his hair out as a tribute)

 It was all a playful joke, but then people started catching on and telling me I look just like him. I also play a similar style of basketball, so it all makes me look like I want to be just like Sasha.

 And while the good comments of "you look just like Sasha" or "you look cute" or whatever are nice, I wanna make it clear that this is all a way of support. This isn't a child saying "I wanna be just like Sasha when I grow up". Haha, no. This is just a fun way of supporting him.

 It may sound like it, but I'm not angry about this. I love the attention, I gotta be honest. It's all fun, since the Fan Spotlight thing, things have thing amazing. I just wanted to make things clear. 

I Never Thought That The "Fan Spotlight" Would Shine On Me....

When I saw that it was posted, I was more nervous than ever before. I was nervous all weekend. As soon as I got that message from Emily, I got all excited but I almost wanted to decline the offer because I thought "This is too good to be true."

But I sucked it up and accepted, answered the questions and learned something about myself: I am a very impatient person. I was on my computer all weekend. I kept a page open just for Sasha's website, and refreshed every 5 seconds. And even though nothing changed, I could sense that it would be posted any second.

Answering those questions, the only thing I really worried about was the picture I had to send in. Being known as a "Sasha Vujacic look-alike", I wanted to send in a picture that "lived up to the expectations". I had a few pics of myself from the webcam on my laptop that were more up close but I also wanted to show my Sasha jersey. The pic that's up on the site, it was basically a quick, "we'll just send this one in and see what happens" kind of thing.

When it was posted, I had to tell my mom about it and even though she was "excited and happy for me", she didn't like the picture. She said that it didn't even look like me and that it was just a bad picture. I laughed and said "It all starts now."

By saying that, I believed that, while being a huge Sasha fan, being young, and being featured on my hero's website, I have a lot in store for the future.