Last Night

Longhorn Basketball

My friend Eric called me yesterday afternoon offering up four Longhorns basketball tickets on the 9th row. They were playing Texas Southern (whom I've never even heard of & still have no clue where the school is even located). So I called up one of my friends to see if he wanted to join me, and he ended up bringing his brother and his four year old son. We were supposed to meet at 6:15 at the Round Rock stake center, but he didn't show up till after 6:30. Then we had to drive down to 360 and Bee Caves to Eric Mott's office to pick up the tickets then on to the game which started at 7:00. So we didn't end up making it to our seats until half time where the Longhorns had a one point lead.

The game ended up being pretty good, and the seats where GREAT, right down on the 10th row in the corner. That's the closest I've ever sat to any basketball game other than a Highschool game. Also the first time seeing the Longhorns play in person.

A.J. Abrams had 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, but it was Pittman who provided the much-needed spark for the Longhorns (9-1).

A.J. Abrams was quite impressive to me, even though I only saw him play half the game, it was impressive to see this 5'7 or 5'8 dude weaving in and around guys working to get open, and he would go long periods of time without touching the ball and then as soon as the defense gave him any daylight the ball was dropping straight through the net. I only saw him miss 2 shots, and one of them it seemed like he never really wanted to shoot it in the first place.

I actually brought my camera with me and accidentally left it in the car because we were running late. Hopefully Eric Mott will think of me again next time he doesn't want to use his tickets.

William Brandon Vaughn

Sadly my day ended NOT so well. I got a phone call around 11:00 at night from a guy I play basketball with on Wed nights. He informed me that another friend of mine who I also play ball with on Wed nights died in a car accident last night. I believe he was only 19 years old, maybe 20. I didn't know very many personal details about him. I only really spent time with him on the basketball court, and most of our conversations revolved around basketball. I didn't even know his last name, but you know how some people just radiate goodness. Well that was Brandon, he was just an all around good dude. Seriously, I've been playing with him for about 2 years almost, and he was one of my favorite people that showed up each and every week. It was shocking news, and I just feel bad that I wasn't able to know Brandon better than I did. My heart goes out to his parents, especially his mom, and all of his friends. The world lost one of the good guys last night...

**UPDATE**
I've talked to some more people and found out some more info, and I also learned his full name. I then was able to find some stories about the accident online.

"Two teenage boys were killed in a collision in Bastrop County Tuesday afternoon.

"According to police, William Brandon Vaughn, 19, and James Jackson, 18, both of Round Rock were traveling in a 2002 Ford Focus heading north on Highway 95 about 5 miles south of Elgin.

"The driver was passing other vehicles that were on the shoulder, when he lost control of the vehicle. The car then slid into oncoming traffic, hitting a 1996 Ford Explorer. The two occupants of the Ford Explorer received non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident happened around 3:55 p.m."

Source here.