According to my favorite source (Facebook - add me), today is Lance Allred's birthday.  Happy Birthday Lance!

The now 29-year old Allred put up a 25 point, 15 board game in the Stampede's kind-of-nationally televised but still tape-delayed Saturday Night VERSUS game, so he's pretty good at basketball.  He was also called-up to the Cleveland Cavaliers for part of  the 2007-08 season.

Not only is Allred good at basketball, but he's also good at writing, having penned (typed? I don't know, honestly) the brilliant Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA.  It'd make a great gift (here's a review), but probably not for Lance's birthday.  He also just finished his second book, which is not about basketball, but probably still worth the read.  Allred's blog is also a daily read, even if it doesn't get daily updates.

If you're wondering where the birthday party is, I'll probably be holding one in my backyard when Idaho's here in Bismarck this weekend.  The high is projected to be 26, the warmest it's been here in quite awhile, so I'll probably just shovel the snow away and we can have a dance party or whatever.  Thus far, the guest list includes myself, the Stampede coaching staff - Bob MacKinnon and Joel Albelson, Lance Allred, jo22collins, fetch9 and Connor Atchley.  If it's snowing, we'll of course probably end up at Bucks.  For reference, here are some of the things we may be able to expect at this party, courtesy of Rod Benson: cowboy and old women dancing.