Paul Jones wraps up the rest of his weekend in Vancouver for the third annual Steve Nash Charity Classic.

I had the pleasure of participating in the presentation of the third annual Steve Nash Charity Classic this past weekend in Vancouver. Being your eyes and ears at the event, here are my observations and thoughts. Jenny Miller, Executive Director of the Steve Nash Foundation and Joann Nash, Steve's sister and Canadian Programs Director did a terrific job of organizing and coordinating the event which was once again a tremendous success and raised funds for a great cause.

Saturday, July 21 - 5:20 a.m. PDT

OK, I'm now kind of back in my element. You have to read part one to know what I'm talking about here. I wake up and look around, not getting my bearings until I realize I am not at home in my own bed. Oh yeah, I'm in Vancouver, I remember this feeling. It's called being on the road and I'm used to it, well at least in the time between November and May. Roll over, look at the clock and its 5:20 a.m. Well, might as well get going because my body still says it's close to 8:30 eastern time.

Watch the Open and who is that guy in orange outfit that looks like Sergio Garcia? It can't be Sergio; this guy is actually making putts. Huh, we'll see how well he sleeps tonight with the lead in a major after three rounds!

Check in with the family at home and it's a beautiful day. They are swimming in the pool thanks to Jeff Williamson and the boys at Lifestyles Pools in Aurora. Putting in a pool, now that's hard work. Weather is not good here, guess what, it's cloudy and raining on the coast. What a surprise! To be fair though, the folks were telling me that there were record breaking temperatures, in the low 40-degree range here last week.

After a quick breakfast in the hotel with a high school friend from the GTA, a really smart dude, Mark Scott now living in Vancouver, and one of his associates Rob Sanders, I head to GM Place for a production meeting regarding the game tonight. I run into Sam Cassell in the hotel lobby and amazingly, Sam is not talking. Mind you, there is nobody within 30 feet of him as he cruises through the front door of the hotel, smiling of course. He greets me loudly and we chat. He is as shocked as anyone about the Tim Donaghy revelations. Sam said he was a good official, in his eyes, because you could talk to him. But then again, Sam talks to everyone on the court and the fact that he does it with a smile gives him plenty of latitude with the officials.

Saturday, July 21 - 1:45 p.m. PDT

Rehearsal is pretty straight forward and I catch a ride back to the hotel with Nike Sports Marketing "Pooh-Bah" Mark Bayne, a couple of the Phoenix Suns Community Relations employees, Chris Mallory and Cassidy Kersten, and Alanna Rubino one of the main organizers of the Raptors Foundation Charity events. All four are working their cell phones and Blackberry's -- or should I say "Crackberry's" -- like stock brokers or people trying to deliver the last message to someone they love before they die. Actually it's just as important because they are tracking all the players to make sure everyone is OK for tonight. I find out there are flight troubles and some players won't make it in for the game. Leandro Barbosa is shopping downtown and needs a ride. Oh-oh, does this mean I'm going to be ditched and have to walk the rest of the way to give up my seat to LB? Whew, I hear on the walkie-talkie another driver will pick him up. No big deal as we're only a short walk away now.

Saturday, July 21 - 4:20 p.m. PDT

Ready to head back to GM Place for the game at 7:00 p.m. and as I get into one of the shuttle SUVs, I hear that Nash is already at the "Good Karma Block Party" (akin to Fanfest or something of the sort at all-star weekend). I ride with Suns rookie Alando Tucker, Big Ten Player of the Year, who was drafted 29th overall. Nice kid who likes Vancouver and is looking forward to training camp and the regular season.

Amazing guy, yeah, I know it's his game but the man is ubiquitous. Nash and some of the players are at the "Block Party" signing autographs for the fans outside a couple of blocks from GM Place. Hopefully the rain holds off for them a little longer. At 5:30 Nash will be in the arena with a couple of Suns teammates -- Raja Bell and Barbosa -- for a question and answer session for fans that purchased their tickets early. At 6:15 he'll have a meet and greet with a group of kids and he'll get changed and play the game. MVP man, never mind working the room, he's working the whole city right now.

Saturday, July 21 - 6:20 p.m. PDT

I'm all wired up and ready for the game with my earpiece and microphone checked and in good working order. So with some time to spare, I head into the locker room. Things are much different than a regular NBA game where media is only allowed a certain window of access to players in the locker room before a game (actually it's a 45 minute window that starts 90 minutes before the introduction of the players). This is a free for all with everyone from national outlets like Sportsnet and ESPN to the local free paper and various internet outlets looking to talk to the players.

No fines for being late to pre-game meetings, no uniforms being put away because players are late; just no white boards with game plans and strategy, or guys joking with one another, at least the ones that are there. It is a very relaxed atmosphere. Heck with 30 minutes before the start of the game, some guys are just rolling in to get changed. Raja Bell is sitting in front of his uniform and not going to play. He hurt his hamstring the day before in Nash's annual soccer game. Seems like Raja was trying to do the impossible and run down Barbosa. I chat with Drew Gooden and Dan Dickau before leaving the crowded dressing room.

Out on the court, a faction of the warm-up consists of Fred Jones, Samuel Dalembert, Ira Newble, Raymond Felton and Barbosa trying to sink half-court shots. Hardly your regular season NBA pre-game warm-up. At one point, a player's mid-court attempt is so short of the target that it looks like it is going to land in the middle of the lane and the Brazilian soccer player comes out in Barbosa. He impressively takes the ball from its high arc softly on his chest and directs the ball to his feet where he keeps it off the floor with both feet alternating left and then right. It looks like he has played a bit of soccer before.

Saturday, July 21 - 7:00 p.m. PDT

Showtime! Players are introduced and the three largest ovations, in order, are reserved for Nash, Cassell and former Vancouver player Filipe Lopez. The game is the usual all-star affair. Defence is non-existent while over-dribbling, dunks, long-range threes and everybody generally playing loose and trying to make a sweet dish reign supreme. Why not, there are no coaches around or jobs on the line. Heck, guys like Jackson Vroman are trying to show someone they might be worthy of another look in the NBA. This is all about basketball entertainment for a city that lost its team in what was the worst ever trade in the NBA, Vancouver for Memphis. I would love to see the city get its team back.

Throughout the game there are numerous contests, many of which involve Nash. During one timeout, a version of H-O-R-S-E is played that is actually the reverse. Instead of missing a shot and getting a letter, the first one to make three shots and spell M-V-P wins. Nash gets beat by a guy who registered on a website for the contest. The guy starts by draining a long deuce just inside the three-point line in the corner. Over the course of the night, another guy gets close to winning a 2007 Jeep after making a lay-up, foul shot, three-pointer and narrowly missing a half-court shot in 25 seconds.

The fourth quarter is the most exciting part of the game. Similar to last season, Nash addresses the crowd and has the score clock reset to 0-0 for the fourth period. The losing squad has to get down and give the crowd 25 push-ups and it makes for a very competitive final stanza. There was even offensive fouls called by officials Bennie Adams and Derek Richardson.

Late in the quarter with his team needing a three-pointer to tie, Nash and Cassell show their smarts as they diagram a great play but the execution is far from perfect. Nash's team loses as Drew Gooden makes some key hoops against Dalembert and even though his team almost blew a 14-point lead in the quarter, Gooden along with Dickau, Jones, Felton, Newble and Vroman take delight in counting the push-ups of Nash, Cassell, Tucker, Dalembert, Barbosa, and company.

The locker room post-game is just as crazy as pre-game. Raja Bell is talking to Nash about how they are getting back to the hotel and where everyone will be hanging out later. Bell and I start to talk about the book 7 Seconds Or Less. He hasn't read it yet but is planning on do so in the near future and talks about how the author seemed to be everywhere. He asks if it's a good read.

In all, a great night and a tip of the cap to Steve Nash, the organizers from his foundation and all the volunteers involved.

Sunday, July 22 - 9:00 p.m. PDT

I have been watching the Open since early this morning and this could be it as El Nino may just blow the field over and win his first major. We'll see. The ghosts of Jean Van de Velde still live at Carnoustie's 18th hole.

Chat quickly with Nash at the front of the hotel as everyone is scattering once they hit the airport. He's hustling because right now making the flight is going to be life and death. Still, Mr. M-V-P (Most Valuable Person) thanks me for coming. Jeez, I thanked him and the foundation for inviting me to help out. He's off and I jump in an SUV and head for the airport too.

What's going on at the Open? Luckily, the driver is a golf nut like me. Last year it was easy as Tiger Woods was home and cooled out and I had a 3:00 p.m. flight. Amazingly, he finds the PGA on the radio as we drive to the airport and I'm thinking if I get to the terminal quickly, I can grab an orange juice and watch the drama on TV. Sergio Garcia is "swallowing the olive" with three bogeys in four holes. Did I hear that right? But as fast as guys climb the leader board, Carnoustie takes it back.

I just know some where Van de Velde was smiling as the 18th struck with the same fury it did in 1999. Andres Romero makes bogey after a double bogey at the 17th. Pardraig Harrington hits it in the water -- twice! He makes a six and then Sergio's belly putter was not inserted high enough to perform the Heimlich Manoeuvre and he makes bogey to send it to a playoff.

After checking in at the Westjet ticket counter I see Harrington and Garcia's follies standing with a juice and a muffin with plenty of other golf fans in the airport who are also waiting for flights.

Great, a four-hole playoff and I can see it since there are TVs on the plane. In the words of Verne Lundquist in 1986 at the Masters: "Yes sir!" With the perfunctory fist pump, and the excitement of seeing a playoff, I clear security and hustle to the bar inside close to my gate. I watch the playoff until they call for the flight to board. Harrington leads by two shots at 18 when I head for the plane.

I board the aircraft and find my seat 1D (front row - bulk head a.k.a. poor man's first class) and find the channel with the golf. This is unreal. I'm sitting on a plane watching the conclusion to the Open. But the "travel gods" would get me again.

Sergio misses a birdie that would tie it and force Harrington to make his putt to win it. Garcia drops the par putt, about an hour too late, and Harrington walks around and sizes up the putt to win his first major tournament. He stands over it and the "travel gods" administer the ultimate "grill cheese" (my call for an "in your face slam dunk" as coined by one time Raptor Oliver Miller - 'grill' because it's in your face and 'cheese' because your grimace while missing the block attempt will be captured by a photograph some place on a stunning poster).

"Ladies and gentlemen, in preparation for take-off we are turning off the satellite TV. We will resume service once we reach our cruising altitude and the captain has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign. Thank you for choosing Westjet."

Groans abound in the cabin. We never see the winning putt. Oh well, nice to be heading home!