(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)

The polling on the website is finished and Lightning Lou is the newly appointed nickname. I like the name, although I am slightly dissapointed that my personal favorite, Thor, didn’t even crack the top five. I probably should have mentioned this before the whole poll was finished as it might have swayed some fans on the fence. But if it’s lightning you like, let me point out that Thor defeats his enemies using his giant hammer, which also has the power of lightning.  I know this because I Googled it, and consulted with Robin Lopez on my findings. I also learned that Thor is a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ that has dropped 50% of it’s value in the past five months, and also a company that produces quality motocross jerseys, pants, and gloves. This informtion may or may not be relevant, I haven’t decided yet.

The past week has been really up and down for us. We lost to Chicago at home after losing another close game to the spurs. We followed this loss up by beating Sacramento. We were up by 50 points in this game, it ended up being the highest margin of victory of the NBA season thus far. I realize the Kings are not a good basketball team right now and have injuries, but it still amazes me how we can go from playing so poorly to playing so well. When we get in a rhythm offensively and play hard, we are a tough team to beat. But I’m sure a lot of teams can say that, the hard part is doing it every game. We have had a lot of team meetings on the subject but my opinion is that you can only talk so much, eventually everybody has to be held accountable and we just have to get it done. It may sound cliché but there are no tricks or secrets to winning; it’s hard to bring it every night, if it wasn’t, everybody would be in the playoffs.

I am currently writing this on the plane to Philly, in between losing hands and, consequentially, most of my money to these jokers in this ridiculous game of poker. I wonder if there is a game being played somewhere right now that could possibly be worse? I bet not. The way things are going right now, however, I’m sure I would lose that bet too.

It’s going to be weird to go back and play in Philly on the visiting team but I am looking forward to it. Not that I need any more incentive to play hard, but having been there last season and not getting any burn at all makes this game a little different. I still have some friends on the team there, so I root for them, but honestly, I hope we blow them out. To work so hard at something and never see any results is truly frustrating. That’s how this league is sometimes though, and I understand that…but I still hope we beat the brakes off ‘em.

Lou

In my experience, most basketball players are creatures of habit. We like things to be the same, that way they are predictable and things become easier. Think about it, we spend hours in the gym performing the same motion over and over again until it becomes a reflex.

I’m sure this mindset carries over to the rest of our activities as well, especially on the road. It’s pretty funny how we all have our ‘assigned’ seat on the plane, the bus, and anywhere else we congregate as a team. These seats are staked out the first time we travel–so you better choose wisely where you want to spend the rest of the season on that first road trip. Any deviation from this seating plan, especially if your name is not Shaq, will not be tolerated.

Naturally, games aren’t any different. Everybody has their own little routine to prepare and very rarely is this routine changed. Some guys like to get to the gym early for treatment, some guys take extra shots, others watch game film or listen to music. GHill, for instance, plays solitaire on his iPhone before every game. I know this because every time he wins, the game makes this annoying little noise to celebrate.

You can always count on Shaq to perform some amusing antics during pregame, as well. His latest thing is deliberately going through his free throw form as coach Porter is going over game assignments. Before the Toronto game he decided to race a small circle around a table in the middle of the locker room to get loose. He even raced Robin to show everybody how fast he is. Hilarious. In my opinion, a small amount of ridiculousness is a good thing before a game. It keeps everybody loose and you play better that way.

Unfortunately, I’m writing this after yet another bad loss, the third loss of the trip. We really got beat badly in Boston, but did not rebound at all for the game in New York. The loss Friday night was a tough one to swallow. We never got in any rhythm offensively and played bad defense all night. Boris and Raja both played very well for the Bobcats, and I have to say it was a little weird to see both those guys in Charlotte jerseys. They both seem okay with their new situation though, which is good. A bunch of the guys all went out to dinner with them the night before in downtown Charlotte. It was great to see them both and be able to hang out a bit before the game.

We are now in Atlanta preparing for a game with a talented Hawks team tonight. It will be another challenge for us considering our performances in the last three games. When teams go on losing streaks like this it is always tough to climb out, it seems as if nothing goes your way. The last three games have definitely been a test of character but I think we will be okay. It’s a tough schedule and sometimes it catches up with you but I think we will come out tonight, play hard, and hopefully get a win.

(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)

Hello everybody,

I am Lou Amundson and this is my Blog!

This is my first experience doing something like this, but I will have some fun with it and hopefully the fans out there will enjoy reading it, too. I plan on simply sharing some of my thoughts throughout the remainder of the season and to give an inside perspective on what it’s like to play for the Sun.

For those of you who know nothing about me…. well, Google me. For those who do, I hope to share a little more about myself than what my fantasy value is or what I’m shooting from the field. I am a truly laid back dude from Boulder, CO, who loves his mom, works hard, and no, it’s not a joke… rides a bike to practice. I feel extremely blessed to be playing in the NBA and will never take this experience for granted. I have spent time in the D-League with players who would do anything to just get a taste of the NBA. I am truly living my dream and am very grateful to all those who have helped me along the way.

There has been a lot of buzz lately around this whole nickname thing and everybody keeps asking me what I think it should be. So let me clear the air on the subject. First of all, you can’t give yourself a nickname! So don’t ask me to come up with one….You think Barkley told everybody to call him the “Round Mound of Rebound?” Probably not. I will say this, Light Rail Lou, while kind of catchy with the whole alliteration thing, just doesn’t sound all that cool, you know?

My favorites thus far include: Lou Skywalker, Thor, and of course, Lightning Lou. Anytime the Diesel gives somebody a nickname it tends to stick, so that definitely has to be given some serious consideration. I checked Suns.com the other day and there are some really creative ones you fans have submitted on there. Today my buddy came up with Lucifer, but I think that might be a little too demonic. You can’t have thousands of fans screaming “Lucifer” at the games. Although, they could play that Jay-Z song instead of the “Louie, Louie” one they got working now, that would be hitting. Anyway, I will keep everyone posted on any new developments with the nickname thing.

I am writing this in Toronto, the first stop of a long East coast road trip where we will play six games in nine days. I just got back from a charity event held by Steve called the Nash Bash. His organization, Athletes for Africa, focuses on football (or soccer as we call it here) to organize and benefit impoverished youth in Africa. It was one of the nicest events of this kind I have been to. The food was phenomenal, there was an award winning vocalist performing a capella, and of course the people were all very nice. I was talking for a while with two interesting Canadians about the Indie Rock scene in Toronto and the U.S.

I know everybody is excited for the Cardinals’ game tomorrow. It’s truly amazing what that team has done this year and how good Kurt Warner has been. He has been counted out so many times but keeps coming back. He’s a monster. Hopefully we will be able to see the game on Sunday when we get to Boston. So, that’s it for now, it’s getting late and we have an early start Sunday morning so I better get some rest.

Peace