Chatting with birthday girl China Crosby

We chatted with birthday girl China Crosby about the New York Yankees, the holidays and her knee, of course. Here's some snippets from Virginia's senior point guard, a McDonald's All American in high school. Home for her is the Bronx, so we had to ask about the Yanks.

So which Yankee Stadium is best -- the old or the new?

My mom worked at the old one for a couple months. Literally, it's five blocks from where I live. I live on 166th and the old Yankee Stadium is on 161st Street. I didn't really need to go to a game to hear whether they won or lost.

I went to the old one twice. I've been to the new one once. The new one is pretty awesome. There's a lot more stuff to do other than watch a baseball game. I like the new one.

Your favorite Yankee?

Derek Jeter.

How tough have all the knee injuries been?

My first year here, I was with Paulisha Kellum and Monica Wright. I remember those two specifically being in the training room when I got the news. I was heartbroken. The words they gave me were to stay positive. Paulisha told me she played through it herself, and she was by my side through the whole thing. I kept my head high. Going through something like that was pretty tough. If it wasn't Paulisha Kellum, it was my mom. Over the phone, my high school coach and my mom encouraged me. My teammates were there with me from day one even the ones that weren't there. My sophomore year the same thing happened as far as hyper extending my knee and they were there to help me out. It was a big family. I give much respect to Debbie Ryan and coach (Wendy) Palmer and all the guys who were here my first and second year. They made sure I had high hopes about everything. They all helped me out going through tough times with my knee.

Do you think about injuring it again when you play?

Now that I have the brace on my knee, I give everything to the brace. It's really protecting me. I don't think about my knee. It still gets tired, but as far as diving for the ball or taking charges, I'm limited to certain things in practice, but in games I'm well enough to do anything now. So I have no conscience about my knee. I just go out there and play.

You're in anthropology major?

I actually was going to be a drama major but the times conflicted with practice. ... Anthropology is one of the majors where you can apply it to life. You can apply it to wellbeing. After basketball, I want to become an FBI agent and there are some police forces where they used anthropologists and tell them to go out and study a specific area that they're going to be investigating.

You're a fan of Law& Order: SVU?

Heck yeah, All the time. I'm a big fan of "Criminal Minds" now, too.

The secret behind your name?

When I was born my grandmother thought my eyes looked Asian, so she said "China. China Crosby goes well together." My middle name is Lorraine, her name.

When you go home for the holidays, what do you do?

Every time I come home during Christmas, my friends and my high school teammates, we get together and we always go out near Rockefeller Center, Top of the Rock. We always go to 42nd Street. The downtown area is really the spot to be out. But really I like to go home and stay with the family and relax with a bunch of my friends.

You're a movie buff. What's your fave?

I have a couple. I'm a big romantic movie person. A lot of people wouldn't guess that for me. I like "The Notebook," "A Walk to Remember" and of course, "Love and Basketball."

Who do you watch play the game?

I love Seimone Augustus' game. And since 2006, LeBron James. Iverson would be my favorite point guard if he were still playing.

Was Virginia always the place you were going to go?

Actually it was Tennessee at one point. It was Maryland at one point. Louisville came down, but when I came here, I just fell in love and everything else fell into place from there.

Reflect on your career as a Cavalier.

It's been pretty rough going through two ACLs and hyper extending my knee my second year. I had hopes and dreams coming here; there were highly ranked point guards who came here before.  It didn't work out for me the way it should, but I keep it moving. I'm hoping I can leave a legacy here this year and people do admire me and know who I am and know what I can do on the court. I feel respected out there. I'm just trying to finish off this year strong, do whatever I can and see what the future holds for me.