The Concussive Shot

The continuing debate currently revolving around football always winds up irritating me. Its the issue of concussions and how they’re caused. There were numerous incidents this past weekend that resulted in a player being concussed. Its becoming SO common that the NFL has FINALLY been forced to make a somewhat meaningful act/gesture/etc regarding preventing them…as opposed to the meaningless weasel words they usually like to give the public, including Congress, about it.

Fraudulent Sports News

Every once in a while, I hear some news in the sports arena that I consider absolute garbage. Sometimes its a stat; oftentimes its an injury report. There were a few things today that I think are pretty much lies given to the public and/or extreme optimism. First example, Chris Cooley of the Washington Redskins. Dude broke his ankle during this past Monday Night Football game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Usually when a player gets hurt, you very quickly hear how long he’s expected to be out. In this case, nothing. Until the other day, Zorn finally said he might get put on IR. Today, I hear something about 4 weeks. My man broke. His. Ankle. AND he needs surgery to fix it. Four weeks? Thats among the more absurd things I’ve ever heard in terms of injury length. I’ve broken my ankle and have 2 screws in it from the surgery to repair it. If this dude is back to playing football in 4 weeks, I will buy a box of Grape Nuts and PAINFULLY eat this TERRIBLE TERRIBLE cereal every day until I finish it. The thought of doing this already is bringing me down. Thats how much I hate this cereal. But THATS how sure I am that there is no way on God’s green Earth that this guy can play football in 4 weeks. 8 weeks? Maybe. 4? HAIL NAW!! Next example.

This example has to do with the NBA season having started last night. First, thank the lord for THAT. I miss basketball. BUT, I dont miss the CONSTANT jocking of LeBron James. Count me out. That said, he passed a milestone yesterday by reaching the 13,000 point mark and is apparently the youngest to do so (beating out Kobe). I HATE this stat. I think its fraudulent and lame. You have these guys coming out of high school and you’re saying they were the youngest to do something? Its meaningless. To make this stat meaningful, base it on how many GAMES it took them to reach this plateau. THAT gives you a fair and honest comparison. Otherwise, you’re just feeding the public garbage. Get your shit right, ESPN.

Another example of injury fraud…Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers. No, not his hair. This guy sprained his Medial Collateral Ligament during the 1st game of the season. When that happened, we were told he’d be out for 3 weeks. 3 weeks? How gullible or stupid do they think we are? If you sprain a ligament in your knee, it will HURT for 2 weeks, AT LEAST. Let alone you be able to rehab it and then be back to playing. And now look at him. I wanna say he was out for 4 weeks and then wound up hurting it again during his first game back. I wouldnt go as far as to say he’s a liability out there right now, since he IS healing, but he isnt Polamalu yet b/c how could he be? The NFL commonly lies about injuries and rushes players back onto the field. If you watch the Steelers play, Polamalu is a GLARING example.

Lastly, something that really bothers me and should bother you to your very core. The NFL and concussions. The NFL is going to need to SERIOUSLY address this concussion issue…instead of trying to discredit published studies showing links b/w multiple concussions and the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. First, not to be crass but the link b/w the two is a no-brainer. Seriously, we’re talking about a person’s mental processes and ability to FUNCTION in their later years. The NFL already doesnt do a whole lot to protect player’s bodies, unless they play QB. PROTECT THEIR BRAIN AT LEAST. It is CRIMINAL that this is continually going on. We watched Brian Westbrook get a concussion during the MNF game. I’d be willing to bet that there’s a player at least knocked dizzy in EVERY game, if not one that suffers a concussion. And having one concussion makes you susceptible to having another. I really cant stress enough how critical this is and I really hope it one day is adequately addressed.

Physical Thera-pissed

I had my second session of Physical Therapy yesterday afternoon. I actually went in expecting my PT to just check my range of motion and how my leg muscles are doing since our last meeting. Well, I knew I had misjudged when she walked us past her office and into their physical therapy weight room. She did check my range of motion and said I can stop trying to bend my knee further and wait for the graft to really take hold. So that was good news. My leg strength is also pretty good so I dont NEED the huge brace they gave me. I’d jettisoned that thing since last weekend. I dont really think it does much for me beside make me walk funny b/c it forces me to keep my leg straight. That said, when I finally see the surgeon again in 2 weeks, she said I better have that thing on or he’ll flip out. Fine.

So, to my surprise, she takes me through some exercises. I had expected her to just hand me a list of what to do next and I’d be on my way. She has me doing these leg lifts from the side and from on my stomach. These things are tough, at least for now, but the thing that got me was that they’re all gluteal exercises. What? Why am I working my ass so hard? Why do I need this? So I’m figuring that even if I do wind up with a mean limp…I’ll have even meaner buns of steel. I can live with that. You ladies better watch out!!

I Knee’d You in My Life!!

Figure I’ll do a knee update while I’m here.

Captain’s Log: Knee Recovery – 3 weeks, 2 days
Knee is doing pretty good. I limp like a pro now. I’m completely off painkillers so thats a plus. Sadly, the best part of my day is when I get home and can elevate my knee again and put ice. How lame (pause) is that? People keep telling me that this is the worst time to have a cast on and all that. Nope. With the NBA Playoffs on, I’d be sitting on my butt anyways. Besides, its not like there’s a best time. “Oh I’m getting a cast, let me aim for around winter time.” Ridiculous.

Anyways, the swelling has continued to go down and my knee is now only about a third bigger than the other. *Stewie voice* Victory is mine!

My Hiatus

Been a while since I’ve blogged anything. Trust me, there’s a couple of excuses that I like to call “reasons” which I believe will not only prove my hiatus to have been legitimate…but necessary. Come along, let me tell you a story.

Approximately 2 weeks from yesterday, I had knee surgery. And no, not your typical run of the mill arthroscopic procedure or a cleaning of debris out of there…I’m talking ACL Reconstruction. The stuff of legend. So what do they do in an ACL Reconstruction? I’m glad you asked. What they do is take a little piece of tendon/ligament from another joint in your leg (patella or hamstring) and use it to replace the torn ligament that was your ACL or anterior cruciate ligament. You can also get one from a cadaver. I chose to have mine replaced using a patellar tendon b/c its supposed to the most stable/strongest option. I’ll spare you the gruesome details but my entire procedure took upwards of 4 hours.

Honestly, the WORST part of this whole thing has been getting over the anesthesia. That stuff AINT PLAYIN. It took me forever to come out of the mini-coma this stuff had put me in. And when you finally do, you’re crazy tired, dizzy, and nauseous. Ugh…I hate that. I manage pain pretty well so I can honestly say it hasnt been TOO bad for the most part. There were some moments were a slight movement may have elicited a blood curdling response but thankfully those were few and far between. Also, Doc hooked me up with some painkillers that would either put me right out like a tranquilizer gun or (as I got used to them) make me slightly delirious and prone to saying ridiculous things. I called them my “scooby snacks” b/c after I took one, I’d be ready to go find ghosts. For those that know me, I’m already prone to saying ridiculous things but I’m telling you it was diff this time b/c I didnt need to be in a silly frame of mind to conjure it up.

At this point, I am 2 weeks into the 9 – 12 month-long process of rehabbing my knee. For any of you that have rehabbed anything after an injury, you KNOW how much it sucks. This is gonna be a painful process for sure

Another reason is how much fun I have on twitter. Its very easy to write your thoughts, read others, and converse with friends. Also, I follow some news tweets to help stay up on certain things. I recommend it to all.

Say It Aint So!!

As a big Reggie Bush fan, news of his knee injury is devastating. I mean, the Saints season already has been an ABSOLUTE DEBACLE, but this is the coup de grace. I mean, we were already boned. Colston’s hand is jacked up and now he cant catch. Shockey is whoknowswhat. Lost our best pass rusher a day before Monday Night Football a couple weeks ago. This season has been a certified grease fire. But damn…now they got Reggie too!?!?

Sidenote: I just experienced the end to my undefeated season in 1 of my fantasy football leagues. Damn. Romo was hurt so I had to stick JaMarcus Russell in. That was a two-fold loser. Three-fold really. First, I lose Romo. Second, I have to go with a Raider. *spit* And Third, his name is “JaMarcus.” I hate regular names with a de, ja, le..or whatever in front of it. That shit drives me crazy. Then, I couldnt get ANYTHING from the Dolphins’ run game this weekend. Followed by the Colts wetting the bed. At least I won in the other 2 leagues.