When you are an athlete at the top of your game, your skill and talent tend to polarize fans and fellow athletes. They either love you - because you are such a phenomenal talent - or they hate you - because they are so fed up with you being at the top of your game all the time. This love/hate relationship tends to, in hindsight, remind us of how great an impact the athlete had on the game they dominated. Athletes in this category tend to inspire the passions of fans -one way or another.In Formula One, we've seen this phenomenon a number of times. Michael Schumacher is a great example. Perhaps one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, driver that Formula One has ever seen. I was always able to appreciate his raw talent and skill - but it would always drive me crazy the way he dominated the sport. He had a very passionate following, and when he retired, everyone knew (fan or otherwise) that the sport was losing something special. We'd been witness to something special - and we could all look back and be thankful for it.
It could be Micheal Schumacher or Michael Johnson or Michael Jordan - there is something very special about watching an athlete compete at the highest level as they set new standards for their sport.
Prior to the Schumacher era, we'd seen another driver of comparable ability - and his name was Ayrton Senna .
May 1, 1994 stands out as a tragic day in Formula One, a sad personal memory for me, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention it on this day.
I was filling up the car the other day, and I had one of those moments of clarity. It was a brief flashback to my childhood. Admittedly, the gas station is not a common place to trigger memories, but in some ways, it was very appropriate and telling.
One thing that suddenly stood out in my mind was how so much of life has changed - even simple things like gas stations. Do you remember full servivce gas stations? When I was a child, my parents and I did a lot of travel by car. We had many long driving trips - to Florida, the deep south, and to countless auto races in the summertime. A fine example was all the times we drove through upstate New York on the way to Watkins Glen and the Finger Lakes . I can remember stopping at the gas station ... at times, they were called "service stations" - and an attendant would spring into action, walking up to the driver's side, asking my father what gas he would like and if he wanted him to check under the hood. It was the de-facto standard of summertime driving trips for us, and we certainly drove through our share of "Smalltown, USA" on our travels "off the beaten path".
Funny how these things are so vivid in my mind.
What amazes me now ...
This week goes down as "the week of the tea party". Anyone for a spot 'oTetley ?
The use of the phraseology "tea party" in this context is annoying. Once again, a fine use of "symbolism" with little to no context - other than people taking the time to protest. What about using the symbolism of other great civil protests from our era? I didn't see anyone running off to use "the silent majority" and dressing like hippies! I guess it's just another load of political fodder and compost over the past few weeks.
But here's an even bigger question ... where were all these people, oh, 8 years ago? Back in the days when Bush signed the Patriot Act? Or when the number of illegal wiretaps went through the roof? Or when they spent hundreds of billions of un-budgeted money on the war in Iraq? Where were all the "protesters" when former President Bush wanted to make constitutional change (yes, constitutional change) to oppose same sex marriages? And how about that little economic decline we've experienced as big business got it's piece of the pie, then ran off to hide on a beach in Tahiti?
Don't get me wrong here - I totally understand the concerns over the government showing fiscal responsibility with taxpayer's money. I am in total agreement there. But we do live in a democracy ...
So the NCAA basketball season is now officially over. We were officially blessed with perhaps the most boring and uneventful tournament in memory. The final between North Carolina and Michigan State was, well ... a yawner to say the least. With that said though, congratulations to UNC for a well-coached and well-played game. It was the next closest thing to a modern-day hoops clinic.
March Madness is almost always just that - madness. It has, over the years, served us with some fine examples of sportsmanship, camaraderie, "shining moments", humanity, and, oh yes, great basketball. But this year - just wasn't the same. Perhaps there is no coincidence that this year gave us the fewest mid-major teams in the tournament in the past 4 or 5 years. We didn't really have a Davidson to remind us that the Big Dance can be a modern day David-vs-Goliath on the hardwood. There were certainly some upsets, and some great games. But in general, all was a little disappointing. The Beasts from the Big East ...
They call it the Second Amendment: "the right to keep and bear arms". It's always good for a hot debate ... or two ... or a thousand.
Here in Texas, there is a concealed handgun law . Initially, there were certain limitations as to where you could take your weapon. You could have it on your premises and in your vehicle. But you couldn't take it to, for example, an establishment that sells alcoholic beverages. Probably a smart thing - alcohol and firearms just don't mix.
But now, we're on the verge of approving (or have already approved) some new laws in the Texas legislature.
How about the legal right to take your weapon to work (SB 730)? You just never know if you're going to need to pack that piece to have some extra voting power in the next staff meeting. That one was approved by the Senate. Or if you're a student, how about taking it to class with you (HB 1893)? Of course, the "right to bear arms" is exceedingly important at exam time. That one is under discussion. And as for alcohol and firearms not mixing, how about SB 729 - a defense for someone carrying a gun into a bar if no sign was posted to the contrary.
But in the words of Senator Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo ... out in northwestwest Texas, I might add):
The day is upon us. April Fools' Day . April 1. It isn't a Hallmark day as such - but if it is celebrated by South Park , it must be a part of our present culture [said with tongue in cheek - hehe]. It is typically marked by hoaxes and practical jokes
of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, neighbors, and
the like, with the aim being to embarrass those gullible enough to believe the
prank. Some of these hoaxes are certainly more elaborate than others. Fortunately, the jokes are only supposed to last until noon!
I am sure we've all fallen prey to a merry prankster at some time during our lives.
But what is truly humorous is the origin of April Fool's Day. In a bygone era in France, April 1 was counted as the first day of the year. When King Charles IX changed the first day of the year to January 1 (by switching to the Gregorian calendar), some people stayed with April 1. It was those that continued to celebrate the first day of the New Year on April 1 that were called "April Fools".
Leave it to the French to go their own way!
Today was the first race of the Formula One season, and it was well worth waiting for over what always seems like a long winter. The season ends, the development and testing begins, and we anxiously await the new designs to appear. Then, the first race is upon us and we see the results of the winter's testing.
There is no way that I would have ever expected today's result.
Brawn GP - a team that almost didn't exist at all - gave us a 1-2 performance in its first Grand Prix outing . Jenson Button scored the victory, and Rubens Barrichello placed second.
What is incomprehensible in the world of Formula One is that a team rarely if ever wins at its first go-round. Add to that the fact that this was the former Honda team of years past. Honda officially left Formula One over the winter due to rising costs and a global recession making an appearance. With no further factory support, the team was purchased by a group lead by none other than Ross Brawn, the chief technical director and designer. So to win your first race out of the box when a month ago your team barely existed (and had just recently acquird their only sponsor to date: Virgin Air) - that's pretty amazing stuff.
What makes this story much easier to comprehend is that it is, in fact, Brawn leading the charge.
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
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