Direct access to physical therapy – at least the way a consumer would view it – is the ability to make a consumer-driven choice to see a physical therapist without any limitation imposed by a gatekeeper or other entity. A consumer would also view physical therapy as the process of both evaluating a condition and implementing a treatment plan for it. I think it is safe to say that the commonly-held perspective by the consumer is that physical therapy in its entirety involves both aspects, and not just one.

The definition of “direct” is simple: “proceeding in a straight line or by the shortest course; without intervening persons, influences, factors, etc”.

But Direct Access to Physical Therapy has become a ridiculous play on words by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) – and a game that undermines the future of the profession at its core.

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Strange things always happen to the University of Texas Longhorns whenever they venture out to Lubbock to play the Texas Tech Red Raiders. It’s almost like taking a trip through the Bermuda Triangle. Strange things just happen. Defense disappears. Offense disappears. Strange penalties are called. And lots of them.

Even coaches disappear in the Lubbock Triangle these days. In honor of “Talk Like A Pirate Day”, it is only fitting to mention my favorite pirate coach, Mike Leach. Leach, one of the most innovative offensive coaches in college football, was dismissed by Texas Tech in December. This was following the rather bizarre story (and subsequent media fiasco) involving player Adam James – who just happens to be the son of ESPN commentator and former SMU Mustang running back Craig James. Then there was the disappearance (aka firing) of interim head coach Ruffin McNeill, who led the Red Raiders to victory in the 2010 Alamo Bowl – only to be replaced by not-so-terribly-exciting coach Tommy Tuberville.

But before we even discuss the road trip to Lubbock, we need to make mention of the previous Horns game against Wyoming – just to keep you up-to-date.

One word can be used to describe it: boring. Pretty simple.

Now on to the main discussion – would the Leach-less Red Raiders pull another upset over the Longhorns? Would the ghost of Christmas past (aka Michael Crabtree’s last second touchdown against Texas in 2008) make an appearance? Or would some semblance of sanity and order reign supreme in the Big 12 (errrr 10) this week?

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You are now 18 days away from the Austin Marathon. You might have the goal of getting a Boston Marathon qualifying time. You might have the goal of setting a new personal best time.

At this point in time, you have done virtually all the training. Hopefully, you have used some sound training resources. Maybe you have listened to my CGH podcast on Marathon Training (9/1/09) or you have read “RunSmart”. You are probably within days of starting the process of peaking for the big day.

All in all, you are now on the verge of game time and you are trying to make sure that you have all the pieces in place for that epic performance that you dream of every night.

But great training can be undermined by lousy pre-race preparation. With that in mind, here are my five keys to setting a personal best at the Austin Marathon.

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Week one of the 2010 Longhorns football schedule has come and gone. And as Yogi Berra once said, it’s deja vu all over again.

Consider this series of events and let me know if you’ve heard it any of it before …

The Longhorns go into an early season game as 30 point favorites. They essentially don’t show up (read: miss the bus to the game) for the first quarter, leaving themselves only three quarters to get their heads in the game. They subsequently give up a few quick points in the process. They manage to right themselves, doing as little as possible to accomplish this, and escape with a win. And leave as many question marks as they had before the game.

How many times did this occur last year? It was a regularity. And I will guarantee this – too many of these first quarter slumbers, especially against quality opposition, and we are doomed.

The Longhorns went into the off-season with a number of problems to resolve. And, imagine this, nothing has changed. Funny how players change, but the scenario (and the coaching staff) doesn’t. Coincidence? I suspect not. The starting rotation is typically full of “the best players of August” (i.e. Cody Johnson, James Kirkendoll), but as we all know, national championships are not won in August.

The deja vu was rampant. Where do I start?

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