Thirty-something bowl games later. That’s a whole lot of football. And, frankly, much ado over nothing. Another year of college football ends in turmoil. Sure, there was a “national championship” game, and yes, there was a winner of this “national championship” game. But when the best bowl game was the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl, you really have to wonder about the state of the post-season.

As an aside, the Humanitarian Bowl had Idaho edging Bowling Green 43 – 42. The fourth quarter was, without doubt, the most entertaining (and refreshing) 15 minutes of football all year. With the game tied at 35, Bowling Green scored a touchdown with 32 seconds left. Score: Bowling Green 42, Idaho 35. Idaho then stormed back to score a touchdown with 4 ticks left on the clock, making it 42 – 41. In perhaps the gutsiest coaching move I’ve seen in a long time, Idaho went for the two point conversion – and made it – to win 43 – 42. Now that’s not something that even Les Miles or Nick Saban would do.

Games like this would be commonplace if college football had a playoff. It is laughable that the NCAA continues to claim that the BCS is “in the best interest of the universities”. As it stands, there are 34 bowl games, which means that 68 of 120 schools are in a bowl game. Most of these bowl games have incredibly low attendance. If this is what is “in the best interest of the universities”, then it’s kind of like being in elementary school and everyone getting participation awards because “everyone’s a winner”. And if that is the case, there is a lot of money being invested in college football so that “everyone is a winner”. Yeah right.

Now that we have the benefit of having watched a few bowl games, and having established who showed up and who didn’t, let’s take one final look at December Delirium, and find us a real national champion. The good ‘ole fashioned way – on the field.

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Plantar fasciitis is another orthopedic condition that accounts for a significant number of clinician visits. Approximately 10% of the United States population experiences bouts of heel pain, and these episodes result in 600,000 visits annually to medical professionals for treatment of plantar fasciitis. Riddle and Schappert (2004) noted that this problem accounts for 1% of all patient visits to orthopedic surgeons.

It is also yet another orthopedic condition that has countless treatments that are known to be not only no better than nature, but are counter-intuitive in the process. It is a condition that clinicians continue to over-treat. This makes it another one of those conditions that I would call “the gift that keeps on giving” – because clinicians continued to be reimbursed for treating it, regardless of the scientific literature.

What is the plantar fascia? Are the most commonly-used treatments of any benefit?

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Five plays. That was the sum total of playing time for Colt McCoy during the national championship game. Instead of watching McCoy, the University of Texas’ senior quarterback, battle Alabama’s defense for 60 minutes, his college football career ended abruptly on the fifth play of the first Longhorn drive of the game. Sadly, he was forced to watch his final college game from the sidelines as him team lost to Alabama 37 – 21. It was hard to imagine, almost surreal, that the all-time win leader in college football would end up with this type of career finish. Here is a young man that has given everything to his team and to this program. He had prepared for 4 years to play on the game’s biggest stage. Watching his post-game interview was just plain sad.

I can’t imagine how Colt is feeling right now, but I do have a few words for him. First of all, a personal thank you for all of the memories. From the first moment you took the field in the void left by Vince Young – through each and every one of those 45 wins – you have exhibited the highest level of class and sportsmanship while representing the University of Texas. You’ve brought great joy to all of the fans like myself that have followed you and the Longhorns. Though I have no doubt that this is a very difficult time for you, I know that many good things lie ahead for you. We remember you not for those five plays tonight, but for times like the photo above.

As an aside - yes, there was a game last night.

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Over the years, I have been fortunate to have practiced alongside a broad range of clinicians - be they acupuncturists, chiropractors, orthopedists, physical therapists, naturopaths, osteopaths, and doctors of oriental medicine. Each profession lends some intriguing and practical perspectives on patient care. In the same breathe, each profession also has their share of lousy practitioners. You will find that quacks and charlatans are not exclusive to the world of alternative therapies, nor is lack of evidence-based practice limited to Eastern medicine.

There are many that swear by the benefits of Eastern medicine. They will tell you that Western medicine has failed the patient. They will tell you that it (Eastern medicine) has stood the test of time.

On the flip side of the discussion, the proponents of Western medicine will tell you that Eastern medicine has little scientific evidence and has not been subjected to the rigors of the scientific method.

They are in a parallel universe. Perhaps both sides of that coin are correct.

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