Please
I knew a weekend couldn't go by without me criticizing Dusty Baker. I didn't get to see much of the game today, because I was watching the Bears smoke the Lions, 38-6. I did see the 2nd inning when the Cubs got 4 runs and saw the bizarre play when Baker got into an argument with Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter. I read on cubs.com tonight what happened. Let's have Dusty tell us: "I had talked to one of their players the last time when we were leaving St. Louis and he took exception to one of [the Cubs] pitchers looking at him, kind of staring him down after he got a hit," Baker said. "Carpenter was doing the same thing to Nomar after he got that hit and punched out Murton. So I asked him, 'What are you looking at? Why are you staring at the guys?'
"When [Carpenter] went to back up home plate, he came over to the dugout and said, 'If you've got something to say to me, then come to the mound,'" Baker said. "That's when I got a little [ticked] off and that's when I cursed. Maybe I shouldn't have cursed.
So basically our manager got into argument with an opposing player about staring at each other. I would hope that our manager would be mature enough to focus on other things than stuff like this. Certainly Murton didn't care when he hit a 450 foot HR to give the Cubs the lead. Let's please try and focus on playing baseball next season.
Sports Health Coverage
I have been biting my tongue on this all summer. ESPN has had certain segments they have heard on mechanics and injuries by athletes who really have no idea what they were talking about. This summer Jeff Brantley gave a talk on back injuries which included a basic Mackensie exercise. He did not all mention strengthening abdominal musculature which is just as important. Last week Steve Young, gave a throwing mechanics lecture. Steve is a wrist thrower, which made me believe that he flicks his wrist and the ball flies down the field, leaving his elbow and shoulder in the same position. Trust me you can't throw a ball without having good strength and motion in your shoulder. I would just like these commentators to stick to things they did to keep themselves healthy and how they made their backs/arms strong. Please do not mention mechanics. There are experts out in the real world (sports mechanics) who watch thousands and thousands of athletes that know so much more than you. Stop, you are giving the wrong information to the public, please.
Today, I watched the Outside the Lines special before church on the use of echocardiograms on athletes and prevention. I thought the view was a little one sided and made it sound like echocardiograms could save everyone if every athlete received one before the season. I am NOT a cardiologist. I do feel that team physicians always have the best idea of what their players need and want. An echocardiogram could not have detected my arrthymia that landed me in the hospital five and a half years ago. What upsets me is that ESPN has totally ignored the so called "white elephant" in the room. You have 300+ pound athletes, many of whom are African American (a higher risk for cardiovascular disease) playing a sport everyday that puts stress on your whole cardiovascular system. Something needs to be done about the health of players before an echocardiogram can be called a "lifesaver."
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home