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Monday, May 25, 2009

Happy Memorial Day(NASCAR Style)

NASCAR has a running tradition of patriotism and connection with the United States military. The National Guard, Air Force and Army are all sponsors of drivers, and you see numerous servicemen and women at the races each weekend. So it came as no surprise that NASCAR chose to honor Memorial Day with a variety of tributes. However, this was special.

President Obama requested that everyone take a moment to reflect and remember the men and women who have died serving our country this afternoon at 3pm. Well, NASCAR did something beyond that. NASCAR Officials decided stop the entire race; something you don’t see in football or baseball.



The drivers were asked to shut down all the cars, every crew member stepped shoulder-to-shoulder out on pit road, and the flags around Lowe’s Motor Speedway were lowed to half mast. The result? One of the most moving moments in sports history.

NASCAR gets a lot of criticism, but this one moment is something that was done right. Bravo NASCAR!

Thank you to all those who sacrifice their lives so the rest of us could be here.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Adventures of a working girl......

Welcome to Northeast Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine


As many of you know, Monday was my first day of work. Sorry I didn’t blog about it yesterday. I ended up crashing on the couch around 9:30pm. I know so many people wanted to know about my first day.

When I arrived at the clinic, at 8am, I learned that I am Dr. Chance’s right hand woman. Whatever he needs, it is MY job to get it for him. Talk about a shocker! In the interview, I was told there were other people with me. The person who interviewed me was wrong.

But listen to this crap. The person who is training me was 2 hours late. Apparently, she is selling her house and had people come over at 8am for an appraisal. She didn’t tell anyone. But that’s not all. She ended up leaning at 2:30pm because her dog drank Bleach over the weekend and needed to see a vet. Poor girl! She has a lot on her plate right now.

But I did learn how to recertify and schedule MRI’s and surgeries. By the end of the day, I had scheduled 3 MRI’s and 1 surgery. By the end of the week, I think I’ll be able to do in my sleep.

Well, yesterday was so much fun that I decided to do it again today. Today started off boring, but ended with me meeting the doctor that I’ll be working with. Dr. Chance is so funny. He is blunt and tells it like it is. If you screw up, he will let you know. If you are doing a great job, he’ll praise and reward you. He seems like someone that I’ll love working with.

I am so excited to be starting this newest adventure. The hardest thing has been leaving the girls(Emily and Elaine) but they know that I love them very much. Hopefully I can get them out here soon because I’m already needed my Laney fix.

Tomorrow should be another great day.

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

San Antonio Spurs Fan? Or No!

Here we go Spurs, Here we go! So you’re probably asking yourself why in the world is she cheering for the San Antonio Spurs? My friends the reason is because I don’t know if I should become a Spurs fan now. What should I do? I ask this question because Bill Simmons, columnist for ESPN.com and author of “Now I Can Die in Peace”, has said in Number 18 of his Rules of Being a Sports Fan:

18. If you live in a city that has fielded a professional team since your formative years, you have to root for that team. None of this, "The Bengals weren't very good when I was growing up in Cincy, so I became a Cowboys fan" crap.

You can find the rest of the rules here: http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020227


I can do this and still follow the rule because my hometown DOES NOT have a sports team, plus I am a transplant to the city and never followed another NBA team. Now that I live in San Antonio do I have to start cheering LOUD and proud for the Spurs? This is a tough question to ask. Good thing I have until September to decide.If I do become a San Antonio Spurs fan, I want a Tony Parker jersey(shown). After all, he is Eva Longoria’s husband. Hehe!




Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Texas Bound

WOW! It's been a while since I updated. Guess I need to tell everyone what I've been up too. I'm moving to Texas on Thursday morning. I got a job! I'll be working for Northeast Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in San Antonio. I am so excited. This is my first job since getting my college degree. I never thought this day would come. I got the phone call a week ago, and since then I've been packing and trying to say goodbye to all my friends and family that live in the area. Everyone is so proud of me. I will be staying with my Aunt Leni and Uncle Kent until I get on my feet and learn my way around town. Gonna taking some getting use too, but I am ready for it.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

50-game suspension for Mann Ramirez

The Los Angeles Times has broken a story that has sent shock waves across the baseball world. Manny Ramirez will serve a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug.

Ramirez will be forbidden from putting on a Dodgers uniform until the eve of our country's Independence and will begin his suspension immediately. The Dodgers have taken a mighty hit, as they have gone from the top to rock bottom. Just last night, Joe Torre and the gang were celebrating their thirteenth consecutive victory at home to open the 2009 season. The 10-3 victory over the Nationals set a modern Major League record for most consecutive wins to open a season at home.

Less then 24 hours later, Dodger fans, players, coaches and management were stricken with news that likely seemed surreal, as I know it did to me. Red Sox Nation likely reacted in many different ways. What some baseball fans tend to misinterpret is that "testing positive for performance enhancing drugs" does not always mean that a player injected themselves with steroids. Does it make the player in question any less of a culprit? Absolutely not. Taking a performance enhancing drug of any kind is inexcusable. Ramirez claimed, "Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me."

In a statement issued by Ramirez, he continued to say, "Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."

The former Red Sox slugger finished with apologies, "I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation." Was that statement actually written by Manny Ramirez? Probably not. Does it enlighten the situation for baseball fans? Well, that all depends on if what "Manny" is saying is true, but when you're in this position (cough, A-Rod, cough) players tend to stretch the truth, or just flat out lie to protect their legacy.

The 50-game suspension slapped on Manny Ramirez will forgo 31% of the $25 million that the right-handed slugger signed for this past offseason. Players that are suspended under Major League Baseball's drug policy are suspended without being paid a dime. Therefore, Ramirez will have $7.7 million yanked from his pockets throughout the duration of his suspension.

Since this drug policy was introduced in 2003, Manny Ramirez becomes the biggest name in baseball to have the hammer come down upon a star player. Baseball fans are getting sick of players testing positive for performance enhancing drugs and none of them "knew what they were taking." It's getting old and it's shocking us less and less with each big name that leaks.

Ramirez was hitting at a red-hot .348, with 6 HR, 20 RBI and an eye-popping 1.133 OPS. His numbers helped the Dodgers start the season with a Major League-best 21-8 record, launching them 6.5 games up in the National League West.

As a professional athlete that is making more money in one year than any of us will see in our entire lifetime, why is what you put into your body being done so carelessly? Is it the invincible mindset? Almost like not wearing your seat belt before you drive? You don't think a bad accident can happen to you? Well, it did, Manny. I'm sorry that it had to happen to you, and I'm sure there's a lot we still don't know, maybe a lot we don't even want to know, but one thing I do know is that we as baseball fans have become numb to "news" like this. Manny Ramirez isn't the first superstar to be linked to performance enhancing drugs, and sadly, you're a fool if you think he'll be the last.

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