This week has been a busy and exciting one, to say the least.
1. There's no more fitting way to start this list of random thoughts off than with a huge congratulations to CP athlete and Team USA bobsledder Bree Schaaf, who finished 5th at the Olympics on Wednesday night. I first started working with Bree in July of 2007 when she was working her way up the ranks as a skeleton competitor for the US National Team (she was as high as 12th in the world at one point) after her collegiate volleyball career ended. A few months later, Bree decided to make the switch to bobsled - and just two years later, wound up in the Olympics.
The whole Cressey Performance "Extended Family" is incredibly proud of her hard work and how far she's come.
To check out videos of Bree's four runs, head over to nbcolympics.com.
2. My fiancee and I had an offer accepted on a house this week as well, so between negotiations/offers and making arrangements for mortgage stuff, a home inspection, appraisal, and dates for the P&S and closing, it's been a hectic week. It'll all be worth it, though, as the move will substantially reduce my commute time (by at least 80 minutes per day!) and, obviously, improve my productivity and our quality of life. Needless to say, we are really excited about how things are developing and love what will be our new house.
3. I'm experimenting with some Underarmour Performance mouthwear right now in my training, thanks to a generous gift from CP client Dr. Jeff Tocci, who fits dozens of these each week for athletes and non-athletes alike.
There is actually quite a bit of research supporting these initiatives, so thanks to Jeff, I get to put it to the test while I'm lifting heavy stuff this week to see how I respond. So far, so good.
4. Mike Reinold and I are working hard to put the finishing touches on our new DVD set, Optimal Shoulder Performance. We definitely plan to have it up and running sometime in March.
5. No surprise here, but pitchers who throw harder are more likely to develop elbow issues. You can look at this transiently in the context of the faster arm speed placing more stress on both the active and passive restraints. However, more chronically, if you consider that the arm is moving faster, you'll realize that the deceleration-imposed adaptations (more specifically, the muscle shortening that comes from repeated eccentric exercise exposures) can lead to chronic adaptations (loss of elbow extension and shoulder internal rotation) that can place more stress on the elbow. Likewise, stud pitchers who throw the crap out of the ball are more likely to get overused - so it's really a triple whammy working against you if you throw hard.
That said, I'd rather throw 100mph with a higher risk of injury than throw 76mph and get shelled in some beer league.
Warning: this is as political as I will ever get in a blog or newsletter.
Today, I read this article about Hillary Clinton advocating a partial boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by the U.S. in light of China’s “reaction to recent protests in Tibet and its lack of action in the troubling Darfur region of the Sudan.” Frankly, this gesture from Clinton made me want to puke in my mouth.
You see, I interact with Olympic hopefuls on a daily basis. These are people that sacrifice everything for the sports they love – and the opportunity to compete in the single-most prestigious sporting event the world has ever seen.
They often struggle to make ends meet financially as their hectic training schedules compete with real jobs and school.
They leave their spouses for months at a time to travel all over creation to train and compete.
Meanwhile, Bill and Hillary Clinton's 2000-2006 tax returns report that they earned a “not-so-financially-stricken” $109 million during that time period. I have a hard time believing that the Clintons have even the slightest semblance of a clue to realize what a huge deal an Olympic appearance means to someone who is making the sacrifices to which I alluded above.
Don’t get me wrong; I am all for human rights and sincerely hope that these issues are resolved quickly and peaceably - and I know that she was just recommending a partial boycott. However, Mrs. Clinton, if you need to make a political statement, stop wearing clothes that were made in China. Don’t buy cars of Chinese origin. Or, stop ordering Chinese takeout; take up your beef with General Tso.
But, DO NOT even attempt to use a political spectacle to compromise anything for which all these athletes have devoted their lives. They deserve every bit of glory that comes to them.
