We Love Dolly

 

I don’t think Dolly Parton was an athlete. I believe she was a cheerleader at her high school (or may have been in the band), but back then, cheerleaders weren’t always athletes—sometimes they were the loudest and cutest in school.

Obviously, that’s changed. Watch the cheerleading team these days is more like watching a combination of a dance team with Olympic gymnastics.  Turns and flips and tumbling runs, oh my.

Unless you’ve been under a rock all week, you know that Dolly Parton died this week. A friend from South Carolina even called to offer his condolences. You might not like her music and you might even not like her theme park, but goodness gracious, you have to like Dolly.

Her dedication to helping the people in this area is legendary. And we probably don’t know half of what she did. She paired up students at Sevier County High School and promised them $500 if both of them graduated. One doesn’t, neither gets the money.

Their drop-out rate went from 36% to 6%.

She gave away millions and millions of books to children. No commitment, no promise. Just, here’s a book—I hope you read it.

They just announced that East Tennessee Children’s Hospital was going to be renamed Dolly Parton Children's Hospital.  I can’t imagine anyone really disagreeing with that decision.

A steady stream of recipients of her benevolence is coming forward.  Five hundred dollars here, a thousand there. People down on their luck. People she didn’t even know.

As flashy as her appearance was, she never seemed to want to make a big deal about this. She just did it quietly. I mean, did many people know what she had done for Children’s Hospital until the announcement came out? I didn’t.

And here’s the thing—our best gifts are those that come unexpectedly, even privately. How does it feel to do something for somebody and they don’t even know who did it?

A gift given freely, without strings. Maybe leaving the recipient wondering who could have done that for them. Those are our best gifts.

No, Dolly probably wasn’t an athlete (although it certainly took a lot of athleticism to dance around on stage on those spike heels), but she was an enabler. And we need those in our life.

Our Athletic Trainers never score a touchdown or hit the winning basket, but they protect and provide for our athletes, doing things that often aren’t noticed and which can be unappreciated.  That’s OK.  It goes with the job.

The world needs people like that—the helpers, the enablers. We need more Dolly Partons. We can’t do what Dolly did, but we can respect her legacy by doing what we can.

We love you Dolly.

See The World

 

“The more you see the world, the less you judge it.” I found this quote on social media but couldn’t find out where it originated. But I like it.

I mentioned in a recent column about how awesome I found the World Cup to be. Same thing about the Tour de France. I also mentioned how incredibly fortunate I have been to travel for my career.

Many years ago, I got involved with my professional associations, more significantly with the American Physical Therapy Association and the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy. These have provided me with opportunities and opened doors for me that this small-town boy of humble origins could never have imagined.

I was a sophomore in college when I had knee surgery and met my first physical therapist, Dr. Ray Patterson. As I have done a thousand times, Ray asked me what my major was. I told him it was Wildlife Biology but that I was changing majors and trying to decide whether I wanted to be a doctor or a football coach.

He said “great, you’re gonna be a physical therapist.” I had no idea how fortuitous that conversation would turn out to be. It has led to a career that has been perfect for me.

I’ll not bore you with a list of all the things I’ve done and places I’ve been. It’s almost surreal. I still get goosebumps flying into our nation’s Capital. The Rockies from above, the Caribbean from below—it’s all amazing.

And sports have taken me to so many incredible places that I still worry that I have Imposter Syndrome—that I don’t really deserve to be in that arena.

Maybe I’m just getting more reflective (isn’t that what old people are supposed to do?), but I’ve met so many incredible athletes along the way. Evander Holyfield. George Hincappie. Dikembe Mutombo. David Robinson.

I remember the children’s church song—“red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight….”

I’ve seen all colors, learned a few words of several languages, met people very different from me in so many ways, and I’ve come to several conclusions.

People are the same wherever you go. They want the same things. They want to live long and prosper. They want their kids to be healthy and happy, and to be more, do more, accomplish more, than they did themselves.

Right now, at this moment, a dad somewhere is throwing a ball with his daughter.  A mom is dropping her son off at swim practice.

Maybe they coach a team. Or just bring snacks. Maybe they do more chores so that their child can play a sport or pursue a dream. But they are there for their kids. Always. Providing opportunities. Opening doors. Letting them see the world, not just one corner of it.

Mom and Dad, that’s your job.

Bike Safety Follow-up

 

The piece that I wrote about bicycling a couple of weeks ago sure generated a lot of discussion.

After my column is published in The Daily Times, I post it on social media. It was there where I saw a lot of feedback.

The comments ranged widely but the consensus seemed to be that everyone was concerned about the safety of cyclists, that the recent death was truly tragic.

Let me tell you a bit about my bicycle history. I got my first bike when I was seven and promptly wrecked it in front of Marie Brooks house when I thought a car was going to pull out in front of me.

For years after that, a bicycle was my primary means of transportation.  I lived on the outskirts of town but most of my buddies lived in town, a mile or so away. In the summers, I would get up in the morning, ride into town, and do stuff with my friends (that’s another story).

The only rule was be home for dinner.

In college, the bike stayed at home. I got married right before moving to Memphis for physical therapy school, so my wife got the car to take to work while I rode my bike to class, rain or shine.

As a young father, I got my kids bikes and we would often ride together. Most of that was on the few mountain bike trails we had around here back then.

It was actually my college-age daughter that convinced me to get a road bike and for the next several decades, I rode on the roads.  I put in thousands of miles, most of those with my buddy Steve Bright.

I’ve always rode my mountain bike—I was a “mixed” rider, I guess. For many years, Ken Bell, Eric Morgan, Keith Amos, and I would head out for week-long mountain bike excursions.

Blackberry Mountain opened up mountain bike trails for guests and I was the first to sign up as a guide (something I still do occasionally).

Most of my riding now is mountain biking, most often with Ken Bell. Many Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, you’re going to find us on one of the many trails around here.

Baker Preserve in south Knoxville. I.C. King Park off Old Knoxville Highway. Vee Hollow in Townsend. And my current favorite, Concord Park in west Knoxville.

And here’s the thing—I will continue to preach to bikers to be smarter and safer.  I will continue to advocate for the rights and protection of bike riders everywhere.

But ride I will. As long as I’m able.

BIKE SAFETY

If you know me well, you know I’ve spent a lot of time on a bicycle--many thousands of miles on a road bike. And hundreds of hours on my mountain bike.

You may have heard about the death of Joyce Frey.  Joyce, an avid cyclist, was riding on Old Niles Ferry Road recently when she was apparently struck and killed by a vehicle that left the scene.

I first became acquainted with Joyce and her husband Ernie several years ago when we were both helping with the annual Tour de Blount bicycle ride.  More recently, I attended a flyfishing class that she and Ernie provided through Parks & Rec. Joyce and Ernie had seemed to dedicate their retirement years to helping others.

Some folks are using this tragedy to make it clear that they don’t think that bicycles belong on roads.. Many state loudly that the Greenbelt Trail is the place to ride a bicycle.

Let me state unequivocally, the Greenbelt is meant for casual biking. It was originally conceived to be a conduit for transportation.  It’s an awesome asset for our community but it’s not place for the serious rider. You don’t want me on the Greenbelt, unless I’m out for an easy ride with a grandchild.

A lot of people hate people on a bicycle. It’s true. I’ve been cussed, been the recipient of way too many single finger salutes, and have had vehicles (mostly trucks) swerve in an attempt to scare me.

My wife, who used to quietly support my need for riding, now makes it clear that she doesn’t like for me to go out on my road bike. 

But here’s the thing—bikes have every right to be on the roads. There are laws governing bicycles on public roads (stay to the right, double line only, pull off if traffic is backed up behind you), but it is completely legal for me to ride my bicycle on a road. Any road.

It may not be smart, but it is legal. It is also illegal to come within 3 feet of a bicycle rider on the road. That law was passed after a local man was killed, riding on the shoulder of the road. 

Smart riders—and that would be most of us—stay off busy roads. Main arteries in and out of town should be avoided, but what about the person that rides their bike to work? Or maybe the individual who made a mistake and lost their driver’s license?

Many more people are killed on motorcycles every year, but is anyone proposing a ban on motorcycles on The Dragon?

Do some bike riders ride irresponsibly?  Absolutely. I preach to riders all the time to follow the law and ride safely. Is it a great sport? Undoubtedly. Is it smart to ride on the roads? I’m not sure anymore. The debate will go on.

Don’t hate us. We’re friends and parents and somebody’s son or daughter. And don’t threaten us. We’re just out there getting some exercise and enjoying the outdoors.

These days, you’re more likely to find me on my mountain bike, but know this for certain--I will defend to my last breath the right to ride a bike on the road. And I’ll still get out on my road bike from time to time because I do still love it. But I will pick my roads carefully and ride defensively. 

If your feet hurt...

 

If you are an athlete, your shoes shouldn’t be a fashion statement.  There I’ve said it. 

If you’ve read this column for long or if you have ever seen me professionally for foot problems, then you should know my feelings about your shoes. 

If you walk into my clinic in “shoes” that don’t support your feet, then you’ve probably heard about it from me. If you are wearing those rubbery things that kids wear WAY too much, then you’ve gotten the LECTURE. Or slides. Or (heavens forbid) bedroom slippers (yes, I see that way too often). 

Don’t believe me?  Go to the big box store. 

It hasn’t been too many years since I would send an older person to the shoe store with the instructions to purchase running shoes.  Sometimes they would come back complaining that “those things cost more than my dress shoes!”  Or maybe they said “those things are ugly—I’m not wearing those.”

Yeah, good running shoes cost more than most dress shoes.  And beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

But here’s the bottom line—those running shoes are probably the best pair of shoes in your closet.  More research has gone into them than anything else you’re going to find in any shoe store. 

If you’re feet hurt, well, you will wear them.  And (surprise, surprise) you will feel better almost immediately.

When I first got out of Physical Therapy school lo those many years ago, we were expected to wear a white jacket, dress shirt (with tie for guys), dark slacks and dress shoes. 

It took a long time before I figured out that those dress shoes that I was wearing every day were killing my feet.  I was quite young back then and not much hurt, but my feet sure did.

And then came the gosh awful shoes that were issued to us when I worked the ’96 Olympics.  Sort of dress shoe looking but with just a hint of running shoe technology thrown in.  I was more miserable than ever.

Along the way, I found that the shoes that I wore for exercise would work in the clinic.  So, dress shoes were the first thing I ditched, in favor of running shoes.  Then came the tie, then the white coat. Nixed the dark slacks.  The uniform became a polo shirt, khakis, and running shoes.

Still is. I don’t need a uniform to demonstrate my professionalism.  That white coat did nothing for me.

So when every kid with shin splints or plantar fasciitis shows up at my office (invariably wearing slides or those rubbery things), they learn (if they listen) that those “shoes” were not meant to wear every day all day.

They might learn that how their foot hits the ground, whether walking around school or competing in a sport, determines the health of their feet and lower legs. They will hear how important it is to take care of their feet.

And if they listen…if they start wearing those running shoes every day…they will find that their problems go away. It really can be that simple.

Pretty good place to be

 

I was an athlete. I was the parent to athletes. And now I’m grandparent to athletes.  I’m here to tell you that that last category is the easiest.  Let’s chat about all three.

I remember my days of competitive sports vividly.  Despite many decades having passed since I was in any game where we kept score other than pickup basketball, I remember details you would think would have been lost to memory.

Most of what I played back then was football.  I played a little basketball but when the high school football coach told me that I could be good at football if I worked at it…well, that was the end of any basketball career.

But I remember it all.  The practices, the Friday nights, the smell of the locker room—I remember it as though it were yesterday.  Going to battle with your friends--it doesn’t get any better than that.  Many of the friends that I still have from high school days are from my high school football team.  Lonnie Hawkins. JL Millsaps.  Mike Bivens.  Greg Cagle. Ricky Alexander. Byron Lawson.

Not all of them are still with us, but the occasions when I’ve seen any of them just makes those memories a bit brighter.

As a parent, I started out determined to let others coach my own kids.  That lasted but a moment.  I have been around sports my whole life, having seen the good and the bad, and I realized that I might be able to coach my kid and yours better than maybe what they were getting.

So I coached.  And supported.  And never missed anything.  One of the good things about being a youth sports coach is that you get to decide when and where to hold practice—that means those things are on your schedule, not someone else’s.

I’m sure I was harder on my own kids than I was on anyone else’s kid, but isn’t that they way it is supposed to be?

I believe competitive sports are a very important part of childhood development.  I do not believe that being on a championship team at age 8 makes a kid a “winner.”  Quite the contrary.

I believe that learning how to be coached, how to work together with others, and how to perform unselfishly are hugely important in childhood development. So, play they must.

I really enjoyed those times.  Road trips with an AAU basketball team. Football practice on the grass beside John Sevier School.  Soccer practice wherever we could find a field.  Those were special.

Ah, but the best gig out there?  Being the grandparent.  You don’t have the angst that comes with being the parent of an athlete. You are granted the latitude to see the big picture-the joy of sport, the development of a child, the rewards found in effort.

Then, on a magical night, it all comes together and your grandchild “gets it.”  They get the importance of teamwork. They get the rewards of a hard fought game.  They get what it is all about.

And maybe, if you’re lucky, you’re there when they hit the winning shot, or when they find that joy in being part of something greater than themselves. That is really a sweet place to be.

ACL Prevention

 

As sports medicine professionals, we are always looking for a way to prevent injuries.  Working with coaches, we work to help our athletes train in ways to both avoid and minimize the impact of injuries.

Strength training, flexibility, and skills acquisition are all tools in the prevention tool chest. More recent techniques such as chaos training and training based on a variety of individualized metrics have made a difference. But there are still almost a quarter of a million ACL injuries per year in this country. 

Studies tell us that for every male that has an ACL injury, 8 females have one. That data can be argued, dissected, and defied, but the bottom line is still that more girls have ACL tears than boys.

I have two friends, Dr. Tim Hewett and Dr. Amy Arundale, who have dedicated their careers to injury prevention, particularly for the ACL.  Both have PhD’s in biomechanics and both have focused exhaustive studies on preventing ACL injuries.

Dr. Hewett created the original Cincinnati Jump Program, which did have some impact on ACL injury incidence, but even he admits that we have all had limited success in the prevention arena.

Dr. Arundale, who works for the NBA’s Washington Wizards, is most certainly considered one of the foremost authorities on preventing ACL injuries but she tore her own ACL, playing Australian Rules Football. 

I’m going to bring this story to a personal level.  Last year, I worked with a young athlete as she rehabbed her knee after ACL surgery.  It was nine grueling months of work. Along the way, we worked diligently on both legs, putting a lot of emphasis on preventing an injury to her other knee.

She got the benefit of everything that I know about ACL prevention--and I have dedicated a large part of my career to understanding the ACL. She returned to basketball in the fall and had no problem with the knee that she had surgery on—it performed at a very high level. Yet, you know the rest of the story.  A few weeks ago, she tore the ACL in her other knee.

So the bottom line is that we just don’t know how to truly prevent ACL injuries.  We can lessen the risk but we can’t stop it. That is frustrating for me.

Because of that frustration, I have engaged several of the leading authorities in the country in an ongoing discussion about what else we might do. One of the common denominators appears to be a narrowed intercondylar notch (you probably need your orthopedist or physical therapist to explain that one).  There isn’t a practical solution for that one.

What don’t we know?  The effect of the menstrual cycle on ACL injuries.  We know that adequate sleep is important but what role does fatigue play?  And how do you deal with that?

Are there training techniques that we just don’t understand yet? We know that how the foot interacts with the ground is important but how best to intervene?

What we do know and which I’ll preach for the rest of my life—it is essential that young kids play and run and move their bodies. Especially girls. And begin sports training by the time puberty hits. Not just playing a sport, but training for that sport.

I’ll admit that we don’t know what we don’t know right now—but we’re looking, searching for every ingredient to the ACL prevention our athletes so desperately need.