Make Decisions, Not Resolutions

OK.  It's New Year's Eve.  I know that a lot of people are going to make resolutions.  New Year's Resolutions, that is.   It's an annual thing.

Most of the time it is to do something with improving your health.  And most of the time it is a resolution to get more exercise.  That and to eat better. 

Gym memberships skyrocket in January.   Lots of resolutions and good intentions.  And those same gyms that are packed in January and early February (gotta look good for Valentine's Day) are empty of those newbies by March.

There's lots of other things too.  Sleep more.  Spend more quality time with your kids.  Finish that project that you've started too many times.  Quit smoking.  Be kinder, gentler.

Well I want to suggest that you don't make resolutions.  Ever.  I want to suggest that you simply make decisions.

A decision to be healthier.  A decision to do whatever it is that you should be doing but aren't.  Or that you are doing but shouldn't.

I have heard it said by lots of smokers, "you will quit when you decide to."  Not when you promise yourself on New Year's Eve to do it.  Not when you make a resolution that has little chance of surviving cold weather.

When you make a decision to make a change in your life, you're going to do it.  Make a decision to make a lifestyle change and you will do it.  There is no turning back.  There is no empty gym in March.

Make the decision to take better care of yourself.  You've heard it here (too many times, probably), make sure that your primary care physician, whomever he or she might be, knows you by your first name when they run into you in the grocery store. 

Make a decision that you're going to exercise.  Regularly.  Five days a week.  Build it into your schedule.  Build it into your lifestyle.  It's just what you do.  You deserve it.

Make a decision to eat better.  Eat more vegetables and fruits. Especially more green leafy vegetables and things like broccoli and brussels sprouts.  Make sure your meat is lean and know where it comes from. 

Make a decision to end those bad habits.  Smoke?  Quit.  Make the decision.  Other bad habits?  Be honest with yourself and admit that they aren't good for you and then make the decision to stop.

Make a decision to stop and smell the roses.  Seek more laughter, more long walks, more hugs, more sunsets,  more dreaming, more fun, more love.

Need to lose weight?  Make the decision to do the things that will help you get your weight under control.  Don't be unrealistic.  As for all the weight loss plans, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  It's often more journey than destination.

If you ate your way into 2017, walk your way out of 2018.  Happy New Year!

Giving Thanks

It is time to give thanks.  Yes, I realize it is Christmas Eve and not Thanksgiving but what better "reason for the season" can we have than to give thanks?  So here goes.

I'm thankful for Coaches everywhere. Coaches give so much to the growth and development of our children, gifts that don't always get acknowledged.  The hours are awful.  The pay is not enough to register.  Good coaches do it for the kids.

I don't know a single coach that puts winning above the welfare of their young charges.  Maybe in days of old, before we knew better, but not now.  Oh, they're probably out there.  But they don't live or work in this backyard.

And teachers.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  What an underappreciated group of people.  They sometimes are trying to teach young folks things that they don't want to learn.  Imagine how difficult that might be.

Maybe if all the classes were about video games, texting, smart phones, and social media, they could get 100% attention.  Yet, the learning of things that we don't find interesting teaches us HOW to learn.  And that is a life skill that is essential. 

So thank you to all teachers and especially all the teachers that put up with my shenanigans (except for maybe that English teacher that insisted that I learn to properly diagram sentences).  And God bless those teachers that teach things like Physics and Chemistry that few students find compelling.  They may someday realize how important that stuff is.

Thank you to preachers everywhere.  We rarely think to tell them thank you for doing all they do.  We need the moral compass that comes from someone spiritually connected, who is willing to share that connection with us.  They're not perfect and once you realize that, you will probably be able to learn more from them.

A big thank you to those in health care.  Yeah, I know that's a bit self-serving but it's true.  Thank you to physicians in particular.   It used to be that they were the best paid people around.  Not so true these days.  Most of them could make more doing something else. 

Most of the doctors that I know do it because the work is rewarding.  Because they want to make a difference in the world.  Because they have a skillset that can help people be healthier.  And the difficulty in getting paid for what they do (paperwork, insurance regulations, people making reimbursement decisions that have no idea what the patient needs) be darned (this is a family newspaper, after all), they do it anyway.

Thanks to the farmers.  Without them, we wouldn't survive.  I don't know too many of them that are in it for the money either.  And the hours?  Ridiculous.  There basically aren't any hours--there is always something to do.  A friend that was getting her chickens to the market recently worked 30 straight hours.  And then the price she got for those chickens wasn't what it should be. 

It doesn't deter her. She probably dismissed it as the price for the lifestyle she chooses to lead.  Working on a farm, raising her own food and enough to sell to help pay the bills.  I often brag that I "live on a farm" when all I do is raise a few vegetables and some berries.  Real farmers allow the rest of us to live the life we want to.

I'm thankful for good bicycles, Benton's bacon, a truck that starts in the morning, good restaurants, and the fact that I don't live in Atlanta.  

And a big thank you to the kids that I work with that keep me young, grandchildren that remind me what life is all about, and a wife that tolerates the roller coaster that living with me must surely be.

Yes, Tennessee, we have a problem

Did you know that Tennessee is the second most medicated state in America?  I'm not talking about illegal drug use (although we're pretty darn high in that category too).  I'm talking about medications for legitimate medical problems.

Part of that is because over 65% of Tennessee adults are classified as obese or overweight.  There are a lot of health issues that are the result of obesity.  Heart disease.  Stroke.  Some cancers.  Gallbladder disease.  Joint problems.  High blood pressure.  Sleep apnea.  Diabetes.

Oh, and about diabetes--did you know that over 10% of Tennessee adults have diabetes?   And that over half of those could be eliminated with weight control and lifestyle changes?

So before I get started on the mother-of-all prescription drug problem in Tennessee (Opioids), let me admit that I am on three prescription drugs, which place me in the top 23% of American prescription medication usage.

I take two blood pressure pills and a Statin.  More on that in a minute. 

If you read this space regularly, you know that my lifestyle is good.  I exercise pretty much every day, ride a bicycle 3-4 days per week, eat mostly healthy, and visit my primary care physician, my gastroenterologist, and my dermatologist regularly.  I do most of the things that we know to do to stay healthy.

But as for the blood pressure thing, you can only run so far from your genetics.  High blood pressure runs in my family.  Broadly and deeply.  I have very few relatives that aren't affected.  My mom and dad for sure.  My grandparents, probably.

In my 40's, my blood pressure was already running in the range of 140/90.  Not terribly high but I guess I just couldn't believe it was happening to me.  I have always been hot pursuit of good health, beginning as a child of five when my dad had his first heart attack. 

So I ignored it.  After too many visits to my primary care physician where my blood pressure was too high but I scoffed at that because surely it must be a fluke, he insisted I get medicated for it.

Which indirectly leads to that Statin thing (a recent addition).  You see, I have a rather significant level of atherosclerosis.  Plaque lines my arteries.  We used to call it "hardening of the arteries."

Part of that is probably due to ignoring high blood pressure for too long.  The other part is that darn gene pool of mine.  Either way, Statins have been shown to help with that.  And a cholesterol level that has creeped up as I've gotten older.

So here I am.  Testimony to the fact that even the most vigorous, seemingly healthy among us needs to pay attention to medical care, not just the healthy part that is exercise and diet but doing what we should do medically.

As for those Opioids--Tennessee is among the country's worst in Opioid use.  The statistics are hard to track down because it is such a widespread epidemic.  I'm going to write more about this later but let me just add a couple of scary statistics.

Oxycodone prescriptions would have supplied every adult in Tennessee with 21 pills in 2016.  And Hydrocodone prescriptions would have provided every person over 12 in Tennessee with 51 pills. 

Yes, we have a problem.

And The Survey Said...

A group of college athletes were asked the question "what's your worst memory from youth sports?" The most common answer was "the ride home from a game with my parents."

Those same athletes were asked what it was that they wanted to hear.  Overwhelmingly they said "I love to watch you play."

Are you that parent?  I was.  Until the day when I was sitting with my son, probably telling him what he did wrong at football practice that day or at least telling him what he should be doing. 

I played football.  I coached football.  At one time in college I was trying to decide if I wanted to be a doctor or a football coach.  I've been around the game in one fashion or another since I was in the 3rd grade.  That's...well, let's see...naught from naught is...well, that's a long, long time. 

But when my son said "I've got 10 coaches and one dad" I changed forever.  Forever.

 I spoke to a group of parents just before the just ended football season.  They were expecting me to talk  about injuries and how our sports medicine system worked and all that but the best advice that I had for them was "be their parent.  Be their mom and dad."

Just think about it.  If you remember those days of travel ball and Little League and gyms and games galore, what do you think might be your child's best memory?

The travel?  The friends?  The uniforms?  Probably those and more.  The ice cream after a game.  Being part of a team.  And yeah, winning a big game or a championship or something like that. 

It probably won't be the day they finally started finding the strike zone because of their pitching coach or the hours of practice or the time in the weight room.  Those are sometimes necessary ingredients but aren't likely to be anybody's best memory. 

Now think about what might be their worst memory.  Maybe it was you telling them everything they did wrong on the way home from the game?  Or you talking about what an idiot that the coach was for (A) not playing you more or (B) not calling the right plays.  Or maybe it was (C) complaining that the referees stole the game from you, (D) criticizing your teammates, (E) how the other team cheated.  That list could go on forever.

What they want to hear is "I'm proud of you."  Or maybe "you did well."  Or like the #1 answer on the survey said "I love to watch you play."

Because what YOU will remember is not how well they played or what play the coach did or didn't call.  You will remember the experience of sports with your child in it.  Maybe it is simply watching your child do something that you wish you had done or wish that you had the ability to do.  That's OK.

You will enjoy watching your child grow and change and learn to play on a team and be a good teammate.  If you let yourself, you might be amazed that the child that can't find the clothes hamper at home listens intently to a coach and does all that they ask.

If you just enjoy the games and not see them as the ticket to a free college education or a professional career, you might find that your son or daughter gets tons more joy out of playing those games.  And becomes better, happier adults because of it.

Should My Son Play Football?

A lady stopped me this week and asked me "should I let me son play football?"  She went on to add "with all the injuries and concussions, I just don't know if I should let him."  Her son is really, really wanting to play football.  Flag football just isn't enough.  He wants to play "real" football.

Now, I happen to think that flag football is a great game and a great place for kids to start. It teaches fundamentals and gets kids out and moving in an activity that is downright fun.  I know.  I had two grandsons that just completed their second season.

But this little guy wants to put on the uniform and tackle somebody.  I faced a similar dilemma when my own son was growing up.  He had played T-ball and soccer but he wanted to play football.

I really wanted to hold him out until Middle School.  It wasn't that I didn't like the game available to 9 and 10 year olds, it was more about what I thought might be in store for him.  You see, he was always a big kid.  And football was a big part of our family's life and history.

I sort of knew he would play football (he did).  My hesitation to let him play wasn't about injuries but about burnout.  I was afraid that if he started so young, by the time he got to high school, he would be tired of playing football.  My game.  The game I loved.  The game that had given me so much.

So when he turned 9, I agreed to let him play.  From that point on until an injury ended his college career, he played the game that I loved.  Did he burnout?

Huh-uh.  Didn't happen.  He loved the game.  And despite a career cut short by a catastrophic injury, he still loves the game.  I asked him one time, the way his last season ended, if he would still play football.  He would prefer that it not have ended the way it did (a badly broken leg) but he has no regrets.

And I happen to believe that the good man that he has become is in no small part due to his experiences in football.  He took away all the things that team sports offer you.  He learned from the physical demands of the game.

 He was around some great men in the game.  David Ellis.  Tommy Bowden.  Tim Hammontree.  Men who demanded more of him.  Men who were more concerned with who he was as a young man than who he was as a football player.

But let me get back to this lady's question.  Would I be concerned about my grandsons playing football?  Sure.  Injuries can be devastating.  Concussions are serious business.  I've dealt with them way too much this fall.

I also know that we are much better at dealing with injuries and concussions.  Not that many years ago, if you "got your bell rung," once you seemed OK and knew where you were, back in the game you would go. 

Not now.  No way.  You are done until we can prove that you are OK.  I believe that in the long run, the way we do things now is going to result in far fewer incidences of the terrible and long term manifestations of injury.  I believe that modern sports medicine is going to mean that you recover more fully when those injuries occur. 

I believe that in a lot of aspects, football is safer.  We have athletic trainers and trained professionals at many of those games and available to most everybody.  Smarter decisions are being made.

But would I still worry if one of those grandsons plays football? Yes.  For sure.  I can't lie.  But I won't stand in the way.  How could I deny them the opportunities that I have had?  That my son has had? 

Take Care of Your Skin

I already know what my wife is going to say when she reads this.  "It's time for you to write about something besides yourself."

Just last week, I wrote about the strength training and fitness program that works for me in "Enough is Enough."  Not long ago, I bragged about my grandchildren, which are the best ever (just like yours).

But today really isn't about me.  It's about you.  It's about cancer and taking care of yourself and living long and well.  And this isn't about older people either.  It's about everybody.  More on that later.

So here's the story.  I went to the dermatologist this week.  I try and go every year.  I had a couple of places that needed to come off.  I also scheduled this blue light thing where more accurate mapping and diagnosis can be made.

I'm out in the sun a lot.  I keep a pretty good tan year round.  This time of year, I'm outside from 3 until dark-thirty all week, covering football practice.  Toss in time on the bicycle, yardwork/farmwork, and all the other outdoor stuff I do...well, you can see that I get a lot of sun exposure.

I use sunscreen all the time.  Check the desk in my training room in the MHS football stadium.  I guarantee you will find several different sunscreen containers.  During all this outdoor stuff, you will usually see a hat on my head.  I also like to wear a bandana around my neck.

Skin cancer is bad.  Melanoma is aggressive and can be fatal.  Other types of skin cancers that are untreated can become Melanoma.    It is likely that a lot of other cancers started with skin cancer and then moved elsewhere. 

Identified early and treated, most skin cancer is completely treatable.  Early identification means regular visits to the dermatologist.  I signed up quickly for that blue light thing because I have a lot of moles and dark places and because mapping of those things is a pretty inexact science.

But a whole lot better idea is prevention.  Protect your skin and it is far less likely that you will develop skin cancer.   Prevention starts at birth.  There is no age too young to be concerned about skin health.  There is no such thing as a healthy tan.  It's just unavoidable with a lot of people.  People who work outside.  People who play outside. 

And goodness gracious, don't you burn!   The trauma to your skin from that can and will come back to haunt you years later.  Just don't let it happen.

Wear sunscreen when you're outdoors.  Always.  Winter and summer.  Winter sun reflecting off of snow is just about as bad as summer sun reflecting off the beach. 

Wear a hat.  Cover yourself up.   Especially protect areas that seem to get more exposure, like your nose, the tops of your ears, and (especially for the follicly-challenged) the top of your head.

The old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is so true when it comes protecting your skin.  And be sure and make that annual visit to your dermatologist. 

Enough is Enough

I may be something of an anomaly.  OK...I guess I am for sure.  I get credit for a lot of things that I'm not but I am doggedly persistent in the pursuit of good health.   

I got an interesting  question this week.  It wasn't a rhetorical question either.  A fellow stopped me in our gym and asked me "when is enough enough?"

In the context of strength training, when do you quit adding weight?  When do you stop aspiring to lift more and more weight?   Do you exercise 3 days a week?  5 days a week?

When is enough (weight, exercise, dieting, healthy living...and on and on) enough?  I'll go ahead and tell you now that for me it is 7 days a week.  The pursuit of good health doesn't take a rest day.

I eat smart.  I ride my bike.  I do yoga.   I do strength training for my health and my performance (more on that in a minute).  I lift weights because as we age, we lose muscle mass rapidly unless we do something about it.

I still live an active lifestyle.  I hike, ride, paddle, and work on my small farm.  I work long hours and chase grandchildren around.   I don't see myself slowing down any time soon.  The rocking chair is definitely not calling my name.

I am determined to stay active.  65?  Yep, that's my next one.  Medicare eligible.  Doesn't mean a thing.  75?  Surely I'll still be riding my bike, maybe even whipping around these hills on my mountain bike.

I want to be one of those old guys that are described as "robust," defying their age.  I hope to prove that age is still just a number.  So I do a lot of stuff now that helps me reach that goal.   And I've been doing that stuff for most of my life.

So back to lifting weights.  Twice a week, as regular as rain, I'm in the gym.  My particular choice of strength training is CrossFit, mostly because it works for me.  It is also incredibly efficient so it fits my busy lifestyle.  But CrossFit is just a form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) that has lots of names and faces. It works for me. 

I do lifts now that at 40 I never thought I would do again.  Like deadlifts.  And squats.  Lots of pushups and pullups.  And that's where this thing started.  I simply do not aspire to lift heavier and heavier weights.  On days that I'm feeling really good, I might add 10 or 20 pounds but my weight amounts stay essentially the same. 

I'm not interested in building muscle mass.  Because of my time on the bicycle, I have to be real concerned with strength-to-weight ratio.  These little 120 pounders can zoom up hills while I drag 60 more pounds up the same hills, usually far behind.  And there is no doubt that the fitness level that I get from CrossFit training helps me perform on the bike. 

I'm pretty happy with where I am right now.  Bigger biceps won't do a thing for me.  It's not exactly a "maintenance" program.  As I said before, age brings muscle loss.  And yes, maybe you have to fight harder to keep what you have.  But I'm a firm believer that persistence is the key.

You can't see-saw up and down, exercising regularly for a few months then taking a few months off.  That doesn't work for anything--exercise, diet, health habits.  Not if you want to live long and stay healthy. 

As for me, I want to be healthy, happy, and riding my bicycle well into my 90's.  Stay tuned.

Thank you, Mrs. Upton

More bad news this week.  I received word that Mrs. Geraldine Upton was gone.  I've written about Mrs. Upton here a couple of times through these many years.   I actually sort of wrote the same story twice.

I was a big fan of Mrs. Upton--I considered her a friend and a guide.  I appreciated Mrs. Upton not only for what she meant to the many, many students that she impacted in her role as teacher and guidance counselor but for the impact she had on me.

She changed my attitude on race relations and role models.  To put it most simply, she taught me the importance of being able to find a place where you weren't always in the minority.  Whether it be your church, your school, your friends, your neighbors, anywhere--she taught me that everyone needs to have a place where they look around and see people that are more like them.

Now this can be about how you think, how you look, what your interests are...many different things.  Minorities can be found in lots of different places.

Maybe it's how someone dresses or the purple in their hair or simply that they talk with an accent not found much around here. 

Take the kid (or the adult) that is into computer games.  If that is all that they are interested in, on some level that has to be OK.   But others might see them as different and as such they become a bit of a minority.  If they have a place to go where others have the same interests, they often find a home.

Who knows, they may go on to invent all sorts of things and become a billionaire and all. 

Now before you jump on me for minimizing the concept of being a minority, let me tell you that I know with absolute certainty that racial minorities are the most discriminated against segment of our population.  And that inequities and prejudice are still around us.

But what Mrs. Upton taught me was that we need to put ourselves in the shoes of others, to see the world from someone else's perspective.  Too often, when you look around and everyone around you is different from you, you feel you have nowhere to go.

A community, a group where you aren't in the minority becomes a safe haven, a comfort zone if you will.  I'm certainly not advocating  that anyone isolate themselves in that zone.  We have to live in the real world.  We have to deal with the world on its terms.  But isn't it nice to be home every once in a while?

The other thing Mrs. Upton taught me was the importance of role models.  Everyone needs someone to look up to, someone to admire and emulate.  Not long ago I talked about looking next door for your heroes.  Same thing for your role models.

But when those role models don't exist, what do you do?   We all have a responsibility to be THAT role model, to be THAT person.   You never know who might be looking at you wishing "I want to be just like him."

Know what it is like to live in a world where everyone seems different from you.  And BE the role model that you might not have had. 

Thank you Mrs. Upton.

Making a Life

It dawned on me the other day.  We (I) have to take time to do some things because they are good for us.

I'm not talking about diet and exercise.  Goodness knows I've talked about that plenty (although I don't intend on shutting up on those topics anytime soon--not with the recent announcement that America has hit an all time high for percentage of people with obesity).

No, I'm talking about the little things in life.  Little things that make a life.

A buddy of mine had told me about taking his lunch hour and going home and reading on his back porch during a driving rain.   I stopped to think--I can't remember the last time I read a good book.  I guess it was when I was on vacation.  I usually manage to read there.

And sitting watching the rain?  That was probably on vacation too.  Maybe waiting on the rain to stop so I could head to the beach.

I think everybody needs to stop and watch the rain.   Maybe ponder life's meaning.  At the very least think about what your own life means.

It just doesn't seem to happen for me.  You see, I work all the time.  It's football season so my job runs to about 60 hours a week.  And we've done a major renovation on our house which is still not completely finished.  Add in the short amount of time that I've got to do yardwork/farmwork and you can see that when I say I work all the time, it really is pretty true.

I'm not whining.  I choose all this.  But I do realize my shortcomings--the mistakes I make every day.  And I understand the choices that I make and the consequences on my life and my health.

But I know with absolute certainly that I (we) need to take the time to read good books.  And have long conversations.  Take long walks.  Listen to good music.

There have been a lot of great traveling exhibits at the Knoxville Museum of Art.  It seems like I always have these great plans to visit KMA yet I can remember only once in a long time that I have actually followed through on those plans.  And it was closed that day.

We need to sleep in every once in a while.  I do it occasionally but sleep is not one of my vices.  I'm getting a bit more than I used to but I'm still up at 4 most mornings.  Even on vacation, I'm usually up, maybe paddleboarded a bit, swam some laps, and still back to the condo before anybody else in the family gets up. 

We need to tell the people in our lives that we love them or, if the words are too difficult for you to say out loud, show them.  At least tell them that you appreciate them.  They might be gone tomorrow.

Go for a ride, call an old friend, do something completely out of your comfort zone.  Promise yourself that today you're going to do it.  Don't be so busy making a living that you fail to make a life.

Handling Adversity

Down by 10 and your best scorer just fouled out.  What do you do?  Trailing by two touchdowns late in the game and your quarterback goes down with an injury.  How do you respond?

Do you concede defeat?   Do you give up?  Or do you respond by playing harder, by giving more of yourself? 

What do you do when faced with adversity?  How do you behave?  When things go wrong, how do you respond?

The high school football game that I most remember from my own playing days was one that we lost.  A close game, back and forth.  Our best defensive player went out with an injury early in the game.  We messed up the coverage and allowed a punt return for a touchdown.

With the best efforts of both teams--it came down to the last seconds of the game.  Probably the better team won.  I don't know.  I do believe I gave it my very best effort.  It was likely my personal best game in high school and the best game for my team.  (BTW, the team we were playing was MHS, who won the state championship a few games later.)

The bottom line is that in most games adversity is going to happen.  Somebody misses an easy shot on goal.  A fumble or interception.  A double fault.  Missing a gimme putt.

How you respond tells a lot about the strength of your character, about your integrity. 

A lot of it depends on your mindset, how you approached the game.  I've seen teams that take the field or court with a confidence in themselves, in their ability as a team or as an individual to respond to adversity, that nothing can shake them.

They might fall behind early.  Those bad things might happen.  But they fight through it.  Sometimes it brings out the best in them.

Your level of commitment has a lot to do with it.  How committed are you?   How determined are you?  Are you willing to sacrifice for what is best for the team?

I played defensive tackle for most of one game in high school.   We had injuries to our first four defensive tackles.  We were behind in a game and as a linebacker, our defensive tackles were getting me killed.   I went to my coach and asked him to let me play tackle. 

He did. Now keep in mind that I was a little bigger than I am now, but not much.  And lined up across from me was an offensive lineman headed to the University of Kentucky.  I have no memory of really how I did.  Oh, in my mind, I think I did fine but true memories fade. 

I do know that we were behind in that game but made a comeback and made it a great game.  And I don't know what part I might have played in that comeback other than the fact that I was willing to give up my natural spot (linebacker) to try and help the team.  I'd like to think that was my shining moment.

The bottom line is that when adversity comes your way, in life and in sports, don't you quit.  Keep fighting.  Allow it to become YOUR shining moment.

John Greenleaf Whittier's poem Don't Quit says it best.  "And many a failure comes about when he might have won had he stuck it out."

Who are your heroes?

We've had plenty of opportunity to find heroes lately.  I'm betting that only a tiny bit of the heroism displayed during the recent shooting in Las Vegas has come out.  People helping people during all the hurricane activity we've had has been all over the news.

If you ask a youngster who their heroes are, you are likely to get  a sports star.  Maybe a few movie stars or rock stars but sports will dominate the list.

When I was growing up, during the dawn of the Space Age, it might have been an astronaut.  I thought John Glenn must be the coolest guy ever.  I liked The Beatles but I didn't want to be them.  And I never saw them as heroic.

So, what is the definition of hero? To answer that question,  I did what everyone does...I Googled the term.  Google says " a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities."  Wikipedia describes a hero as (and I paraphrase here) " is a person...who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, bravery, or strength, often sacrificing their own personal concerns for a greater good.

Going Old School, Webster's said "a person admired for achievements and noble qualities." 

So who fits those definitions?  Astronaut Scott Kelly maybe.   Not only has he been to space multiple times, when his wife, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot, he was there for her.  I heard Kelly speak one time and wanted to run out and change the world.

Once upon a time, I thought Lance Armstrong was heroic.  Beat cancer.  Won the Tour de France over and over.  Established the Livestrong Foundation (for which I dutifully wore the yellow arm band).

Then we found out the truth about him.  And we find out that maybe he isn't really a very nice person either.  He did accomplish more for cancer research than just about anybody and he did win bike races in an era when everyone was cheating just like him but heroic?  Not anymore.  Not to me anyway.

Who are your heroes?  Who do you admire the most?  Who do you see as being all those things that we attribute to being heroic?

I'm going to jump to my real point here.  I believe that you need to look for your heroes right here, where you live.  Not on TV.  Not in the movies.  Not on the basketball court or football field. 

 Look for someone that you know, someone that you  have looked in the eyes and seen who they really are.   Someone that has walked the walk and you've seen them do it.

The neighbor that changes your neighborhood.  The law enforcement officer that is out there every day making the world safer and better.  The fireman that runs into a burning house to save a child, putting their own life at risk.  Soldiers defending our country and the defenseless around the world.

The public servant or political office holder that stands up for what is right, even when it isn't popular or politically expedient (maybe especially so).  The family that takes in children that don't have many options.

Admire the person who took a bullet for somebody else.  Or dragged others to safety.  They deserve our praise and admiration.  But I think we need heroes that we can reach out and touch.   Everyday heroes that do the right thing, day in and day out, even when no one is watching.

So...who are your heroes?

On Mortality

Almost every time my words get printed, I read it and think "dang, I wish I had said this (or that)."  I don't think I've ever written anything that I wouldn't change something.  I'm my own worst critic.

Maybe it's part of getting old, although I've not yet met my dad's definition of truly old (80), but I'm thinking more about time and things like that.  I wrote about carpe diem a couple of weeks ago.  That's sort of what I'm talking about.

So that carpe diem piece left some things out.  Like mortality.  And the fact that I've lived well over half my life.  I've got to admit it--right after checking the sports pages and the editorial page, I head for the obituaries.  Looking, I guess, for someone I might know.

Maybe it's my early entrance to geezer-dom but the first thing I look for is their age.  Were they younger than me?  Yes?  Dang.  That's young.  Then I look for some clue as to what got them there.

The bottom line is that we aren't promised tomorrow.   Somebody that you talked to yesterday is gone today.  I wrote about that recently too.   That very thing happened to some friends this week.

I find myself wanting to squeeze every moment of every day.  I'm missing a lot of things because I work too much but that is both a choice I make every day and a part of me that I can't let go.    But every day I have doubts about the choices I make about the use of the time.  Any more, it seems like I'm making those choices based on that carpe diem stuff.

I've even passed on a couple of bike rides recently, opting for a fun mountain bike ride with Ken Bell rather than get my behind kicked on a slobberknocker ride with a group of riders all better than me. 

My bucket list is short.  I'd like to see Machu Picchu.  I want to see what kind of adults my grandchildren become (but that doesn't count).  I want to see a night football game at LSU.  Eating my way across northern Italy is in there somewhere.  I'd like to get good at fly fishing and take lots more hikes with my wife.

But those things are events that I can make happen if I really want to.  What about today?  What about this moment?

Coaches everywhere tell their young charges to enjoy every single game.  That (in high school football anyway) they only get ten opportunities to play the game they may have played as long as they could remember.

Just this week I heard Derek Hunt tell his team "you're only guaranteed four more of these games--don't waste these opportunities."  It seems like only yesterday that I saw many of these same young men playing middle school football. 

And for the seniors, it's winding down.  Quickly.  Oh, there are the playoffs and teams around here have a habit of playing a lot of those but that's a different season.  It's maybe one and done then.

I would tell athletes everywhere to enjoy every minute of it.  Enjoy the practices, even though they can be hard.  It is an opportunity to get better and prove yourself. 

Enjoy the friendships that you will make.  You are forming bonds that will last forever.  Even now, when I see high school teammates  J.L. Millsaps or Lonnie Hawkins, there is a bond that time cannot erode.  And I might see them once every couple of years. 

Enjoy the locker room and the coaches and the smiling parents after a game.  The fans, the work, and the attention.  Enjoy every minute of it.  All too soon, it will be over.

Grandparenting 101

Early this week, someone said they hadn't heard much about my grandchildren in a while.  Then just yesterday a friend told me I should write a book about grandparenting.  I don't think I'm there yet.

Years ago I did start a book about parenting but it's stored somewhere in my laptop, untouched for a long, long time.  It was to be called Every Mistake in the Book, because...well...I made every mistake in the book.  But I learned from those mistakes so I hope I become a better grandparent than I was parent.

We did have our 6th Annual Camp Blackberry this summer.  We get them for a week and have all sorts of planned activities, trips, and meals.

This year all six grandchildren attended and we had a blast, visiting the Knoxville Zoo, The Lost Sea, and the Chattanooga Aquarium.  I think it wasn't until the third day this year that I had my first nervous breakdown.

It was a great week and those same grandkids are already making plans for next year.  Oh, the name?  We raise blackberries and our name is Black so it just seemed logical.  Sam Beall told me it was OK.

So let me bring you up to date a bit on those grandkids.

GK1 (grandkid #1, the oldest) is doing great, thank you for asking.  Smart, gorgeous, and athletic, she's on the Cross Country team at her school and loving it.

GK2 is definitely the artist in the family.  With a smile that can light up a room, she loves basketball and volleyball.   (So maybe this is a little about sports.)

GK3 is handsome and witty and hugely inquisitive.  He's searching for "his" sport but I have no doubt that he'll find it one day, since his parents are giving him lots of options. I may get him a tennis racket.

GK4 is a firecracker and about the cutest thing you'll ever see.  I predict that he will be an outside linebacker and a wrestler.

GK5 is into everything.  One of my favorite photos is of her leaving ballet with her in an oh-so-perfect ballerina bun with her karate gi on, ready for practice. 

GK6 is the live wire, running around trying everything and taking great joy in movement.  He's into karate too (which has been great for him) but he's going to be a chunk so it seems likely he'll follow his dad into football.

So, what does it take these days to produce smart, athletic, well-rounded kids?

Opportunities.  Kids need opportunities to explore and engage in different things, especially sports.  Travel teams, private coaches, specializing at an early age?  Bad ideas.  They need to move and do lots of different things.

Kids need experiences.  They need to get to know people that aren't like them.  They need to see places well beyond their backyard.

They need to be exposed to art and music and literature.  Only available to the rich?  Oh heck no.  Our schools do a great job and we have an awesome library.

Live life with them.  Do things with them.  Play, hike, swim, bike.  Fly a kite.  Together.

Sports Nutrition 201

Jenna Waters is a Functional Nutritionist with the UT Internal Medicine Group.  She also maintains a private practice in sports nutrition.  Among her clients are the Nashville Predators and other professional teams and athletes.  She had previously served the athletic department at UT.

I sat down with Jenna at football practice at MHS this week.  Her husband is Assistant Football Coach and Head Strength Coach there.   We had talked many times before so I knew that Jenna was a vast reservoir of information about sports nutrition.

And believe me, there is a whole lot of misinformation about sports nutrition out there.  So I had a few questions for Jenna.

What's the biggest mistake in sports nutrition?  "Feeling like they only have to think about nutrition on game day.  It's an every day thing.  And believing the myth that more protein is better.  Oh, and not thinking about where their food is coming from."

We don't stop to think about additives and how our food was grown (does that pesticide really just wash off?).   Or what the long term impact might be from genetically modified food.

Sports drink or water?  "Sports drinks across the board are too sugar laden.  Check the ingredients.  Is it made with High Fructose Corn Syrup (mostly bad) or cane sugar (mostly good)?  Sports drinks are worthy during competition but not so good throughout the week.  We do need the electrolytes all week though so water is not completely adequate either."

What are the biggest differences between the nutritional demands of the athlete versus everyone else?  "The athlete that's really intentional about their nutrition will be focusing what they're eating, where it comes from, and how much.  Food for the athlete is fuel and the quality of that fuel can determine their performance."

Do different sports have different nutritional needs?  "Absolutely.  Baseline nutrition is very similar but from a competition perspective, it can be very different.  For example, the endurance athlete will prepare differently and often has to eat along the way."

What's the perfect pregame meal?  "For the average young athlete lean protein and carbs that come from a vegetable source.  A good sample meal might be grilled chicken, roasted veggies, and a side salad."

What about timing of that meal?  When should the pregame meal be consumed?  "Three to four hours before game time is ideal.  Additional snacks may be necessary closer to time and then during halftime but that depends on the athlete and the sport."

What is the latest trend in sports nutrition?  "The ketogenic diet."

(FYI, the ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high fat diet.  It relies on a shift in the body's metabolism in which the body shifts away from carbs and toward fats.)

"The idea of a fat-adapted performance athlete is valid.  It's important to have a sports nutritionist guiding the transition to this type of diet.  Use high quality fat, moderate amounts of protein, and low carbohydrates."

As a personal disclaimer, I've been on a ketogenic diet for about three years now.  I have cured my hypoglycemia and am no longer constantly hungry.  (JB)

Thanks for everything Jenna.

Rough Week

This has been a rough week.  I always try and be positive about things, uplifting even.  But this might be a week I want to forget.

On Monday, we learned of the tragic death of Brittany Johnson.  We knew Brittany well at our office.  She was often injured yet her smile and sunny disposition always came through.  We loved her. 

I remember once when we had to deliver the bad news about her latest injury, half the office cried along with her.  We all cry for her now.

I've got friends in Houston.  Oh, they are all OK but not everyone is.  And in the long run, the cost to lives, property, and the community will be beyond comprehension. 

But in that disaster comes human stories that affirm our belief in the goodness of man.  Unlike events of the previous week, people of all colors, backgrounds, and cultures worked together, helping each other make the best of a bad situation. 

I saw a video of a line of pickup trucks all pulling boats headed for Houston.  I doubt any of those good ol' boys checked ethnicity or gender before offering a helping hand. 

Then on Wednesday, the news of the death of Lucas Jones was released.  Lucas had been courageously battling Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a particularly vicious and deadly form of childhood cancer. 

Last year, the local bicycling community came together and did a benefit ride for Lucas.  The turnout was awesome and the money donated exceeded our wildest expectations.  People that didn't know Lucas came out and gave freely of their time and money.  I know for a fact that the motorcycle community does that sort of thing all the time.

Still, so much has to be done.  Most of the money supporting pediatric cancer research comes from the government and the government is currently considering yet another cut in the money they allot for pediatric cancer research. 

That's a tragedy that approaches the heartbreak of Lucas' life, too soon snuffed out.  Is that what we send people to Washington to do?

Yet, life goes on.  It must.  I know in every part of my heart that we are put here to love others, to serve others.  So we must pick ourselves up, shake ourselves off, and get back on that path.

 At times like this, we need as much normalcy in our lives as we can get.  Our games can be an important part of that.  We need to be able to enjoy our sports, whether as participants or as spectators. 

When Bill Crisp died, I needed to get back on my bike.  For me.  For Bill.  I needed to ride to begin the healing process that started when Bill was injured in a bicycle wreck.

This week, Major League Baseball teams reached out to the Houston Astros, offering them their stadiums for play.  Offering schedule swaps to help them get through the season.

And JJ Watts of the Texans at last word had raised $5 million for relief efforts.  By himself.  And then was seen wading through the streets of Houston carrying children to safety. 

I don't mean to be all dark and dreary.  It is necessary to look to the light, to survive, to live on.   So I'm going to focus on Brittany's smile, on people coming together to help those flood victims, on the hope in the search for a cure for pediatric cancer. 

And knowing that the sun will come up tomorrow, I choose to live on.

I Love My Job

I love my life.  I love my wife.  I love my family.  I love my friends.

I love Benton's bacon, long bike rides, and hikes with my wife.  I love to cook, travel, and lots of different kinds of music.  I love working in my yard but can't find room in my heart for loving that dadgum weedeater.

I love to be a part of the solution to problems.  I love seeing others succeed, enabling them to reach their dreams.

I love my job.  I actually look forward to getting to work in the mornings.  I also look forward to getting home in the evenings (maybe that's the life/work balance thing).

In my clinic, people come see me to get better, to get healthy again.  What a privilege!  People trust me with their health.  How awesome is that!

I love high school football.  I've been involved with the game of football in one fashion or another since I was in the 4th grade.  I was 9 and most of the player on the team were 12 or 13.  Didn't matter.  I loved it.

My first game on the sidelines here was 1982 at Maryville High School.  Since then I've been on everybody's sideline at one time or another.  I love all our schools.

In the afternoons this time of year, I leave work early and head to Maryville High School where I am the Athletic Trainer for the football and baseball teams.  Jennifer Stanley covers all the other MHS sports.  We have eight  other athletic trainers that do the exact same thing. 

Peggy Bratt at Alcoa, David Ivens at Greenback, Amanda Cagle at Heritage, Beth Emeterio at Maryville Christian School, Cindy Ellis at Sequoyah, Shawn Davies at Sweetwater, and Sarah Tate and Tracy Martin at William Blount. Grant Davis helps out wherever he is needed.

I think I can speak for all of them when I tell you that we love what we do.  We couldn't tolerate the long hours if we didn't.

Think about it.  We get to be a part of a team.  We get to experience the excitement of competition.  We make lifelong friendships with coaches, parents, and kids.  And we get the opportunity to be a positive influence in the lives of those same kids.

Then there's Friday night.  Oh how I love Friday night football games.  By game time, we have all spent a lot of time together.  Tough time.  Maybe dealt with some injuries.  Battled through the blood, sweat, and tears.

I love all my kids but I must admit, I do love some of them more.  I love the ones that have further to go and get there.  Who discover through hard work that they can achieve their goals.  The ones that maybe somebody else gave up on yet they didn't give up on themselves.  I hope I'm the one there to pat them on the back and encourage them along the way.  I might have been that kid long ago.

I love to watch coaches coach.  They put so much of themselves in that process.  Their one common goal is to help every player on their team be the best that they can be.  The best coaches don't yell as much as teach. 

I get to walk the sidelines, listen in on the coaching and the strategies, and watch these young people that I've grown close to finally get to play a game they obviously love.  And maybe have some small part in the team's success.

What set me off down this path?  Charlottesville, Virginia.  I believe in the power of love.  I don't want another day go by without showing love to others.  What about you?