Motion is lotion for the joints

I just heard a marathon runner, age 69, who started running because his father died at 55, say that on the radio show, "Doctor, doctor" EWTN. We know that obesity is a big factor in Covid deaths. What about sports? Are marathon runners doing better than joggers? Hockey better than tennis? Swimmers better than bikers? I did find research comparing athletes with couch potatoes in the Covid survival race. I get about 30 minutes a day.

 
Also, I learned that knee injuries are the most common for runners, but runners that land on the mid-foot have half the injuries.

 
Kaiser Permanente (California) did a study including 48,000 of its clients, not by type of sport, but by level of activity. "Even after correcting for all of those characteristics (age, sex, race, smoker, etc) , people who were consistently inactive had a significantly higher risk of hospitalization, ICU admission, and death after getting COVID-19 than those who were active for at least 150 minutes per week. Additionally, those who were active for over 10 minutes per week had some protection against severe illness or death from COVID-19 — though not as much as those who got the full 150 minutes. The highest rates of COVID-19 were among those who were Latinx: 65% compared to 18% (whites), 7% (Blacks), and 6% (Asian or Pacific Islander). It’s worth noting that people who were white were somewhat more likely to meet physical activity guidelines — a discrepancy that should be acknowledged and addressed."

Does exercise help protect against severe COVID-19? - Harvard Health

So my friends (on Medicare), time to check to see if your insurance plan includes Silver Sneakers.

Proportionality, equity and percentages, Thomas Sowell

So many areas of research and information are being damaged by the equity and/or proportionality myth. Every minor subdivision in archeology or biophysics or cytology or even librarianship must now have its search committees focusing on gender and color instead of number of research projects completed or published articles or work record.

Every time I pass a competitive sport event on TV (because I don't sit down to watch), I don't see anyone who looks like me, either on the field, on the bench or even in the stands. I think that's as it should be. And if it's football or basketball, if I didn't know better I would suspect that black men are 90% of the population. But, at least in professional sports, equality rules, not equity.

Thomas Sowell: "According to proportionality dogma, every group in society must be equally represented at work or school according to their percentages in society. If not so represented, the cause must be discriminatory bias and the only remedy is government action in the form of quotas, now passed off as “diversity.” Those who argue this way, Sowell explains, “cannot show us any society—anywhere in the world, or at any time during thousands of years of recorded history—that had all groups represented proportionally in all endeavors.” For example, Sowell cites the National Hockey League.

More NHL players are from Canada than the United States, and more players from Sweden than California, which has nearly four times the population. Therefore, Sowell says, “Californians are more ‘under-represented’ in the NHL than women are in Silicon Valley. But no one can claim that this is due to discriminatory bias by the NHL.” The discrepancies are “far more obviously due to people growing up in cold climates being more likely to have ice-skating experience.”

The new girl on the soccer team

 Don't kid yourself. What they really want are slots on the women's sports teams. Toilets? Heck, they can use the bushes. But since gender no longer means the shape or presence of genitalia, and DNA at the cellular level doesn't change anyway--they can test the mother's blood for sex of the baby as early as 7 weeks--think what the lighter weight, smaller male athlete with superior oxygen use because of his maleness can do on the girls' soccer, golf, archery, cross country and rowing team, when he can't make it competing against men. Women's hearts are smaller and that affects how the blood and oxygen makes it to and through the muscles, obviously affecting endurance and training. But once the government has decided some guys aren't males because of how they "feel," you're just a bigot if your daughter or granddaughter doesn't place and you complain about the "girl" with the hairy legs, muscular arms and a penis.

http://www.curvemag.com/Lifestyle/Transgender-Rights-and-Sports-411/ 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2576016/Transgender-woman-sues-CrossFit-competition.html

Can the government steal a trademark?

So the government can just take away a patent or trademark because Harry Reid says so? "Redskins" wasn't offensive to 90% of native Americans who were surveyed, in fact, some of their high schools use that mascot name. What's next? Indian...a? Indianapolis, Starbucks, Chicago (shikaakwa, wild onion), Illinois (Illini) Chautauqua, Miami, Peoria, squaw (means woman in many tribal languages), Erie (the nation of Cat), and thousands of other loan words to English from native American culture. Native Americans were battling each other long before the Europeans arrived, had probably wiped out the indigenous people here before them, and now their reward for being revered for their bravery and sacrifices is cradle to grave hobbling by our federal government with the "honor" of being sovereign nations living in poverty (unless they own a casino to rot their souls).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/us-patent-office-cancels-redskins-trademark-registration-says-name-is-disparaging/2014/06/18/e7737bb8-f6ee-11e3-8aa9-dad2ec039789_story.html

Let’s rename the team. How about the Washington Liars, or the Washington Veterans Waiting, or the Washington Lost E-mails, or the Washington Bureaucrats, or the Washington Snoops, or the Washington Cover-ups. No ethnic slurs there, just plain old ethics violations and no one worries about that anymore

                  

Wait Till Next Year—Book club today

                     

“Set in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, Wait Till Next Year is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s touching memoir of growing up in love with her family and baseball. She re-creates the postwar era, when the corner store was a place to share stories and neighborhoods were equally divided between Dodger, Giant, and Yankee fans.

We meet the people who most influenced Goodwin’s early life: her mother, who taught her the joy of books but whose debilitating illness left her housebound; and her father, who taught her the joy of baseball and to root for the Dodgers of Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, and Gil Hodges. Most important, Goodwin describes with eloquence how the Dodgers’ leaving Brooklyn in 1957, and the death of her mother soon after, marked both the end of an era and, for her, the end of childhood. “ (author’s website)

Question from leader of discussion, “Did her description of childhood trigger any memories of your own childhood such as neighborhood games, local Mom and Pop stores, best friends, church activities, family life, school and sports?”

Because in my early years our family lived on the same block as Nelson Potter and his family, I can claim at least what little interest I had in sports was because of a famous baseball player living near by.  He was in college with my parents, and his son was in my class in school, and we still stay in touch at Christmas.

More on the wealth gap

The NBA. Millionaires arguing with billionaires.

LiFE Sports at Ohio State--more than a camp

“Ohio State's College of Social Work and Department of Athletics have teamed up to utilize their expertise in positive youth development and prevention to address issues of school failure, substance use, and juvenile delinquency. The collaboration created the Learning in Fitness & Education through Sports (LiFE Sports) initiative to enhance the quality of youth development, sport and recreational programs through service and outreach, teaching and learning, and research.

A central component of the initiative is its annual four-week summer LiFE Sports camp that serves more than 600 youth ages 10-18 on the Ohio State campus. Unlike most summer programs, however, LiFE Sports is "More than sports. More than camp."

It’s interesting how similar in mission and vision this sounds to the outdoor camping experiences offered by churches and service organizations when I was growing up. Like Camp Emmaus of the Church of the Brethren, or School of Missions camp on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin that I attended, Boy Scout Camp my husband attended, Camp Willson run by the YMCA where my son attended, or Camp Wyandot for the Campfire Girls when my daughter was young.

All except that “research” component, and in parsing that sentence, I can’t quite figure out who is doing the research--the youth, the social workers or the athletes. Maybe our camp counselors were doing research, but I don't think so.

Our camps, too, were more than “sports,” more than camp. They were a place for spiritual growth, for wisdom and understanding, for growing strong in Christ.

From my scrapbook, 1950, with both my name and town incorrect

Richmond Oval Skating Complex in Vancouver

A lovely building. With some interesting features.

"Each ribbed panel is clad in standard 2x4 plywood, milled from trees reclaimed from the forest floor—victims of the insidious pine beetle that decimated much of the local tree stock. There are nearly 1 million board feet of this wood—tinged slightly blue as a result of the infestation—in the roof structure. The 2x4s are staggered, and the resulting openings (which look like linear perforations) expose acoustical material to help dampen sound in the arena."

The site I'm checking says the USA has 32 medals, gold 8, silver 12, bronze 12. After the Olympics this building will be used as a community center with room for basketball, badminton, and iceskating. The architectural firm, Cannon Design, will begin the retrofit process after the Olympic crowds leave.

Sports and Faith and Herbs and Pastels

Week One of the Lakeside 2009 season has been a bunch of Firsts for me. I've been attending Greg Linville's class on Sports and Faith in the morning. It has been outstanding. If you ever get a chance to take one of his classes at Malone University in Canton (Evangelical Friends related church school) or hear him at a conference, be sure to do it. I'm a complete non-athlete--have never even played golf, which Murray says has deprived me of one of the two best pleasures in life--the other being beer, which I've never tasted. Linville has opened up scripture in many areas, particularly in his lecture about Eric Liddell, the missionary to China, who ran in the Olympics (Chariots of Fire movie).

Then Monday and Tuesday I took a pastel class at the Rhein Center, and both efforts were total failures, but you never know you have no talent for a particular medium unless you try! My record is at my new blog, called Norma's Art.

This morning was the big--huge--stretch. The herb class led by Jan Hilty. It was so interesting I even signed up for the trip to Mulberry Creek Herb Farm in 2 weeks. I learned that this is the year of the bay, according to the Herb Society of America. It seems everyone but me knows you can keep bugs away with bay leaves. In your cupboard, just lay it on the shelves, or inside a pastry cloth, to keep those pesky visitors away. Our instructor said it is great for slow cooking, fresh or dry, although she prefers dry. It has a pleasant balsamic aroma and is good with heavy, fatty meats. It can also be added to sweet dessert dishes. We received some recipes, then walked over to Lakeside's herb garden where Jan went over the details of what was growing there. I'm sure for the old thymers it was well worn material, but it was all new to me and I came home with some freshly cut chives.



Jan cut various herbs and we all smelled them; some people took home various kinds that were ready to be harvested, but I only took the chives. I loved the lemon geraniums.

Dana Jacobson

If she'd been this insulting to blacks as she was to Catholics, her bosses wouldn't be excusing her for being drunk. She would have been fired. People who customarily drink too much should always bring along duct tape to public functions as well as a driver. And why didn't the people at her table or in her party just take her home? Women get drunk on less alcohol than men, BAC chart.

“My actions at the roast were inappropriate and in no way represent who I really am,” she said. “I have personally apologized to many of the people involved. I won’t make excuses for my behavior but do hope that I can be forgiven for such a poor lack of judgment.” MSNBC

You are forgiven. Now get help.

Head injuries in sports

The Columbus Dispatch recently published the winning photos in its photo contest--semifinalist photo is 2 little boys colliding in a soccer game. They had on nifty uniforms, special shoes and knee socks--and no helmets or head protection. In his book Making a good brain great, Daniel G. Amen, MD writes:

"A concussion or mild "traumatic brain injury" (TBI) is far more than just a bump on the head. According to the American Academy of Neurology, "There is no such thing as a minor concussion." A study from UCLA found that "the level of brain glucose use in people who suffered mild concussions was similar to that in comatose, severely brain-injured patients. . . Even mild head injuries result in major changes to the brain's metabolism and could make victims susceptible to more serious damage from a repeated blow."

Dr. Amen advises parents to never let their child knock the soccer ball with his head--heading drills, in which a child's head is knocked repeatedly, are of greater concern to pediatricians than is the occasional head-punt in a game. A study of adult soccer players found 81% had impairment of attention, concentration, memory, and judgment when compared to non-players of similar age and circumstances. He says football players are struck in the head 30-50 times per game and regularly endure blows similar to those experienced in car crashes.

Dr. Amen, who has seen over 30,000 brain scans, says: "I would not let my children hit a soccer ball with their heads, play tackle football, or snowboard without a helmet. I encourage my own kids to play tennis, golf, table tennis, and track. Your brain matters. Respect and protect it."

3887

Strangers chatting in the park

We stopped our walk (going opposite directions) to watch the children in organized play. We were amazed to see a group of very little boys in matching, over sized t-shirts--maybe 3 or 4 years old--being led by men also in matching t-shirts and caps in something that resembled drop the handkerchief. Some mothers had sought out shady spots in which to park the strollers with younger children. At first I thought it might be an early VBS group or a day-care center on an outing. Then I realized all the leaders were men, so they probably weren't fathers, day-care workers, or VBS volunteers. It began to dawn on me that this was a city parks program, and these were probably paid high school or college age staff.

"I wonder when these children get a chance to just be kids and not have adults organizing their play time?"

"I don't know, but I think they are too young to understand competition or soccer."

And we continued on our way, getting our exercise the old fashioned, fuddy-duddy way, pondering the ways of the young who had none of our advantages of hindsight. The little boys joyfully followed their leaders in pied piper fashion.

3668

Children's sports medicine

There was a full page ad for The Children's Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center in Westerville in today's paper. I didn't even know there was such a specialty. According to the ad, "Sports injuries in children and teens now account for at least 40% of all emergency visits." ALL ER visits or just those by children? It does say ALL, doesn't it? Wow. Maybe organized sports isn't so great for children if so many are being injured. Sounds like bullying on the playground might be safer.

The boy in the picture had a stress fracture in his back from pole vaulting. The ad says this facility has the latest in digial x-ray technology, athletic trainers for rehabilitation and specialists in sports medicine for kids.

I remember when I was getting physical therapy for my rotator cuff injury (lifting and shelving heavy journals as a librarian). Except for the mastectomy patients, just about everyone at the rehab center was hooked on a sports activity of some type. I worked out with football and basketball players and people who competed in triathalons, and women who seemed committed to tearing up their shoulders and elbows in tennis tournaments. I hate to sweat and never really could see the advantages of it. Sort of glad now.

The ad for children's sports injuries is sponsored by McDonald's and Nationwide Insurance. Hmmm.

3299 The Year in Sports

Allen St. John writes some pithy copy called "A year in numbers" in today's WSJ citing 10 top sports numbers such as percent of his team's points (67.5) by Kobe Bryant, and Trevor Hoffman's career saves (482). No women appear on the list. My non-sports-expert opinion:

• Women talk too much (now it's official)
  
• Women are not good team players; they hold grudges way too long (see my post on Nancy Pelosi)
  
• Women's bodies are different than men's, putting them at a disadvantage for all the sports that were invented, arbitrated and refereed by men. Their blood pressure is different; blood volume less; muscle structure is smaller; center of gravity is lower; pelvis is wider. Hey, I couldn't make this stuff up; it matters in jumping, leaping, hitting, and trying to behave like a 15 year old when you're 30.

3236 Greg Oden

We finally got to see Greg Oden play, Ohio State's 7' freshman basketball player. He looks twice his age--like he's 35. Makes you wonder if when he's 35 he'll look 70. OSU won over Valparaiso 78-58.

"Shorter stature and smaller body weight appear to promote better health and longevity in the absence of malnutrition and infectious diseases." Height, body size and longevity, by TT Samaras, Acta Med Okayama. 1999 Aug;53(4):149-69. In another article the same author suggests "that the differences in longevity between the sexes is due to their height differences because men average about 8.0% taller than women and have a 7.9% lower life expectancy at birth." Life Sci. 2003 Mar 7;72(16):1781-802.

2994 Two day golf tournament

Friday when I was returning from a few errands, streets around here were filled with cars and the golf course was crowded with young people. It was a 2-day, 36 hole tournament, and the Upper Arlington (our community) team beat the defending Division I Dublin Jerome team. UA had two powerhouse members, but they couldn't have won without the full team.
The sun came out the second day

Same scene with zoom
As I've mentioned before, I think golf is as much fun as watching ice melt, but I have to admit, it makes more sense for a young person to build their eye hand skills and team rapport in golf than in basketball or football, or in computer gaming, because they can play well into their 80s, if they like the game. My father-in-law had knee replacements from punishing his legs in basketball long after they should've been benched, and my brother-in-law has done the same thing in hand-ball. Not that you can't throw out your shoulder or back in golf, but most of the life time injuries I've seen from sports have been from over use and under smarts.

Newly renovated Scarlet course, which was built in 1938, and completely revamped supervised by Jack Nicklaus in 2005-2006.

golf tournaments, high school sports, leisure activities

2967 Voting for King and Queen of Homecoming

Doesn't that sound--I don't know--so retro? I noticed a photo of the court in today's OSU Lantern. I discovered I actually can vote by using my university login, but I didn't--didn't seem fair. I really don't consider myself a "Buckeye" even though that's where I spent most of my working years.



But back to the court. This is one good looking bunch! Wow! I've clicked under their photos and read the little bios. They seem to be limited to listing 5 activites while on campus. A number are in sororities or fraternities, and Stephanie Wiseman is President of Panhellenic. I was never a greek, but that's a big deal! Three seem to be of middle eastern or east Indian ethnicity, and one appears to be Asian, despite a Scots Irish surname. No one is overweight--chubby maybe, but just a bit. Considering Ohio is one of the fattest states in the country, I find that awesome. Maybe I'll post this at my Hugging and Chalking blog.

None of the girls have short hair and none of the guys have long hair. These hair styles look right out of the 1970s for the women. Pressed and straight. Put heavier mascara on them and you probably can't tell them from their mothers. The majors are interesting too (all are seniors)--criminology (2); international business, finance, marketing and economics (3); political science (5); sciences--microbiology, biology, geriatrics, nutrition, physics; special education (2). Two are from my community; four are out of state. Looks like a very bright, beautiful, and socially alert group. I have no idea how the court was selected, but the country looks to be in good hands.

Ohio State University, Homecoming, Buckeyes, college students, college majors, hair styles