Wow - I have a dilemma.

So....here is the short story. I went to see the doctor today. He had a look at some xrays from last week and turns out I have "moderate" osteoarthritis in my right hip. Oh boy...here we go.

What is Hip Osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative arthritis, is caused by the wearing away and eventual loss of cartilage in a joint. Cartilage is a firm, pliable material that covers the ends of bones. Its purpose is to cushion any impact on the bones and to prevent them rubbing directly on each other - bone-on-bone.

Without getting too complicated here...my layman terminology is my hip and leg hurt...and I whine a little more than normal (some of you might not even notice the difference).

Of course, here is my dilemma. I like to play sports. I love lacrosse and basketball....apparently these are not great sports for this type of injury. My doctor recommends swimming and Pilates...(....help!!)

The doctor told me it is up to me now. I can try to strengthen the muscle around my hip, extending the "life" of my hip. I could lose some weight (how dare he!), and I should think about what sports I am playing. The next step will be "severe" osteoarthritis...and obviously at some point surgery is an option.

Why don't we skip hip surgery and go right to removal of my heart...because that is what it would feel like to stop playing sports that I love. OK, maybe I am being over dramatic...we all have to "retire" at some point. (don't we DJ?) - I just don't want to, not yet anyway.

I guess I could change the way I play, maybe I will stop coming back on defense, save some wear and tear that way....and in basketball, maybe I will shorten my 4" vertical leap to a 2" vertical leap....little things like that.

On the plus side....

•  My brother Steve works for Zimmer Canada, specializing in hips and knees and I am sure he can offer some helpful advice. He has already made a commission off of my Mom and Dad, and our buddy Mark, I would love to contribute to his winter vacation in Jamaica.
• My son is also in the business....however he is in Thunder Bay...and maybe I will let him get a little more experience before I make that flight.
• I am hoping that by the time I need a hip, perhaps Zimmer will develop some sort of new "SuperHip" and I can be the ProtoType Guy...I could play sports forever.....Yahoo!!!

Zimmer Hip Replacement

Think about it...I would love to hear your advice...but today's blog is done, after all it is Monday night....I am off to basketball. (I will be careful).

Have you ever been "In the Zone"?

In the zone can mean different thing to different people. But when it comes to sports, for me it simply means playing your sport at a level above where you normally play.

I play basketball in a pickup league Monday nights, and although I am tired a lot of nights, and out of shape (compared to the younger guys in the league) there still is the odd time that I get into a "Zone". Most nights I could get a job as a brick layer...as I hit a lot of front iron...no strength in my legs. However, the odd night, something happens, there is no warning...and all of a sudden it is raining buckets out there. I love that feeling. It is one of the reasons I play.

How about the pros? They are already stars, the best in the game? Can they get in the zone? Let's stick with basketball for a minute. Remember when Kobe and the Lakers played the Raptors? I would say Kobe was in a zone. 81 points on this night...and he had one of his worst shooting nights of the month just before this game. On this night though....He was in the zone.             Have a look.

NHL - Ok, I am a Leaf fan. I am also old enough to have seen the Blue and White win Lord Stanley's Mug....so yes, I am going down this road. Phil Kessel. IN A ZONE - right now. How long does the zone last? You never know. Kessel leads the league in points (15 points) and leads the league in goals (9). I do realize that we have only played 8 games...but that is actually my point. Right now Phil Kessel is in the zone...and I for one am kind of enjoying it.

Sometimes you are in the zone for a very short time, sometimes you are there for the whole game, and then sometimes it feels like you are living in the zone. When you get to that stage it is something special. My "In The Zone Player of the Year" would have to go to professional golfer Luke Donald. Have a quick look at this.

PGA - Luke Donald just won the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic and with that he finished on top of the PGA Money list. He played 19 tournaments, won twice, was second twice and actually had 16 top 25's. Wow, that is impressive. He won $6,683,214. Not a bad year. I would say in the zone....but wait, I am not done. Are you ready for this.

European Tour - Luke Donald also finished first on the European Tour Money List as well. Are you hearing this?? - Can you comprehend that? On the European Tour Luke Donald won 3 tournaments and won a total of €3,856,394. That is crazy. He won two tours, on two different continents in the same year.

Luke Donald "In the Zone"

I would love to here your stories of being in the zone. If you have a story, go to www.passitonsports.ca and add your story. If you are too shy to tell me your story, tell me someone else's. I would love to hear them.

                 



 

Pan American Games 2011

Ok be honest. How many of you are watching, following, reading about or even know about the Pam Am Games that are on right now in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Do you know the history of the Pan American Games?
The amazing thing for me, is that a lot of the athletes are Olympians. Great athletes. Hard working Athletes, but they all but go unnoticed. Where is the media coverage. How come it seems (to me anyway) that nobody cares?

Here is the medal count after 141 events.

The pan Am games has all the regular sports that you think of when you think of summer sports. There is swimming, diving, boxing and some you may not always think of like fencing, shooting, waterskiing and squash. These are world class athletes.

Canada's Samantha Cornett, left, plays against Colombia's Catalina Pelaez for the gold medal in the Women's team squash event on Oct. 21. Canada won gold.

Whitney McClintock won gold in the women's water ski tricks competition, and added a silver in the slalom on Day 9. It was a banner day for the McClintock family as Whitney's brother Jason collected a pair of silver medals in men's water skiing. (Dario Lopez-Mills/Associated Press) 
Did you know that in 2015 Toronto is hosting the Pan Am Games? There will be events in Toronto of course, but also in Ajax, Markham, Mississauga, Hamilton and many more suburbs of the GTA.
Maybe, we should get off our collective butts...and learn a little more in the next four years.
We need to support our athletes.

OUA Lacrosse - Game Day

Friday, October 21, it is Game day for The University Women's Field Lacrosse Championships. I am going to begin with a little quiz. Look at the picture below and answer the question to follow.



What is this scenario??

1. The girls have just arrived at OUA's and are excited to play.
2. The girls were just told that there are no exams this year at UOIT
3. The girls just got beat 18 - 0 by Guelph.
4. Justin Beiber is in town.

The answer??  I am not telling....but this I can say, the team seems to be in good spirits, don't you think? Day one was a brisk day to say the least, but the games went on.

In Game one Queens beat the Mauraders from McMaster 14 - 8, giving the Gaels the opportunity to play the number 1 Western Mustangs in the next round. Yikes.

In game two, the home Team Guelph humbled the Ridgebacks from UOIT, too much for the shorthanded girls from Oshawa.

Tristen goes to the sky for the ball!!

Game 3 saw the days first upset. The University of Toronto Blues beat the heavily favoured Wilfred Laurier team 9- 8/ Congratulations to Todd Pepper and his team. Great work!

 

Now the quarter finals were set. Western defeated Queens in the first semifinal 11 -5 and now move on to the final. The Mustangs have not lost all year and look solid.

 

UOIT played again against the tough Laurier squad and hung tough for a while, but in the end the Golden Hawks were just to deep and pulled away for the victory.

 

UOIT after the final game - walking proud.

 

 

In the second quarter final the the Blues from Toronto were up against the peaking Guelph Gryphons. Looks like a great matchup. At the time of this blog, I did not have that score.

 

Day 1 is over, and there is definitely some talented players out there. Finals are tomorrow, Saturday, October 22.

 

Good Luck to all!!

 

 

 

Lacrosse Championship Weekend.

The Ontario University Women's Field Lacrosse Championships begin this weekend, Oct 21st,  hosted by the beautiful University of Guelph.
It is the culmination of a great season of lacrosse and promises to be extremely exciting.
Here are the standings and rankings at the end of the regular season:

	Rank	W	L	T	P
Western	1	12	0	0	24
WLU	3	8	4	0	16
Guelph	2	8	3	1	17
Queens	4	6	5	1	13
McMaster	5	3	8	1	7
U of T	6	3	8	1	7
UOIT	7	0	12	0	0

As you can probably see, based on the standings, The Western Ontario Mustangs are the class of the league. I have seen them play twice, and they are a very deep team, with balanced passing and scoring. They do a great job of moving the ball in behind the net and sending cutters through the middle, and these cutters can bury the ball. They will be the team to beat.
We must not forget about the girls from Laurier, they are always tough and have proven time and again that they come up big in
October. Guelph and Queens have also had great seasons....it is going to be a great and competitive championship.

I am going to keep an eye on the McMaster Mauraders to possibly upset the team from Queens in Game one, coached by my friend and MOB Lacrosse superstar, Silvana Yee. Mac has a young team, but are getting pumped for Friday. Go Girls.
I am extremely proud of the girls from UOIT. This is their first full year as a Varsity team, and they have done such a great job. The Ridgebacks did not win a game. I have seen "almost" all of their games, and I can tell you this...they have dealt with a ton of really tough injuries all year, playing many games with no spares at all, while the other teams had as many as 8 spares ready to go. It is tough to play like that...but it is part of the growing pains of a new team. I would like to congratulate the entire "Ridgie" team. The coaches Amy Fincham and Liane Chornobay have done an amazing job. I have played lacrosse, and coached at many levels, and there are many ways to judge a team.

UOIT Ridgeback Field Lacrosse Checklist

• team chemistry   -  yes
• sportsmanship  -  yes
• did team improve? - yes
• dedicated  -  yes

It was my pleasure to watch these young woman work so hard as a team, combined with full time studies, it is amazing what they can accomplish. The future looks good.

Good Luck to all on the weekend!!

2011 UOIT Ridgebacks.

Attention Fans!!! Try to make it out to some games if you can. The games are at the Soccer Complex in Guelph. Here is the Friday lineup at the Guelph Soccer Complex:

  9:00 am      Queens vs McMaster
10:45 am      Wilfrid Laurier vs UOIT
12:30 pm      Guelph vs U of T
  2:30 pm      Western vs Game 1 Winner

Running.

The Toronto Marathon took place on Sunday October 16, 2011. I have never run in a marathon, actually I am not sure I have actually ran even 10 km all at once. It is not something I am good at...running..but I do admire runners, and have often dreamed of being a great runner, but that is another story.

Running is a state of mind, more than anything. Most runners I know have a few things in common...they are busy usually, they normally have no time to run in their day, but they do anyway. I find that runners are determined and focused athletes, sometimes to a fault.

The other amazing thing about runners is that a lot of good distance runners are older. Why is that? I am sure an expert could explain it. My thought is the whole "focus" thing. I think (and it is just my opinion) that older runners have more focus, they have live more life, gone through more hardships and can channel that experience into the run. I could be wrong with this theory, and welcome some comments.

However, just to prove a point...let's look at this past Sunday's Marathon.

Kenyan Kenneth Mungara captured his fourth consecutive race in the Scotiabank Waterfront Toronto Marathon on Sunday in 2 hours nine minutes and 51 seconds. Are you kidding me?? 26 miles in 2 hours an 10 minutes?
Kenneth is 38-years-old.                                                                                                                            

               

Kenneth Mungara

Let's Look at another example.
Ed Whitlock set a world record on Sunday in his age division (beating his own record) He ran the race in a cool 3:15.54. His age division is over 80. Wow. Not only did he crush his old benchmark and beat his closest 70-and-up challenger by nearly 13 minutes, but Whitlock was faster than anyone in the next two younger age groups.

 

Ed Whitlock

I am not done. There is one more story to tell. Have you ever heard of a gentleman named Fauja Singh?  He also ran in the Scotiabank Marathon on Sunday. His time was over eight hours, which on the surface may not seem as fast as a lot of the runners, but let's put it in perspective. Fauja Singh is 100 years old and became the oldest person to complete a full-distance marathon when he finished the race.

Fauja Singh earned a spot in the Guinness World Records for his accomplishment.
A simply amazing story.

Next time you take a drive from say Milton, Ontario to Guelph, Ontario a distance of about 42 kms, think about how these 3 great runners did this distance on foot.

                                                               Fauja Singh (100 yrs old)

The Annual Musky Hunt

This is a Musky

Every October I like to head to the Kawrthas and go fishing with my buddies on beautiful Chemong Lake.

We call it The Musky Hunt, but in reality, we rarely catch one. They are elusive and over the years we have had some success, but of late...not much.

I love the north country so much, the beauty, the serenity. Everybody has their favorite "north" country, some love the Kawarthas (Peterborough area), some love the rugged rockiness of the Muskokas and still some love the sandy beaches in Grey/Bruce (like Sauble Beach) ...too each their own, but me, I love them all.

We stopped to get fuel in Bridgenorth and the locals told us fishing was good. They told us where to go and the "bite" was on...fishing would be good. (don't worry people, I am not naive...I have been down this road before) - oh well, we took his advice and away we went to try the "honey spot".

Within an hour we had a fish on, seemed like a good size, the fish took the line around behind the boat, and as I said to Brad for the third time "i have a fish" - it was gone...another fish story. Not to worry, we felt good, this day had potential.

We changed locations, and suddenly Brad caught a bass, not what we are looking for, but encouraging nonetheless. Surely the big one was coming...

About 20 minutes later, he caught another, the day was looking good. I even got into the act and  caught a nice little bass, but keep in mind we were fishing for Musky with big Musky lures.

                                                   Me with my "Musky???"


Brad even finished day one by catching a nice 3 pound pickerel. Day one was the best day we had in a while. We even saw a Musky chasing one of our lures late in the day....surely this was our year.

I will not bore you with the rest of the weekend...because, the weather changed...it got cold and windy...and we never saw another fish, we spent hours on the water and nothing....

We ate like kings watched The Argos, The Leafs and had an awesome time.

Maybe next year Mr Musky.

                                                     Brad with his Pickerel.

To be a sports fan.

This is becoming a difficult time of year for me (as a sports fan) - Here's why.

Baseball -  I am not a huge baseball "fan". Don't get me wrong/ I like to play the game, although I have not in years. I also like to watch the game too....to a point. For example, I was right there with all the other Blue Jay fanatics in the early 90's sweating out every pitch and every swing of the bat. But that was almost 20 years ago. I still like the Jays, but I want a playoff team - sorry. So what next? - I like Roy Halliday who is now with the Phillies....oops....they are now gone. No Bosox, No Yankees, The drama is dwindling. We have Detroit vs Texas and we have St. Louis against The Milwaukee Brewers.
Now, there are some good story lines within these four teams, but for me...it is just not happening.

Basketball - You know how I feel about this subject. Bball is probably one of the sports I most enjoy watching (i know a lot of you would disagree - oh well) - But, there is no basketball, and if you read my blog on the Lock out from a few days ago , you know I have no sympathy or understanding of this situation....and I am embarrassed for them all. **Update** As of today the first two weeks of the regular season has been cancelled...so who cares...if you guys don't want all the money that you are grossly overpaid...then who really cares. I do have a Twitter account, and one of the guys I follow is DeMar DeRozan of The Toronto Raptors. He "tweeted" yesterday "It's not about being greedy it's about being fair..."     Are you kidding me?  By now you might be tired of my math...but last year DeMar made $2,453,880. If you make $75,000/year (nice salary) you would have to work 32 years to make what Demar made last year. He is 21 years old.....and just in case you forgot his "tweet" he said "it is not about being greedy it's about being fair"   - Wow, where did these athletes lose touch with reality.

......and by the way, as a fan, I love to watch Demar play, he is a phenomenal athlete.

Golf The PGA is basically over for the year. The tournaments that are going on right now, are guys scrambling to position themselves on the money list, and qualify for next year. Some call it the silly season of golf. This past weekend for me, was no exception. Why? I thought you would never ask. Well this weekend check out the Toronto Star sports headlines for golf. http://www.thestar.com/sports/golf  Three headlines about Tiger Woods. One for a new deal with Rolex, one about Tiger having an ordinary result and one more about a guy throwing a hot dog at Tiger. I mean Really. Give me a break. Now I am no writer, or editor, but try this Headline on for the newspaper....  "THREE CANADIANS FINISH IN TOP TEN AT PGA EVENT" 
- I know,it is kind of a homer attitude but it is kind of cool that David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., Matt McQuillan of Kingston, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., all finished at 11 under, tied for seventh. Why can't that be a headline....oh, and they all finished ahead of Tiger.

                                                     Canadian Golfer Dave Hearn

Hockey - Last but not least....the great game...Hockey. It is just not the same, there is a transition going on, the hitting is being basically removed from the game (in a way) - Keep in mind, I have never liked the cheap shots and dangerous play,but there is definitely a rebirth going on in Hockey and i am not sure where it will end. Stay tuned.....and I also miss Sidney Crosby.


...sigh.....it is tough to be a sports fan these days.

Canadian University Football

On Thursday night we went to a football game.

Wilfred Laurier was playing against the Waterloo Warriors in an Ontario University Football game. Game time was 7pm in Waterloo, and what a beautiful night that it was.
http://oua.ca/sports/football/home/

I always like to watch amateur sports whenever I get a chance, and if you ever get a chance make the effort. This time of year there is great football, field lacrosse, hockey and more. A really great, inexpensive way to see some fantastic young athletes in action.

On this night I knew a couple of players that were playing. Daniel Bishop was playing for the Golden Hawks from Laurier, the son of my friend Mark Bishop. Mark as some of you may know is a physical specimen - always in such great physical condition, he played football (and was a force) in high school and had a great lacrosse career as well. Mark has recently suffered a stroke and is presently recovering in Hamilton Hospital. Mark has had more than his fair share of health issues throughout his life, but he is one of the toughest guys I have ever met, and I know he is fighting hard again. I felt proud every time I heard the announcer at the football game say over the loud speaker....."tackle by Bishop" - Daniel is a quick, tough linebacker, and he does the Bishop name proud.

                                                                   Daniel Bishop

This night I went to the game with my good friend Stu Aird, and his son Samuel (Sammy) was also playing for the Golden Hawks, starting at middle linebacker. A classic "pass it on" tale as I watched the althetisim of Sammy, speed, agility and toughness, a "chip off the old block" as they say.

                                                                    Sammy




 Stu played lacrosse with me my whole life and was always a leader. He was a star QB in high school at Lorne Park Secondary, and also won a Vanier Cup when he played slotback with The University of Western Mustangs....so he does know the game. Sammy is in his fourth year at Wilfred Laurier, and I am sure to win the coveted Vanier Cup would be a great story....but they will definitely be taking the tough road in to do it. They are 3 wins and 3 losses and their are some great teams in the league....but anything can happen.

                                                                      The Vanier Cup

The football game itself was not a classic. The Waterloo Warriors have not won this year, and  about 75% of their team are rookies....unprecedented. It was kind of funny, because as I watched the Black and Gold Warriors play, I was having flashbacks to my High School Football days. Yes, I did play.....QB for the Clarkson Chargers (we were also Black and Gold). We were not very good (actually we were awful). As the Waterloo quarterback took his snap from centre he literally started to run for his life as the tough Lancers began the chase, I could feel his pain. The nickname for my offensive line in High School was "The Red Sea" because whenever I said to my centre "hike" and I started to back out, my line used to split open like the Red Sea, and many a time I found myself running for my life. I picked a lot of sod out of my helmet in those days. As a matter of fact, when I used to play against my old buddy Stu from our arch enemies the Lorne Park Spartans.....we used to get trounced. That was the reason for my flashbacks as I watched the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks manhandle the Warriors of Waterloo....final score was   69 to  3 (ouch).

I had a great night though, and recommend it to all....go and check out some University sports near you.

                                                             Stu and Samuel Aird

Can One Player make a diference?

I love this question. In sports, can one player have a significant impact on your team? Most would say yes.

Does Pittsburgh miss Sid the Kid? I am thinking yes.

Could Miami do without Lebron, the Lakers without Kobe? - Would the great New York Yankees be so great without Derek Jeter?

Everybody has there own opinion about superstars.Most of you that have been following my blogs know my opinion. I have always that that the team is greater than the Superstar. People will disagree, that is ok.Keep in mind though...last year the Stanley Cup was won by the best "team" in the final. Boston was a much better "team" of players than Vancouver. The same thing in the NBA, Dallas was a much better"team" unit than Miami. The theory is solid.

However, there are exceptions.

How about the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning. Do you think he is missed? What has Peyton done? Let's have a quick look....but his stats are too amazing (and too many) to drop into this blog.

• He is the all-time Colts franchise leader in career wins, career passing yards, pass attempts, pass completions, and passing touchdowns.
• 4× NFL MVP (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009)
• Super Bowl Champion and MVP in 2006
• Fastest ever to reach 50,000 yards passing

One of my favorite stats for any athlete is their ability to play game in and game out. Manning did not play in the season opener at Houston, he is out for the season, bringing an end to his streak of 227 consecutive starts, including the playoffs. That is amazing stuff. Do you know how Indianapolis has done without him?

Not very well.       0 wins 4 losses 63 points for 108 points against so far. A horrible start to the NFL Season....they are all but out of the playoffs already.

The Colts are no longer feared. When defences stood opposite Peyton Manning, they were nervous, tense, not sure what to expect. That fear is gone.

One Player has made a huge impact!

                                                                  Peyton Manning