Keep It Clean !

At 7'7" (7'9" in shoes), Kenny George had a huge presence on the basketball court. (That's him, making 6'9" Deon Thompson look like Mugsy Bogues) .

The 2008 Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Year was a shot-blocking machine who improved his game enough to start getting looks from NBA teams (like they say - "you can't coach height").

This past Summer, he returned from Pete Newell's Big Man Camp in Las Vegas with a skin infection. While it may have started with a small cut or an abrasion, the infection was caused by MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staph Aureus) an antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can cause life-threatening illness. Complications from the infection led to the partial amputation of his right foot, eventually knocking this giant of a man off the court.

Life for him will go on. As his coach said, “There's much more to Kenny than just basketball" and I hope that he finds success and enjoyment in whatever field he eventually enters.


I also hope that YOU learn from this unfortunate story and make the effort to reduce your risk of contracting this serious disease, which can be found in locker rooms and gym bags. In fact, participation in contact sports (and yes, basketball is a contact sport) increases the risk of getting this type of infection. Sometimes Community Associated MRSA (CA-MRSA), can spread from teammate to teammate quickly.


So what can you do? As the Centers for Disease Control recommend, you should always:

* Keep your hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
* Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed.
* Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or bandages.
* Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors.

The National Federation of State High School Associations has this to say about CA-MRSA.

And last, but certainly not least, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a good webpage about MRSA at http://www.aap.org/new/mrsa.htm

Take a few minutes to go there, learn more about what you can do, and take the steps to reduce your risk of going through something like Kenny George had to endure.

MRSA infection changed his life.... don't let it change yours.

One Step at a Time

ESPN

Baby steps.

That's the way someone usually learns how to walk.

You know, take a step forward; fall down; get back up and try again.

For most of us, we accomplish this before our first birthday and never give it a second thought.

For others, life sometimes brings the challenge back around again.


Wayman Tisdale had an incredible career as a basketball player- The first college Freshman to ever be named an All-American, a member of the 1984 gold medal-winning US Olympic team, the 2nd player taken in the NBA Draft.


After 12 years in the NBA, he retired in 1997 to pursue his next career as a jazz musician. But basketball was such an integral part of who he was that he could never separate himself from his past athletic accomplishments. Many of his album titles reflect his love of the game ( Power Forward (1995) , In The Zone (1996), Hang Time (2004) ) and his music often flows like a well-orchestrated run.


Last year, he was diagnosed with cancer and eventually had to have his right leg amputated above the knee. And there he was, lying in a bed with a different body and a new challenge. The way he responded demonstrated both the person he is and the lessons he learned from playing basketball.

As a basketball player, he was already familiar with the need to train his body and took to his rehabilitation with the same intensity he often showed on the court - learning to use an artificial leg 3-4x faster than the average amputee.

In an ESPN.com article, he discussed how he also used the inner strength and resolve he developed during his basketball career to deal with his disease and his new physical challenges, specifically recalling, "I had some coaches that literally didn't want me to make it, and one in particular was Bobby Knight. At the time, I frowned on that … I look at it today that had I not persevered through a lot of the stuff he put me through, I probably wouldn't be here today. I thank God for that dude because he pushed me."

I'm a big believer that basketball can help young athletes learn lessons and gain experiences that will help them later in life. It's obvious that Mr Tisdale is a talented, creative and motivated individual who became stronger through time on the basketball court. Trying to make the 1984 US Olympic team despite having a coach who was anything but supportive could have been a disaster, but he didn't let a difficult situation get the best of him.

So the next time you have a coach who gets on your nerves, try to look at the situation not as a problem but as an opportunity.
S/he yells at you/picks on you/doesn't give you the playing time you feel you deserve?
Keep your head up and keep working hard through it.

It's a chance for you to grow by overcoming adversity.
One step at a time.

B*U*R*P

An Espn.com article last month described Derrick Favors (one of the top-ranked high school players in the country) as his team's "meal ticket" .

Unfortunately, he and his teammates were never taught what type of meals they should, and should not, eat before games.

The article describes what happened to him and his teammates before a state tournament game last year where they lost in the first round.

They "had a transportation issue before that first-round game. The bus was late by 90 minutes or so. The Hornets arrived about 30 minutes before tipoff, and perhaps worst of all, somebody -- a parent, a fan, nobody seems sure -- decided to try to help by buying dinner. Those bacon cheeseburgers were good."

Ah, if only they had read my post from last year ("You Are What You Eat"- August 2007) and gone to some of the websites about nutrition for basketball players, they would have known that you don't eat greasy bacon cheeseburgers any time before an important game or practice.

What you eat before games depends upon how long you have to digest the food. Carbohydrates are the best and most easily digested types of pre-game meals. A little protein can be added if you've got a while before gametime.

And the bacon cheesburgers?

"four players suffered cramping problems during the game, Favors landed in foul trouble, and the Hornets -- who averaged 83 points per game last season -- scored six points in the fourth quarter".

Moral of the story? You are (and might play like) what you eat.

Moral #2: Bacon cheesburgers should NEVER be (or be eaten by) your meal ticket.

Pete Newell (1915-2008)

The world basketball community mourns the passing of Pete Newell this past Monday.

For those of you who don't know about him, Coach Newell left his mark in many ways, including an NCAA Championship in 1959, coaching the USA Olympic Team to a Gold Medal in the 1960 Olympics, and developing the now world famous Pete Newell's Big Man Camp and the more recent Pete Newell Tall Women's Basketball Camp where 4's and 5's come to improve their game.

As Bill Walton said, "He was a caring, loving, selfless man who was a coach of not just basketball but life.

May he rest in peace and may his teachings live on in the players and coaches he touched.

Don't Stretch Like Your Grandmother

AP Photo/Kevin Sanders

A recent article in the New York Times' "Play" magazine section gave a good overview about how out of date warm-up stretching practices are at all levels of sport, including basketball.

The article, available at

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

discusses the importance of using a dynamic, movement-based warm-up routine to improve performance and (possibly) reduce the risk of injury.

Want to learn some good pre-game and pre-practice stretches?

Take a look at this video:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/10/31/sports/playmagazine/1194830066044/stretching-the-truth.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Even though it's done as a tennis warm-up, many of the stretches are useful before playing basketball.

While static stretches (like the ones the Hot Pink Grannies team is doing above) are great to do after practice and games, those in the know are incorporating dynamic routines. Now that you know, be sure you warm up the "new" and improved way.

Better be ready. Those Grannies got game.

Cipro No-Go

ptclinic.com

Recently, the Federal Drug Administration added an important warning to the prescribing information for ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat sinus, bladder, and other infections.

The warning, available at http://www.cipro.com/html/pdf/cipro_prescription.pdf (page 10), states that the use of ciprofloxacin (as well as other drugs called "fluoroquinolones") is "associated with an increased risk of tendinitis and tendon ruptures in all ages".

This risk is further increased for older patients (usually >60 years), those taking corticosteroid drugs, and those involved in "strenuous physical activity" (which includes playing basketball).

What does this mean for you?

Ciprofloxacin, while an effective antibiotic for the treatment of some infections, may also increase your risk of a tendon injury. Since young basketball players are already at an increased risk for injuries to tendons at the knee and heel, there's no reason to further increase your risk for injury by taking this medicine if another equally effective antibiotic is available.

This only applies to medicines that you swallow. Eye drops or ear drops are not associated with an increased risk of tendon injuries.

So the next time your doctor prescribes ciprofloxacin or another fluoruquinolone antibiotic medicine to treat an infection, remind them that you don't want to increase your risk of tendon injury and see if they can prescribe another medicine.

Hoops at the House

No, I didn't vote for Barack Obama because he plays basketball, but it didn't hurt.

You can learn a lot about a person by the way they act on the court.
Are they a good teammate? Do they have a shoot-first or pass-first mentality? Are they more interested in their own stats than winning? Do they yell at their teammates (or themselves) when things go wrong?

Michelle Obama, our new First Lady, knew this when she asked her brother to report to her how the then-Mr Obama acted when they played pickup ball. The report then was good, and the rest is history.

Now that President-Elect Obama is heading to Pennsylvania Avenue , chances are good that there will be a lot more ball played at the White House. And if they want to play some real pickup (even 4v4) they'll need to get rid of the horseshoe pit and add some length (and another rim) to the the old White House basketball court .

Looking forward to hearing more about the pickup games to be played there and, if asked, will be happy to serve my President (and country) if he needs 1 more for a game.