Derby Dilemma...

Here I lay on the floor, unable to get up without pain, unable to sneeze without pain, unable to cough without pain...seven years later and I'm not ready to give it up. Slamming my body against the concrete floor, the wood floor, the sports court...being pounded by other bodies. These are the days I wonder how much longer I can do this. My mind and my competitive side says "I must go on, continue...for the love of the game." But, over the last eight days I've had pain, I've had massages, I've soaked in a bath tub and in a jacuzzi, I've seen a physical therapist three times and cut down my activity to almost nothing. "These are the days that try men's souls"...my soul! I can't see life without roller derby. But, I must admit out loud, during times like the past week, I'm wondering how much the pounding is doing to my body, or the concussion a few years back, the torn ACL, the broken collarbone, the shoulder tightness, the lower back pain, the bruises...I'm not ready, my brain is not ready, dang it! I am not ready. Pass me the aspirin, hand me my skate bag, I gotta get to practice!

Famous misbehaving young people...

Back from a fantastic and relaxing vacation and I feel I must send a quick note to "Tongue out yo mouth Miley" and Manzie Panzie...Grow up! You are not that special. You may be able to play football extremely well, or have a famous last name, but you are not changing the world or saving any lives with your craft! I'd like to look at this from a different perspective. Because, I think we, as a society, are asking for this crap, aren't we? In the hours, days, months and years now of reality TV, TMZ, and photographers tracking people's every move...isn't this what people wanted? Doesn't the fascination with under-educated, ignorant, stupid people in Hollywood warrant the types of behavior we're seeing from our young people recently? Some folks in the public eye automatically think they can act however they'd like with no consequences. Talented athletes, singers, actors often get special treatment beginning pretty darn early in their careers. Maybe that's because a majority of our population forgot how to discipline their children. We've all seen it show up somewhere in our families, at our friends houses, on school campuses and out in public. Kids mouthing off at their parents with no punishment, talking back to managers, teachers, police officers and constantly disrespecting each other all over the darn social media outlets. If we continue to give spoiled, highly entitled and socially ignorant young people so much attention, shame on us! When we make them feel like the most important part of society, which they ARE NOT, this will remain the norm. I don't like the direction our youth is headed; in fact, just recently one of my high school interns cussed at me in front of a guest visiting the ESPN studio. If we back off on the amount of attention we give these mediocre people then, maybe that will help curb this behavior. Parents can you please help STOP the MADNESS!!! Am I crazy to think the threat of a bare handed spanking on the bottom coming back might help? Or is that child abuse? Because right now, I feel like we're in the midst of adult abuse!

CrossFit...OMGoddess

When I walked into CrossFit Five Cities nearly six months ago I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I dropped in to talk business with Chad Franco the owner and head trainer. We agreed I should try it out for a few months before I decide to form an opinion. Sort of like me and my talk show. I constantly say give me a few weeks before you decide you hate me. I grow on you. Safe to say, Chad Franco and his C5 "box" have grown on me. In fact, it's become a very important part of my life and my cross training for roller derby. It has truly changed my body and outlook on fitness. I consider myself an athlete. People that know me might say I'm competitive, sometimes to a fault. CrossFit has changed everything, for the better. It's cardio, strength training, mobility and flexibility. But, most of all for me, it has put my competitive edge and ego in check and on hold until I learn EVERYTHING. I recommend CrossFit Five Cities to anyone; all fitness levels and all sized exercisers. You can come to C5 and get a fantastic workout, and that's it, or you can come to C5 and have a life altering experience. I know I did. I walked in a confident derby skater with, I thought, pretty good conditioning. The truth set me free and now I know I have a long way to go before I could even consider competing in a CrossFit games. But, I also know, my fitness level is changing, my attitude is changing, most of all my awareness about my body has changed. A component you wouldn't expect is the team atmosphere as well. Not a workout goes by where someone isn't cheering somebody else on 'til the clock stops. It's a community, building itself around true health and fitness. CrossFit is not just a trend, it is here to stay and I am grateful to have entered the glass door at CrossFit Five Cities. Because now I know I will become the best and most well conditioned athlete I could ever be!

Refreshing, in a time when human conversations are rare in my biz...

I've been doing this sports radio thing for a long long time! It's changed, people have changed, communication has changed, even I have changed. I USUALLY don't want to be that person who says "when I was younger..." or "back when I started in this business..." But, today, I must! In the late 1980's, when there were less than 10 sports talk radio shows in the country people returned our phone calls. There were no emails, no Facebook, no Twitter, no texting, no nationwide internet. All we had were telephones and FAX machines for communicating. SportsTicker, AP and UPI were our only means of researching for our shows. So today, I celebrate a rare occurrence. Yesterday, it was a normal working Monday, I got a returned phone call from an NFL Media Relations guy. Not only did Will Kiss from the Oakland Raiders return my phone call, but, he did it the very SAME day that I left him a phone message. And, even better, he said he could and would help me. My heart feels different about one of our local professional football teams. I am grateful today for my refreshing experience with Will. Over the next couple weeks when I talk with the Raider player or GM Reggie McKenzie on my show, it won't just be an interview, but it will be the result of human contact...PRICELESS! Thank you WK, you are a gentleman of our game!

Shooting too close to home...

Ugh!!! I'm standing outside the auditorium where my niece is about to have her dance show. Walking in a familiar neighborhood, one I've been in hundreds of times. My dad played football in the stadium on this street. I walked the hallways enrolled as a student in these buildings. I learned how to do football play by play in the seats of Corsair Stadium. Just a few years ago I was here to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of SMCC football's undefeated season. For a moment it all comes together for me. I'm across the street from Santa Monica College. This is home to me, and a couple days ago someone intentionally killed people in this neighborhood and on this campus. All I did was drive down to Santa Monica to see my niece's dance recital and BAM!...this is part of my experience. What's the lesson in this for me, I wonder. This isn't supposed to happen, anywhere, but especially not in my hometown. Everyone feels this way when a tragedy strikes their hood. Now that I've been through this recent tragedy, I'm even more sure that it happening close to home makes the wound deeper, more personal and more painful. There isn't a place in this country, or in this world, that this should be allowed to happen. I'm mad, I'm sad and I'm confused. What can we do to keep our people safe, on our streets, in our neighborhoods, in our football stadiums, in our classrooms, in our libraries, and on our sidewalks? I don't have a solution right now. But, I know we must, as a community, as a society find a way to stop this mess. This is not acceptable behavior, no matter what or who you would like to place blame upon. We must STOP THE MADNESS! I'm standing here, across the street. I see caution tape, news vans and news reporters, I don't like it, not at all!

Losing a child...

My 11 year old nephew Tanner passed away on Saturday May 18th. He'd been sick since September of last year. The time flew by, it was too quick for anyone. My heart feels so much pain, for myself, but much more significantly for my brother, my niece, my sister in law and my parents. I've felt sadness before in my life, many many times. Lost friendships, broken promises, relationships ending, career disappointments...sadness comes in all shapes and sizes. But, nothing, nothing I have experienced is worse than this type of pain...losing a child. Tanner had only lived for 11 short years. My divorce in 2009 was pretty darn horrible, sad for the lifetime commitment to break down. I thought I'd be married forever, but we weren't the right match. I was sad then, really sad, it hurt like hell. But, it was a different type of pain, we chose it. This pain, nobody chooses. There are lessons and blessings in everything...in grief we all grow and learn through the healing process. Yes, all true, but so clearly a jumble of cliches. These logical and rational thought patterns all nicely expressed, but to live them, really? It's a bunch of crap, just an all around messed up part of life. During these past 11 days I have experienced a full range of emotions, thoughts and feelings. Today seems to be the clearest day of them all. Clear that my friggin' heart hurts...BAD! Nothing can fix it...time will heal it...don't force it...learn from it. What if I don't want to???

Cycling...

I've spent fun times at the finish line in Downtown San Luis Obispo, watching and covering the Tour of California. I interviewed the top riders and enjoyed the experience of professional cycling. I had never been so close to the action, and it was a thrill, each time! Before the Tour my only history with cycling was following Lance Armstrong for years. I read both of his books. I cheered for him through his battle with cancer. I used his story and life as inspiration for my own physical challenges, my first marathon in 1997 and a 10-mile uphill trail challenge, that same year. I looked up to him. Whether you agree with it or not, he was a hero to me. He has helped the world in many ways with his commitment to fighting cancer and researching the best medicines, cures, etc. Ok, that's the good part, now the sad news. It has changed for me. I don't follow cycling like I used to; the drugs in the sport and Armstrong turned me off. You can argue, everybody cheats, all sports deal with performance enhancers...yada, yada, yada. That doesn't matter to me. I get to be the type of fan I want to be, for any or all sports. It's affecting me this week because the Tour is in town this afternoon. I want to go, I don't want to go. I would like to find a new rider to cheer, an honest & clean team that does it right. But, I don't know when and if we'll get that in this sport. The amount of mileage and stress on the body to ride the way these people do, is incredible. I guess, I sort of understand why a lot of them feel they need medical/chemical assistance to do it and do it well. No matter, my heart isn't beating for the sport as it has in the past. And everybody appreciates a good heartbeat, right?