A Day in the Life

I think that I've settled into a bit of routine during this phase of the recovery period.

10 pm - 12 am : Attempt to sleep
12 am - 5 am : Sleep
5 am - 7 am : Wake up, do physical therapy exercises/stretches
7 am - 8 am : Get ready for PT, Breakfast period
8 am - 11 am : Physical Therapy
11 am - 1 pm : CPM for 2 hours
1 pm - 4 pm : Rest from CPM, Lunch period
4 pm - 6 pm : CPM for 2 hours
6 pm - 7 pm : Dinner period
8 pm - 10 pm : CPM for 2 hours

Also, since I have the CPM dialed up to a (mildly) uncomfortable 100, my PT session today involved an attempt to try to pedal on a stationary bike. I'm not quite at the level where I can bring the pedal all the way around.

Continuous Passive Motion

I have been quite fascinated with the continuous passive motion machine that is part of my immediate post-surgery therapy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_passive_motion

Basically, it's a fun little device that saves me the trouble of having to flex and extend my own knee. In theory, scar tissue won't form and circulation should increase into the affected area allowing more toxins to leave and more nutrients to enter.

I have been prescribed to gradually build up to a 90+ degree bend in two to three weeks from the date of my surgery.

Here's how I've been doing so far:
(Mon) December 15 - 50 degrees [date of surgery]
(Tue) December 16 - 55 degrees
(Wed) December 17 - 60 degrees
(Thu) December 18 - 65 degrees
(Fri) December 19 - 75 degrees
(Sat) December 20 - 80 degrees
(Sun) December 21 - 80/85 degrees
(Mon) December 22 - 85 degrees
(Tue) December 23 - 90 degrees

I'll see how close I can get to comfortably get close to 125, which is the maximum setting on the machine. I get my sutures off on Monday, so I'll also find out if I'll need to keep the CPM much longer. (It costs $35/day to rent!)

In Six Months

On Thanksgiving weekend, I had the opportunity to play in two different football games. On Thanksgiving morning, a large number of guys (some who knew, and some who I didn't) were going to gather in a "friendly" game of flag football. On that Saturday, I also had the opportunity to play with some friends (guys and girls) for our annual non-competitive game of flag football.

Guess which game resulted in me tearing my right ACL?

I played in the Saturday game, and within the first half an hour to forty five minutes, the damage was done. Our team went down quickly by two touchdowns and being the competitive sort, my frustration was increasing. So while cutting back to catch up to flag tackle the ball handler, I pushed off on my right leg. That's when I felt the stiff ground push back against my leg, and I felt/heard a soft popping noise. All the strength left my right knee, so I ended up forcing myself to fall down.

To make a long story short, my acl was completely torn. In six months (filled with hard work), I'll be able to play cutting sports like basketball again.

Two for the price of one

So after a long time of talking about it, and less time practicing for it, the One Night Jam went off pretty well. (I'll post the video links once those are all up.) Originally, I had committed to only doing one song. In fact, a song that we've already done publicly before.

On Saturday, as I was running through the song again, it suddenly hit me that while everyone was pushing themselves to try something new, or go a bit farther than they normally do, I wasn't. At best, I was running in place. At worst, I was going to deliver a cardboard cutout effort.

So, I decided to do one more song. In the end, it worked out well enough. The effort seems to have made my already sore throat a whole lot worse though. But hey, you can't tell what you're made of, or how far you can go unless you test your limits, right? It was well worth the risk.

Update: the direct embed(s), plus a link to the most of the night's videos



Cover of "Pare Ko" (Eraserheads)


Cover of "Most Beautiful Girl" (Flight of the Conchords) with Casey Martin

Bonus thought: I've always said, if you have a gift to share, share it. I'm glad to be blessed with such a great group of people to share it with. Thanks to everyone who made it possible, everyone who was able to make it out, and everyone who would have been able to make it out if I mentioned it sooner (or at all for that matter..haha!).

Instruments and Music

I was at the Swell Season concert on Sunday, and Glen Hasnard, went on an interesting tangent while trying to banter his way through changing the tuning on his guitar. He basically made a point that they were instruments, instruments that may get to stay in a nice hotel now, and eat better food, but in the end they were still instruments that played music. The biggest danger he said, is when instruments forget who they are, and believe to think that they are the music.

I thought it was a pretty humble way to look at talent and the world in general, applicable for a lot more than just music. You can almost believe or imagine that the entirety of music, art or even science already exists...it's just waiting to be discovered. Humbly letting the music play through you, as an instrument, rather than arrogantly believing you are the source of music and entitled. Believing you are the instrument means that you are more likely to be open to new and different things and experiences. Believing you are the music means that you think you know better, closed off to new and different things since you think you are the source of it all...when you're not. I wasn't expecting that revelation as part of the concert, but what a lucky bonus!

Oh yeah, the concert was pretty good too! They played for almost 2 hours.

How To Tell If You Are A Terrible Parent...

...if you buy these for your kid.



Gabe at Penny Arcade noticed it first.

It's Good to Have Multiple Partners...

...dance partners that is.

I ran into a friend of mine at Chicago SummerDance, and during the course of conversation that particular line happened to come up as we were talking about learning to dance. Of course we laughed a little bit on the accidental humor of it all, but it really made me think afterward.

It is very easy to get set in our own ways, if we don't challenge ourselves and put ourselves outside of our comfort zones. Whether that's trying new things, taking risks, or trying to dance with a completely new person and learning whether or not what you've been doing was right all along. In this case multiple partners is a good thing.*

Otherwise, if you haven't made it out to SummerDance, I definitely recommend it. Mostly nice people of all ages, looking to have fun and dance in the summer air, with our beautiful Chicago skyline as the backdrop.

*where everything starts doesn't condone or recommend multiple partners in other life situations unless you are attempting to start a law practice or a small business.

Did Tyrus Grow?

More good stuff here.

My new coach...Vinnie?

Yep. Just as I thought I had a decent explanation for the Bulls' / John Paxson's never-ending search for a new coach; I even had the blog post almost written out, talking about wanting to talk to either Kurt Rambis or Tom Thibodeau, and wanting to look just inept enough, or move slowly enough, so that they wouldn't lose any leverage when they actually talked to them...

But so much for that! Vinnie is set to be announced as the 17th coach of the Bulls.

During this whole process, my biggest concern was getting someone that was a legitimate fit. I didn't want to get someone that everyone would agree with, but was a horrible fit. It's very easy and tempting sometimes to make the "easy" choice, the choice everyone agrees with, because when your choice fails, you get validation from those same people who will tell you "who knew?". You can then shrug your shoulders and get away from having to take a risk at all.

At some point, someone has to give the next Phil Jackson or Greg Popovich a chance. Will Vinnie prove to be that guy?

Wow.

Karma, how I've missed you.

After enduring a season where the coach quit on the players while trying to convince us that the players quit on him, followed by an interim coach that proved that he was made of a similar substance...

After losing a shot at even making an offer to hire a successful run and gun coach...

...somehow the Bulls land the #1 pick in this summer's draft?

As I've said many times before, Karma if this is your way of making it right between us, all is forgiven, and let's never fight again.

April fools?

Now, I would like to be as optimistic when it comes to success, but at this point of the season, do Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden need to be getting any playing time? Especially at the expense of Joakhim Noah, Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha? (Aaron Gray fans, feel free to throw him into the mix as well)

It would take a devastating collapse by Atlanta, and a winning streak of more than 3 games for the Bulls (something they have not done all season, for those of you that had a better sense than I to not watch enough games to know that).

Gooden: 6 years in the league, on his 4th team.
Hughes: 10 years in the league, on his 5th team.

There isn't anything that you can see in these final games, that we haven't already known already. Don't fool yourself.

That didn't last very long...

The relatively upset free Day One of Round 1 (my record: 15-1), was overturned by a number of upsets in Day Two (9-7). But, compared to most years I'm relatively satisfied to be sitting at 24-8. UConn was the only team out of those 8 that I had advancing into the Sweet Sixteen (and getting eliminated right after that). There are 6 people tied for first at 25-7, and 10 other people have the same record I do. At this point, there's no reason to celebrate. I'm just glad this "new" system seems to be working so far.

The more I think I know...

Two new discoveries this week:
1) The Wednesday before Holy Thursday is called "Spy" Wednesday.
2) My "new" NCAA system was a tightly contested BYU loss away from a perfect day one. First time I think that's ever happened for me.

And in the file of, you can't judge a book by its cover, I entered a church for the first time, after years of driving past it. Its interior was nothing close to what I was expecting based on the exterior. When I get a chance to take some pictures, I may throw them up here to help you visual what I'm talking about.

...and March Madness

Today is also the beginning of a different sort of Madness in March. One that is particularly amplified this year due to the calendar.

Yep, for the next 4 days, some or many of us will be involved in washing a stranger's hands and feet, eating unleavened bread and lamb, visiting other churches before midnight, performing the Stations of the Cross, welcoming new members into the church, and finding out that there are a heck of a lot of people that show up on Easter Sunday versus your average Sunday mass.

I know a lot has been made about declining attendance, but truth be told I think most people still feel a connection with their faith. I don't think I've ever been to a church that hasn't been full of people on Christmas and Easter (my church in particular has to overflow into 2 separate locations). I just think that there is a disconnect, people feel very compelled to be at mass on Christmas and Easter, but much less so on a weekly or daily basis. I'm not sure if there is a way to gradually alter the mindset on this.

Bonus thought:
A lot of people have remarked that Lent this year has felt particularly shorter. What may be the case is that a lot of people have already forgotten how early Ash Wednesday was, and normally how you may be rebelling against any Lenten promises in mid-April, rather than late March.

March Madness...

Optimist: Anything can happen in the Big Dance!
Realist: An upset or two may happen, but in the end most high seeds will advance.

Every year I join friends in filling out those Tournament Bracket challenges, trying to make "intelligent" guesses on who will advance, based on what I know of the team, its players, its coaches, how much I've seen them beyond short SportsCenter clips and much like everyone else...I fail miserably.

This year, I found an old article that broke down all the potential matchups by record and decided to base my decisions on that. Amusingly it felt much like a game of Sudoku, where your previous choices impacted the later ones. I decided to make a change to one of my brackets once I found out that a particular Final Four seed versus seed matchup...had never happened.

I'll let you know how it goes.

They're not booing, they're just saying "Buuuuuuuuuuuuullls!"

One of Larry's 9 "missed" shots

Wow. This was not what I was expecting when I walked into the UC with my younger cousin an hour before tip off. The Wizards were not only missing Gil Arenas, a career 22 ppg gunner who came close to averaging 30 ppg in 05-06. Not only were they missing Caron Butler a 21 ppg emerging portion of their deadly trio (along with Jamison). The Wizards had just struggled to put up 70 points in a 69-94 loss to Houston. Piece of cake, right?

It certainly played out the way I thought it would in the first half. Bulls ahead 52-34. Nothing to worry about, right?

While Washington reels off 9 straight points (4-5 shooting), the Bulls rack up 3 turnovers and miss 3 shots (one of them blocked), with a timeout in between as well. The offense doesn't seem in rhythm, and the guards don't seem to be in sync, so who should get substituted? One of the guards? Not on this watch! Nocioni and Gooden come in for Noah and Thomas (who never returns).

The Bulls finally score their first point of the quarter with 8:57 to go, but Washington continues push ahead. Their defense and rebounding, non-existent as they rack up 4 more turnovers (one on a questionable offensive foul call) and more missed shots.

Another time out at the 5:03 mark, and my 10 year old cousin asks me? Have they only scored one point this quarter? I look up at the in-stadium stat line, and there it is:

22 to effin' 1.

This time, the timeout seems to take some effect but the Bulls still end the quarter down 3. The fourth quarter begins, and a Hughes turnover leads to a quick Hinrich foul. Duhon is immediately dusted off and thrown into the game.

An energetic UC crowd starts shouting "Duuuuuuuuuu!" for Chris Duhon.

A optimistic UC crowd starts shouting "Buuuuuuuullllllllls!" to motivate the squad.

The disillusioned UC crowd, once sold on a group of hard working players from winning college programs, rained a heavy chorus of displeasure on the poster child of this "new" Bulls era. As you already know, the Bulls lost the game. If the optimist in me was hopeful that the Bulls could salvage some improvement for the remainder of this season, the optimist is me is now convinced that this game will be proof that there will be major changes ahead for the Bulls in the offseason. But that's a discussion for another post.

I have to say though this dunk by Noce was pretty sick:

Where fro no mo' happens...

Wallace displays his typical aversion to basketballs

Chicago's season-long nightmare was finally ended on Thursday when Ben Wallace was traded to the Cleveland Cavs. It is easy to look back at the signing as mistake, but I think it was a move in the right direction. As Sam Smith points out:

Chandler, the conventional wisdom held, was mentally weak and always in foul trouble, accounting for a huge disparity in free throws. He couldn’t shoot and was shrinking by the day under the demands of coach Scott Skiles, then a folk hero for coaching by accountability.

The signing was also symbolic of the confidence that the Bulls organization was placing in the progress that the team had made. It would no longer be the team that opened up 0-9 in 2004-2005. It would no longer be the team that lost twice in the first round of the playoffs.

Basketball-wise, Chandler's skills weren't suited for the Bulls offense. Many passes into the high post would clang off Chandler's stone hands, or there would be missed opportunities to open teammates.

Doing a simple comparison of 2005-2006 Chandler to 2006-2007 Wallace:

Chandler (per 36 min averages)
ORebounds: 4.5
Rebounds: 12.1
Assists: 1.4
Blocks: 1.8
Steals: 0.7
Fouls: 5.1

Wallace (per 36 min averages)
ORebounds: 6.9
Rebounds: 11.0
Assists: 2.5
Blocks: 2.1
Steals: 1.5
Fouls: 2.0

If there was one thing that killed the 2006 team was the fact that the team tended to get into the penalty situation early in a quarter, and that led to quite a disparity in free throw attempts and makes.
2006:

	FT	FTA	PF
Bulls	1452	1967	2038
Opp	1921	2472	1883
Diff	-469	-505

2007:

	FT	FTA	PF
Bulls	1528	2083	1908
Opp	1619	2219	1900
Diff	-91	-136

That's quite a significant difference, that reduced the strain on the offense to account for the points that the defense was giving up for "free". The season's goodwill peaked with a sweep of the defending champion Heat (who had rapidly aged, and no real depth to speak of). Despite a hard fought series against the Pistons, the Bulls were eliminated again.

So what got us to this train-wreck of a season? Well, any time a player places their agenda over the team's, don't ever expect to see the best of results...ever.

Ben Wallace and Headbands

Well aware of an existing team rule, Wallace decided to wear his headband anyway and was promptly benched by then coach Scott Skiles. It lead to a 12-1 winning streak, but it was the first sign that Wallace would continue to test the coaching staff and organization to see what he could get away with.

The Turning Point of 2008

I don't think much was made of this story, but I think if Skiles ever wants to look for evidence of what he did to lose the players, I would like to present this as Exhibit A. Although apparently endorsed by teammates, this special exception made for Wallace did nothing to increase his motivation during games. This organization, which had prided itself on hard work and dedication seemed to bend over backwards for the one player that despite being paid the most, was only motivated in certain situations. If you want to believe that he was injured enough early in the season, he should have been shut down for a number of games. (He wasn't). This no longer was the Bulls teams of old where the lack of quality depth at the 4/5 would have necessitated a Wallace to play heavier minutes even when ineffective (apologies to the Malik Allens, Othella Harringtons, and Michael Sweetneys of the world).The most infuriating portion of this season for Bulls fans was seeing plays apparently designed to have Wallace to attempt to score from his non-existent repetroite of post moves.

Where the aftermath happens

So farewell, Wallace, Smith, Griffith (and his calming influence), and hello Gooden, Hughes, Brown and Simmons. The departure of Wallace and Smith creates the opportunity to properly develop Noah, Thomas and Gray. I know some people may be upset to lose Smith, but Joe Smith would have only been useful if we were a team battling to make it to the Finals. Otherwise, you aren't going to learn anything new from playing him. The hope is that we get this Larry Hughes, rather than the one that inspired someone to create this.

Warning! Contains dunk-like substances

When should a 50 point dunk actually involve...oh, I don't know...a dunk?




(If you haven't seen it yet, the end result of the above, is Howard flinging the ball into the rim, rather than actually dunking it. Something that you can pick up in real-time, and verified when you see it in slo-motion.)

I suppose if we can handle decaf, sugar substitutes and soy-powered meats, I should prepare myself for this brave new world where things that aren't dunks can get a high score in a dunk contest.

...and we're back!

It took a bit longer than expected but thanks for finding your way here. I pledge to continue to provide the same kind of words, phrases, sentences and links that you have come to expect.