Adam returns to the gym

Adam's first time back at the gym after losing his leg to cancer.

Couple Meets through Adaptive Sports

@Sensei_Rich on Twitter sent this video along. Hope you enjoy it. And, while you're at it, give Rich a follow.

Nava's Story: First Ventilated Quad to Sail Alone

Via YouTube:

Freedom Waters Foundation presents this story, originally aired on the Austrailian television program "A Current Affair", of Nava George. Nava is the first quadriplegic person to sail alone. With some training, and a special boat, Nava is able to explore a newly found freedom, sailing by herself.

If you're interested in adaptive sports, visit my other blog We Push Sports for more information or to share your story.

Wimbledon has great towels

I've always been jealous of the towels Wimbledon players get.

Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for all the paraphernalia I collected over the years when I played wheelchair tennis. There were free FILA jackets, Nike shirts, tournament shirts, and tennis wrist bands in neon colors. I also received about a hundred water bottles and t shirts. Once in a while, I received a hand towel.

But we never got those huge towels the Wimbledon players get. It's not just the size of the towel, but the purple and green colors for the men, pink and blue for the ladies, the royal plush look. Why not? It's Wimbledon.

The Queen of England showed up this week for the first time in 33 years to watch a match. I bet she got a towel. I bet the ball kids get a towel.

But do they appreciate it?

Watching the players carelessly toss around those Wimbledon towels as if they're not worth anything, sometimes even leaving one on a bench, just isn't easy.

So if anyone who reads this is at Wimbledon and someone happens to leave a towel behind, could you do me a favor and get one for me?

Can't hurt to ask.

In other Wimbledon news, there was a historic match this week, the longest tennis match ever played. And a tennis player escaped a lifetime ban after losing it and spitting at fans.

[Cross-posted at We Push Sports].

We Push Sports: a new blog

For readers who enjoy my occasional sports posts, I've started a new blog called We Push Sports. I'm also hoping it will be a way to get the word out about wheelchair/adaptive sports that are under-reported. Based on the recent response to a petition to televise the Paralympic games , I know many others agree that it's time to push this issue. Sponsorship and expanded TV coverage are key to promoting the Paralympics. Far too often, wheelchair sports stories get buried in a Lifestyle section of a newspaper and don't even receive sports page coverage. And, although many of us are interested in these events, the lack of media coverage continues.

I will also promote women's sports , which present some interesting developments as Title IX's legacy continues to grow. And, of course, I'll report on all sports, although it's important to keep in mind that there are plenty of sites that already cover the top stories on ESPN and SI.com .

With the upcoming Paralympics, I hope to help draw attention to the event and those participating in it. If anyone knows a Paralympic athlete who would like to share his/her experiences, let me know. Or if you play wheelchair/adaptive or women's sports and want me to know about your team, results or player profiles, please pass the information on via Twitter (below) or in the comments over at the blog. I'm also open to the idea of guest posts if anyone is interested in doing that.

Let the games begin!


(We Push Sports can be found on twitter at @wsportstweets )

8 year old plays sled hockey

This is a great time, with the Paralympics coming up, to run this story about 8 year old Danny, who has played sled hockey for four years now. When he was in kindergarten, he says , he asked his mom to find some sport for him to do. Now he plays hockey.




You can read the rest of the story here. Maybe one day Danny will play in the Paralympics.

The Paralympic team says they are aiming for gold!

The Lady Vols fall in Georgia

Last night in a close and sloppy game the Lady Vols lost to Georgia, 53-50. It was their second loss this season. They've had other close games recently and this time they paid for it with a loss.

It didn't even look as if they showed up. The guard play was subpar. Bjorklund and Strickland shot 6 out of 21. Manning ran down the court for an open shot and missed it. Cain fouled out on a technical after opening her mouth in the vicinity of a ref about the prior foul. In a post game interview Glory Johnson said the team was too inconsistent and hinted that not every team member was with the program. I can't speak to that, but there were obvious issues.

It wasn't as if the ladies didn't hustle up and down the court. Orange suits were everywhere, but plays weren't executed. It reminded me of when I was learning wheelchair tennis. I spent so much time figuring out how to move my chair quickly enough to get to the ball that when I got there, I sat there and the ball flew past me. My coach finally shouted at me "You're there! Hit the ball!" "Backhand or forehand?" I would ask and she'd shout "Just put your racket out."

Of course I refined my play, but it occurs to me that maybe part of what some Lady Vols freshmen and sophomore players may be doing, since this is a team without any seniors and just one junior, is adjusting their game during games and failing to execute. Even if one or two players are doing it, it's an issue. When you consider that they're out of high school playing at a higher speed, playing more defense and suddenly playing in huge, loud (and sometimes hostile) venues, those are enough variables to make one wonder if this is part of it.

The good news is that there's a fix in a team sport. When I played doubles and spotted this kind of thing in my partner or vice versa, we could cover for each other. But someone has to show up and handle the ball. Just getting to the ball doesn't count.

Trust me, I know.

I just wanted to shout at them "You're there! Handle the ball!" last night. Okay, so I did.

I also shouted "Stretch!" at them, because an Australian Paralympian helped my game immensely by sitting on the sidelines down in Washington DC years ago and shouting "Stretch!" at me during a match that was hot, long and close.

I've found it to be a useful approach not only in sports, but in life.

Sports stuff

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Lady Vols: expected to excel on court and in the classroom

After an early exit from the playoffs last season, Coach Pat Summitt and her staff worked hard to prepare this year's Lady Vols women's basketball team for the upcoming season. Team members were given summer workout programs with an emphasis on both physical and mental toughness. This video on Iron Will, showing staff member Heather Mason working with team members, shows the serious preparation the team put in.

It's paid off. The Lady Vols are now 2-0, starting out with two wins over Big 12 teams, and continue to rise in the rankings after starting at number eight. Their first victory came over Baylor's Lady Bears, who showed up with the much touted freshman Brittney Grimer, a YouTube dunking phenom. There was no time for dunking as the Lady Vols shut down Baylor 74-65. Grimer got into foul trouble and spent the second half of the game trying to figure out how to deal with playing from that position in her first college game.

Last night the Lady Vols beat Texas Tech handily (91-53), despite leaving two team members home in Knoxville. Coach Summitt wouldn't let Kamiko Williams or Alyssia Brewer travel with the team. Why? Classroom issues, said the head coach, reminding us all that this is college sports. This is one of the reasons why I really like the Lady Vols program.

Lady Vols' head coach Pat Summitt told WVLT's sports partners at GoVolsXtra.com that the punishment stemmed from a classroom issue.

"When you come here, you go to class, you sit up and pay attention, you sit in the front three rows. If you don't, understand that you don't play." via volunteertv.com

Way to go, Lady Vols.

Congratulations to the New York Yankees on their World Series win

Congrats to the Yankees for their win in the World Series in their new stadium.

Sorry, Phanatic - not this year, buddy.




[image description: The Phillies' mascot, the Phanatic, a giant green bird wearing a red cap and a Phillies shirt, stands behind the World Series trophy last year.]

NYC Marathon winners and Team Reeve

Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland and Kurt Fearnley of Australia won the NYC Marathon wheelchair division. They are pictured at left, wearing orange jackets and wreaths in their hair, and holding bouquets after the race. Hunkeler dubbed this marathon the toughest and said it is "always the highlight of my year".

Team Reeve pursued its goal of raising $26,000 to help cure paralysis at the NYC marathon. Matthew Reeve, Christopher Reeve's son, (pictured at right in his Team Reeve shirt while running) finished the race in a bit over four hours. Matthew has raised $18, 672.00, according to his fundraising page, which, if you'd like to donate, can be found here.

A video about the team's goals of Care and Cure is shown below.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Yankees take game 2 of World Series

The Yankees fought back and won game 2 of the World Series last night. On to Citizens Bank Park for the next three games.

Short on time, but do want to show a photo of a Yankees fan who has decorated his scooter in honor of his team. He has a huge Yankees cap above his head, a baseball bat armrest and a Yankees logo on the side, all done on a blue scooter.

May the best team win tomorrow. (That, of course, is the Phillies!) :)

Phillies win Game 1 of the World Series

...and Cliff Lee casually catches a ball behind his back as he pitches a 6-1 game. The Christian Science Monitor's headline is:

Cliff Lee beats Yankees with one hand behind his back

He's being called a "cool customer" in the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning.

Two homers by Utley have Philly sports writers talking about Ut-lee this morning. Utley, says writer Bob Ford, set the tone for the series - again.

About the only complaints in Philly this morning are from the Inquirer journalists, who spent the game in far from glamorous conditions.

Frank Fitzpatrick writes:

Four hours before Game 1, the main press box resembled the Tokyo subway. Bodies and computers made things impassable. The adjoining work rooms were overflowing too, the precious spots apparently having been claimed at dawn by savvy veteran journalists.

And it got worse from there.

You can see a video of post game interviews here.

On to Game 2.

Metro area Phillies and Yankee fans talking trash - oh you know it

Of course they are.

People keep asking me where the line is in NJ that separates out the Phillies from the Yankees fans. I don't see it, although this guy in Delaware is feeling the heat. And people in N.E. Pennsylvania have divided loyalties.

What I do hear is a lot of trash talking.

It reminds me of when my friend and I drove down to Baltimore to play wheelchair tennis against a pack of wheelchair basketball players and proceeded to take them to school. The trash talk was flying, left and right. There were excuses:

"Just learned how to serve" "Haven't played tennis much - basketball's my game" etc. etc.

and then there were pitiful - I'm telling you pitiful - attempts by these hulking paraplegic guys to flatter me into giving them "a break" which meant points. Line calls against them resulted in faces only a five year old would make.

And the trash talk! It flew over the net more than the tennis balls. There were insults, jabs, and jokes of every kind. There was no way to concentrate on a point. It was better to just laugh my way through it , knowing for sure that when I served a ball they couldn't hit, attention to an airplane overhead would be called. Apparently none of these guys ever played a match in Flushing NY, where planes seem to dive bomb you in the middle of a match.

In the end, the trash talk was just a distraction, as it always is. And it will be the same this year with the World Series.

So I don't want to trash talk, but.... I must point out that the Yankees don't even have a mascot , although they used to have one. Guess what it's name was?

Dandy. Yep.

The Phillies have the Phanatic. Been around a long time and important sources say he's the best mascot in baseball. Check this out:

"From the top of his neon-green head to the tip of his bubble-toed size 20 shoes, the Phillie Phanatic is every inch the best mascot in the business. He's as much Philadelphia as cheesesteaks, the Liberty Bell, and Rocky Balboa. Yo, Adrian, I love dat green guy!"
- USA Today

"Baseball's best mascot."
- Tim McCarver, TV analyst


Ha. Dandy. Even the Yankee fans beat their mascot up.

And it costs more to see the Yankees. Double, some say. The Yankees have the highest payroll, the Phillies seventh. And still- no mascot? Tsk, tsk.

The Yankees fans are smug. They say their team has won the series 26 times...but the Phillies won last year.

The Yankee fans are so desperate that they are mocking their opponents as Frillies. It just gives the Phillies and their fans more motivation. Remember, when it comes to fan loyalty:

...while Yankees fans filled only 88 percent of the seats in a brand-new stadium, Phillies attendance was 102 percent of its seating capacity at Citizens Bank Park

That's because the Phillies are the champs.


(Feel free to vote in this poll which dubs the series the "Turnpike Tussle".)

Game over: Serena versus the line judge

As a retired competitive wheelchair tennis player, I saw my share of tossed rackets and profanity on court during the decade I played the sport. I saw players hurl their rackets to the ground in exasperation after a bad play and would joke that I couldn't because mine was duct taped on. I saw them question line calls. I heard profanity and a few tirades.

At one tournament I played down south, the line official told us before the match began that he was a Baptist and said that there would be a penalty for any cursing on his court. I knew my opponent had a habit of cursing and realized this could be an issue. In the northeast where I generally played, none of the officials called him on it. In the second set, first game, my opponent lost his cool and cursed. The official issued a warning. In the second set, third game, my opponent cursed again. The official walked over to him and said "Now I told you, I don't want to hear any of that" and gave him a point penalty. " My opponent did not curse again.

This morning some people are questioning the calls during the Williams-Clijsters match last night. Serena Williams, who was warned by an official when she threw her racket to the ground, approached a line official after a foot fault was called and used profanity, pointing her racket at the female official. I couldn't hear what was said, although the microphones apparently picked up some of it, which papers are reporting.

The rules are there for a reason. Behavior that is not allowed on the court is usually distracting to an opponent and falls under the category of unsportsmanlike behavior. It is also true that it can be distracting to officials or make their jobs impossible to do. A tennis match requires that officials maintain control.

Why? Because as a former player, I can tell you that the game of tennis isn't just physically demanding. It requires the ability to think, to strategize. Having no parameters on behavior would be like trying to play chess with your opponent jumping up and down and cursing after a move. It's both distracting and unfair. Worse yet, such antics are used intentionally by some players to regain control of a match when things don't go their way. I've seen it time and time again in matches where officials didn't make calls they should have. I once had an opponent disappear for a half hour leaving me in the 90 degree heat on a court. The official didn't call my opponent on her long bathroom break and wouldn't allow me to get into the shade. Although I was ahead by a set, I was almost unable to play due to overheating when she returned and lost the match. I found out later she was sitting most of the time in front of a cooling fan inside the building by a ladies' room.

So there are reasons why rules should be enforced. Sometimes as a player you just have to play on even though you disagree with the call by an official. Serena, as a professional tennis player, should know that. When you walk (or roll) onto a court in a USTA match, you agree to abide by the rules, whether the prize money is fifty dollars for a wheelchair tennis player or - well- lots more for an able bodied one.

She's not the only player, however, to lose a match due to unsportsmanlike conduct. John McEnroe was defaulted in a masters match in 2008 after four calls.

Update: Serena Williams has issued an apology for her behavior on court.

The Fighting Irish fight back

A female US Open player is in the news asking why the women's match was moved instead of the men's match last night. Safina questioned why, as a number one seed, her match was moved to Louis Armstrong stadium after the day matches ran overtime - instead of the men's match last night (which had number 14 and number 21 seeds playing) -and was told by officials that they preferred a five set match.

Unfortunately, Safina went on to lose her match.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, had a blowout against Nevada, beating them 35-0 after an abysmal season last year. Charlie Weis was cautiously optimistic afterwards in his press conference.

How do you keep momentum rolling from a game that was so long ago? A lot of it has to do with hunger. These guys are hungry.This was their first opportunity to show that they're a different team. It was just a good start.

Next week they face Michigan.

My blogging has gone awry since the US Open has been in town. The live streaming is great, not to mention the blow by blow comments on Twitter by tennis fans at #usopen. Makes me miss tennis a bit.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend.

Sending best wishes to Lady Vol Amber Gray

Lady Vol Amber Gray, pictured at right, underwent shoulder surgery on July 2, at which time doctors discovered that she had an aneurysm that was beginning to hemorrhage. A 12 and a half hour surgery was done last week at the University of Cincinnati’s Neuroscience institute and Amber is now in a rehabilitation center.

Prayers don't require a stamp and Get Well cards may be sent to:

Amber Gray
c/o Lady Vol Basketball
207 Thompson-Boling Arena
1600 Phillip Fulmer Way
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-4610

Mark Selvaka on the Mound

Mark Selvaka, who has cerebral palsy, made the varsity Manchester high school baseball team this year as a pitcher. Pitching scoreless innings, he now wears Jim Abbott's number 25.



Mark's interview brought to mind these words:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Pres. Theodore Roosevelt
Paris, France
23 Apr 1910

Congratulations to Mark on making the team and his great season.

A transcript of this video can be found here.

Weird sports weekend

You all know I'm a Phillies fan, but what's up with Brad Lidge? This post about whether Brad Lidge has made a deal with the devil has me thinking.

Not to mention this hat wielding fan who ran out onto the court during the French Open finals today. Congratulations, Roger Federer, on the Grand Slam win.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Former boxing champ and advocate Greg Page dies

Page, 50, and his wife worked toward better medical protections for boxers after he sustained a brain injury and paralysis in his last fight.

The former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion died after a fall.

Page's knockout at the hands of Dale Crowe in Erlanger, Ky., in 2001 left him in a coma for nearly a week, and during post-fight surgery he suffered a stroke, paralyzing him on his left side, the newspaper said. Page won a $1.2 million settlement from Kentucky state boxing authorities, whom he said failed to provide an ambulance or medical personnel at the ring.

In addition to the financial settlement, it was agreed "to name the regulations it enacted in 2006 the “Greg Page Safety Initiative,” among them a provision that a licensed ringside physician conduct a thorough physical examination of all fighters after bouts".

Page, who began to fight professionally at the age of 17, also won the US Boxing Association heavyweight title.