Oops. I Did It Again...

I have never considered myself a particularly clumsy person. Sure, I sometimes bang my funny bone (and it's really never that funny) or stub my toe, but who doesn't?


Bear with me, this blog is actually going somewhere.


This past summer, I've injured myself more than I think possibly since the summer of my 12th year when I was very into climbing trees (and not so into climbing down them).


Here's a list of my summer's injuries:


1. Banged RIGHT temple so hard on the corner of the kitchen cabinet I nearly passed out.


2. Have this really strange bump on the top of my RIGHT hand that even my dermatologist is a little perplexed about. My doc. isn't worried, he's just perplexed.




3. I fell this summer trying to rescue an empty kayak floating down river after a particularly strong thunderstorm. (Okay everyone you can stop laughing.) My RIGHT knee and RIGHT calf were scraped up so badly they still have not healed completely after like 2 months. In that same accident, I also lost my toenail on my fourth toe on my RIGHT foot. I know gross, but bear with me, I am making a point here and you need all the details.


4. Saturday while washing my car at my parent's home in CT, I slipped on the concrete of the garage floor. (I agree it's not smart to wash cars with flip-flops, so don't lecture me on this one). My RIGHT big toe got caught in the pavement and let's just say I nearly tore off the top of my big toe, including the toenail. 


Is anyone else noticing a pattern? For the past 3 months at least, I've noticed that not only are the ordinary bumps and bruises occurring on my right side, but I'm also having a rash of accidents, all injuring me on my right side.


Yes, I know, I'm getting old and old people fall more. My 75 year old father told me yesterday that he thought I need the medical alert more than him. Not funny.


So I did what I always do... HELLO GOOGLE.

It seems that in ancient Chinese medicine, the body is broken down into the left and right side. The left side typically relates to Qi or energy. The concept of Qi (pronounced Chee) is often translated into energy Life Force. The left side of the body typically relates to energy and the right side to the blood. To look at it a different way, the Yang is the right side and the Yin is the left side of the body.


So, my 10 minutes on Google taught me that:
A) my energy is fine but my blood is bad.
B) I've got some serious Yang problems.
C) no one else in the Google universe seems to be entering in search terms like "why do I keep injuring my right side."
D) I really need to make an appointment with my acupuncturist. I bet she doesn't get this every day. 


Perplexing. I'll keep you all posted!

Officiating in the WNBA

Every team has problems with the officials. It is the nature of basketball to question a referee's calls. A ref's job is to be objective and consistent. It's often said that good refs are invisible- you don't even notice they are on the court.


This past WNBA season, I have seen so many atrociously called games, I've felt compelled to write about it. For the first time, I feel as though the level of play in the WNBA is both entertaining and good basketball. Games are normally fun to watch; especially the playoff games.

But the officials have sucked the entertainment value from many of the games and turned them into whistle-fests. Example: In the WNBA Eastern Conference Finals NY Liberty vs. Atlanta Dream, one player on Atlanta went to the free throw line 22 times in a single game. Are you kidding me? That has to be a joke. I have seen officials cost teams game this season in the WNBA. That has to stop.

If the level of play continues to rise in the league, the level of officiating must also rise. It seems as though today's WNBA officials (and yes, I am generalizing here, there are many great refs in the league), cannot keep up with the speed of the game, even with a 3-man crew. They don't allow the players to be physical and my biggest pet peeve: they are not consistent.

If the WNBA is going to continue to thrive - and yes, this past season indicate a bit of a resurgence in ticket sales league-wide, then the league needs to take a good, hard look at the officials and how they are trained. The officials also need to understand the game is for entertainment and blowing the whistle less offers a smoother game, and a more entertaining one, for fans.

So, Donna Orender, CEO of the WNBA - are you listening? Spend some time working on a better training protocol for your refs in the off season. Most of the WNBA officials move over to NCAA Division I hoops when the WNBA season ends. Maybe some of these refs should be allowed to work NBA games- after all if they can keep up with an NBA game, they can keep up with a Liberty game.

The views expressed below are purely my opinion on what I have watched this season in the WNBA.