Rushing the Field, In Stages

It's amazing how quickly 7 years of anguish can disappear....in the time it takes a whistle to blow and 10,000-odd people to descend a brick wall and soak in as much joy from this victory as possible because of the first-hand experience knowing how fleeting it can be. The last time they rushed the field at Michigan Stadium was the 2003 victory over Ohio (also the last time they beat the dreaded Buckeyes); usually the line of police are enough to dissuade any celebration from getting out of hand, but this party could not be stopped. May it continue on Tuesday in New Orleans!

Young Family Christmas Letter 2011

Well, it’s that time of year again. You know it is Christmas time in Michigan when you hear people complaining about the lack of snow one day and it’s over abundance the next. They want a white Christmas but not too cold of one, because then they’ll need a hat and that might mess up their hair, but not too warm of one, because then the street’s all dirty and mushy and it tracks in the house and makes a mess and is totally un-Christmas-like…Ugh. You live in Michigan. Get over it. Fly south for the winter like some geezers I know, or embrace the gray skies, the mashed-potatoey-with-all-the-fixins’ slush-filled streets, the cut up grass clumps from the errant snow plow driver who comes at 4am because when is a better time to drive repeatedly up and down a driveway in a big-ass noisy truck than 4 o’clock in the (censored…it’s Christmas!) morning…oh, am I complaining? Florida, here I come.

And now, a Young family quiz:

1.       Which family member no longer needs glasses/is awesome?

                   a.       Mackenzie, Jon, Doug or Kim
                   b.      Cam, who has 20/15 vision and would totally fly jets if they came with a ramp

Correct answer: (b). It feels great to be a non four-eyes. (Aside: Jon just got new frames, ostensibly an early Christmas present, and now ever so nearly resembles an almost 30 (with a slight paunch), scruffy Harry Potter. Aside #2: Speaking of Harry Potter, we visited his wizarding world in Orlando in March for Spring Break. Butter beer truly is delicious.)

        2.       Which Midwestern university sports college football’s all-time winningest football program?
                   a.       Cow College aka Moo U aka Lansing Community College
                   b.      Notre Dame
                   c.       Ohio State (Penitentiary)
                   d.      The University of Michigan

Correct answer: (d). Mackenzie is on pace to become the family’s fourth U of M grad this spring, assuming everything goes according to plan. Industrial engineering. Geez, piece of cake. It’s like they’re printing degrees down in Ann Arbor. (Aside: My commencement speaker was Roger Penske, a guy who owns a bunch of trucks, and a NASCAR team; I’m rooting Mackenzie gets stuck with someone lamer, like Joe the Plumber or Ronald McDonald. Aside #2: Jon keeps plugging away at his associates degree, and could conceivably complete the U of M quintet in, let’s see, 2024 or so. Aside #3: Ok Sparties, we get it – you’ve won 4 straight years. I cry myself to sleep every night, you happy now?!)

3.        Rank the Young’s by amount they exercised during 2011, from most to least:

                   a.       Cam, Doug, Kim, Mac, Jon
                   b.      Let’s face it, that’s obviously the correct answer

Correct answer: (a). I spend 3 hours a day, 3 days a week at the gym, doing a lot of assisted walking, standing, lifting, balanced sitting, etc. I obviously am the winner. Second place was a bit more challenging to figure out however. The elliptical machine in the basement routinely sports a thin layer of dust, but when it is in use, it’s usually Doug gasping for air, head buried in a business magazine. I guess Kim’s frequent ‘walks’ (aka gossip sessions with the girlfriends) count, so she comes in 3^rd place. Mackenzie’s been away at school, making his physical activity hard to gauge, but even speedwalking to class once a week when he’s running late would assuredly put his exercise above Jon’s.

It’s been an action packed year, as I’m sure you can tell, filled with a few getaways to tropical locales for Kim and Doug, tailgates (8 to be exact…gotta love that packed home schedule) in Ann Arbor, hard work at everyone’s respective jobs (Doug and Jon: Behler-Young, Cam: Steelcase, Mackenzie: schoolwork, Kim: mothering), and lots of time spent enjoying each other’s company (Ok, I better wrap this Christmas letter up before it totally jumps the shark.)

We wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and a happy, happy 2012!
The Young’s

New Walking Video

Here's a video from last week. I walk like this 2 or 3 times per week, sometimes using electric stimulation on my legs to help facilitate some movement. We're kind of experimenting with that, but I'm willing to try anything that will help. I keep getting stronger and adding stamina and endurance, so stay tuned for updates on my continuing progress.


Bonus videos!

More hilarity from the Ellen. The best part is he's obviously devastated, being turned down by his lady, and you can just picture the producer of the show panicking backstage and flipping the lever to start the gift-giving, making the audience go wild. Talk about adding insult to injury.


See ya!


I love large mammals. Not the sound I was expecting - they haven't hit rhino puberty obviously.


Hilarious prank. Beware of a potty mouth towards the end of the video. This blog does not condone such crass language :).

Human Exoskeleton Presented at TEDMED

TEDMED is, in its own words, "TEDMED’s mission is to help America and the world understand the great challenges of health and medicine, connect the right people and inspire the leadership we need.
TEDMED’s annual event is three days of passionate explorations, nonstop discussions, stimulating field trips to leading national medical institutions, meeting extraordinary people, making surprising intellectual connections and making lifelong friends. TEDMED is committed to generating new ideas and celebrating innovations that can lead to better health outcomes for 300 million Americans…and the world."

Nurture (my employer) actually presented at TEDMED this year, so I followed it closely on social media, and was able to gain an appreciation for the creativity and innovation gathered there.

Eythor Bender, of Ekso Bionics, presented at the show - check this out.

Not a perfect solution, kinda bulky, and of course battery life is an issue, but a pretty cool solution to the problem of paralysis. I can't wait to see how this develops in the near future.

Check out the other TEDMED videos too...surgery without knives?  Tissue engineering that could 'print' new organs? Why not?

Videos for Saturday

Try not to get a headache from the overwhelming cuteness:







They're the modern day Penn and Teller: Rosie just sits there, mute, deer-in-the-headlights like you'd imagine a 5 year old might, while her 8 year old cousin, the incredibly bubbly Sophia Grace, does all the talking.

This is funny too:


Daddy butter? Left handed washing glove? Mormon disco ball? Ron Paul workout video?

Dogs are the best:

So that's disappointing...

Geron, the first company to have an embryonic stem cell clinical trial approved by the FDA, is closing the trial in order to focus its efforts (and $$$) on cancer therapies. Hmmm...so that's a bummer. Obviously, more people suffer from cancer than from SCI so the market to recoup R&D dollars is bigger, but for such a high profile, famous trial to pull the plug is disheartening and can't be good PR for the Cure SCI movement.

Silver lining? There are plenty of other therapies progressing everyday, now research monies and charitable gifts won't continue going to a therapy that doesn't work, etc., but this still hurts.


To cheer you up:

Working 2 Walk 2011

Here are a few great blog posts from the 2011 Working 2 Walk conference, held in Rockville Maryland October 16-18.

The first is a breakdown of many of the speakers, with a refreshing amount of the author's opinions thrown in. There were several promising presenters at the conference, therapies which offer promise moving forward, but also several disappointments, organizations that are either hung up by the FDA bureaucracy or spinning their wheels wasting time and money on therapies unlikely to succeed.

One company, InVivo, shows promise, with a therapy that creates a sort of scaffold to bridge the damage in the spinal cord and fill in the gaps with stem cells. I admire the founder's tenacity, which you can watch below, and it's obvious it will take people like this to get this thing cured once and for all.



The second post is a blow by blow breakdown, kind of haphazardly posted but available, on the Care Cure blog. Ironically, Dr. Wise Young, a hero of the SCI community and founder of the CC site, comes in for some criticism in the first link I posted for his trials currently occurring in China. Basically, there's no evidence that what he's doing in China, umbilical cord stem cells combined with lithium pills, is working. So that's disappointing.

So for the 'cure warriors', as that first link calls us, the news is both good and bad. Progress is occurring, albeit it plodding, due to both structural and scientific problems. There is a lot of hope, smart people, funding, prayer - all you should need, which means this is just a matter of time... but when that time is, no one knows. For now...I dunno, buy stock in InVivo and hope the FDA quits dragging their feet long enough to get some of these trials moving. (And here, not overseas, where all the good researchers are headed to escape the hyper-strict policies in the U.S.)

Cute doggie.



Yesterday's game was not quite as good as this one, but was pretty fun nonetheless.

Great Video

Here's a great video from CBS News. The doctor at the 3:35 mark encapsulates my motivation for training so hard in a neat, little sentence. Basically, until there is a cure, why don't we get people up and walking and exercising, so when the cure does arrive, they're ready. Makes perfect sense to me - I'm gonna be ready.

And now, some funny pictures:

Ummm...

Please, God.

Possessed.

Best friends.

Rest In Peace Steve Jobs

The legendary CEO passed away Wednesday at age 56. Think about how the products he invented and their effect on your life - the iPod, iPhone, iPad...how about the personal computer? A product he first created in 1976, you now can't live your life without it. If the measure of a man is in his legacy, in the mark he left on his fellow human beings and the world in which they live, then Jobs was a remarkable, unforgettable person. And I'm a PC guy!

Here's a recent, very personal look at the man, the myth, the legend himself.

UPDATE: This man truly was a genius. Here are some of his best quotes - the one where he predicts the impact of the Internet in 1985 is the best.

Rock on

Headed down pretty soon for the 5th installment in our September October in Ann Arbor series. This looks to be another romp - look for Denard to throw the ball better (maybe rack up 200 yards passing and 100 rushing), the defense to be aggressive (a few sacks would be nice), and for me to be cold (an average of roughly 3 shivers per minute is expected). Prediction: UM 35, Minn 10.

Celebrity Sighting!

On the left, no, that's not Kramer from Seinfeld, it's Cramer from Grand Rapids. On the right however, is Jeremy Gallon, hero of the Notre Dame victory, #10 in your programs and #1 in your hearts. Or at least just my mom's, who proclaimed him "one of my favorites", adding to a list of what must now include a baker's dozen Wolverines.

4 down, 1 more to go in this unique season-opening homestand. It's been kind of exhausting hitting the road every Saturday morning and returning under cover of darkness, but this is not me complaining - I've loved every second. There's nothing quite like watching a game at the Big House and I can't wait for Saturday when we get to do it again.



Pretty Boy Floyd vs. Money Mayweather

Even more questionable than his knockout punches were those shorts. Halloween come early?

That's what the fight has always been, spelled out well in this article. The preternaturally gifted native of Grand Rapids is rarely challenged in the ring, vanquishing his hand-chosen challengers as easily as he places a 50K bet at the Vegas casinos he now calls home. It really is a shame that he's developed such an unlikeable, albeit entertaining, persona - he truly is a wunderkind in the ring, a master of strategy and defense who rarely takes any punishment and dishes it out so quickly and suddenly you often can't see it until the instant replay. He could easily take his well-deserved place in the uppermost echelon of boxing history that he desires so badly, if only his ego didn't keep getting in the way. He wants to retire undefeated so badly he's been accused of ducking his most dangerous potential opponents, (ie. Manny Pacquiao, a fight that hopefully, hopefully happens. It would be one of the top 3 hyped fights of all time, guaranteed. Each fighter would stand to make $40 million - does Floyd love money enough to make this happen? Stay tuned.) when, ironically, his only chance of garnering the place in history his ego requires is to fight and beat the best fighters of his generation. Stand pat and retire undefeated as a second tier champ vs. take the fight the world wants to see, and either emerge as a legend or as someone willing to compete against the best. Seems like an easy decision, but 'Money' Mayweather doesn't make anything easy these days, at least when he's out of the ring.



In Floyd's defense, the interviewer is insane, but here's an example of his mouth being faster than even his fists. And no way Larry Merchant at age 30 would whup Floyd's ass.

Walking Yesterday - Another Great Day!

Walked a ton on Friday, more than usual. Look closely at Sandy's hands - instead of applying a lot of pressure to help me keep my hips and legs in a vertical position, she's barely pushing at all. I'm holding my hips up myself, using more of my lower back than I thought I was able to. It was definitely a challenge but it felt great, and receiving the trainers' congratulations afterwards felt even better.

Bonus:

So handsome...I mean, cool shoes.

Michigan vs Notre Dame Preview

Well, the game we've all been waiting for has finally arrived. 9/10/11, Under the Lights, the first official night game in Michigan Stadium history. (There have been games that extended into the night, by means of overtime and whatnot, but tomorrow's 8pm start is by far the latest kickoff time.)

Something happened last week to get 'ol Brian very angry. Stay classy, Brian.



I've got about 20 friends from undergrad coming in for the game, to join 114K of my other closest friends, for what will surely be the highest attendance ever at a football game. As for predictions? This is a tough one. I'm still wary of our defense's ability to stop anyone after Western carved them up in last week's first half. Some choice halftime adjustments led to better second half play, but this ND team is very talented and well-coached, by the Bob the Tomato impersonator you see above. Denard will have to play a monster game, not quite equaling his breakout performance from last year, but close. It will likely come down to turnovers (last week's tally - UM:0, ND:5), and being at home with a sure to be well-lubricated crowd, I like our chances there.

Denard has 150 yards each rushing and passing, and Michigan wins 24-20. (Dear God, don't let it come down to a field goal.)

This year's hype video...pretty cool when it's on an HD screen the size of a house.

Last week's marching band halftime performance.

Michigan Preview

The long-awaited day has finally arrived. After 9 months of predictions, speculation, and day dreams, the 2011 college football season will be born today, a possibly rainy September afternoon. But the rain won't deter 100,00 strong from rooting on the Wolverines as a new era begins in Ann Arbor, one hopefully more successful than the last. The return of tradition, power running football, and WINS starts today in the Big House.

Slightly cheesy, but catchy enough, and by a local band, so it warrants adoption.

Me and the inimitable voice of Michigan football Frank Beckmann.

Awkward...

Come 8pm September 10th...

Irish Destruction!

Heisman winner, future Heisman winner?

Making band cool.

Yup.

Their shirts say, "I'm too pretty to go to Michigan."

Riggghhtttt...don't think so. 

A New Walking Video, plus some bonuses...

This was last Friday, although I wish I had footage from therapy today - there are good days, and bad days, and today was definitely a good day. Sometimes, the spasms and stiffness in my legs and hips are too stubborn to resemble anything close to a smooth gait, and occasionally, like today, they cooperate and I can use the spasms and tone to my advantage. For now, check out this stroll through the gym, and I'll try to get some more footage soon.

                                                                                    
Now, bonus video:

Skyliners Paris trailer from sebastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.
Soon, I'll be doing this. On second thought...

Mackenzie in 20 years. (On the left, not the right.)

Squished! "Mom, whatever you do, don't break wind!"

Awwwwwwwwwwww....

Humans tricking animals, especially in costume form, never fails to amuse me.

Agreed.

You've got mail!

Jon Asleep

From the recent O'Loughlin family reunion...a few rum and cokes and Jon's out like a light.

Walking Last Week

Astute observers will notice something different between this latest video and previous videos I have posted. New wardrobe? Nope, same stylish clothes. Ability to levitate? Nah, gravity keeps dragging me down. Any more guesses? We flipped the walker around, so the blue bar is behind rather than in front of me. This subtle change actually makes a large improvement in my posture and my ability to lock my legs into extension and then initiate pulling them forward. (Compare to walking from May.) Without the bar in front, risk of epic faceplant increases, but my core is strong enough to balance and stay in position without it, so who needs that crappy little bar? Not this guy!

It is now easier for the trainers to assist my legs through the stepping motion; in trainer jargon, we've moved from "max assist" to "min-mod assist", so if you speak trainer, you'll know what that means. For those non-cultured English-only speakers, it means I am continuing to make progress, and that is all the motivation I need.

                                                                                 -----
On a related note, from the excellent Reeve Foundation research blog comes a post entitled "NRN Data: Activity-based Training=Functional Recovery". The research, done by the NeuroRecovery Network (NRN), a collaboration of 7 centers that offer activity-based rehab in a clinical environment, focuses on benefits from locomotor training to ASIA C and D patients (people with sensory and motor function below their level of injury. I'm technically ASIA A but (profanity-alert) f*** that, doctors don't know sh**, amiright?). Basically, this puts into published form what was already known: locomotor training (what I am doing) works and can help someone with an SCI regain function, sensation, and movement. Good enough for me.

                                                                                 ------
The 3rd annual CSCIR (my gym) golf outing is upcoming - August 22nd at Blythefield CC, 1pm shotgun start for all you golfers out there. Let me know and I can email you a form to sign up to play, or if you simply would like to support scholarships for those un- or under-insured who wish to walk again someday. Thanks and God Bless!

25 days 'til Big Blue kicks off! Can't wait!

A Series of Beautiful Short Films

I came across these videos on a friend's Facebook page, and thought they were great. Beautifully shot,
and able to demonstrate their mission with only footage, editing and music.
The description under each video on Vimeo said: 3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....

Which is your favorite?


Eat.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


Learn.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


Move.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

4th of July Highlight

We spent the weekend of the 4th, per tradition, on the turquoise blue waters of Walloon Lake in Petoskey with our dear friends the Smith's. 14 people, 6 dogs, 2 games of charades, many waterskiing wipeouts for Jon. Enjoy.

Good reads, and an Amazing Video

Hopefully you're aware of the great spinal cord research breakthrough (I linked to it last month) of the quadriplegic who can stand independently and wiggle his toes, after having epidural stimulation implants inserted into his lower spine. The stimulation serves to rewire his circuits, so to speak, and is an exciting development in a fast paced and crucial area of research. Here is another link that can potentially answer all of your questions on the procedure, what it really does, and its potential in the future. A sample Q&A:

This technology will really only help the 10 to 15 percent of people with spinal cord injury who are basically about to regain the ability to walk a short distance using walkers or braces.


This comment understates the potential population that could benefit from epidural stim. It came from a prominent M.D., Ph.D. in the SCI field who makes reference to the cohort of very incompletely injured ASIA C and D folks who are already close to walking, assuming that they would benefit -- right now -- from epidural stim implants. While it may be the case that a stim unit could hasten their walking, the potential benefits extend well beyond the small number of almost-walking folks.

Good News!

I found this to be an interesting editorial, and highly relevant as well as it relates to both the healthcare reform and budgetary debates currently raging across the country. Medical researchers are constantly on the hunt for that next miracle drug, but the pace at which discoveries are made is often plodding and usually results in tremendous costs incurred in the R&D phase, which are then passed on to end users in the form of 5-figure price tags on medicines. And far too often, these drugs take an immense physical toll on an already weakened patient, and result in but a few months of added life. Therein lies the question: is a $90,000 per cycle drug worth taking if it gives you 3 months at best of added agony? Obviously it is no one's decision to make but the patient's own (lest Sarah Palin crow about 'death panels'), but if Medicare, the $700 billion gorilla caught in the middle of the current budget quagmire, is truly to be reformed and see serious cost reductions, ultra-expensive drugs that carry little to no benefit should be on the chopping block. Everyone should have the option of pursuing whatever course of treatment they and their doctor agree upon, but 100% on the taxpayer's dime? I don't think so.



Amazing whale rescue....best part starts around the 7 minute mark.


Clark Retirement Community LipDub from Clark LipDub on Vimeo.

Another GR Lipdub that went viral. This apparently took 8 takes to get perfect. See, old people can be cool too!

Amazing US Soccer Win

I can't profess to be a big women's soccer fan, but as with other sports, I try to tune in during the biggest events, when that sport is on the world's stage. Usually, I'll catch highlights here and there, monitoring my favorite player or team's progress until they either make it to the high stakes games, which I'll actually watch, or they are eliminated, after which I'll cease watching, unless there's a hottie on a remaining team or something (Hello, Sweden!).  I sure am glad I was watching Sunday morning for the US Women's match against mighty Brazil, which was for my money one of the most exciting sporting events I've ever seen.

Soccer is a game prone to incredible amounts of tension; goals are rare, especially in games of this importance, but can come at any time, requiring only a few well timed passes or a fatal defensive error. The tendency towards 0-0 or 1-0 scoreboards can make watching soccer on DVR impossible, as an impatience for scoring can compel speeding through the entire game to watch only the goals. But watching it live is another thing entirely, that unfulfillable desire to fast-forward to the good parts serving instead to heighten the tension, because you don't know when the good parts are coming, or how many there will be, or if there will be any at all. Well, there was a good part early on Sunday morning, followed by a few (referee-assisted) bad parts, before concluding with a barrage of fantastic parts that made for an exciting and dramatic finish that people will be talking about for years to come. And to think, this is only the quarterfinals. Get the Cup, ladies!

British announcers make everything seem cooler.

A Mea Culpa, and A Few Good Reads

I've determined I'd much rather read than write, which has as much to do with simple laziness as it does with the quality of what I'm reading. Sports, politics, gossip, the politics of sports, the sport of politics, gossip about politicians and athletes...you get the idea. Much of what I read is trash, worth nothing, placed before my eyes to glean one or two nuggets and then be clicked away in favor of the next page, and whatever triviality lives there. But I also come across some great things, fascinating things, that make my search worthwhile. Reading is learning, and encountering that new idea, that new thing, that makes me want to get to the end as soon as possible but also never get there is what it's all about.

Here are a few items that are worth checking out:
A courageous first person account of the author's life as an undocumented, illegal immigrant, who was brought to America as a pre-teen and has lived in fear of deportation to a land he can't even remember ever since. As Congress debates the exceedingly worthy DREAM Act for the umpteenth time, this is especially relevant.

From one of my preferred economics writers is a breakdown of the battle over the deficit currently raging in Washington. Some stark truths: to truly dent deficit, entitlements, not discretionary spending is where the $$$ is; tax increases should be on the table, as average rates are at their lowest since the 1960s; the final package should be a mixture of conservative and liberal ideas; and to slow down rampant healthcare cost inflation, Medicare shouldn't pay for treatments that don't work. For example, read this and try not to rip your hair out.

And now, for the heartwarming: a pair of recently paralyzed college baseball players still were drafted last month. Pretty cool gesture in a sporting world that's usually so cutthroat.


I love the message of hope in this video even more than I do the futuristic product. And the Bond villain accent of the CEO is pretty cool too: "There's no such word as no."



Here's a great clip from the (former) UM strength coach, talking about his work with the paralyzed brother of a UM player. It gets at the basic reason I work out so hard - "No limits".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93Jsf6znYH4&feature=BFa&list=FLPg6XHcL_5bE&index=7

Canadians Know How To Riot

This was a riot the likes of which you don't often see anywhere in the world, let alone a picturesque Canadian seaport. But when there's hockey involved, and you're on the losing side, and you're a hockey-loving Canadian who apparently react very poorly to losing, those are as good of excuses as any to set cars ablaze and generally terrorize major downtown streets. These photos might help tell the story:

Looks like that's right downtown. Geez, mob mentality is a flamable thing...as are cars, apparently.

Eerily reminiscent of the view off the shore of Manhattan after 9/11. 



Seriously? The word is this kid is a national team water polo player who has been subsequently suspended. 

Wow. Maybe Boston should've just let the Canucks win. 

As always, Taiwanese animators have a take on the situation.



But at least one lucky couple was able to find romance amid the fire, riot police and random violence.

All over a hockey game...I must say though, these Canucks put Sparty to shame when it comes to rioting.

Walking Last Week, and Great Therapy News

And here's some pretty cool news - an unprecedented development in the recovery of a C-7/T-1 paraplegic. After months of intense locomotor therapy (very similar to what I'm doing) and an electrical stimulator surgically implanted in his lower back, this guy was able to fully stand and support his own weight, and even wiggle his toes. So even with a damaged spinal cord up near his neck, stimulation to his lower cord was able to initiate movement - a huge deal. It's good to see training-based therapy validated like this. Good motivation to keep on working too.

Tressel out at tOSU - Bummer Dude!

Can't say I didn't see this coming - and it's probably a good move for the Buckeyes too, as the removal of Sweatervest may make the inevitable NCAA sanctions a wee bit softer. Believe me, the punishment is still coming though, and whether it's this year or 3-4 years down the line, they will get the penalties they so richly deserve.

It's always tough seeing seemingly squeaky clean sports heroes fall from grace, because it taints their accomplishments, and thus, your memories as well. If they are frauds, am I as well? You spent so much time and energy rooting for what turned out to be a sack of lies; it's like being robbed of a portion of your life. I'm obviously no Tressel fan, but I admired his success and the way in which he achieved it. But whether it's him, or Tiger, Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, Roger Clemens, possibly Lance Armstrong, or any of the many other fallen superstars, their legacies are irreparably damaged, along with the memories of millions of fans.

  

An interesting point....provocative, if nothing else.

The word is the timing of Tressel's resignation was timed to precede a particularly damaging report set to emerge from Sports Illustrated either Tuesday or Wednesday. I CAN NOT WAIT to see what's in that report.

Amazing photo. Big as a city bus.

The Grand Rapids lip dub - a World Record (for size, length, awesomeness, or something)!

An in-helmet look at playing quarterback. Doesn't look easy.

Memorial Day 2011

This looks like a terrific documentary - I can think of no more deserving group of people. Real life heroes, who fought and died to protect the rights and liberties we so take for granted today, are national treasures and deserve year long praise and admiration. But on the summer day designated especially for them, to honor their sacrifice for us, let's stand up and say thank you.

Adventures of Bo SuperDog Episode 13

Bo has an interesting encounter with an unfriendly, unmoving beast. 

Sooooo....right. This is awkward. Seems like May 21 has come and gone and we're still here, living our normal, everyday lives, completely Rapture-free.  You thought it was your duty to warn the several thousand Detroit Tigers fans in attendance at this spring training game that 'the end of the world is almost here'? Did God himself whisper this information into your ear while you were deep in meditation or is this whole charade just a ploy to get us to listen to 'Family Radio', whatever 'Family Radio' is? Is FamilyRadio.com one of those sites that draws people in with a wholesome, conservative sounding name, masquerades as a legitimate source of news and opinion, then - BAM - brings the crazy so swiftly and nonchalantly that unwitting passersby might actually take it as fact? Since the only time anyone's ever heard of 'Family Radio' is right now, attached to this totally realistic and well thought out marketing ploy, that sounds like the case. Unfortunately, you guys aren't the only ones peddling such a scheme. (Right, Fox?)
So, in retrospect, the decision to wear this t-shirt advertising the approaching Apocalypse seems rather foolish, right? As it's now May 22 and fire and brimstone is not raining down upon non-believers? What's that? Speak up, you're mumbling...you must have misheard the whispered date and the world will actually end next month? Good grief. Looks like you better print some new t-shirts.

Stem Cell News and Video

A cool video from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation website. The assisted walking on a treadmill the patients are doing in the video is exactly what I do during therapy, as well as the electrical stimulation bike you can see patients hooked up to.

Also from the Reeve Foundation site - an update on the first ever FDA-approved recipient of embryonic stem cells. You may remember the company, Geron, from the news last year when the trial was given the go ahead; now, it's moving to its second patient. The first recipient of the cells is reporting some sensory improvements, which is a good sign, obviously, and, hilariously, he's signed with an agent to figure out 'how to best tell his story'. Good luck with that, bro.    

There is also a report on another drug that's showed promising results in an acute SCI Phase 1 trial. Passing Phase 1 means that the drug is safe and won't make you develop a third arm, or colorblindness, or something; even still, it's a good sign. I'm definitely more interested in treatments of chronic injuries, but the more trials and therapies being developed to combat SCI as a whole, the better.

Stem Cells in the News

Every time I read a story like this, about someone with a recent spinal cord injury, it's heartbreaking. Not just because I know the acute-care horrors they are facing, from ventilators and crazy nurses to the mind-numbing uncertainty that comes with it all, but because I also know the longer-term struggles, the hopes of recovery that may flicker yet never quite disappear, and the monotony and solitude that can accompany a sedentary life.

It warms my heart, though, to think back on the support and love I received in the aftermath of my injury, and it is my constant hope and prayer that each person I read about is lucky like I was, and still am. Because I have hope, and without that, you have nothing.

But it's news like this which makes my attempts at recovery all the more frustrating. Dr. Sean Morrison, the director of U of M's Center for Stem Cell Biology and a major proponent of Proposal 2, the 2008 ballot measure which amended Michigan's state constitution to allow for embryonic stem cell research, is leaving to take a similar, yet much better funded job in Texas, taking a dozen or so colleagues with him. His departure is thanks in large part to having to "spend the last five to six years arguing with the Legislature about what kind of research would be permitted in the state, while in Texas they were looking for ways to invest billions of dollars into medical research." Cures are cures, no matter what state they originate in, but it bodes poorly for ours if we are having our top talent sniped away from us by those willing to make life-saving investments, while we'd rather argue about the sanctity of a petri dish that's about to be thrown into the garbage anyway.

Don't fret, there are great things happening in terms of research, as this feature in Fast Company attests. But my hope is that researchers continue to cast as wide of nets as possible in their search for cures, and not be dissuaded by the maniacal fringe.


Some levity:


Great Obama impression:


The real Kung-fu Panda:

bin Laden Dead

To be a fly on the wall in that room...

Time's 'Red X' cover has been used but four times: to mark the deaths of Hitler, Saddam, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda's no.3 and the mastermind of the Iraq insurgency, and now bin Laden.

A poignant scene in NYC.

I was about to go to bed Sunday night, around 10:40ish, when I flipped back over to the Times website to quickly scan headlines and queue up any articles I may have missed that day, to be read the next. What I saw, blared across the top in 48-point font, would keep me up for the next couple of hours. 'Osama bin Laden Dead', it yelled. Wow. I had grown skeptical this day would ever come. Assuredly, bin Laden had already died of exposure in the mountains, or been killed by a drone, or a random bomb, his death in itself an act of defiance, denying America the closure and measure of revenge it desperately craved. But no, bin Laden was alive the whole time, living the past 5 years or so in the same town as Pakistan's equivalent of West Point, in a million dollar, highly secure compound. (Hmmmmm...something is rotten in the state of Pakistan.) 

Here are a few resources to break down the inevitable questions this momentous occasion creates:

- a New Yorker piece seeks to answer some background questions, like where was he found, who was living with him, and what his death means for the future of al-Qaeda. 

- the NYT's newest Op-Ed writer Joe Nocera takes a similar tack, asking if bin Laden's death makes the world safer, in relation to 4 specific areas: The Arab Spring (may help democratic reforms maintain momentum), Afghanistan (may help end quagmire), terrorism (the threat continues, with or without bin Laden), and American-Muslim world relations (still a lot of mistrust on both sides, not helped by NATO campaign in Libya).

- a Washington Post  Op-Ed focuses on an interesting consequence as well - the effect of bin Laden's death on Obama's reelection chances. While Democratic candidates typically are considered weak on defense and foreign affairs while being strong on domestic issues, right now Obama is the opposite, making the upcoming campaign a unique and intriguing one.  

- From Time, here are two detailed accounts on the successful mission, the first describing the scene in D.C. and the second the scene on the ground in Pakistan. Amazingly, intelligence only deemed the likelihood that bin Laden was even in the compound at between 50 and 80%. Good call, Mr. President. I love the confirmation of bin Laden's presence in the compound: "Visual on Geronimo."

Flower Girl Zombie

Royal bridesmaid...or the undead? You be the judge...

The Comedian-in-Chief



Obama is a funny dude. He knows how to make fun of himself, and has great timing when delivering a line. Here are other highlights from his speech at the White House Correspondent's Dinner:

The Best of President Obama's Jokes:

On Donald Trump: "Now, I know that he's taken some flak lately but no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac? All kidding aside, we all know about your credentials, and your breadth of experience. For example, on a recent episode of Celebrity Apprentice, at the steakhouse, the men’s cooking team did not impress the men from Omaha Steaks. There was lots of blame to go around, but you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. Ultimately, you didn’t blame [rapper] Lil Jon or [singer] Meatloaf, you fired Gary Busey. These are the kinds of decisions that keep me up at night. Well handled, sir! Well handled."

On Michele Bachman: "Michele Bachmann is here. She is thinking about running for president, which is weird because I hear she was born in Canada. Yes, Michele, this is how it starts."

On His Waning Popularity: "[Seth Meyers] is a young, fresh face who can do no wrong in the eyes of his fans. Seth, enjoy it while it lasts ... Matt Damon recently said he was disappointed in my policies. Well, Matt, I just saw The Adjustment Bureau, so right back at you, buddy!”

Host Seth Meyers's Shots:
On Donald Trump: "Trump said he's running as a Republican. Which is surprising: I just assumed he was running as a joke ... Trump owns the Miss USA Pageant, which is great for Republicans because it will streamline the search for a vice president ... [Trump has] said he's got a great relationship with 'the blacks.' Unless the Blacks are a family of white people, I bet he's mistaken."

On The Media: "C-SPAN is one unpaid electric bill away from being a radio station ... Everyone knows how the MSNBC after-party goes: President Obama makes the Kool-Aid and everyone there drinks it ... Brian Williams came to dinner because it has the element he respects the most: cameras."

On Potential 2012 Republican Candidates: "As for a potential Republican field that could include Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and Trump, that doesn't sound like a field of candidates -- that sounds like season 13 of Dancing with the Stars. And not the stars, the dancers."

On President Obama: "When you were sworn in you looked like the guy from the Old Spice commercials. Now you look like Louis Gosset Sr. If the president’s hair gets any whiter, the tea party is going to endorse it."