Trip to Greenville, SC for SEACSM conference

Early on the morning of February 14, I departed Starkville with 3 undergraduate students for the 2013 Southeast Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine annual conference in Greenville, SC.  The three students were Alisan Abernathy, Murry Adams, and Anna Comer.  We had been working together on a research project since this past summer investigating the relationship between ankle joint laxity, balance, and landing kinetics.  Each of the students made their own presentation based off of the data we had collected so far.  They all did a wonderful job with their presentation and we received several compliments.  They also competed in the student quiz bowl and did very well.  Below are some picture from the trip.  We have a little more data to collect before we start working on a paper to submit for publication.

 Murray in action.

 Murry and his poster (the girls didn't want individual pictures with their posters.

 The students and me.

 Getting ready for the quiz bowl.

Taking in a little minor league hockey on Friday night.  We had great seats.

Career Ender

I have blogged previously about Chris Carpenter and the surgery he had last summer for thoracic outlet syndrome.  The surgeon has to remove Carpenter's first rib on his right side to take the pressure of the nerves than run from the neck down into the shoulder and the arm.  Carpenter had been experiencing weakness, numbness, and a loss of sensation in his right arm for a long period of time.  He was able to come back in a little over 3 months and pitch in 6 games at the end of the regular season and playoffs.  He pitched about like what you would expect someone to pitch only 3 months removed from major shoulder surgery.

Earlier this week it was announced that Carpenter was having a re-occurrence of the thoracic outlet symptoms that lead to the surgery, and that he would not be able to pitch in 2013, and likely not ever again.  Although this was not a complete surprise, given his injury history, it is still a disappointment.  Carpenter is one of the best pitchers in Cardinals' history and one of the greatest postseason pitchers ever.  However, he has had multiple shoulder and elbow surgeries over the course of his career, and these injuries and surgeries begin to take a toll on the body.  Hopefully once he stops pitching the symptoms will subside and he can have a normal life, although he will likely contain to experience some of the symptoms in his throwing arm.