President Obama leaving Fort McNair after getting an elbow to the mouth.
On Friday, November 26, President Obama received an inadvertent elbow to his upper lip from Rey Decerega, director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute during a basketball game at Fort McNair that required 12 stitches. As soon I heard about it, I thought about what might haven gone through Decerega's mind immediately following the incident. My guess is "Oh, sh#t! I hope I don't get jumped by the Secret Service" but we may never know for sure. In case you are wondering, Decerega walked away unharmed but I am sure he doesn't like being "the guy that elbowed the President." If it was a regular pick up game between friends, this would not make the news. When that pick up game involves the President of the United States, it is breaking news. I feel bad for Decerega. As I researched background for this post, I searched by Decerega's name. Interestingly, the first 12 results included images of President Obama holding a napkin to his lip and headlines such as "White House Identified Player Who Injured Obama." It must suck to be that identified player even if President Obama was cool about it and the Secret Secret did not kick his @ss.
President Obama received the stitches under local anesthesia in the doctor's office on the ground floor of the White House. According to ABC News, the White House Medical Unit used a smaller filament that requires more stitches but makes them tighter which will result in a smaller scar. Well, at least President Obama still has his teeth and Decerega doesn't have a staph infection. Recently, Wilson Chandler from the NY Knicks lost his tooth by an elbow from former teammate and current Golden State Warrior, David Lee. The crazy part of this is that Lee got the worst of the incident. He missed 8 games with a very serious staph infection.
President Obama, like Chandler, was back on the court just two days after catching an elbow in the mouth but I wonder how long it will take for Decerega to step in the paint.
By the way, what other president has been injured while playing sport?
Oprah is all about helping people live their best lives and CBS National Football League color commentator, WFAN radio morning host, and former New York Jets quarterback (okay, he began his career with the Cincinnati Bengals), Boomer Esiason, is doing the same. He is leveraging his celebrity status to help raise money to find a cure for cystic fibrosis, a disease of the respiratory and digestive systems. Why? In 1993 Boomer's son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with the disease. Instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for his son, Boomer created The Boomer Esiason Foundation to help fund research to find a cure.
Gunnar and his dad Boomer on the cover
of Sports Illustrated.
According to the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation, approximately 30,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis. Additionally, 10 million more are carriers of the defective CF gene, but do not have the disease. In case you are wondering, that equates to about 1 in every 31 Americans. The life expectancy for cystic fibrosis suffers was less than 20 years but there is significant progress. Thanks to Boomer's foundation, that number almost doubled over the past 10 years. To date, Boomer's foundation has raised over $80 million through a variety of charity events including golf tournaments to holiday shopping. Most recently, the NYC marathon included Team Boomer, a group of 120 athletes who helped raised $500k for his foundation. Go Team!! During a CBS interview, I was impressed with one particular athlete, Hayli Hodson. Hodson, who suffers from cyctic fibrosis, discussed her year long training and despite a few setbacks, managed to make it marathon day. Yes, I cried and not because I felt sorry for her but because she was so mature and matter of fact about living with the disease. The day I saw the interview, I was stressed over something (can't remember now) and watching this young woman speak to eloquently, made me feel stupid. We tend to stress over superficial things when we all should be appreciating life!
Gunnar, now 19, is a freshman in Boston College and also inspiring! In a joint interview with his dad, Gunnar discussed his life as a CF sufferer and his daily two hour treatment, which consists of clearing his lungs using a nebulizer and special vibrating vest that helps loosen excess chest mucus.
Father and Son
There are many athletes who use their celebrity status to help those in need instead of getting them into the latest hot spot and that, by far, is proving to be the ULTIMATE team player! This story would get a big "Love That" stamp of approval from Oprah.
By the way, do you know of any other celebrity foundation?
If you work in an office, chances are you've received an email inviting you to participate in a sports pool. While most companies turn a blind eye to office pools because they believe it actually boosts employee morale, some companies prohibit it despite its popularity. During my interview with Christopher Pike*, who runs an NFL pool, I learned that a non-office pool policy can be overturned.
"...after talking with some of the executives at the office who play, it was decided to let it go. Since then, he [Pike's manager] has come around and even plays now. It really builds a lot of morale and camaraderie around the office, especially when the pool gets really big. It’s all anyone talks about."
They are many different types of office pools but the most popular one, which Pike runs, is the one that asks the participant to pick the team to win and/or cover the spread. Pike provided me with a "day in the life" of an office pool coordinator during our brief interview.
How do you run the pool? I send the sheets out on Tuesday via email. People hand in their picks to either myself or my partner between then and Thursday. On Thursday night after dinner I start entering the sheets [picks] into an excel spreadsheet to create a “master list.” After that’s done, I count the money to confirm the amounts agree. On Friday morning, I email the master sheets with the pool amount. Then, Sunday and Monday I check off the winners/losers as the game goes final. Finally, on I pay the winners on Tuesday morning.
What has been the largest pool prize to date?For a single week, I would say $4000 or so. But when no one wins, the prize carries over. Earlier this year it got up to $16,000. Note: Each sheet is $10.
Do winners give you a cut? If not, how does that make you feel?I would say this is a 50/50 split. Gambling etiquette is that you tip 10% and some people do that. Some people give a few bucks. Some take the money, say thanks, and run. We’re not allowed to take a cut otherwise it would be illegal. When people tip, it is very much appreciated and makes me feel good considering how many hours a week I put into it. When people don’t tip, it really pisses me off to the point of me threatening to cancel the pool. But in the end, it is what it is. Some people are great, some are NOT.
How much of your personal time do you spend on coordinating? A lot! Too much if you ask my fiancée. Thursday nights it usually takes me between 3-5 hours to do it all depending on the amount of entries. Then on Sunday, it is all the checking off the incorrect entries and confirming the winners. This goes on all day long as the games go final.
Some people don't like to use their real names, what are some of the most unusual names submitted? I don’t know, I’ve gotten some strange ones over the years. Someone uses dopey Star Trek and Star Wars names. Other people use body parts names. One guy uses STD diseases. If I had to pick one, I’d say “No Whammies No Whammies!” though.
How many women participate in the pool? Men? Last week we had 377 entries and 100 were women.
I wasn't surprised to learn that more women are participating and thought it would be great to hear from a regular. Thanks to Pike, I had a quick call with one of his most engaged participant, Ms. Nyota Uhura.*
Why do you play? It's fun, light-hearted and it is like gambling in a communal way. Now, I watch all the games! It actually makes the games more enjoyable unless, of course, my picks lose.
How do you select your picks? That's easy. In order, team loyalty, injury report, last week's performance, and who has the better offense. Bonus: She is a Jets fan! The interview was a breeze after she shared this fact with me.
Pike mentioned that nearly 40% of all sheets are submitted by women. Why do you think more and more women are participating in office pools? I think it unifies them with their boyfriends, husbands, brothers, fathers, or friends and they are just as invested in the games as men. Women are no longer in the kitchen. We are now on the couch with the guys.
Uhura, who managed the March Madness pool at her last job, is a passionate football fan who can be seen every Sunday cheering her picks at a local sports bar with her friends and family.
By the way, do you think office pools should be allowed?
*To protect identities, real names were replaced with fictional characters.
According to Ronald Johnson,Senior Vice President, Referee Operations, the fans are sick and tired of watching players complain over a call. Yeah, right! What fans? I would like to know how many fans participated in those focus groups and what types of questions did the facilitator ask them. Fans love it when players express their emotions on the court especially over a bad call. David Stern could care less about what the fans want because he is too busy trying to appease corporate sponsors. For example, after a few NBA players showed up in sweat suits, baggy jeans, and a whole lot of bling to an event, the NBA decided to work on its image. I will save my thoughts on that rule for another blog. The following season, Stern announced adress codefor all players when representing the NBA on official business. That is a reasonable request but this rule applies to injured players sitting on the bench too. This is crazy talk. If the player isn't suited up for the game, he should be allowed to dress in jeans and a sweater. Stern has always been a control freak so this latest "Respect for the Game" rule does not surprised me but it does annoy me.
USA Today broke down the different ways to earn a technical for violating the "Respect for the Game" rule.
Making aggressive gestures, including air punches, anywhere on the court. My Take:If by aggressive gestures, they mean giving the official a middle finger or simulating choking, then yes, I am all for eliminating those. In terms of air punching, what's the big deal as long as they don't connect with anyone.
Disagreeing with the ref in an overt manner, the whole look of amazement genre. My Take: Again, if the player is threatening the official, then I am down with this rule. However, I still believe a player should still be allowed to express himself.
Running directly at a ref to complain. My Take: This one makes me giggle because players rarely run towards an official. Players and officials are usually in the area that the foul is called, so there is no need to run.
Dragging out the postmortem of a foul call with continued questions, even if it's done politely. My Take:If the referee answers the question the first time, the player will stop asking!
Any body language that indicates the call is being protested My Take: What is the difference between this and the agressive gesture rule?
Recently, Jason Williams from the Orlando Magic was suspended for complaining too much and apparently getting too close to the official. See for yourself, video link Now, that you've seen the video, don't you agree that this rule is ridiculous? Why shouldn't a player be allowed to express himself? Williams was not abusive but clearly wanted to make a point with the referee. I don't think this warranted two techicals. I guarantee you that there is no way this "Respect for the Game" rule would be enforced if the poster child of the NBA, Michael Jordan, was still in the game. Jordan was a notorious complainer (see above photo) who constantly got calls his way and, yet, he still complained.
By removing the emotional element, Stern is forcing players to hold in their dissatisfaction and, soon, they will begin to take their frustrations out on each other. Then, there will be a festival of technical fouls and the brand image that Stern is trying to protect will be in jeopardy and all because he doesn't want players to express themselves on the court. Stern, I am calling a technical foul on you!
