We took a Bruising!!!!!

We got killed in both of our softball games Monday night! All around bad day. I was pitching and got hit by a line drive from about 30 ft away...easily the hardest I have ever been hit by anything. I got hit by a 95 mph fastball in high school and it didnt even compare with the amount of pain I was feeling monday night. Left a good bruise...remember this is 5 days later, I have been in Montana visiting family and never got a chance to take a picture but still you can see some good colors. (No commenting about how white my legs are!) I rubbed some dirt on it but it didnt help very much. I figured since Caleb got to post about his softball scars I can too. Hope everything is going good. Thanks for the good comments about the Bonds post. I appreciate hearing different opinions.

New Home Run King

In light of Barry Bonds breaking the Home Run Record last night I thought I would make a post about my opinion on the whole ordeal. To everyone who has been living in a cave for the past two months, San Fransisco Giants Barry Bonds broke Hank Aarons lifetime record of 755 career homeruns. Great accomplishment, but what makes this situation bad is that Bonds has had allegations of steroid use over the past couple years. As a baseball player of 16 years and a true love for the game, I feel like steroids has single handedly destroyed America's pastime. As a player of college baseball I can easily say that over 25% of the players were taking somekind of illegal supplements. Not all were Anabolic Steroids but they were definitely in the mix. (Yes even athletes at Harding University!) It is really strange to see guys go home at Christmas weighing 200 and playing okay, and to come back a month later with an extra 40 pounds of muscle and absolutely smoking the ball, it raises some flags. Let me make myself clear in saying that I never took steroids but I can see how players can justify trying to get to the next level. When it seems like everyone else ahead of you is getting help from chemicals the only way to not get left behind is to take them as well.

The number one problem for pitchers is not how fast they throw but how fast there muscle tissue heals after pitching a game. A normal pitcher throws about 150 pitches in one game. (20-30 warm up pitches, 100 actual game pitches, and about 5 warm up pitches before each inning, so if he throws 7 innings it should be around 150-160 pitches.) The "over the top" arm motion is not normal for the human body, and it can destroy the shoulder and elbow over time. I would pitch one day and for the next two days I would not be able to raise my arm over my head, because it was so sore. The number one thing steroids does is promote faster recovery time for muscle tissue, therefore allowing pitchers to throw more often leading to a stronger arm. For a college baseball player who is average the thought of taking steroids and getting just a little better and becoming more noticed could possibly mean a major league contract equaling "Set for Life!" Yeah the "What if" question has crossed my mind a couple times but I would never have been able to live with myself realizing that illegal chemicals got me to where I was. So now as I am realizing how hard Chiropractor school really is the easy way out is sure looking better everyday (Just kidding). It will only make success in the end that much better!

I got to watch the game last night and I saw the homerun. I was happy that he finally broke it because quite frankly I was sick and tired of hearing about it! I think that Barry Bonds had a fine moment as a person last night, as well as, as a baseball player. And there's no taking away from his skill, I just feel bad for Hank Aaron because he hit 755 homeruns through hard work and sweat. Let me know what you think...This is a really interesting topic and I would like to hear some different opinions. Hope all is well

(20 yrs. ago 180 lbs. Hat size 7-3/4; 2007 240 lbs. Hat size 9-1/4)