Despite being shocked and hearing all the testimonials, I still was convinced because this popular test doesn’t show how it improves strength or flexibility. Therefore I asked College of Mount St. Joseph Athletic Trainer, Dustin Grooms, for his intake on the Power Balance phenomenon. He said that when the Power Balance Company was asked by researchers if they could do a study on the performance technology, Power Balance denied them all access. In addition, Dustin noted that your body gets better at performing a task once you do it, which could explain why Power Balance representatives always have you do the balance test without the band first. Whether it works or not is really irrelevant because even if the results are all psychological, if gave you confidence and helped you accomplish your athletic goal. 

What is a Devil Dog? A devil dog is a name that the Great War veterans were referred to as by German adversaries. What this has to do with me you ask? Well as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, the Mount’s Men’s basketball team has been doing individual and group workouts this spring to improve our game and work towards the goals we want to accomplish next season. Well something new was added this year to the workout and that was the Devil Dog Days. The Devil Dog Days plain and simple were like a final exam for all the workouts we’d been doing. I bet your guessing that there’s a catch. Well you’re right because this was by far the hardest final exam I ever endured. The point and main idea of the Devil Dog Days was to form unity and a brotherhood amongst us because there was a major void in the leadership on our team this past season, hence us not accomplishing the goals we had set for the season. Now I’m building the suspense up of these Devil Dog Days and I haven’t really explained in detail what they were. Well the Devil Dog Days was a three day process in which we woke up at 6am to perform various strength, conditioning, and plyometric (jumping) exercises. These exercises were extremely rigorous and it took teamwork to get us all through them. As you probably can imagine, doing anything at 6am would be difficult especially these many exercises/drills that progressively got harder and more creative each day.

The first day we did a total of about 300 squats while holding a 25 lbs weight over our head. This was hard but we were able to pick our teammates up by holding their weight if their arms got to tired. Even though this was tough I liked it because it was showing us how to have each other’s back, a very important aspect of any successful team.

The second day was a lot rougher. Coach had us follow him past the smoking area on campus to a very grassy and forest like area with a very steep hill. I felt like I was in the movie “Remember the Titans” starring Denzel Washington. Once we got here we had to run up and down the hill a copious amount of times while holding a very heavy medicine ball. What made it worst was the grass had a lot of holes, it was slippery, and I felt like I was in Vietnam or something because the grass was so high. When we finally finished, we were exhausted but our task were far from over. After we ran all the way back to campus, we had to run a number of sprints that literally were like running two football fields.

The third and final day we thought there was no way it could be any harder than the second day. WRONG!!! Our task for the third day was to complete a very intricate and intense obstacle course that would really test our will. The obstacle course consisted of rope climbing, tire flipping, bleacher step-ups, front and lateral jumps over hurdles, a long football field length sprint, and as if that wasn’t enough, we ended it with a one mile run.

 By the end of these three days I was exhausted but I felt closer to my teammates, I felt more athletic, and we were awarded with dog tags that symbolized our brotherhood.

One aspect of the program that I really liked is how we have guest speakers come in to speak about Athletic Training, for instance when we had a high school, collegiate, and clinical athletic trainer come in to speak with us so that we could see the differences amongst those three different levels. Another example is when we had the kinesiology presentation at the Mount, even though freshmen were not allowed to attend. In addition, I like how we have the (optional) opportunities to attend various sports medicine related meetings off campus because anytime you get a chance to learn more about your craft is always a plus. 

Despite Dr. Martin’s initial intimidating presence in the classroom, I have learned so much from her about research skills, how to become a great public speaker, and I have gained great advice that I know will help me prosper in the future. As far as research skills is concerned, Dr. Martin has  exposed us to many credible websites that contain sports medicine related articles and she told us to look at the reference page of articles to see where the authors of that article got their information from. To continue, power points are a very common and effective visual aid. Therefore, Dr. Martin advised us to use power point slides as note cards when presenting so that we aren’t just reading off the slides. She also advised us to watch the use of “um” and to know our material well enough to answer rigorous questions that say Dustin Grooms might ask. In her class, we wrote many papers and she always gave us great feedback each time for us to progress and become great writers which is a very valuable aspect of an educated individual.

I am very excited about my future at the Mount as an ATS because based on my experiences this year I am sure that if I work hard, the Mount’s AT program will provide me with the right tools to succeed. Now I know that the days ahead of me will be rigorous, which is what makes this such a great program. Nonetheless, I am up for the challenge.

“40 games in 40 nights” that’s the slogan TNT uses to advertise the NBA playoffs which they will be airing and I am pumped. You know this is one of my favorite times of the year because I am a basketball fanatic. The NBA playoffs have just started and so much excitement is to be expected. What makes this playoffs a bit more exciting than usual, is the fact that it can be the determining factor of where some of the NBA’s most elite athletes choose to play next year. Why you ask? Because this summer some of the top superstars like Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, and many more will be free agents and if their respective teams have disappointing performances in this year’s playoffs, than there is a good chance that they may seek other teams to continue their professional basketball career.Now let’s look at some specific teams, players, and their chances at winning it all.

First we have to start with the defending champs, the Los Angeles Lakers and their franchise player Kobe Bryant. They have reloaded by signing Ron Artest; they have a chip on their shoulder because they are hungry to repeat, and most importantly they have arguably the best player in the league in Kobe Bryant who is poised and up for the challenge. Their road to glory won’t be easy though, for in the first round they face the young and athletic Oklahoma City Thunder and the 09-10 scoring champ Kevin Durant.

Next I wanted look at Chicago native Dwayne Wade and his circumstance. He is faced with a tough first round match up facing the ferocious Boston Celtics and I don’t see them winning this series despite the phenomenal talent of D-wade because he has no help. Therefore I see D-Wade playing for a different team next year.

Lastly I want to look at the Cleveland Cavaliers and their superstar Lebron James. First of all, Lebron is the best player in the league in my opinion because he brings more to the table for his team than any other player in the league. Many critics criticize Lebron for being in the league 6 whole years without a championship. Well if I might remind you all, Michael Jordan (the best player to ever play the game of basketball) didn’t win an NBA championship until his 7^th year in the league and this is Lebron’s 7^th year. I’m just saying… In addition Lebron finally has a supporting cast with great chemistry evident by the many handshakes they do and the support they give each other. So I think Lebron will get his first ring this year and silence the critics. Until next time, peace.

What’s next for Michael Jordan Romes? Continue to be a silent assassin on the basketball court or become medical school bound and pursue a career as a sports medicine physician. This was the question that was lingering not only in his head but also in many of the fans. Just a side note I am a huge fan but being from Chicago, I’m not scared to face anyone on the court and I love playing against him, so don’t mistake my praise for him as being scared. Anyways, I recently spoke with Romes at an Athletic Training meeting he was presenting at, and he revealed to me that he has decided to continue his basketball career professionally overseas in the Ukraine despite having a 3.65 GPA and having a huge desire to become a sports medicine physician. Since I am also an Athletic Training major and have similar aspirations academically to pursue a sports medicine career such as a medical doctor or physical therapists and I also love basketball, I can see how this could be a very difficult decision. Nonetheless, many young male athletes dream of playing professional sports. Therefore I feel Romes made the right decision.  Now he will be far from home in a foreign country with a completely different culture, but when you have the talent and work ethic that Romes has, I find it hard to pass up an opportunity like this to play the sport you love for a living while simultaneously traveling the world. Not to mention the fact that he can use the untaxed six figure salary, that he is going to be earning, to pay for med school at a later date. So all in all I want to congratulate him on the contract offer and wish him the best of luck.

In case you didn’t follow our team that much this year, we had a bit of a disappointing season. Despite starting the season 7-3, we finished 3-11 which is completely unacceptable. Therefore our Coach, Larry Cox, raised $3,000 to purchase a resistance training platform and bands called the Vertimax. To those of you unfamiliar with the Vertimax, it is a platform with shock absorbers and many resistance bands coming from many directions. With the Vertimax and hard work you can see immense results in your Vertical Leap, Strength, speed, explosiveness, and more. Hence, why we are drenched in sweat every time we use it. Just today Cliff Jenkins, the Interactive Media Manager for the Mount and head of the blogging program at MSJ along w/ Betheny Herr, walked in while we were working out and not only did he get to see me in action on the Vertimax, he pushed me to keep going hard. To any high schoolers considering playing ball at the Mount next year, I say go for it but be ready to work hard every day because the lack of success the Men’s Basketball program has had is really unacceptable, embarrassing, and needs to be changed asap. School is winding down so stay tuned for more blogs from me coming very soon. I promise to make them worth your time reading. Peace

What’s up everybody?! I hope you all are enjoying your four day Easter weekend break (if you’re a Mount student/faculty). Even if you don’t celebrate Easter, like me, it’s still nice to have a four day weekend. Anyways today is Sunday, April 04, 2010. Why is this day important you ask? It’s important because it marks the first day that the 09-10 Women’s UCONN team might actually face a challenge on the basketball court. Today the Women’s NCAA Division 1 Final Four tips off and although the Men’s Final Four has received much of the media coverage, everyone should definitely tune in.

Baylor University features 6’8 freshman phenom Brittany Griner. At center she has dominated the competition leading the tournament with an average of 8.8 blocks per game. In addition Griner has the ability to dunk. Now dunking isn’t an ordinary attribute of women basketball players. The only two women players I’ve known of ever dunking were Lisa Leslie, a WNBA legend, and Candace Parker, a current WNBA superstar. Candace Parker even won the McDonalds’ All-American dunk contest for the men athletes, which was a major surprise. But neither Candace nor Lisa’s dunks are comparable to the thunderous two-handed slams that Griner can throw down.

With that being said, Baylor believe it or not, is the underdog. Why you ask? Because they are facing the unstoppable UCONN ladies team that is currently on a 75 game winning streak. And did I mention that UCONN’s average win margin is 50+ points. LOL… If you follow sports and know anything about the UCONN’s women’s basketball team, I’m sure you’re like me and you can’t fathom this group of women ever winning by less than 20+ points, let alone losing. This game is sure to be very intriguing, so tune in Sunday night at 9ET for the game.