Monthly Archives: July 2016

Book Review: From The Sideline

From the Sideline (Wake Up Call, #2)From the Sideline by Amy Avanzino
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a really good book. Given my work with concussion safety, I was a little nervous to read it, especially when I got to the part where Zachary got hurt.

Zachary is a ten year old who keeps to himself. After an abusive marriage, his mom Autumn throws his dad out and Zachary misses having a dad. He decides he wants to play football. Autumn is not real enthusiastic. She knows the dangers of concussion and doesn’t want her only child to be hurt. But she sees a real change in him so she lets him play.

Zachary eventually becomes “Zeke the Freak” loved by fans and his teammates alike. He grows and blossoms in his role on the team. Autumn starts getting into the whole football mom thing. She begs Zachary’s dad to come watch him play. Then Zachary gets hurt and that’s the week his dad comes to see him play. His dad acts like a complete jerk but Zachary sees him for what he really is and lets him go.

Autumn eventually realizes that Joaquin, who had been a mentor to Zachary, is good for both of them. This is a heartwarming story of growth. I give it two thumbs up!

View all my reviews

Social Media in the Real World

urbangrind

I’ve written before about my reason for being on social media. It’s to be able to have coffee with a friend anywhere in the world. I’ve had coffee with one of my snapchat friends, nessamakes, who happens to live just a mile away from me. But we were heading to Jacksonville, FL for the Mrs.International Pageant and I was excited to see that one of my other snap friends, Dapromoqueen, lives there. I made arrangements to get together with her.

dapromoqueen

We met at a cute coffee shop called Urban Grind Coffee Shop. It was an easy walk from the Omni Hotel where we were staying and was on Laura Street. Now, I don’t like when someone calls me Laura (even though it’s my given name) but I had to have a photo with the cool Laura Street sign.

Laura Street

When Dapromoqueen aka Tory, arrived, we had to snap about our meeting, of course. We had a fun time visting. She’s so nice and genuine and I love that we felt like friends right away.

                                   IMG_5818IMG_5817 

When we got ready to head back to the hotel we took a photo together. I’m really tall AND I had tall wedge shoes on. Tory was prepared for work and had flats on so I was WAY taller than she was. It was pretty funny!

IMG_5815

THIS, my friends, is what social media is about in the real world. At least for me. I know I have a friend to share coffee with anywhere I go. I’m so glad I got to meet Tory. I hope I’ll get to meet you when I am in your town!

CTE is NOT a Laughing Matter

When I saw the logo for The Opening, I was stunned. Speechless is a state you find me almost never. But…

What can you possibly say about a group using a death skull inside of a football helmet as their logo? The Opening describes themselves as “four days of dynamic competition for the nation’s most elite high school football prospects”. 

With all we currently know about CTE and what causes it, using a logo like this is a mockery of the truth of what can happen to youth football players whether they are elite players or the average kid who starts playing a collision sport at the age of eight or younger. Risk everything? Really?

Horrifying.

Sponsors of these events are Nike and Riddell. Speechless again. These are groups who know  what is going on with concussion in football. Why would they choose such an image? 

So I’m writing a blog post today when I really can’t even adequately express how I feel about the fact that large companies, who should know better, would chose such an image to portray their product. 

We need to protect our children’s brains, not risk everything! Everything is a life or death issue. CTE IS life or death and it’s real and it shouldn’t be mocked or belittled. People are losing their sons and daughters due to collisions sports being played with no regard to the fact that a concussion is a brain injury and should be treated accordingly. 

Be aware! For more information about concussion and CTE, visit StopCTE.org. Also, if you are a parent or parent group interested in stopping repetitive brain trauma in youth sports, please join the Save Your Brain Campaign