Wednesday July 30, 2008

Hurry Up! / Ryan Update

Ryan Update 7-30
Every day I pray that Ryan has his best day and it seems like God graciously gives him a better day each day.

Yesterday Ryan was dynamic again. He was full of positive energy and full of positive emotion. Ryan had a great morning of therapy where he walked with assistance better than the day before. He got his cast off and was able to use his left hand more. He was very good in his cognitive class and was equally as productive in his speech therapy.

The best therapy yesterday was his recreational therapy. They had Ryan playing air hockey. Last week when they tried that he could not lift his arm high enough to play but yesterday he was able to follow the puck with his eyes and was coordinated enough to play the game. It was so encouraging to see it happen.

He is drinking liquids so much better now. He has a special cup and they have to thicken the water, Sprite or Gatorade but he is making big strides in his drinking.

Ryan had several of his best friends visit over the last few days. He seems to really light up when company arrives. His friends are such an important part of the rehab and they have been so good with him.

Ryan is now laughing out loud. He has a great sense of humor and enjoys joking around. Last night we were all just laying around and cracking up for about an hour. Ryan says he is very happy and it shows on his face. He is talking so much better each day. We always ask him if he is hurting and he says no. We ask if he is happy and he says yes. We ask him if he is confident and he always says yes.

Before I left last night we got Ryan up to walk one more time and he continues to get better with his steps each day. He even spent a bunch of time posing for pictures with all of his friends.

We told Ryan again last night that so many people are praying for him and he seems like he is shocked when you tell him that. He says, "Really? Oh my goodness. That is so cool."

Ryan is a miracle! God has a special plan for him and we can't wait to see where God takes Ryan next. We just wanted to continue to give you the positive news on Ryan and also continue to let you know how vital your prayers are for Ryan. We still feel your prayers every day and they make a difference every day in Ryan's recovery. We can never repay you for your kindness but can say thank you!

Hurry Up!
Dear August 30,
Could you please hurry and get here. Sometimes I think Christmas may get here before you do. You have to hurry and get here because silly season is driving me crazy.

Tuesday it hit the high mark for this year. I guess if you are talking about the high mark for silly season, it should be described as the low mark.

Yesterday we had the silliest event of the year. At his pre-season media golf event, Steve Spurrier congratulated The State newspaper for running a story about charges being dropped against his starting wide receiver. He then purposely wondered out loud if that "Clemson website guy" was going to send a letter to all of the recruits retracting earlier information that Spurrier alleged he sent them about arrests at USC earlier.

Apparently, a sports talk show host in Columbia went on the air with the "Clemson website guys" name. Callers and posters on both sides of the rivalry dug in and drew a line in the sand and even lawsuits were discussed.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that we are talking about grown men but from a factual standpoint I have a few thoughts on this silly soap opera:

*Anyone who sent packages to any recruit trying to influence their college decision has misplaced their priorities and overstated their role in the process.

*Any prospect that would consider information sent to him by an outside source is looking in the wrong area from help in his decision. Former Marquette basketball coach Al McGuire used to say that where a student-athlete chooses to go to college is the second biggest decision of his/her life. Your decision on who to marry was first according to McGuire. Lou Holtz used to say that the college decision is a forty year decision and not a four-year one. You will be always remembered as a Gamecock, Tiger, Bulldog, Seminole, Tar Heel, etc.

*Any talk show host that would throw out someone's name in this situation has misplaced priorities, in my opinion. If the host had evidence then he should turn it over to the NCAA but to slander some one's name without evidence is a dangerous track.

*Any coach that uses the press to send this message is off base as well. In my opinion, a coach should have his compliance office contact the website owners. There are proper ways to handle this type of action. If it was important enough to lead off your press conference with it then it should be important enough to let compliance handle it.

*Back when Spurrier was at Florida he sent Alabama coach Mike DuBose a letter. In it he accused DuBose of cheating to sign an offensive lineman out of Georgia. Spurrier claimed in the letter that the NCAA was sent information about a truck that was purchased for the player. He ended the letter by saying that if Alabama was not guilty of this then DuBose should have nothing to worry about. Maybe Spurrier should feel the same way about these "packages" that have supposedly been sent. I have never seen these packages but if they contained something that was not true then Spurrier has nothing to worry about. To me the concern should be in the arrests themselves.

Silly season got off to a pretty good start this week Spurrier has spent some time with the media wondering what Clemson's record would be if the Tigers played South Carolina's schedule and what South Carolina's record would be if they played Clemson's schedule. Here are a few of my thoughts on this silly subject:

*South Carolina's schedule is much more difficult than Clemson's.

*I have no idea what each record will be with their own schedule so how can I know what the records would be if they traded schedules. I am not sure what their records would be but I am sure of two things. First, Clemson is not going to play South Carolina's schedule. The Tigers will play Clemson's schedule. Second, South Carolina will not play Clemson's schedule. They will play South Carolina's schedule. I can guarantee that is the case. I know that for a fact.

*I also know that the rivalry will not be decided in August. It will not be decided in the newspaper or on the radio or on the internet. Spurrier's words to the media or Bowden's words to the media have nothing to do with who wins bragging rights this year. I do know that on November 29 in Death Valley in Clemson, SC the rivalry will add another chapter. One of the two schools will have bragging rights for the next 364 days when the clock strikes 0:00 that day.

Maybe I am getting old but the silly stuff does not amuse me anymore. Please August 30, please hurry up and get here. Silly season needs to give way to football season.

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