Program only a game in October of 2016 Kim Newsome was in the stands watching her oldest son play football for Michigan when a defender collided with her son. Of 60 degrees at 1st it seemed like he would be Ok and it didn't seem like he was in a ton of asking if he could go back out and watch the rest of the game and they said well we're going to hold on for a little bit Grant never played another game this week on only a game we asked the news was it worth it. Also coming out of the Lieberman with a 50 year old analyst for e.s.p.n. When I broke out during a game. And when. I'm playing. Stay with us. From n.p.r. News in Washington and Barbara Kline the f.b.i. Is investigating yesterday's deadly shooting at a military base in Florida 4 people were killed including the gunman 8 others are wounded N.P.R.'s Debbie Elliott reports authorities are keeping details of the investigation under wraps official say the gunman was a member of the Saudi air force in training at Naval Air Station Pensacola f.b.i. Special Agent in Charge Rachel Rojas is asking for patience while agents do their work we are not prepared at this hour to confirm what may have motivated the shooter to commit this horrific act there are many reports circulating. But the f.b.i. Deals only in facts and this is still very much an active and ongoing investigation Florida's 2 u.s. Senators and Republican Congressman Matt Gates of Pensacola are calling for an examination of the vetting process for foreign military students Debbie Elliott n.p.r. News the u.s. And Iran have carried out a prisoner swap Iran has released a Princeton University graduate student one of several Americans held in Iran as N.P.R.'s Michele Kelemen reports the wife of she says quote Our family is complete again she and her son have waited in her words 3 long years for this day to be reunited wish you a an academic who went to Iran for research Iran's foreign minister tweeted a picture of himself on a plane going home with Professor must really money who is facing charges of violating trade sanctions for trying to have biological material brought to Iran u.s. Officials confirm his release and thanks with diplomats for arranging the prisoner swap there are still other Americans and other nationals being held in Iran in what some are now calling a hostage crisis Michele Kelemen n.p.r. News Washington. The u.s. Resume peace talks with Afghanistan's Taliban in Kabul today though the 1st official talks since President Trump. Completed peace. It's a permanent cease fire. California's largest utility company reached 13.5. For victims of the recent wildfires. Reports the deal is expected to resolve. That has claimed for state into bankruptcy protection almost a year ago it comes after 2 other settlements reached earlier this year with insurance companies and the other with local governments paving the way for p.g. And E.'s exit from Chapter 11. Says his forces both hard and soft approaches to deal with protests 6 month Chris 10. With Chinese officials. Planned for tomorrow Medicare's open enrollment period is supposed to. Held reports. Get another chance to improve their coverage for next year today is the official deadline for people with Medicare to sign up for private drug and medical plans for next year but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told Kaiser Health News that its providing an extension and beneficiaries will still be able to change their plans into next year the reason the government website meant to help them navigate instead left many users last launched this summer plan finder was plagued with inaccurate pricing and confusing search options according to consumer advocates tens of millions of Americans rely on Medicare the federal health insurance program for those 65 and older and younger people with disabilities Amy Held n.p.r. News. Best known for. Friends. Broadway. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors. With a. Good. This is only a game I'm Karen given for his latest book John Yoo bacon spent the 2018 college football season with Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines the book came out in September and since then whenever John stands in front of a crowd to promote the book he always tells the same story it was August of 2018 and John had just started his season with Michigan John's wife Christy took their then 3 and a half year old son Teddy to Fan night so he's right around the field having a great time but that begs the question and that is if Teddy wanted to would we let him play football at that time we really did not have an answer we were not sure for other reasons that other parents are also not sure so then something about this next story made you feel like you had an answer. Talking to the new sims in particular changed our minds but this is a little bit of a tragic story it is kind of a tragic story but I figured that Grant knew some and his parents would be the acid test I want to ask them Is it worth it and he did here's John Leon isn't been all Ivy League football player Princeton but Leon and his wife can did not want their oldest son Grant to play football but when Grant want to way to Lawrenceville Academy in New Jersey he could not resist to join the freshman football team by a sophomore year grant started on the varsity. He was so good that his coach had a warning for Leon and Kim He sat us down and he said to us that Grant wants to do this case he's going to play college football and I was floored because that was not a conversation I expected to be having when he started playing freshman football in 9th grade Junior year Grant received offers from $34.00 schools including every Ivy League team and most of the nation's top 20 programs to recruit experience was a whirlwind for Grant and 1st parents in the spring of his junior year the new drug to Penn State for recruiting visit and stop for gas so we pull into the sheets about about 90 miles away from Happy Valley and I'm walking in the bathroom my dad is behind me there's a man is coming out he looks at me and goes. To. Yes he said you know I'm a huge fan you know really hope you come to Penn State you know we love to have you and then I kid you not before we left the sheets there was another fan came up and . You know we really need you the offensive line it was weird that we could go to the bathroom. But it also just tells you how fanatical the fan base is at some of the schools. On Grant and his parents visited Penn State again Grant went away thoroughly impressed by the coaching staff and the football program and I left and say visit thinking I was going to end in the line we were driving home and I thought well it's game over. But Grant had one more visit planned that University of Michigan unlike Penn State Michigan was headed for a rare losing season but the news I'm still like everything else about the town the campus and the academics after 2 weeks of deliberating I still can decide and I remember vividly I'm sitting in our living room. And my mom says no hey what are you thinking and I said Nice I have no idea mom I really I'm torn between these 2 schools you know I would be a focal point to support and I said well take football out of it if football goes away because nothing in this life is guaranteed where you want to be I said was no questions Michigan. So there's your answer and that's that's right out of the university mission. Shortly after Grant made his decision Michigan fired the entire coaching staff and hired Jim Harbaugh fresh from the N.F.L.'s San Francisco 49 er's a few days later Harbaugh called Grant introduce himself and I says you know questions for me and I said you know I guess my holy question is you know do you guys don't want me and he said you know if you're if you're loyal to me if you're loyal Michigan were loyal to you and that was all I need to hear Grant assume he would not play until his sophomore season to save a year of eligibility but during a team meeting before 8 game Coach Harbaugh pointed right to him the kind of just like a passing comment in a meeting says Grant No Be ready replying this week. And I just looked around and what was aghast and point to myself saying to me great news and be Grant played well so well that just one year later he was not only starting at left tackle the blind side his already being pegged as a future n.f.l. Star. In the 5th game of the 26000 season the 4th ranked Wolverines took on the 8th ranked was constant badgers and a future all-American linebacker named t.j. What So I knew I had my work cut out for me but for playing well it was 7 I think at that point been been hold my own blocking him pretty well so I was feeling good I was feeling like we have a game where he wanted it and then the coaches called a play called $99.00 truck it was the quarterback pitches the ball out of the running back he runs behind Grant who clears the way by diving at the defenders legs whenever called cutting as in cutting him down but right before the snap Grant had a premonition I get this this voice inside my head and I kid you not it's never happen to me ever again it's my voice and says if you don't cut him on this play he's going to cut you so the ball snapped and you know something about it just didn't feel right at all. And I remember thinking you know as I'm running towards this defender. There's not enough room for me to cut if I cut I'm going to close the hole and it's going to be a 3 or gangsters and there's me no where for the running back to go no this is obviously happening in the split seconds so I'm a physician I said I'm going to stay up here to take one for the team essentially essentially I'm going to stay up and try to block him and minimize amount of bodies on the ground if they're going to be occupying this hole the running back is to run through and the last thing I remember was making that decision to stay up and I see him start to cut and that's the last thing I remember form on the ground that was probably for the best the defender had gone head 1st straight into Grant's right knee with the force so great it shoved Grant's knee 60 degrees in the wrong direction Grant crumble to the ground landing on a stomach Fortunately looks like their left tackle brand new sub still on the ground. I remember trying to crawl and then one of my teammates came as a great guy get up ever saying I'm trying and it just didn't feel like my body would let me get up the training staff our team doctors and Coach Harbaugh come out and they say all right can you can you turn over for us and I turned over and I feel my knee pop so I you can hear it you can hear it so I So I think. I just told myself turning over and you say this I say I just tore my. A.c.l. Turning over so with heavy assistance I walk off the field right before the tunnel this fact hits me that my mom is in attendance and I know she's probably solving this point already so I turn and I try to give a thumbs up no towards the section they're sitting and say hey look I'm fine you know even if it's a torn a.c.l. I'm fine you know we'll build it to get through this. We've got all the structure and the able to help us all how you see the thumbs up and the ran in the medical staff one of the teams emergency room one of the stands were soon joined by Leon cam and Grant's 2 younger brothers and it didn't seem like he was in a ton of pain he was sitting up asking if he could go back out and watch the rest of the game from the sidelines and they said well we're going to hold on for a little bit and then issue a thought it may just be a sprain I'm c.l. This point I'm thinking I just went from thinking at home a.c.l. It's now it's a sprain but I was doing the math at this point I'm thinking I'll be back for Michigan State I'll be back for for a House seat certainly so this point I'm pretty overjoyed but at the end of the exam the doctors asked Grant if you're any tingling or numbness in his toes because you have a lot of numbness my toes but I'm sure that's probably normal it was not normal the tingling indicated the main artery which delivers blood to his leg had been damaged and they both looked at each other and say yeah we're going to take you to hospital for a few tests and then very quickly we were getting in an ambulance and going to the hospital Grant underwent x. Rays c.t. Scans and an m.r.i. Trying to find a vascular injury after each test no one will tell me the results of the sinking feeling that something isn't right here and keep in mind my family are watching the Wisconsin Michigan game from the room in the t.v. On t.v. In the emergency department store watching this we're following we're cheering the nurses trying to trash us because we're cheering to our. Team. That you know. I am. Not 5 minutes after the game ends Dr Corriere who went to be my vascular surgeon comes into the room and he puts what's called a doppler which is a machine that kind of amplifies the sound of your blood pumping it puts it on my toes listens for maybe 10 seconds at most and says. We're going to take an emergency surgery the lower part your leg is getting 50 percent of blood and used to drive. I just look at him and it was like what I had no idea we were talking about something this serious I couldn't even imagine even being at the hospital and so I kind of look at him and look at my family and it and the only words I can I can think to formulate are going have a leg when this is done and the last thing I remember his saying were in charge best. The surgery was supposed to last 4 hours cam Leon and Grant brothers waited and waited and waited it was 7 hours it felt like to Mentone that the Corriere finally emerged and told the family they were able to save his leg and they thought the surgery was successful doctors told the new sims if they had operated just 15 minutes later Grant might have lost his leg his mom was right football could be taken away in an instant. In the days that followed doctors removed a large chunk of Grant's lower right calf muscle which had already turned black from lack of blood flow and vaulted a metal rod to a stop and shin bones to immobilize his knee Graham recovered in the hospital for more than a month the highlight of my day was moving the 2 feet to the chair but was in the hospital room Grant stayed in school and started rehab my right thigh was the size of my left calf I took my my 2nd 1st of my life 2 months after the injury and that those 1st steps were going to write prose a kitty hawk it was a very short flight. Thanks to a lot of hard work and a lot of help with the coaches and trainers visiting every night for weeks after 6 months Grant could jog again 6 months after that he could run full speed he was determined to return to the team the idea secretly terrified his parents but they supported him almost 2 years after the injury and August 28th seen Grant was practicing with a team again I will do all the team conditioning essentially and I feel good especially do everything we could do just without pads on and without contact. But at practice a few days later I was just watching it off until I'm in a different climate go head to head on a blocking drill and hit me like you don't have this anymore there's just the supreme moment of you know is what I'm trying to do worth it. After practice ended Grant paced the length of the grass field finally work up the courage call my dad. And say hey you know I think when I get up I think it's time Leanne told Grant that if he was sure about his decision he would support it so I hang up with him probably pace another 2 miles in that field back and forth and then finally called my mom. On the crier. So I call her and tell her that I was here 30 seconds of silence on the phone I just wanted my side to be Ok. And. I was worried about who his people were going to be if he wasn't if he didn't have his team but Grant still had his people he still had his team granted no help in the tight ends analyzing film and sent in plays while getting his master's degree from Ford School of Public Policy. And the rest of the Michigan family embraced him and continued to embrace him in a way that. I will be forever grateful for. They question was it all worth it. That is the $1000000.00 question as they say. My answer is yes there emphatically Yes No one likes the job that your mission got there they got their money's worth of me. But I think I got all that more from Michigan and really just. In some ways I think everything happens for a reason and I think. This was to help him realize that he. He has what it takes to get through the tough times I think it's made Grant stronger it's made us stronger as a parent and so I wouldn't change that for anything in my book Leon said this I believe to the bottom of my heart the grant will leave Michigan as well prepared to face the world as any young man could be. That's John Yoo bacon his new book is titled over time Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the crossroads of college football. You are listening to only a game and. Join us this weekend on Live From here with Chris feeling at the Town Hall in New York City our guest this week are pixies black plume of crickets so with our very own Donovan freestyle Love Supreme and our Out in America correspondent comedian Tom Papa comes then some time with your ears will thank you. 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I'm Karen given and it's time for 3 stories you should know I think there's just some big change coming and. Was long overdue and I'm excited That's former n.h.l. Player Kima lose speaking on Tuesday Alou has accused his former coach Bill Peters of making racist comments other players have come forward alleging physical abuse by Peters and other n.h.l. Coaches and that's where we'll start this week I'm joined by Toronto based sports writer Shereen Ahmed via Skype and by New York magazine contributing editor Will Leitch Welcome back to both of you Oh Ok and Hi Will and honor as always thank you Shereen fill us in well it's been busy in Canada you know this all on the tails of Don Cherry The Hockey Night in Canada host that was fired by Sports Net for sharing his in a phobic comments and then walking back and not apologizing for them so Canada in Canadian hockey in hockey culture generally has begun unintentionally and in very ill prepared manner begin a conversation about racism at hockey and then that has sort of also gone in a way where hockey players have come out to talk about abusive coaches said What happened was 10 years ago when he played for the Rockport ice hogs and Robert Moore who is the now coach of the Carolina Hurricanes actually crop rated. Account and so that's where we are right now is me sort of trying to sort of parse out what should be addressed and honestly as one of the few people of color is a sportswriter in my country sort of saying this is who should be paying attention to and this is who you should be and learning from so Shereen coaches got pulled into this conversation when the Maple Leafs fired Mike Babcock he was let go for not winning games so how did that turn into this broader conversation well what happened was Mitch Marner Trying To me believe player came forward and to school. Was that he was punched and kicked and then people sort of paused and made the usual pronouncements of he's very passionate as a coach I mean we hear about Bobby Knight being legendary and being aggressive as a as a coach but this is a different level and then different players started coming forward and it became a thing social media really really became a thing in terms of a vehicle for people to disclose this well what do you make of all this you know I always find it telling how much influence players themselves have in this and to me that's encouraging because the thing about players is that they're young and really they the people the diff in this kind of activity are always these old guard people and they'll always claim Well that's the way it's always been that's the way it should be this reminds me a little bit of when the Richie Incognito thing happened in football a few years ago where there was this idea like you can't police locker rooms the way the locker room is not a normal place of business it's different it's so on why not except then a bunch of players came out and said no this is not what it's supposed to be like and we don't want to replace to be like this it shows that older guard that claims these are the way things are supposed to be were obsolete years ago you mentioned Bob Knight there are a lot of Bob Knight defenders anymore these conversations to have a wider effect in a quicker effect in large part because the players themselves are standing up for what they believe Yeah I read a comment this week from George Lowe rock he played 12 seasons in the n.h.l. And he compared what's happening to the me too movement and while the type in severity of the abuse is certainly different I don't think he's entirely wrong making that comparison you have a situation where the balance of power is extremely unbalanced and abusive that power has apparently been relatively widespread and well known nobody was much trying to hide it it seems like and once a couple of people found the courage to come forward and say this is not right other people came forward as well and now. We're really getting a bigger picture but it seems clear to me and I could be wrong but it seems clear that when these players got kicked or verbal abuse door their coach made a racist comment it probably wasn't the 1st time that happened to them in the game because if it was I don't think everyone would have ignored it so easily and for so long the New York Times is calling it a cultural upheaval so Shereen I'm wondering how long before it trickles down to the lower levels of the game well I like the term cultural of people far more than I like the comparison although I mean huge fan of Law The comparison with the Meteo I don't like it at all I think we shouldn't have to do this oppression Olympics with an abuse in order to do this and even the conflation of the racist abuse versus physical and verbal and psychological which is all there those that have to deal with racialized abuse is far different and carries different types of trauma than psychological and physical would accept or accept So I think in terms of when it will trickle down the whole system needs to change here Kwame Mason is the director of a really fantastic film called Soul on Ice which speaks about black players in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on the East Coast of Canada and he said hockey is a nightly diverse it stems across many communities indigenous black communities the Punjabi community has their own t.v. Show Hockey Night in the job which is wildly popular so hockey has touch across those lines but it's not inclusive and we need to start having very candid conversation for me who leads those conversations is a parrot of I we don't like the word reckoning because reckoning to me infers accountability and I haven't seen that from the gate keepers in hockey. So this week my tender heart was broken when I learned that the Tampa Bay Rays had been forced to abandon their plans to split time between St Petersburg and Montreal at least until 2028. Ok Look I know that for many reasons this was a terrible idea it's logistically ridiculous it would be a nightmare for players and their families and in the end it might have just been an excuse for the raise to shake down 2 cities in 2 separate countries for 2 new ballparks on the other hand neither St Petersburg nor Montreal seem to be able to support a full time team and both cities seem to want one and I personally was looking forward to visiting Montreal in the summer time to watch some baseball Shereen are you also sad I'm happy because Expo gear was really cool and is like super retro so I will acquire a hat at some point I know I agree with you I don't even know how this is possible but you know what this does is make me a little bit frustrated because the links that people will go to in King go to perspired is phenomenal and then part of me is like why don't people just invest in women sports this way so I kind of a different ones will what do you make of this a large part of this came down to the fact that cities will no longer pay for the stuff anymore and there was a time or maybe 15 years ago this ploy might have worked the idea like oh we're going to revitalize downtown all the money's going to stay in the community don't worry sure there's a tax breaks and a bond break and you're paying for the core of the stadium but trust us we owners will give it back to you as a citizen business and so for crowd the new Yankee same in Citi Field were built in large part by Giuliani a stinking mess of out the door on his way out to me this is has been a very welcome development over the last 510 years city councils don't buy this anymore states don't buy this anymore there's occasionally it said this is like oh my loser team we have to figure this out but the long run it's good because they're not just giving over the farm to these owners anymore yet the one thing St Petersburg really did right is someone there knew how to draw. An ironclad use agreement it's not even a lease and the Rays can't break it like they just can't get out of it and part of me wants the raise to continue playing at the Tropicana which is a terrible place to watch baseball and continue to have some of the lowest attendance numbers in baseball and continue to lose money because maybe that will convince billionaire owners that even if they can find a city that will give them a free stadium they'd be better off building their own this is my hope All right well take it away I am a fan of the University of Illinois football team who 7 was the right word to put it there that they've been terrible for ever there watching the sea has been horrible they've been a miserable team but this year behind Lovie Smith who is a coach of Illinois football Illinois 6 and 6 there still not very good but they're going to play in one of these silly little lower tier bowls these bowls do not matter there's literally a bowl called the Cheez-It Bowl is in the grand tradition of really silly bowls that are not for a championship and have very bizarre sponsors from the Poland weedeater bowl to the micron p.c. Dot com Bowl anyway the point is all of these tiny little bowls they're ridiculous they probably don't need to exist but they are good for fans of teams and players of teams like this this year it's very likely the Illinois is going to go to Detroit the day after Christmas the quick lane bowl on a quick lane is I have no idea but that's a ball they might be playing at it makes me happy to have all these little silly bowls as a place to visually get us through that week between Christmas and New Years and give us something to do rather than talk to our families. Sure I mean what do you think I really really appreciate these smaller things because it's almost like reclaiming a bit of the sport in a way it's not only the Super Bowl it's not only the Rose Ball there can be other things and everyone can take part in that and I like that it's almost like grass roots and in a way in those. We know that teams are huge and schools are big but I just I really appreciate the for volatile almost of it because sometimes sports needs are right so you all have convinced me that meaningless bowl games are good but can we all agree on one thing and that is if a player for one of these teams that's not that great happens to be declaring for the n.f.l. Draft and he wants to skip that meaningless bowl game we're all going to be Ok with it right because all the drama over like he should be playing for the love of his team or he should be playing for the love of the game when the c.e.o. Of the Outback Bowl made a $1000000.00 and change last year and really just harsh is on my enjoyment of this corporate spectacle that bowl games have become you know I have to say though that makes me feel like you're disrespecting the San Diego County Credit Union and I have to tell you if you're not going to support I figured I did good I I for the as a fan of college football and I watch the city or county credit union ball I'm not even sure what they're selling me in that ad can I join I don't live in San Diego can I give their credit union I'm not employed by anyone in San Diego why are they sponsoring this bill but nevertheless yes I do understand why a lot of these college players play in the championship game if they've got 1000000 dollar 1000000 dollar deals the on the n.f.l. But that is probably a whole other discussion for a whole problem this is a measure do you go home and be like well you know I've generally happy with my day but that's. My guess for this week's edition of 3 stories or should now have been Toronto based sportswriter Shereen Ahmed and New York magazine contributing editor Well Beach thanks to both of you thank you thank you as always . Last June Laura Erin shields found herself somewhere she never expected to be in Albuquerque New Mexico watching her father compete at the national level in a sport he started taking seriously in his seventy's Here's Laura. This ping pong table has become the site of a showdown. Is the Ok corral of table tennis but instead of multiple gunslingers on either side there are only 2 old men holding paddles. And one is my father. My dad Sharon shield is crouched like a short stop swinging his arms to keep his muscles loose stopping once to brush his white hair out of his eyes his opponent a 74 year old California named David looks tough if slightly stoop shouldered lean frame tanned skin what appears to be a tailored polo shirt the man's eyes are locked on my dad his mouth is set in a fierce line they volley David wins the 1st point. From the sidelines stands youngest brother my 65 year old uncle Ricky claps his hands C'mon Jay Don't let up he says you get an officer shot you take it c'mon Jay come on come on as their friend Kerry Come on man you got this. We're in Albuquerque New Mexico for the 2019 National Senior Games a once every 2 years Olympic style event that invites athletes ages 50 to over 100 to flex their athletic prowess in everything from archery to Pickle ball the whole thing feel surreal dad is competing on a national level in a sport he only started taking seriously a couple years ago in his seventy's David is kicking my dad's but blasting every shot off corners and setting my dad lunging and while directions dad is sweating breathing hard but he's also grinning and laughing and making jokes he's flashing smiles at my mom basically flirting and I think when I am 73 please let me have this kind of life. My dad's Ping-Pong group is something special a diverse group of mostly older men at a time when diversity and older men are not phrases I often connect. The group started 5 or 6 years ago when one of my dad's friends d.l. Dorie a physician who fled Iraq during Saddam Hussein's reign realized he needed something to keep his body moving as he got older After some research Dia everyone calls and Doc settled on Ping-Pong it didn't take long for the group to start playing in small competitions by the summer of 2018 dad had qualified for the National Senior Games and after that he and his friends started training in earnest they traveled to other ping pong clubs testing themselves against different players Doc hired a coach kid in his twenty's who is trying to make the actual us table tennis team my dad started watching what he a few were late night potato chips or vegetables last spring dad's training was on pace and his game was getting stronger he and my mom booked a bed and breakfast in Old Town Albuquerque for a week around the senior games and she started making plans to visit Santa Fe in the church O'Keefe museum to sample New Mexico's famous chili. And then my dad cut off his finger. It was April 17th 9 weeks before the National Senior Games when my mom's number flashed on my phone it was just before lunch time on a work day a strange time for her to call. My mom started and if the words had physical form they would have quivered. Dad had been in the middle of a woodworking project sawing a chunk of wood into smaller thinner pieces when the blades sucked in the shame he'd been using as a guide dragging dad's finger along with it the blade sliced his index finger neatly at the 1st knuckle he was lucky in a few regards. The doctors thought that his finger could be reattach so he might not lose it entirely too he had lost much blood. And 3 the finger happened to be on his left hand his right hand his paddle hand was unharmed. Doc was the 1st person to show up at my parents' house after the table saw accident dad was under strict no Ping-Pong at least for now orders from his doctor. Doc wanted to make sure my dad wasn't only. A couple days later Rob my dad's doubles partner called to see if Dad wanted to go to lunch uncle Ricky came over and cut the grass. When Dad went back to practice Of course he went back to practice the doctor said he needed to keep his injured finger safe that meant no lunging in ways that might cause him to fall no swinging his arm as he served and accidentally knocking it into a table or a wall does Friends police the same way they played ping pong. Mercilessly. At the National Senior Games in June the air inside the Albuquerque convention center is filled with the rhythmic sounds of ping pong balls bouncing off tables and shoes squeaking on Illinois and floor does fingers mostly healed but not quite doctor's orders it is still set in a splint and wrapped tightly in an elastic bandage he can't move it at all on the court things are not going well when David wins game 3 a shutout match my dad places the ball on the table shakes Davis hand and walks over to the sidelines where his friends and my mom are waiting. Don't give up j. Carey says Dad takes a swig of water pulls a towel across his neck and heads back out to the court to face the next competitor if he loses again he's out. Dead 2nd matches against a tall lanky friendly guy a semi retired pastor at a Lutheran church in Minnesota. The 1st game starts out Ok dad scores a couple the pastor scores a couple and then the pastor pulls ahead by 2 up by 5 maybe a higher power was pulling for the pastor maybe dad was just too nervous or maybe the pastor was just better at ping pong but it's a deflating start for my dad. Kerry leans over to me he's got to get some confidence going forward just a little spark he says in a low voice game to his already started and almost immediately my dad picks up a great point and goes on a roll game to dad the match is tied. The pendulum just swung he tells my dad now you got the momentum. Dad wins game 3 and goes up 2 games to 11 more will give him his 1st win in a national tournament match. Scores again and again and soon at 7 for Dad and now Kerry and my uncle are on their feet but then the pastor start scoring 757677. J I want you to get now to demand Kerry shouts and maybe that clicks because dad start scoring again. Before long it's 10 to 8 and then dad is sending the ball over the net in the past or can't get there in time. 11 to 8 game and match dad's 1st national when. From my dad in his ping pong friends I've learned we can approach life like it's something to be survived and endured something to be fought something to be beaten we can give up when something tough happens sink back into our easy chairs and never get up again or we can wrap life in our best embrace and allow ourselves new experiences with new people in new places we can challenge ourselves we can be kind and loving and supportive to the people around us we can bask in the love that shines our way as a result and we can get on a court even in our sixty's and seventy's and eighty's even with a partially sawed off finger and we can compete Laura Erin shield is a writer based in Columbus Ohio a longer version of her essay appeared in the September issue of Southwest the magazine. Will be right back with Charlie Pierce don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter at only again and. From a mix of French Spanish and African cultures real musicians joined in the creation of jazz says our guest clarinetist Charlie Gabriel when jazz spread to Texas Western Swing was born and continue today with the Quaid sisters join me for. American roots from p.r.s. . American roots right here on K.'s u.t. Beginning at 1 o'clock Meanwhile only game continues with support provided by the fort was college school of education offering hybrid Master of Arts degree programs a teacher leadership and licensure and special education plus culturally and linguistically diverse education additional details are online it graduates Fort Lewis dot edu see the change be the change support for only a game comes from the listeners of Boston where the program is produced from a Home Advisor committed to helping homeowners find the right pros for their home projects homeowners can read reviews book appointments and check cost guides for home projects at Home Advisor dot com or on the mobile app and poster Smith printing posters on wrinkle resistant foldable fabric that transports flat for conference presentations poster Smith provides its service to research communities worldwide learn more at poster Smith dot com. I'm Karen given next week on only a game 112 years ago Augusta Ponce set out to drive from what was then pay King to Paris but he ran out of gas in the Gobi Desert this year a Belgian architect tried to finish what pond started but now Charlie Pierce is here with the week's news hi Charlie it's a tough place to run out of gas because you're really not Ok eventually in 1907 as the auto club is not going to come to you in the middle of the Gobi desert it's just not going to happen 2019 is almost over and I can think of at least one guy who might not want this year to end Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is outperforming Patrick no homes a record setting 2900 fantasy season his merchandise was Cyber Monday is number one seller and he's on pace to demolish Michael Vick's single season rushing record for quarterbacks Not bad for his 1st full season as a starter you know and the victim Harrison's fall by the wayside because Lamar Jackson can really throw the ball to him and he's a lot of fun and he has made the Baltimore Ravens appointment viewing if you're an n.f.l. Fan I mean you just don't want to not watch his team meanwhile the 40 Niners have suspended radio analyst him Ryan for saying the following about Jackson's skill at running fake handoffs really good effects very good margin when you consider. When it is dark skinned girl or whether it dark football whether dark you know you could not see that her and Ryan has apologized saying I regret my choice of words is there any word choice that would be less regrettable here no Tim regret your choice of idea right I mean this is we have had generations of football analysts and we've had African-Americans in the n.f.l. For generations as well nobody came up with this one before. On Tuesday Rutgers rehired former head football coach Gregg Scheana shadow is making what is being called a not exorbitant $4000000.00 a year. Paid country club membership access to private jets for recruiting only for all other university business Shannah will be forced to fly 1st class and a bunch of other perks I know that the Rutgers program is a mess but this seems like a lot for a guy who previously only went 6867 with the Scarlet Knights say he was over 500 all rockers can expect one day and by the way since he left Rutgers I think Greg Schiano has coached every other football team in the world they are the very least he's been rumored to be taking the job now he's back home and Rutgers of course is in the is now in what used to be the Big 10 and I suspect that his you know career record at Rutgers which is one game over 500 is not going to stay there. Well it was only 2 years ago that Tennessee fans staged an out not revolt over that school's plans to hire shadow wreckers fans must feel differently it seems Yeah that was a very strange episode I'd forgotten about it people running for governor in Tennessee had to dig positions on whether or not to hire Greg Schiano that's not happening in New Jersey not enough people care about who coaches the Rutgers What about it or. Did you see Le Bron James as travel on Wednesday as I have everyone else except I do not know how that was possible. And after the game Le Bron doesn't know apparently doesn't know how that when it was just I mean 1st of all I know how he did it because it was just a complete vapor lock you're walking the ball up and you're not really being guarded at heart and you just you know your brain goes goes away for a few minutes but how 3 referees could possibly miss arguably the greatest player in the history of the n.b.a. Carrying the ball is beyond me and actually I give you Le Bron a lot of credit he took the he said he was sort of the referees for the endless ridicule the referees are going to have to suffer for the rest of their lives because the video will will never die. Everybody's known for quite a long time that the vote that brought the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was less than legit. Now fever has finally admitted it sort of what's going on on the field for website which despite what you may think does not have a skull and crossbones eyes. There's a document on the website where apparently someone admits that 3 of the officials got money to vote for Cotter in putting the thing in got or never made any sense right there's no way this wasn't a bribery scandal we all knew that at the time but now apparently got on their websites a clear admission that it was mean well they're saying don't read too much into this how can we possibly not read into this because we already know I mean I mean don't take our you know the people saying don't take our word for it you know rely on the the endless stack of documents there at the f.b.i. And the Department of Justice and finally Charlie Flutie flakes are back 20 years after the breakfast cereal sold out of grocery stores Doug Flutie is really releasing it once again to raise money for his Autism Foundation Do you have your bowling spoon at the ready I have never tasted Flutie when you know anyone who I mean except for the immediate family who's ever eaten food like I don't know about us and if they're like Frosted Flakes or corn flakes or or special k. We know they're flaky you know we know they're where we know they're flaky and they're probably a bit smaller than the usual way. Charlie Pierce is the guest editor of The Best American Sports Writing 2019 and he joins us each week at this time on only a game Thanks Charlie thanks Karen. There are a lot of seemingly unbreakable records in sports Wilt Chamberlain's $100.00 point game Nolan Ryan 7 no hitters Joe Di Maggio's $56.00 game hit streak but there's another record you might be less familiar with and it would be pretty hard to break 2 only games Jonathan Chang has the story. I was going. On July 22nd 2008 in the closing seconds of a game between the Detroit Shock and the l.a. Sparks a brawl broke out. Nancy Lieberman was at a restaurant with their son t.j. For his 14th birthday they watched the melee on t.v. And I'm looking at this going only gosh this is crazy I mean it was a full on fight Lieberman was a 50 year old analyst for e.s.p.n. a Watching the brawl she didn't see the situation through the lens of a sportscaster Instead I looked at that and I went oh my gosh I'm playing. It all started a year earlier at the 2007 w n.b.a. All-Star Game I was doing the t.v. For e.s.p.n. And you know they had the skills challenge the producers wanted Lieberman to test out the Skills Challenge and event designed to showcase a player's dribbling and passing ability so Lieberman to better describe it for the t.v. Audience took my shoes off but I was you know dressed up more for t.v. Then for I didn't have any f. But on so they're like Ready go and as I finish I didn't realize a bilin beer was sitting like off in the bleachers somewhere Lambie or was the head coach of the shock and he came up to me because that's unbelievable your time and I said really he goes you still play and I said I mess around play a little he says when you turn 50 I said next July 1st he says let's make history. And I was like what he goes play at 50 for me I was like Absolutely so I didn't know I knew I was going to play in 2008 I didn't know when after that conversation Lieberman began training running hills lifting playing pickup games I wanted to see what my limits were what my capabilities were and you know to walk out there and go you know who's the 25 year old and who's the 50 year old if you. Didn't see your head you would know that was my goal so when that brawl broke out between Detroit and l.a. Lieberman was ready to go the league suspended 5 players from each team and one of the choice assistant coaches and Bill called me late that night he goes but I got a couple roster spots of. He said I think this is a good time as any and so he says can you come to Houston tomorrow and I said yes or. Nancy Lieberman is no stranger to setting records in 1976 when she was 18 she became the youngest basketball player to medal at the Olympics in college she led Old Dominion University to an n i t title and 2 national championships in an era when few talked about women's basketball Lieberman was a national star Lieberman was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1906 but it wasn't until the following year that the w.n. Game began so I played the $39.00. Player in the league at that point Lieberman says she wanted to play until she was 40 but after that season she received an offer to become the head coach and general manager of the newly founded the choice chalk and I was so excited 6 months later O's in my family moved to Detroit after 3 seasons Lieberman left the shock and became an analyst at e.s.p.n. . On July 24th 2850 year old Nancy Lieberman was scheduled to be in Houston for us piano after Bill called me I called my boss at e.s.p.n. And said I'm not going be able to do the game. Pad goes why I said I going to be playing and she was what I go it's a long story but I'm signing a contract in the morning with the Detroit Shock I didn't really have much time to be by myself except I did go back to my room before we went to the arena and I just sat there I can remember sitting on the bed just kind of think about what you know what it meant to me you know I've given my life to this game. And here it was on yet another level. When game time rolled around Lieberman didn't get the start and that was Ok The funny part is I'm sitting on the bench and my son is sitting like across courtside and he's looking at his watch in Tappan his watch like come on when are we going to get this thing going. Like do. Coaches go for me and when he wants me to go in and it didn't take long before that happened. To go to a little. Bit windows. You can see a half. Hour. You know when I went into the game and I did tell my teammates I said even if I'm on the court I don't look at you just keep your hands up and they were like what I said please enter de Lieberman have been known for her no look passes and then when I threw the Pass it was over the shoulder in traffic to my teammate and she scored and she was like oh my gosh oh my gosh I almost I almost didn't see it I did it like I'm just so happy you made end it was all over sports center. The Detroit Shock lost 6179 to the Houston Comets and Lieberman posted just 2 assists and 9 minutes but she had impressed even our opponents by breaking our own record as to all this player to ever play in a w n.b.a. Game you know I remember Tina Thompson hugging me and live to me off the floor and telling me how proud she was of me and that's all you could do as an athlete is hope that you've done it the right way and you've been a good influence or I mean I had hundreds of thousands of letters from people all over the world. No nobody was negative. Play more minute. But it was really great you know even with it was. There's no need to play another game and I was like it can't get better than. Anything other than what I just did. A few days later Lieberman was back at her old job at e.s.p.n. Is this the most unbreakable record of every record is breakable. Just how it's pushed if somebody does it I would certainly applaud them. Were kind of pushing. That story came from only a game's Jonathan Chang Nancy Lieberman is now the head coach of team power of the big 3 basketball. Game is produced by Martin. With help from. Our technical director. Our executive producer. Thanks for listening. 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The ghost Springs We've also heard of Cortez makers and Silverton and online it gives you t. Or g. Beat writer William s. Burroughs had an outsized influence and involvement with multiple generations of musicians I'm Jim De regattas and I'm Greg we explore the connections between Burroughs and rock'n'roll this week and sound opinions. Words of advice for young people. Well if you simply let me mention. A tune for Sound Opinions that comes your way this evening at 7 o'clock right before strange broo. And support for American roots is provided by Wolf Creek ski area 100 percent open with 6 lifts operating and a variety of terrain for skiers and boarders of all levels equipment rentals are also available as well as a fully staffed ski school.
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