No, I have not gone back to school to fulfill some dream of playing intercollegiate sports at my alma mater. Rather, I have started rehab on my finger. I am out of the half-splint that I was moved to starting Christmas Eve. (You might have seen it in the pictures from my trip to Houston later that month.) A week ago Thursday, the doctor had given me the go ahead to take the splint off on occasion to wash the hand in the shower (4+ weeks and it surely stunk) and try to move the finger, but to wear it most of the time otherwise.
He also pulled the two pins out of my hand that had been helping hold the work together. Once they came out and their length was obvious, it was clear these were not insignificant pieces of the puzzle. They came out easily — if you’ve ever had surgical staples, they slid out just like that. Not a bit of pain involved.
I get 4 weeks of physical therapy to try to get things as close to normal as possible. The first session had already doubled the range of motion at the knuckle with the hand. There has been some regression outside of the warm-and-stretch sessions, but that’s to be expected — two steps forward and one step back. I’m also doing the routine below 4 to 6 times per day. You can see, just 24 hours later, that in some of the positions, I’m not too bad. But nothing is 100 percent yet, not even trying to straighten out the finger. The pinkie is on the backside of the shots, and you can see it peeking around the other fingers that should be hiding it.
When working with the therapist, the rolling exercise is done with a cylinder wrapped in velcro on a velcro track — a little tougher. I have the most fun playing with the rice. The 5 minutes are up before I know it. Each session takes more than 30 minutes, though, so it’s not an insignificant chunk of time.
The doctor has already told me it will never return to 100 percent function, but so far, I’m pleased. There is no pain associated with it, just a nice little scar and a slightly droopy finger that still won’t bend too far. One day at a time — that’s all I can ask for right now.
Do you remember my note back in September about the Rice football team and how special they might be? Well, they fell to 3-3, then ran off 7 straight wins (including a bowl game) to finish out the season.
That’s right — they won their first bowl game in almost 55 years. The Cotton Bowl in 1954 was the last bowl win for Rice. It also gave us this famous play. Hopefully, you’re already familiar with it, but if not, here is a quick recap.
Even better, my dad got to witness the game in person. We flew in and out of Richmond, being gone for only about 48 hours total. Our hotel was less than a mile from the stadium and not too far from campus. On Monday night, we met up with Jeff Jeffress (a roommate of mine) and his wife Isabelle (both Rice grads) for dinner. It was good to catch up about families and other topics.
Tuesday morning started off on the Rice campus with an alumni gathering in the new coffeehouse — an all-glass enclosure that’s supposed to be extremely eco-friendly. It definitely would have been nice to have that on campus when I was there. We also took time to wander to a couple of corners of campus. We visited Will Rice College, the residential dorm both Dad and I were associated with. We also wandered over to the new basketball arena (refurbished the previous court and structure and re-opened the prior month), then visited the nearly empty (except for a groundskeeper on the lawnmower) baseball stadium — an absolute crown jewel.
You can see many of the pictures I took in the album below. The album does cover all of the way to the end of our visit, so please continue reading below it.
After a quick bite to eat, it was off to the Texas Bowl. First was the Owl Walk, where the fans line the entrance to the stadium as the team heads in. After which, we got to see this rather bemusing scene — a chicken trying to lead the Chicken Dance, but having no idea how to do it.
Then there was an official Rice tailgate, with lots of good food and unlimited beer and beverages for a fixed price. (Definitely beat the prices we would have paid at the stadium.) We finally got into the stadium and to our seats about 15 minutes before kickoff. We sat in the corner of the end zone in the club level (300 level). Great views of the action without being too high up. And needless to say, jumping out to a 38-0 lead before allowing 2 late TDs was more than I could have expected. The NFL Network had a decent 4-minute summary of the game and post-game analysis/interviews here.
This was a class group of Rice football players. They tied a school record with 10 wins on the season, just 3 years removed from a 1-11 season. The official Rice pictures only begin to do it justice. This was a special group of seniors that have given us Rice fans at least a little taste of successful football. We certainly hope that the success can continue.
A special thanks is going to be shared about the three players I highlighted in the video — Chase Clement (QB), Jarrett Dillard (WR), and James Casey (TE). All three were largely ignored in recruiting — Chase and Jarrett were recruited for a wishbone offense, and James actually spent several years chasing a minor league baseball career before sending his own recruiting video to Rice and getting accepted. Chase and Jarrett have rewritten much of the history books, whether at Rice, in Conference-USA, or even nationally (most prolific passing duo, most career TD catches for a receiver). And James may have played only two years, but was a jack-of-all-trades (played 7 different positions in one game in 2007) with amazing skills. He’s leaving early for the NFL, but is already aiming to graduate this summer with over a 3.8 GPA in a triple major in just over 2 years of school. That certainly puts me to shame. Some highlights from the announcement (including game footage).
At least two of them will get drafted (Jarrett and James). Chase is a bit short, but likely will get a shot to at least make a roster. I’ll definitely have some guys to root for in the NFL.
The whole trip was a load of fun, and I’m glad Kellie gave me a kitchen pass to do it. (Thank you, dear.) This won’t happen every time, but this was a fun experience made all the better because of the win and a chance to spend time with some friends and (of course) Dad.
We had a couple of events, surrounding a relatively relaxing afternoon. With all of the events and running around of the last week, it was earned. This evening, Will finally lost his upper left front tooth. It had been loose for so long, and today is was barely holding on. But he didn’t want to help it along, so we had to wait it out until dinner time. But it came out then, so Will has now lost 5 of his baby teeth so far. But he’s got that nice, big gap in the upper front to deal with. I guess apples and carrots are going to be more difficult now.
In the morning, everyone woke up close to our normal times and participated in our annual Mummers pancake tradition. It’s something my family started over 20 years ago, when we lived outside of Philadelphia, PA and would watch the annual Mummers Parade on TV. The parade goers dressed up in all sorts of fanciful ways, and so we made a tradition of decorating faces on pancakes with all sorts of fruits, sprinkles, whipped cream and other toppings. Even after leaving the Philadelphia area, we have continued to do the tradition, and Kellie has also bought into the tradition. Some years, we do Belgian waffles, but this year it was pancakes.
Here are a few snapshots from this morning’s festivities. Somehow, we did not get pictures of my parents’ creations, but we have samples from my family.
Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy start to the new year. Will was up to watch the ball drop in New York City with Kellie, my parents, and me. We have had a very busy holiday week, so hopefully I’ll have some more updates coming out sooner. In the meantime, have a fun and blessed new year. Keep in touch.
