Well its been a couple of days since Jordan had his ACL repaired. I would like to give a shout out to the wonderful group of people at Duke Sports Medicine. Unbelievable is all I can say. Dr. Garrett is phenomenal, the whole staff is phenomenal.
Jordan has greatly improved. His spirits are back up. He is now more determined than ever to play college ball. I have no doubt that he'll be back better than ever. Duke Sports Medicine is as good as it gets. Dr. Garrett is as good as it gets. We are very pleased to have access to such a fine institution. As a Michigan man I tip my hat to the Blue Devils-J and the rest of us thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
It seems we are looking at 5 months of recovery. Some make it back sooner. If anyone comes back sooner it will be Jordan, the kid's a freak of nature. Dr. Garrett agrees. According to the doc he has the strongest hamstring tendons he has ever seen. So his new ACL will be beastly.
PT starts Monday. It will be tough, but the boy is very ready to tackle this challenge. He wants to play in the CASL Shootout in early December. He just may do it!
On another note, started a new website 123moneyforfree. Check it out, make some $$$, get some free stuff. It's quite easy.
Showing posts with label athletes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label athletes. Show all posts
8/10/07
7/24/07
A precursor: Jordan attended the Ralph Lundy camp 2 weeks ago. It went great. Many colleges left impressed by my boy.
Next up was the University of Michigan camp. This is his first choice, the reason he has been training since he was five years old. The head of recruiting even sought him out before camp to discuss his future. The dream was coming true.
Camp started with a fitness test which of course he dominated. Next was the first scrimmage of the camp. Five minutes in it all came crashing down. Jordans' left knee blew apart. ACL-tore, meniscus and mcl-will know more after surgery.
Senior year leading Pinecrest to the state playoffs-gone, Region III with TFC-gone. An unbelievable turn of events for a kid that didn't deserve it. Hopes are now on salvaging a portion of club season. College soccer is a huge question mark now. What was a sure thing is anything but at this point.
How do you comfort a child that just had everything he has worked for taken away? I do not know the answer. We are staying positive, but it is very hard. The whole town is in a daze.
As his not so little brother Devan said, "How did this happen, that is Jordan, he's invincible". Jordan can't get hurt, he's "J HOW" for crying out loud.
He will be seen wednesday by Dr. Gates-Team Dr. for the Men's and Women's National Soccer Teams and Team Dr. for Duke University. I believe this really shows what kind of reputation my son has. People pulling strings to get him the best care and rehab.
He will be back, with a lot of prayers and hard work, we believe the Duke sports medicine machine will make him like new. He will play college ball.
Next up was the University of Michigan camp. This is his first choice, the reason he has been training since he was five years old. The head of recruiting even sought him out before camp to discuss his future. The dream was coming true.
Camp started with a fitness test which of course he dominated. Next was the first scrimmage of the camp. Five minutes in it all came crashing down. Jordans' left knee blew apart. ACL-tore, meniscus and mcl-will know more after surgery.
Senior year leading Pinecrest to the state playoffs-gone, Region III with TFC-gone. An unbelievable turn of events for a kid that didn't deserve it. Hopes are now on salvaging a portion of club season. College soccer is a huge question mark now. What was a sure thing is anything but at this point.
How do you comfort a child that just had everything he has worked for taken away? I do not know the answer. We are staying positive, but it is very hard. The whole town is in a daze.
As his not so little brother Devan said, "How did this happen, that is Jordan, he's invincible". Jordan can't get hurt, he's "J HOW" for crying out loud.
He will be seen wednesday by Dr. Gates-Team Dr. for the Men's and Women's National Soccer Teams and Team Dr. for Duke University. I believe this really shows what kind of reputation my son has. People pulling strings to get him the best care and rehab.
He will be back, with a lot of prayers and hard work, we believe the Duke sports medicine machine will make him like new. He will play college ball.
3/25/07
I know, I know
I know I promised to get back to the boys story. I will soon enough. It has been entirely to busy lately. The mighty Comets played in another inline tourney, taking the championship. Add another gold medal to Jordans' wall. The Sandhillls Thunder are enjoying a fine season. Undefeated and in 1st place with one game remaining. They should have a nice run at the State Cup.
Devan is gearing up for a slew of tryouts with a bit off fun mixed in. He will be playing in an iron man ice tourney. His team is the defending champs. It is a blast, a low stress weekend right before select tryouts. It will be fun.
I will get back to the story sometime this week. Stay tuned!
Devan is gearing up for a slew of tryouts with a bit off fun mixed in. He will be playing in an iron man ice tourney. His team is the defending champs. It is a blast, a low stress weekend right before select tryouts. It will be fun.
I will get back to the story sometime this week. Stay tuned!
3/11/07
it's over
It is bittersweet. The hockey season has officially ended. We beat TPH 3-1 to set up a showdown with Team Maryland for a spot in the finals. Everything started well. We were dominating, just couldn't score. As as happened all season, the wheels came off. A couple of soft goals, a few dumb mistakes, stupid penalties, and it was 7-3. Game over. This was a hard team to figure out. One game they were awesome, next terrible. On to next year.
Jordan and his club soccer team improved to 3-0 beating a strong team from the coast. His team is very good. We are looking for a very good season from them. Now we shall enjoy the next couple of days at Siesta Key. A much deserved vacation.
Jordan and his club soccer team improved to 3-0 beating a strong team from the coast. His team is very good. We are looking for a very good season from them. Now we shall enjoy the next couple of days at Siesta Key. A much deserved vacation.
2/1/07
Raleigh here we come!
We were ready for the big time. We were ready to take the show on the road. The Carolina Hurricanes were having an Inline Hockey Tournament. Our team was decent, the boys were growing tired of playing Fayetteville, it was perfect. There would be teams from North and South Carolina, we thought it would be great to see how our boys measured up.
Off to Raleigh we went, kids and parents alike all chomping at the bit. We actually fared pretty well. We beat a few and lost a few. Jordan really stood out, scoring at will against everybody. One game he scored a few in regulation then won the game on the last shot of the shootout, incredibly exciting. Devan played very strong defense against boys 2-3 years older than him. The most memorable moment of his tourney came against a team called the biscuit bangers based out of the Gretzky Center in Raleigh. They were a very good team (eventual champs) and they were physically dominating us. Taking extra runs at both Jordan and Devan. One player in particular was really giving the boys a hard time. He was a year older than Jordan and quite a bit bigger. Donovan was his name. Anyway, late in the game he put a good lick on Devan, Dev got up and chased him all the way to the other end of the rink. They were going at it pretty good in the corner and suddenly Devan grabs Donovan by the Jersey and swings him around. They are now face to face and Devan is challenging him to a fight. Remember this kid is 3 years older and way way bigger. Devan could care less, he had (had) enough, he was going to settle it one way or the other. It would not have been pretty, thank god for big brothers as Jordan stepped in to quell the uprising. To this day Devan has backed down from no one. I think that day he decided he owned the rink, period! It helped that Jordan always kept an eye on his little brother, although he would never admit to it.
The boys hated the biscuit bangers, particularly Donovan. He was their arch-nemesis. Ironically, later on, Jordan and Pat Donovan would become good friends and teammates. Small world. All in all it was a very successful trip to Raleigh and it set the stage for bigger and better things to come. Look out world, here come the Howlett boys.
Off to Raleigh we went, kids and parents alike all chomping at the bit. We actually fared pretty well. We beat a few and lost a few. Jordan really stood out, scoring at will against everybody. One game he scored a few in regulation then won the game on the last shot of the shootout, incredibly exciting. Devan played very strong defense against boys 2-3 years older than him. The most memorable moment of his tourney came against a team called the biscuit bangers based out of the Gretzky Center in Raleigh. They were a very good team (eventual champs) and they were physically dominating us. Taking extra runs at both Jordan and Devan. One player in particular was really giving the boys a hard time. He was a year older than Jordan and quite a bit bigger. Donovan was his name. Anyway, late in the game he put a good lick on Devan, Dev got up and chased him all the way to the other end of the rink. They were going at it pretty good in the corner and suddenly Devan grabs Donovan by the Jersey and swings him around. They are now face to face and Devan is challenging him to a fight. Remember this kid is 3 years older and way way bigger. Devan could care less, he had (had) enough, he was going to settle it one way or the other. It would not have been pretty, thank god for big brothers as Jordan stepped in to quell the uprising. To this day Devan has backed down from no one. I think that day he decided he owned the rink, period! It helped that Jordan always kept an eye on his little brother, although he would never admit to it.
The boys hated the biscuit bangers, particularly Donovan. He was their arch-nemesis. Ironically, later on, Jordan and Pat Donovan would become good friends and teammates. Small world. All in all it was a very successful trip to Raleigh and it set the stage for bigger and better things to come. Look out world, here come the Howlett boys.
1/18/07
Kids, Sports, Parents
We have touched on the budding of the superstars, we have touched base on some initial training, now the good stuff. PARENTS! We all have them, we all love them, but boy can they be embarrassing.
Competitive athletics and parents go together about as good as oil and water, they don't. All of us have had our moments. We yell at the coach, we scream at the ref, we chew out our child. I am not going to lie, I've had them too. As I have aged (gracefully I might add) I have learned many valuable lessons as parent/coach, none more important than let the kids play. Notice I said play. Don't get me wrong, I want my kids to win, win, win, win, but more importantly I want them to have fun. They put enough pressure on themselves, they do not need me harping all the time. I let them know what is expected-100% effort, be a team player, good sportsmanship, and have fun. Here is an excellent article from USA Hockey about parents and sports. It is a must read.
I will divulge my bad behavior (as well as my good) as we move along in the timeline. No question I was an idiot at times, took the fun out of sports at times, was a complete jerk at times. I have seen the errors of my ways, I hope you can too. Remember its never to late to change. LET THE KIDS HAVE FUN! That's what it's about, that's what you want them to remember 20 years from now. LET THE KIDS PLAY, it is only a game for crying out loud.
Competitive athletics and parents go together about as good as oil and water, they don't. All of us have had our moments. We yell at the coach, we scream at the ref, we chew out our child. I am not going to lie, I've had them too. As I have aged (gracefully I might add) I have learned many valuable lessons as parent/coach, none more important than let the kids play. Notice I said play. Don't get me wrong, I want my kids to win, win, win, win, but more importantly I want them to have fun. They put enough pressure on themselves, they do not need me harping all the time. I let them know what is expected-100% effort, be a team player, good sportsmanship, and have fun. Here is an excellent article from USA Hockey about parents and sports. It is a must read.
I will divulge my bad behavior (as well as my good) as we move along in the timeline. No question I was an idiot at times, took the fun out of sports at times, was a complete jerk at times. I have seen the errors of my ways, I hope you can too. Remember its never to late to change. LET THE KIDS HAVE FUN! That's what it's about, that's what you want them to remember 20 years from now. LET THE KIDS PLAY, it is only a game for crying out loud.
1/15/07
Kids And Training
How young do you start sports training your kids? That is the age old question. Everybody has an opinion. Don't start training until they are such and such an age. They are growing, it will stunt their growth. I've heard them all.
I have a simple answer to this age old question. Give them as much as they can handle. It sounds simplistic, yet if you think about it, it's just common sense. Now I would never advocate weight training for 5 year olds, I would however advocate some kind of physical fitness.
What do most kids love to do more than anything? Play! I have never met a child that didn't want to play. Whether it be tag, dodgeball (I know it's the worst), kickball, whatever. Kids want to play. Our jobs as parents is to make sure they play. It really is that simple for the young kids. Play, play, play, play, just play.
When my kids were this young they ran. They ran through the house, they ran through the yard, heck they ran through the grocery store. I didn't care, I knew the running was making them better. They didn't know it, but I sure did. In my earlier posts I talked about my oldest being faster and stronger than everybody else. He got that way by running. Run, run, run. And you know what, little brother Devan wanted to be like big brother Jordan so he ran too. Always trying to catch up, he ran. To this day, both boys can still out run most anyone.
This is my first piece of advice. Get your young athletes running. They will be training and they won't even know it. An even better idea: Run with them, they will love it and so will you!
I have a simple answer to this age old question. Give them as much as they can handle. It sounds simplistic, yet if you think about it, it's just common sense. Now I would never advocate weight training for 5 year olds, I would however advocate some kind of physical fitness.
What do most kids love to do more than anything? Play! I have never met a child that didn't want to play. Whether it be tag, dodgeball (I know it's the worst), kickball, whatever. Kids want to play. Our jobs as parents is to make sure they play. It really is that simple for the young kids. Play, play, play, play, just play.
When my kids were this young they ran. They ran through the house, they ran through the yard, heck they ran through the grocery store. I didn't care, I knew the running was making them better. They didn't know it, but I sure did. In my earlier posts I talked about my oldest being faster and stronger than everybody else. He got that way by running. Run, run, run. And you know what, little brother Devan wanted to be like big brother Jordan so he ran too. Always trying to catch up, he ran. To this day, both boys can still out run most anyone.
This is my first piece of advice. Get your young athletes running. They will be training and they won't even know it. An even better idea: Run with them, they will love it and so will you!
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