This is an individual sport, everyone chooses when to come and when not to come. from LAM's blog
LOUDON, N. Cheap Football Jerseys China .H. -- He was one of NASCARs first superstars, but Fred Lorenzens memories of his Hall of Fame career have dimmed as he battles dementia. His Daytona 500 victory, the wins he piled up to become NASCARs first $100,000 driver, his life on the road, all have been largely extinguished.Lorenzen still has flickering moments when he remembers his days as NASCARs Golden Boy -- called that for his rugged, movie-star looks. Like in recent years, when he visits Chicago Speedway, not far from his assisted living facility.His face just lights up when hes there, said his daughter, Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom.Nearly 45 years after his last Cup race, Lorenzen hoped he could still make his mark on the NASCAR community. Inspired by Dale Earnhardt Jr.s decision to pledge his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, Lorenzen became the second known driver to make the same decision.Gardstrom made it official Friday with a pledge to Legacy co-founder Chris Nowinski. As auto racing grapples with the issue of concussions and head trauma, one of NASCARs pioneers is now alongside Earnhardt in the donation queue.As a family, we decided we wanted to support Dale Junior and all work together toward a healthy future for these drivers, she told The Associated Press.Earnhardts concussion history -- he missed two races in 2012 -- spurred his decision to pledge his brain to the Legacy, a group that works with Boston University on research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative disease that doctors believe is caused by repeated blows to the head.Gardstrom is convinced the 81-year-old Lorenzen has CTE as a result of years of brutal wrecks and hits in the 1960s, one of the most dangerous eras in racing history. Lorenzen won the Daytona 500 in 1965.He never stopped to heal, she said.She wants to help, and knows her father does, too, and to advance the understanding of concussions and their treatment in NASCAR.Its the younger generation that we really need to educate, she said. Theyre young, theyre hungry, but when they get in a wreck and get a concussion, they know if they dont get back in the car, someone else is going to take it. We want to change the culture of the sport.Earnhardt has become the face of concussion awareness in sports and will skip Sundays Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway because of concussion symptoms. There is no timetable for when NASCARs most popular driver might return.The 41-year-old Earnhardt had already intended to be an organ donor, so he said in April that giving up his brain made sense. Earnhardt said he was motivated by reading about three former Oakland Raiders who donated their brains in honor of teammate Ken Stabler, who died in 2015. The quarterbacks brain showed signs of CTE.I think the protocols and the advances that we have made in trying to protect ourselves are great things, Earnhardt said at his pledge announcement. Im excited about what NASCAR has done. They have really taken this head-on.Gardstrom felt the same sense of motivation when she read about Earnhardts pledge. She said Lorenzen, inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015, first showed signs of dementia about a decade ago. He has memory loss and uses a wheelchair at Oak Brook Healthcare in Illinois.The Elmhurst, Illinois, native was one of NASCARs first stars to hail from outside the sports Southern roots.The hardest part right now is that his racing memories are starting to go, Gardstrom said. That was the one thing that was really wonderful, to connect and see him light up when he talked about racing.Shed like to see others in the sport talk more about concussions.That hasnt necessarily been a hot topic of conversation in any of our meetings, Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch said.Six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was part of a 54-member panel that picked Lorenzen for induction into the hall. Johnson has yet to consider donating his brain to the Legacy.I am an organ donor so it wouldnt bother me to do that, but its something Ive not taken steps in and have not discussed at all, he said.In the 15 years since the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. at the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR has introduced a series of measures designed to keep drivers safe, from helmet and restraint systems to impact-absorbing barriers along concrete walls, all designed to cushion high-impact blows.NASCAR also mandated in 2013 that drivers submit to baseline neurocognitive assessment. When a driver in NASCAR cant return his damaged car to the garage, a trip to the care center is required. Under a new three-step process, a driver showing any indication of a head injury must go immediately to a hospital. Concussed drivers must be cleared by an independent neurologist or neurosurgeon before they can get back in a race car.Gardstrom wants NASCAR to take even more steps.We dont have to wait until more drivers brains are studied to make a better concussion protocol, she said.Former athletes in other sports have sued their leagues, contending that the risks of concussions were hidden from them so they could return to competition. Gardstrom has no interest in a lawsuit.No money is going to bring my dad back, but what my goal now is, is to make sure the NASCAR family doesnt have to go through the similar things were going through now, she said.Lorenzen hasnt been forgotten by todays racing stars -- they appreciate a driver who won 26 times in the Cup series. Tony Stewart introduced Lorenzen at his hall induction. Jeff Gordon leaned in for a chat with Fearless Freddie last year at Chicagoland before the race.He was such a humble guy, that I dont think he ever realized what an impact he had on the sport, Gardstrom said. Adidas NHL Jerseys China . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. http://www.wohlesalejerseyschina.net/ . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. For the last couple of days, the Indian tennis team has been slugging it out on the practice courts at Rio under the watchful eye of non-playing captain Zeeshan Ali. Curiously, while Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and Prarthana Thombare have been putting in the hard yards, Leander Paes is yet to arrive in the city.Paes will partner Bopanna in the mens doubles and the competition is scheduled to begin on Saturday, August 6, leaving the pairing with precious little time to practice and prepare. Ali, who also serves as the coach of the Davis Cup team, says he is in the dark about Paes whereabouts and has had no contact with him of late, leaving him with no choice but to simply wait and watch.?Paes is now expected to arrive in Rio later on Thursday.Yes definitely it is not the ideal preparation, Ali told ESPN. For the AITA and me being a selector too, with the Davis cup in Chandigarh two weeks back, the whole idea was to get both the players (Paes & Bopanna) to try and get as much practice as they can. So arriving on the 4th for a match that may be on the 6th is definitely not enough time.As captain obviously I would have wanted all the players to have been here to get used to the conditions and to get used to the courts. It is a tough situation right now with Rohan having to find people to practice with. Weve got players from the other countries who are all practicing together and unfortunately Rohan is having to find people to practice with and thats not exactly the way we would have liked to prepare for the tournament.ESPN understands that at a meeting between the players, AITA officials and coaches on the sidelines of the Davis cup tie in Chandigarh last month, Paes had agreed to arrive in Rio along with the rest of the players by August 1. However, he has chosen instead to play in the ongoing World Team Tennis in New York. Although his Twitter feed contains several recent references about competing in his seventh Olympics, by delaying hiis arrival into Rio, Paes has given himself very little opportunity to be well prepared to contend for a medal. Cheap NHL Jerseys. .Bopanna, who had in fact asked to be partnered with Saketh Myneni and not Paes for these Games, is staying upbeat despite his partner missing in action. Besides practicing with Mirza, with whom he will partner in the mixed doubles, Bopanna has found fellow pros from other countries to get some preparation time in. On Wednesday, he spent the first bit of his training schedule playing alongside Serbias Nenad Zimonjic before changing courts to link up with Mirza. With Paes unavailable, Ali joined forces with Thombare, who is at her first Olympics and will play the womens doubles with Mirza, to give Bopanna and Mirza a hit out as they look to find some rhythm as a mixed doubles combination.I think you should ask the captain, the captain is the one who tells me when hes here or not, Bopanna told ESPN when asked to comment on Paes absence. I have come here a few days earlier to get used to the conditions, practice as much as I can and work it from there. So theres nothing really to be affected or not affected by it. This is an individual sport, everyone chooses when to come and when not to come. It is not in my hands to do anything about it. I can only be prepared once my partner is here. Right now Sania is here, I am practicing as much as I can with her and take it from there.In the eyes of most observers, given Paes extended run of patchy form that has seen him slip below 50 in the world rankings, a mens doubles medal is highly unlikely. Now, with very little acclimatisation as a combination, the unseeded pairing will perhaps need a minor miracle to make a run at Rio. Paes and Bopanna have been drawn against Polish team of Marcin Matkowski and Lukasz Kubot in the mens doubles first round. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys' ' '
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