When over isn't over...

Ebola is back in Liberia and I am heartsick. I am praying for West Africa. The infrastructure and economies of the affected countries will take years to recover.

Kyle Busch, a true Cinderella story

It is no secret the new Chase format annoys me- how can it be a Championship when the results are based on taking out another car to advance and plain out good luck, rather than who wins the most and has finished the best over the year? Or avoiding bad luck, perhaps.

Still, except for Kevin Harvick (who wrecked the Talladega field to advance) I was happy with the final four drivers.  And Harvick had an amazing year- was that 14 second place finishes? All the money was on Harvick to win. Gordon was the sentimental favorite, of course, driving in his final race, but it seemed everyone thought it was Harvick’s championship to lose.

I was with the underdog- The one car team from Denver, with Truex, who got a raw deal in the scandal at Michael Waltrip Racing a few years ago. Martin was my man going in. And can I say it completely freaked me out when they caught fire in pit lane?

Strangely, it didn’t seem to bother either driver or crew chief… WHAT!!

The car however did not cooperate with the dream- it was hard to handle and Truex finished 4^th for the season. His best season ever, but I was still a bit sad for him.

And so we come to Kyle Busch… who has, in a word, been terrible in the Chase races up until this year. Kyle Busch, who swept at Bristol in 2010, had never won a Chase race.

And then on February21, 2015, the day before the Daytona 500, Rowdy took part, as he often did in the Xfinity Series race. On Lap 113, we all watched as he hit a wall with no SAFER barrier. We watched his very pregnant wife race to the infield care center as Kyle had to be helped from his car. He was hurt. Badly hurt. But conscious, thank God.

11 races came and went while Kyle Busch recovered from multiple lower extremity fractures. He was still home when his son was born on May 18th. A  lifetime by NASCAR standards.

NASCAR said that if Kyle came back and won a race and could get himself in the top 30 in points, they would consider him eligible for the Chase. So back he came and race he did. In short order he won, first at Sonoma, then at Kentucky, Loudon, and the Brickyard back to back.

Superman made it into the top 30 and the Chase, and this chase was different. He was in Victory lane congratulating winning drivers. He joked at being a big Jimmie Johnson fan when Johnson snagged a win from Bad Brad. He made the final four… AMAZING!

He was playing with house money. And he raced like he was on the track by himself.

I will skip over the late race bogus debris caution… NASCAR really, I am rolling my eyes!!

Rowdy bringing it home was pure joy- even as I rooted for Truex, this is a fairytale ending I can get behind.

So the Drive for 5 is over, Harvick is a one-hit wonder for now, and the little team that could landed 4^th- which is nothing to shake a stick at. M&Ms all around- See you all in Daytona.

Peace

"The New Colossus"

By Emma Lazarus

 

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

 With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

 Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

 A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

 Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

 Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

 Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

 The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

 

 "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

 With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

 Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

 The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

 Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

 I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

 

 

At the base of the statue France gave us long ago, these words call welcome to the immigrants and refugees of the world. As the first American born member of my family, I am grateful my parents had the opportunity to come to this country. Each family here has immigrants somewhere in their family tree. Whether they crossed the Bering Strait, came in the Mayflower or arrived on an airplane like my parents did in the 50’s, we all hail from those who left home for this new world. With all the anxiety and fear this week has brought, it is hard to remember we were all welcomed in.  Praying for peace.

The end of an epidemic?

The last patient in Guinea has tested negative twice, so if no new cases pop up in the next 6 weeks, the epidemic will be over. The 21 day old girl, according to the BBC, was born the day her mother died of the disease, and if she survives, she will be the first baby to survive more than a couple of days beyond her mother's death.

The Ebola Epidemic that started over a year ago in Meliandou, a small village in south-eastern Guinea. There, a two year old boy, Emile Ouamouno, died after a fever, headache and bloody diarrhea. It was in December 2013, despite his family's best efforts, he died - followed within days by his three-year-old sister Philomene and their pregnant mother Sia. 

Since their deaths, over 11,000 people died in six countries and many survivors have suffered permanent harm.

There were heros.  One was Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh in Nigeria, who gave her life, but stopped the virus in its tracks there.

There were miracle drugs: Zmapp saved lives. TKM saved lives.

It is hard to believe two years will have passed by the time it is all over. Harder still, I am sure most people think it already is. Just as it took months for the world to realize there was a serious epidemic in Western Africa, the epidemic disappeared from the headlines long ago- no longer the top story, even as the deaths continued.

And the rebuilding has just begun.

Insurance, bah humbug!

Prior approval, prior authorizations and peer to peer reviews are all tools by which insurance companies:

A.      waste provider time

B.      avoid paying for things providers think will benefit their patients

I will also point out that peer to peer is a misnomer. An OB/GYN is not a peer to a Genetics doctor. Just because you have MD after your name, you are not magically endowed with the knowledge and experience to judge the care of other disciplines of medicine. In the same way you would not want my favorite Gastroenterologist delivering babies, I don’t want you telling my doctors they don’t really need a microarray.

This is a world where a patient well managed on a non-narcotic pain medication is told it is better to be on Oxycodone, because it is cheaper. Forget the addiction potential- it is all about the bottom line.

Medicine is hard enough without adding these obstacles. How can we provide the best care when somebody wholly uninvolved gets the final say on key decisions?

Is this the best we can do?

NASCAR CHASE and Champions

I have to ask you, NASCAR, if this is how you imagined your “championship” to play out. Because these boys are just not acting like champions if you ask me… If you look at you best active champion, Mr. Six-Time, I think you can see the difference.

When Jimmie had a parts failure and was eliminated; he was disappointed but proud of his team. He is a true champion of his sport. Kevin Harvick did not do what a champion should do when his engine failed at the end of the Talladega race. Instead, to ensure he moved on to the next championship round, he wrecked the field, eliminating Junior’s chance to beat Logano fairly and move on. And a black flag to the NASCAR officials who called off the first restart for a do-over because Jimmie and Kyle Larson landed in the grass- there was nobody in harm’s way- and we all know it. Couldn’t live with your one green white checker change- seriously sounds like WWF rules to me.

In the closing laps at Texas, Jimmie and Brad left it all on the track fighting for the win, but raced each other like champions. Jimmie won without spinning his opponent. In nearly the same situation, Joey, who is clearly not a champion, chose to wreck Matt Kenseth in order to eliminate competition- because he had already ensured his place in the next round he could have raced clean for the win and chose not to.  Shame on Brian France for supporting that move. Quintessential NASCAR my fanny.

Matt wrecking Joey out at Martinville was pure joy to watch (and rewatch). Because he had it coming!  NASCAR benching Matt was wrong after they did NOTHING to Kevin Harvick after he altered the end of the previous race. But how could they bench the defending series champion…

(NASCAR also killed Matt’s streak of 571 consecutive starts, which was the second-longest active streak behind the Gordon's 795 in a row. Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman have each started 502 consecutive races since the 2002 Daytona 500.)

Icing on the cake was Joey blowing out the back end of his car on lap nine yesterday when his tire exploded- I think the only person happier than me was Matt Kenseth. Points to him for the best post-race Tweet:

''Good work @JimmieJohnson! Textbook pass for the win at the end of the race when someone is trying to take your lane. #quintessential''

And with the Chase format that is supposed to emphasize wins, NASCAR, how are you feeling with the 3 biggest winners of 2015 not being in your final four? Jimmie, Joey and Matt have 16 wins between them. Are you trying to make the championship completely meaningless? Because it is working!