At least the Turkey Salad was Good--

     When the best thing you have going for you for close to two weeks is a few good turkey salad sandwiches, there haven't been many good things happening.

I wish I had snapped a photo of the actual turkey salad ( the image is a stock version) but such is life.

I worked my regular shift on Saturday, came home, and went to bed early because I was attending the Maryland vs Iowa game on Sunday afternoon.

I was excited because I had never been to a Maryland game since they left Cole Field House.

I wanted to be rested so I could enjoy the day but after only a few hours of rest, I woke with bad stomach pain that wouldn't go away.

I was worried that it might be pancreatitis or appendicitis because of where the pain was located.

After hours of pain, I had to reluctantly beg off the game, which was the right thing to do as I wouldn't have had any fun in my condition and spent most of Sunday in bed in an attempt to get myself together.

Cherie was working on me to check things out at a local Urgent Care and Monday morning, I agreed to do so, figuring it would be a few pills and moving things along.

After a few tests, the doctor came in and told me that there was an issue, that needed to be addressed immediately did Cherie and I prefer to have the ambulance take me to the hospital, or would Cherie rather drive me there?

We didn't have time to stop at our house, so I didn't have my laptop for the stay, resulting in the lack of TRS updates.

I didn't spend much time in the waiting room but I spent hours taking various tests while hooked up to an IV, sitting in a hallway with Cherie, who was so caring and patient with me.

I'm doing all this and thinking (in my dazed mind) that I just need to get through these and go home.

I mentioned this to Cherie and she said "Shawn, I don't think you are going home today".

The issue would be my gall bladder and almost all of it would be removed.

She was right and they decided to admit me with the only question being would the surgery be tonight or the following day?

It would be tomorrow and other than a turkey salad sandwich, it would be one of the longest evenings I've ever spent.

At midnight, I wasn't allowed food and water with the surgery scheduled for the early morning, so I was without that and the surgery wound up happening in the early afternoon, which made me grouchy.

That only added to my unease because I had never had surgery in my life.

That's a long time to never have had surgery and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at all concerned.

My Mom was never the same after coming out from an anesthetic from a routine surgery and since I've never had surgery, it was a bit disconcerting.

The surgery would be okay but when I woke up, I had trouble communicating.

I couldn't connect the word that I wanted to speak that I "saw" in my mind with the word that I would say.

For example, if I tried to say "Salt Shaker" and would come up with "Orange Glass" it was more than a little scary for me.

I had never seen so many nurses and doctors running around and I was quickly taken for testing for a possible problem called "Aphasia".

I was concerned as they wheeled me around the hospital to the testing site ( That was exactly as I have seen on television and film, looking up at the lights was pretty neat!) but I cleared the test fortunately, and even though the problem didn't completely leave, it was enough to know that there wasn't a neurological issue. 

Ryan decided to come in from Nebraska after that adventure and he would be around for the remainder of my stay and a few days after I came home.

However, the problems weren't gone as the surgery needed some touchup work on the "hinges" (I really don't want to get too specific or too graphic), so with that needing to be fixed, it was time for surgery two to clean things up a bit.

However, that couldn't happen yet because my heartbeat was out of rhythm or "AFib" and they couldn't do anything further until that was under control.

That happened naturally because I didn't do anything or notice until my first nurse, Kalie, noticed and let the right people know.

Kalie was terrific and I didn't have a chance to tell her how great she was because I was moved to another room and floor on her off day, so I wouldn't see her again.

The worst pain of the week was yet to come and this is the one note that is hard to write about.

I had fallen asleep after dinner and we (Cherie stayed the night with me this evening) had been told before the first surgery that they tried to avoid the older style surgery that would leave me with a longer scar and that now they used three small incisions that they used a type of gas to help them do what they needed and then would sew me up but did warn that some times all the gas didn't dissipate right away, and could rise painfully.

I woke up with incredible pain in my right shoulder and saw the clock read 12:50 AM.

The pain was directly on my shoulder bone, was about the size of a dime or nickel, and the pain felt like a power saw was cutting my shoulder off!

I screamed for what the nurse's notes would later state was an hour (I'm not sure if that was too long or even too short, time was irrelevant to me at that stage) and drug my IV cart to the door as a horrified Cherie watched and begged for some help, in which the attending CNA asked what my pain level was.

I felt bad later for yelling "10" at her but I'm not sure I can express the pain that I was feeling and the follow-up of "We will have to take your blood pressure" didn't help things any!

Finally, my nurse for the evening Lisa came in with pain pills and a morphine drip that she told Cherie wasn't going to take the pain away but would make it easier for me to handle and would help me sleep, which was true, eventually ending one of the longest periods of my life.

The pain was still there with an MRI scheduled for the next morning that would take about an hour.

I told my technician that I would hang in there for as long as I could and I made it until the final five minutes when she said that she had finished.

I returned to my room, fell asleep, and when I woke up the pain was gone and never returned.

I've never felt such pain before and I felt so small during it.

Even now, it's difficult just thinking of it.

There were two problems during my stay that just drove me nuts.

The first was that my tests and surgeries were often decided (time) without me knowing it so I wouldn't have eaten and then the time to not eat before the event would kick in, so later I would become very grouchy.

Then often, it was "Well, you can't have this or that yet", so I'd get some cold broth or other liquid-based item which didn't satisfy me and only made me grouchier.

My room was located across the hall from the manager of the floor and we could look into each other's room." I wanted some real food, so I decided to do something about it.

I walked over and started talking to her and told her I was going to start singing songs until I could receive some non-liquid food.

She laughed and said "Let me help you" and found some music online.

I don't think she thought that I would sing and she was singing along with me as I "performed" (a word I use very loosely) four songs- Surf City by Jan and Dean, Hotel California by the Eagles (not an Eagles fan at all), Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne, and a fourth that I can't remember at this writing and just then Cherie walked down the hallway and pulled me out of the office.

It didn't get me any real food but it was fun anyway and it was nice getting my mind off things for even a little while!

The other issue happened throughout my stay as the IV would start this relentless beeping that would just drive me nuts and it wouldn't stop until the nurse could reset the machine.

I was just one of several patients for each nurse, so this could go on for quite a while until they had the chance to take care of it.

Eventually, a nurse showed me how to shut the machine off but this was a temporary fix as two minutes later (legitimate number, I checked it) the noise would resume.

Ryan would take care of this as he talked to the on-duty nurses before he would leave and ask them to keep an eye on the beeping as I would be very quiet and keep to myself unless that machine started going off!

During the final few days of my stay, the nurses were far quicker to get to the machine and my aggravation dimmed thanks to Ryan and the nurses for that!

Once I was able to get through surgery two, the stay became more of a grind and less about pain.

Constant testing, bloodwork, and check-ups were how I spent my day and finally, I was able to get the call to be released.

At the end of nine days and eight nights, I was going home but not without one more turkey salad sandwich that Cherie brought me from the cafeteria.

Cherie brought me up a few of those when she could and they were so enjoyable that I tried the tuna salad one night for dinner.

Sadly, that was so terrible that I didn't get through one bite before tossing that one!

I'm still recuperating and have a bit under three weeks before I am allowed to return to work.

In some ways, I feel fine and in others not so much but I'm hoping that is part of the process since I've never been through surgery before.

I've tried to shorten some of the details of this for privacy reasons and because this has taken well over a week to finish but I wanted to thank my family, Cherie, Ryan, Rachel, Jeff, and my dad, who visited me often and helped keep me on the track to recovery.

Ryan and Cherie did so much for me both inside and outside the hospital in dealing with all the minutia that comes with these things and I cannot thank them enough for all of their help and extra work.

Words can't express how grateful I am for everything from my family and friends for all they have helped me with,

I didn't tell many people about this until I came home because I didn't want people to worry about me or feel like they needed to keep me active but to those of you who did talk to me while I was there, thank you for entertaining me and keeping my mind off things.

Finally, I have very few things to complain about my treatment at Meritus Center, other than what most patients would gripe about.

I was pleased with my care and treatment and a special thanks to Kalie and Lisa, wherever you are as well as Willow, who worked with me one night and then I recognized her as Jeff's girlfriend!

In the end, I'm mortal after all, which comes with its own reflections and thoughts on the past and the future- a future that I am making changes (physical and mental) to move toward positively to learn from this experience.

Thanks for reading this jumbo-sized post and if you decide to see me sometime, I hear Meritus makes a hell of a turkey salad sandwich. 

Boxing Challenge: Kambosos decisions Wyllie

     George Kambosos desperately needed a victory in his 140-pound debut and he got it but worked much harder than expected in a unanimous decision victory over countryman Jake Wyllie in Sydney, Australia.

Kambosos had struggled with three losses in his last four fights and needed to win this for a possible IBF championship chance against Richardson Hitchins later this year.

Wyllie, the Australian champion, took the fight on less than a week's notice when original opponent Daud Yordan dropped out due to illness and performed well under the circumstances, especially over the second half of the fight when Kambosos slowed after a headbutt sliced the former lightweight champion over his right eye.

Kambosos won by scores of 117-111 times two ( and my score) and a close tally of 115-113 but even though he clearly deserved the decision, I'm not sure Kambosos showed enough that I would give him a decent chance against the bigger and smoother Hitchins, especially considering the limitations of Wyllie, who was given a contract with the event promoter, Matchroom Boxing, after the fight for his valiant effort.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 29 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica:  28 Pts (2)

Vince Samano:  18 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

     Two main events for the boxing challenge this Saturday with the most important pairing on Amazon Prime as PBC presents two titles in the junior middleweight division with WBC and WBO champion Sebastian Fundora defending those two titles against Chordale Booker from Las Vegas.

The 6'6 Fundora, known as "The Towering Inferno" makes his first defense of his titles since his surprising win last year over Tim Tszyu last March.

Booker has only one loss but it was against his best opponent, middleweight contender Austin "Ammo" Williams, who whacked Booker out in one round in 2022, so this is a showcase fight for the champion and a chance to remove some rust from a year away from the ring.

We finish with a ProBox main event that may be the most competitive of the weekend as super middleweights Lester Martinez and Joeshon James meet in a ten-rounder.

The unbeaten Martinez notched the best win of his career in his last outing with a decision over veteran Carlos Gongora while James has won his last two fights against his best opponents stopping then-unbeaten David Stevens in one round before a decision over veteran trialhorse Vaughn Alexander.

Both fighters are good punchers and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this one end by a spectacular knockout.

Boxing Challenge

WBC and WBO Junior Middleweight Titles. 12 Rds 

Sebastian Fundora vs Chordale Booker

Ramon Malpica: Fundora Unanimous Decision

TRS: Fundora KO 4
Vince Samano: 

Super Middleweights. 10 Rds

Lester Martinez vs Joeshon James

R.L: Martinez Unanimous Decision

TRS: Martinez KO 8
V.S:

Browns sign Jerome Baker

   The Cleveland Browns signed another player to a position of need with the inking of linebacker Jerome Baker.

Baker, who was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the third round in 2018 from Ohio State, spent his first six seasons with the Dolphins before splitting last season between Seattle and Tennessee.

Baker played five games with each team, collecting a sack for each and combined for forty solo tackles.

During his time as a Dolphin, Baker was involved with over one hundred tackles in three seasons, so Baker could be a valuable addition to the Browns linebacking corps.

The twenty-eight-year-old Baker is a speedy, rangy, linebacker, who is capable of playing all three downs and could be the replacement for the questionable return of Jeremiah Owosu-Koahmoah if JOK is unable to return from his neck injury suffered last season.

At worst, Baker would be a backup to JOK, and Jordan Hicks and possibly could be a full-time starter.

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

     The tributes always need to be given and this version is heavy from the basketball world with four losses from that genre'.

Goodbye to John Feinstein at the age of 69.

Feinstein was a long-time columnist for the Washington Post and wrote forty-four books over his prolific career.

Feinstein wrote fiction and non-fiction about several sports but wrote most about basketball, especially college basketball.

Feinstein is most famous for writing "A Season on the Brink" a book that Bob Knight hated and never forgave Feinstein for writing after allowing Feinstein full access to the Indiana Hoosiers for the 1985-86 season.

I'm a fan of many of Feinstein's books but I think my favorite is "The Last Amateurs", Feinstein's book on the 1999-2000 season with the teams in the Patriot League.

Goodbye to Junior Bridgeman at the age of 71.

Bridgeman helped Louisville to the 1975 Final Four, after winning the Missouri Valley's (Louisville was a member of that league at the time) player of the year in both 1974 and 1975 before the Los Angeles Lakers picked him eighth overall in the 1975 draft.

Bridgeman would never play for the Lakers as Bridgeman, fellow Laker first-rounder Dave Meyers, Brian Winters, and Elmore Smith would be shipped to Milwaukee for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley in a trade that the Bucks would do far better than many remember.

Bridgeman would play ten of his twelve NBA seasons in Milwaukee (the first nine and his final year)m averaging thirteen points a game for his career, and his number two is retired by the team.

Bridgeman would invest heavily in Wendy's restaurants during his playing career and before selling in 2016, Bridgeman was rated as the fourth wealthiest retired player in sports due to his business acumen and portfolio.

Last year, Bridgeman purchased ten percent of the Bucks from various owners to own most of the team other than majority owner Jimmy Haslam.

Bridgeman's purchase of the Bucks stock took his net worth to billionaire status at 1.4 billion.

Goodbye to Oliver Miller at the age of 54.

The portly center-forward helped Arkansas to the 1990 NCAA Finals before a nine-season NBA career with six teams, most notably the Phoenix Suns, who drafted Miller in the first round in the 1992 draft.

Often compared physically to Charles Barkley, Miller could never get his weight under control to live up to his potential and only once in his nine-year career averaged double-figures in points.

Goodbye to Donald "Slick" Watts at the age of 73. 

Known for his shaven head and headband, Watts made the Seattle SuperSonics as an undrafted free agent in 1973 but didn't start until the 1975-76 season when Watts became the first player to lead the NBA in assists and steals in the same season,

Watts would play four seasons with Seattle before being traded to New Orleans for a first-round draft pick midway through the 1977-78 season.

After the season, Watts was traded to Houston where he played the following year before suffering a career-ending injury.

Goodbye to Kenneth Sims at the age of 65.

The top overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, the Texas defensive lineman was a disappointment as a professional, notching only seventeen sacks in eight seasons, all as a Patriot.

Sims struggled with injuries and only twice played fifteen or more games in his eight seasons and only once finished with more than 3.5 sacks in a season, grabbing 5.5 for the 1985 AFC Champion Patriots.

Sims won the Lombardi Award as the nation's best defensive lineman in 1981 for Texas and was named All-American in both 1980 and 1981.

Boxing Challenge

  Early Saturday morning from Sydney, Australia and DAZN, former lightweight champion George Kambosos will attempt to revive his career with a match against countryman Jake Wyllie.

Veteran Daud Yordan was the original opponent for Kambosos but dropped out to be replaced by Wyllie, who is the Australian champion at junior welterweight.

Should Kambosos emerge with the victory as he is expected to do, Kambosos could receive a chance to meet IBF champion Richardson Hitchins for that championship.

It's fair to wonder what Kambosos will bring to the ring as he is 1-3 since his 2021 upset of Teofimo Lopez, losing lopsided decisions in two fights against Devin Haney, winning a majority decision over Maxi Hughes that I didn't think he deserved, and a battering from Vasyl Lomachenko last May in being stopped in eleven rounds for the vacant IBF lightweight title.

Wyllie is 17-1 with sixteen knockouts and won the vacant Australian title with a fourth-round knockout of 23-1 Dylan Emery in November, so he has a puncher's chance.

However, his only loss was in 2023 to a fighter that entered the match with a 0-2 record and dropped Wyllie three times before stopping him in the third round, so there are questions about his chin.

Kambosos hasn't scored a knockout since 2019, so that adds another wrinkle to the blanket when considering the outcome.

If Kambosos isn't washed up, he's a world-class fighter against an opponent a notch below his level.

But if Kambosos has slipped in recent years and that's very possible, Wyllie could have a chance if his chin holds up.

Boxing Challenge

Junior Welterweights. 12 Rds 

George Kambosos vs Jake Wyllie

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Kambosos Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano:  

Browns go Bear Hunting

    The Cleveland Browns have been relatively inactive in free agency but they have added a player from the Chicago Bears in each of the last two days to show a bit of activity.

Today was the more interesting addition as the Browns signed guard Teven Jenkins to a one-year contract.

Chicago picked Jenkins in the second round of the 2021 draft from Oklahoma State and Jenkins play for the Bears hasn't been the problem, the problem has been keeping him healthy and available for the lineup.

Jenkins has missed multiple games in each of his four seasons with his fourteen games (all starts) in 2024, his career-high in games played.

Jenkins is a strong run blocker, committed only one penalty in 2024, and allowed only four sacks as part of an offensive line that allowed a league-high sixty-eight last season.

Jenkins has played some at tackle but is better suited at guard and with Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller returning for this season, it's fair to wonder about where Jenkins will play.

Bitonio and Teller are signed through next season and the Browns still have disappointing 2024 third rounder Zak Zinter on the roster.

However, the Browns aren't sure how soon DaWand Jones will be available in his return from injury and it's possible that someone could have to move outside for a while depending on the status of Jones, so whether that would be Jenkins or Bitonio, both of whom have occasionally played tackle, is up in the air.

Plus Jack Conklin's injury history, despite his best season as a Brown in 2024, gives the Browns good reason to stock up on offensive linemen.

I like this signing because Jenkins is a quality addition who will likely have to play a lot somewhere during the season and should he play at the level that he did in Chicago, the Browns could have a leg up on a potential re-signing next off-season when Cleveland could lose Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, or possibly both.

The day before, the Browns signed another Bear, this one that the team hopes will, ahem, solve their long-time issues in the return game.

DeAndre Carter averaged nine yards a return on seventeen punt returns and thirty yards per his fifteen kickoff returns along with nine receptions for seventy-two yards.

Carter is also reported to be a player that can run gadget plays etc and it seems like I write this about a player signed in free agency every year, only to disappoint for various reasons.

Carter did catch forty-three passes for the Chargers in 2022 but at soon-to-be thirty-two and playing for what will be his sixth team, it's fair to wonder if the Browns have solved the problem.

Problems don't solve themselves, so you have to try players but with the Browns track record on this, I will wait and see before considering it solved.