Persistent Podiatric Woes and Musings on Cricketing Minnows

I went to the doctor again today. He delivered good and bad news. Good news is that the MRI shows that the torn tendon is healing. Bad news is that there is some new tenosynovitis and tendonitis, no improvement on the existing and there has been some worsening in two parts- Achilles tendon and posterior tibialis tendon. Even worse is that the MRI has revealed that the posterior tibialis is slightly torn. So now I have two torn tendons one on each side of my foot! My foot is also very swollen which I understand is from the tendonitis and inflammation etc. So it appears to be one step forward and two steps backward. The doctor said the MRI results sound worse than they really are. I am on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication for the swelling and inflammation and now wearing a special boot that allows me to “walk” on both feet while still using the crutches. I can take it off to sleep and shower. I am still supposed to rest and not put any weight on the foot if standing still. The boot is heavier than the cast but I guess the advantage is that I can take it off for showering and sleeping. The boot and continued rest are meant to heal the torn tendons and tenosynovitis and tendonitis; the medication is meant to help with the swelling, inflammation, tenosynovitis and tendonitis. The doctor also give me a cortisone shot which was the second one I have gotten. The first was in January. I have heard stories about how painful they are and so each time I expected acute pain; it actually wasn’t that bad.

I am going to be positive about this. At least the tendon which was so badly torn is healing and rest and the boot should heal the new tear. The tendonitis and tenosynovitis can also be healed by the rest and the medication. So hopefully just a few more weeks being immobile and some physical therapy afterwards and I will be ready to go.

I watched the last two hours of the Kenya/Canada game today. Kenya is in my opinion leaps and bounds ahead of the other minnows. It is a pity that the team doesn’t get to play top class opposition so often and even more of a pity that Steve Tikolo who is so much better than some batsmen in test playing teams will never get to play test cricket. I have mixed feelings about minnows competing in the World Cup. On the one hand they will never improve without competing against better opposition and to tell Ireland, Scotland, Bermuda or Canada that they shouldn’t play in the World Cup because they are not good enough is like telling Trinidad and Tobago or Jamaica that even though they qualified for the Football World Cup, they shouldn’t play because they are not good enough. Realistically however, how can two matches in a competition every three to four years help especially when they get massacred? Australia beating Scotland today by 203 runs in a one-day match is absolutely ridiculous! Not to mention, the “outstanding” and record breaking performances of players from top teams playing against minnows only serve to artificially inflate and exaggerate their averages etc.

World Cup Kick Off

World Cup 2007 kicked off with four warm-up matches today. As expected the minnows were soundly beaten although South Africa was given a scare by Ireland! These were warm-up matches and hence were not given full coverage. However what annoyed me was that cricinfo.com, the most popular cricket website on the internet had live scores and bulletins for two of the matches, did a bulletin for one game after it was over and totally ignored one game- that involving the hosts. One wonders if two black teams playing each other- hosts West Indies versus Kenya- was not important enough to be afforded any coverage. I just checked again and they have now posted a scorecard and bulletin after the fact!

The Aussies and South Africans were complaining about their training facilities. Maybe they were justified, maybe they were not. What I do know is that we are always held up to a higher level of scrutiny than others and particularly developed countries. Only last year, the West Indies turned up at a training session in Australia to find that the usual courtesy of the host country providing local bowlers to bowl at the batsmen in the nets was not provided. A few weeks ago the Aussies warned their fans about crime in the region but didn’t mention that the same time they issued their warning, some members of the English team were attacked and robbed in their hotel in Australia. They also did not mention the vicious attack a few years ago on some members of the West Indies team that left one player unconscious.

A few warm up games left, the official opening ceremony this coming Sunday in Jamaica and then the opening game next Tuesday- West Indies versus Pakistan. Go Windies! I hope to have everything organised by then to enable me to view the games. I tried to purchase the package on willow.tv but was having some problems which hopefully should be ironed out soon. I also hope that despite all my concerns about almost every aspect of the organisation of the World Cup, the tournament is a success.

The Cricketing Price of Living in NYC

A colleague from our Consulate here in NYC provided us with the information on how we could watch Cricket World Cup in the so-called capital of the world. Basically, it will cost $450 if you don’t have Dish Network- $250 for installation and rental of equipment and $199 for the cricket! The price one has to pay for living in NYC. If I was home, it would have been on tv for free. I will have to resort to watching it on the internet which will cost me $199.

I watched a Globe Trekker feature on Venezuela with Ian Wright, one of my favourites of the Globe Trekker team. It’s a beautiful and physically diverse country. There are so many places on my list of countries to visit, from Venezuela, Brazil, Mali and Kenya to Italy, Algeria, Mongolia and New Zealand and everywhere else in between. I love travelling, exploring and learning about different peoples and cultures and one of my dreams is to take a year or two off from work and life and just travel around the globe. Anyone willing to sponsor me? I can guarantee thousands of photos and volumes of journals!

I had my cast changed on February 19th. There was no real improvement but the doc said this was normal after only three and a half weeks and that when I came back to have it checked in another three weeks- March 12th- he expected to see a marked change. I hope so because I really don’t want to have to do surgery and be stuck home for even longer. At the beginning there wasn’t as much itching as I had anticipated there would be, but in the past two weeks it has flared up. I have been using a wire hanger but sometimes it can’t reach certain spots so I just sit and swear like I was doing a few minutes ago!