Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, or HCM, is a genetic abnormality that enlarges the left ventricle, leading to sometimes fatal disturbances of the heart rhythm. Every year, around 300 high-school and college athletes die from HCM. What makes HCM so dangerous is it's undetectable when receiving a regular physical. To find out if you have HCM, you must get an EKG or an echocardiogram. What made me bring this up was the article in today's Wall St. Journal that talked about another 16-year old, who while running, unexpectedly collapsed and died right next to his twin brother who was running with him.

Whenever I see a death due to a heart condition, it hits home because I was one of those athletes in danger of a heart condition. I'll never forget the day my doctor first told me about this, then that same summer I believe, a University of Dayton basketball player died in his sleep, caused by a heart condition similar to HCM. It's something I still look out for since I continue to work out regularly. It's such a tragedy to hear of someone dying because of this. So if you have a younger sibling still in high school/college playing sports, tell them to get an EKG. Nowadays, they only cost $30, and you can detect HCM now with an EKG. EKGs are not 100% reliable, but they're much more reliable now than they were 10 years ago.

What else is going on:

• It will be Florida vs. Texas for the NCAA Baseball Championship. The Gators took care of Arizona St. tonight while the Longhorns still haven't lost in Omaha. It is a Best of 3 series. This has been more interesting than the NBA finals, with drama in every game. Arizona St./Nebraska from a couple days ago will be on ESPN Classic tomorrow night.
• The Finals are over, thank goodness, and the Spurs prevailed in Game 7, 81-74. Can you honestly tell me that was good basketball displayed tonight??? After next week's NBA Draft, basketball is over until Midnight Madness in October (NBA preseason doesn't count, sorry).
• At Wimbledon, it was a changing of the guard in a sense for the British fans. Tim Henman lost his 2nd round match in 5 sets, the first time he didn't make it into at least the Round of 16 for the first time in 9 years. But young Scotsman Andy Murray is through to the 3rd round, showing some game in the process. Also, French Open champ Rafael Nadal lost in his 2nd round match. Although he wasn't a favorite to win it all, he was expected to make it to the Round of 16. The only other major upset so far was French Open women's champ Justin Henin-Hardenne losing in the 1st round.
• Weather forced suspension of play in the 1st round of the US Women's Open. Currently the lead is shared by Angela Stanford, Dukie Brittany Lang, and Karine Icher at -2. Michelle Wie is -1 with 3 holes left in her 1st round. Ben Roethlisberger's women, Natalie Gulbis, is -1. Annika Sorenstam is 2 behind at E. Paula Creamer is tied for 35th at +3. By the way, admission to the US Men's Amateur Pub Links is FREE at Shaker Run, so I may be going over multiple times.

Tomorrow is my parents' 28th and grandparents' 58th Wedding Anniversaries respectively. Congratulations to them.

The Tour de France is just 9 days away!!!!! Outdoor Life Network has live coverage every morning beginning either at 8:30/9:30. If you don't feel like getting up early, don't worry, it's replayed all day, with in-depth coverage of each day's racing in primetime.