Magus Ossis

There is no such thing as a normal spine MRI in someone in his 40s. And spine surgery, like all surgery, has inherent risks including failure. With that said, good surgeons who look at an MRI are looking for more than bulging of discs. Patients who have radiculopathic symptoms (problems that without an MRI are clearly caused by a problem with a specific nerve root where it comes off of the spinal cord) AND who have something (disc, overgrown facet joint, etc) clearly compressing the same nerve root on MRI tend to do very well with decompression by a skilled surgeon. They typically wake up better as though a switch has been thrown. Many people seek and have back and/or neck surgery for a lot of situations which fail to meet one or more of the criteria I listed, however. There is enough desperation among patients and money in operating on them that a lot of potentially avoidable bad results occur, not even necessarily through any conscious malfeasance.

I don't remember hearing about it before he signed. If he needs surgery, it could be anything from taking out a small bit of disc, a one-level ACDF (fusing 2 of the 7 neck bones together), to a major intervention. Even a one-level fusion doesn't necessarily mean no football. My guess is that if he has not seen a spine surgeon yet (and often the referral isn't made until nonsurgical care has obviously failed), it may be that literally no one knows his chances for whether and when he may be definitively over this. Disclaimer: I have not operated on a spine in years and do not keep up with much of the latest and greatest.

DGF's neck and stinger problems may linger, but with something this protracted, I like the fact that he has a positive MRI. Heaven forbid, but if he does not get better with time (bulging and extruded discs can resorb naturally), there is a clear surgical target. The frustrating ones to treat are the ones that have poorly focused physical findings or deficits that do not correspond to imaging.

I have to admit, I’m starting to wonder why we’re apparently not working harder to lock down the Bros. Brock. If we miss on them, it will be one of the, if not The, worst recruiting failures in Texas history.

Some people who would do much better with amputation refuse the procedure. The only time I ever really tried to talk someone into surgery he didn’t want was an above-knee amputation for gas gangrene that would otherwise likely have killed him within the day. On the flip side, there are actually people who hurt so badly that they think they want amputation of a perfectly viable limb.

Last resort if infection couldn’t be cleared, or if multiple surgeries to clean out infection necessitated taking out so much as to make the foot not worth keeping. Uncommon this far out but not unimaginable.

You are right. Being in that frame 3 months out is not an encouraging sign. There is still hope to heal and keep the leg, but his prospects for seeing another NFL snap are bad. edit: that tweet looks like it may be from two months ago, and that would not be a discouraging time still to be in an ex fix.

FWIW I don't have a very good guess at what is up with the episodic "kidney problems." The three big categories of common problems that come to mind are infection (pretty rare to have a young man suddenly develop recurring problems with this), stones (I wouldn't expect him held out, but maybe he has some giant staghorn calculus that someone thinks could cause mechanical injury), and functional failure/ nephritis/ nephrosis (which one would expect to have launched a big workup the first time around). Disclaimer: this is way out of my specialty and routine experience.

For media revenue income, Texas would be slightly above the average in the big 10. They are raking in cash up there. For reference, they distributed over 50 mil per school. SEC 43. Big 12 36ish (plus our 15 for LHN). OU comes in at about the SEC level with their tier 3 deal. I'm not particularly interested in a league full of cold, boring, far-off partners, but we need to consider that If one ranks media revenue at Texas, Minnesota, USC, Florida, Bama, and OU, the (fairly close) #2 is Minnesota, with a good-sized gap behind them and #3. What would Texas' market presence mean for the deals they already are able to secure?

It’s a structural and pragmatic issue. Texas and Bama would love to let kids market their likenesses. Eastern Washington maybe not so much. Before you can agree to let players be payed by third party X, you first have to permit the idea of third party payments to players/ recruits at all. Maybe the AAF and/or other minor leagues can help the problem. Minor leagues offer a more traditional employee relationship for those whose skills and inclination lead them to think they are more football interns/ players than students. If they wish to play football, sign up for a minor league. If they wish to play school, apply for the same spots available to the rest of the world. If they prefer the unpaid internship, pick up the phone when BC calls. tldr: Sam has a legit opinion, but the current league structure makes it a tough one to implement.

I mentioned it on the recruiting thread as well. I think it is worth Herman's sending a PI to nose around a little. If nothing is obvious, drop it. If mystery cash money seems to be dripping off of MW, it may be worth making an example.

Herman should send a PI to look around. If the cash is overflowing from whoever "suggested" he give up his scholarship to play football at Texas to walk on over there, it might be worth sending a message.

Well, in the Sheriff's defense, the man they arrested looked foreign and shared a surname with a woman who happened to be registered as an owner of a vehicle that was in the same neighborhood as a massage parlor.

Dominant is from dominans/ dominantis, an active participle with the meaning of one who dominates. Dominate is from dominatus -a -um, a passive participle meaning one who has been dominated. Deviant is from devians/ deviantis, active participle meaning one who departs from the right way. Deviate is from deviatus -a -um, passive participle meaning one who is separated from the right way. Despite being deponent, dominor is transitive and thus has very different meanings in its active and passive participles. Devio is intransitive and thus allows more easily in this instance for both participles to assume compatible meanings. Benjamin Franklin did not advocate the turkey as the national bird. He criticized the choice of the bald eagle for the presidential seal and praised the behavioral characteristics of both the fishing hawk and the turkey in his writing on the matter.

Unless he has a large craniectomy flap still out (unlikely) or had it replaced in a surgery that escaped the flurry of updates earlier (a little less unlikely), that helmet is not demonstrably appropriate for any reason whatsoever. Like braces after ACL recons, a lot of people wear helmets after cranis and seizures, though. Sort of like an ungrasped gait belt on a standing/dancing patient. Having said all that, I agree postoperative shielding is the more likely primary reason based on the extra material on the right side.

It is an uphill battle, but we should definitely keep recruiting this guy. His aggy pre-Bama commitment stays notwithstanding.

I think we are speaking two dialects of the same language. Not everyone that has had craniotomy/craniectomy (1) has the flap replaced or (2) gets a helmet. If the surgery was primarily to evacuate hematoma without the need for a big decompressive opening, he probably had any bone flap reattached with plate and screws at the conclusion of the index procedure. I don't remember hearing about any follow-up procedure to replace his flap, so I am operating under the assumption for now that he probably has most/all of his own cranium in place. A guy his age should have pretty good skull healing at 5 weeks postoperative, especially with a reinforcing plate, such that a helmet to protect a small craniotomy is of equivocal indication. If he still has a flap missing (or if he had a craniectomy flap removed and replaced sometime since 1/31), (1) his going to rehab without having his cranioplasty would be surprising, and (2) he would be much better indicated for longer-term wear.

Are they two-sport athletes? Basketball players more likely to have ball-handling skills.

If he is a willing and able blocker, he could be a fantastic RB. Wheels and "dump offs" to Whitt would not be boring to watch.

He looks great. Helmet might just be a precaution based on what he's been through but implies some continued concern about seizures. Gait belt could be out of same concern, because he is still a little weak, or standard protocol in that rehab unit for when he is up without an assistive device otherwise. Standing on his own, moving his neck, both arms, both legs = VERY GOOD SIGNS.

Morris is gunning for aggy.

So guys available by year (and on roster but still first year) are: 19: Shack, Braun, Oak, Kerstetter, Imade, Cosmi, Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore, (Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler) 20: Oak, Kerstetter, Imade, Cosmi, Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore, Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler, (Majors, Parr, Garth, ?Lind, ?George) 21: Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore, Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler, Garth, Majors, Parr, ?Lind, ?George, (?Brock) Depending on maturation and hit rates, we might not want/need a GT next year. We look like we will be turning over a lot of starting positions in 21. If Brock is already arguably better than the guys in the year ahead of him, might he play some as a true freshman in 21 despite having a lot of guys on the roster? This chart assumes everybody but Urquidez (chaff) and Cosmi (NFL) stay.

Baylor might be one of those non-blue-bloods that gets a whack on the head to help the NCAA assuage its brief moments of guilt from being so epically deficient and corrupt.

It is a little early for confident pronouncements, but I am impressed so far with the Herman's regime's evaluations.

I may be restating the obvious here, but I would like to see us work hard to get this guy on the field full-time this year, and I expect it to happen. He may be able by redshirting to have a better 2020 than he would have 2019, but that is not the main point IMO. I think he can show enough in 2019 to get himself closer to his second contract a year earlier by playing right away. The team benefits because, I expect, we will have big games against LSU, OU x 2, and at least one big bowl contest. We would be ill-advised to try to shuffle our line specifically for big games. We want as much continuity as reasonably possible. And there will be another GT in 2020. Win now, help Braun look good along the way, and we set ourselves up to get next year's version of Braun. I like the idea of having him at RG to pull toward Cosmi/Oak push.