An Article About Me

My school published this article in its marketing magazing about my experience with the Oakland Raiders.


PT student joins Oakland Raiders training camp

ASHS student Shaun Palmer, PT ’10, escaped the desert heat when he was given the opportunity to join the Oakland Raiders’ six-week preseason training camp as a medical staff intern July 29 in Napa Valley, Calif.
Historically, NFL teams maintain a relatively small medical staff throughout the regular season. However, during preseason, new draft picks, returning veterans, and new trades can double team sizes before the start of the regular season. The regular medical staff is then faced with a problem of finding preseason help.
ATSU Director of Human Anatomy Sue Hillman helped Palmer land the job. Scott Touchet, the Raiders’ assistant athletic trainer, was a graduate student of Hillman’s at the University of Arizona, and he calls her each year in search of good interns to help with training camp. After interviewing with the Raiders’ lead trainer, Palmer was offered the position and flew to California where he would spend the next month and a half.
A typical work day for Palmer and the other interns was 16 hours with 6 a.m. wake-up calls. On practice days, interns were charged with setting up training rooms, setting up the practice field with Gatorade, water, and medical kits, and even serving as “cramp patrol” during team meetings. On game days, interns arrived with the medical staff five hours prior to game time to set up the field with Gatorade and medical equipment. They then worked in the training room to provide needed treatment, eventually ending up on the field helping players stretch and providing water during pre-game drills. Following the game, they helped tear down the field and provide treatment.
Before his work with the Oakland Raiders, Palmer had always thought he would enjoy a career in Major League Baseball. Yet after training camp, he admits that he would now consider a career in the NFL. “I always thought of football as intimidating because of the number of traumatic injuries, especially spinal cord injuries,” he said. “But working in the NFL was a lot of fun, and it reinforced that I definitely know enough to survive in the sport and be a competent healthcare professional.”
According to Hillman, Shaun has a rare chance that not many PT students get to be a part of. “Shaun had the opportunity to be a medical staff member for an NFL team,” she said. “To some, it is a dream come true. To Shaun, it is part of his total education.”

My Own Sports Stories

Steve Kerr Secretly Hates the Suns

I think Steve Kerr is secretly still a Chicago Bull or San Antonio Spur at heart. He shows this in his relentless efforts to destroy the Phoenix Suns. I know he's the Suns' GM, which is a perfect cover. Let's review Kerr's decisions since taking over the Suns. He brought in Shaq, who obviously never fit in with our style of play and who is the only reason that we lost to San Antonio last year in the playoffs. He got rid of Mike D'Antoni, who was a perfect and exciting coach in Phoenix. He realized the strength of the Suns. The "Run and Gun" style of offense, and he made us one of the best at it. Well anyways, he's gone. Now Kerr brings in Terry Porter, who so far has less than wowed anyone. Porter has taken a team whose greatest strength is their speed, and decided to throw in an offensive plan that involves slowing down and waiting. Brilliant. Now in the latest sabotage...I mean dealing...Steve Kerr has traded Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, vital parts of our fast and powerful offense. And he traded them for someone I've never heard of. I'm not sure I need any more proof of my hypothesis. Wait, the Suns are 13-10. And I was told by someone in the organization that this record is better than they expected. Ouch.

$100 million or $160 million?

What a great problem to have. I wish I had to ask myself that question. Do I want $100 million or $160 million? Of course, if I was asking myself that question, I would probably also be asking the question "What country do I want to buy?" CC Sabathia recently had to ask himself that...the money question, not the country question. The Milwaukee Brewers offered him $100 million, but the NY Yankees offered him $160 million. Who really needs that much money? Is it possible to spend that much money without giving a $5 to every person you pass on the street every day? Here's what's more ridiculous, in CC's contract, he got an opt out clause after 3 years because he's so concerned about moving his family to New York. Wait, if you don't want to move your family to New York and you could play somewhere else for $100 million, why would you take the deal to go to New York? Does your ego really cry over $100 million as compared to $160? Seriously? Here's an idea for CC. Take the $100 million contract, put half of it in a ROTH IRA, and in like 10 years it will be like $200 million anyways. Problem solved. You're welcome.


The Big Picture of Baseball's Spending

A baseball analyst made a really good point on Sportscenter this morning. Why is baseball still spending all of this money when the economy is in such bad shape? It's just irresponsible. Why are teams still giving away $160 million dollars to one player when no other industry in the US could afford this? Now let's bring this full circle for everyone. When the economy is down people cut out luxuries that they can do without. Some of the first things to go are eating out and special events. Ridiculously expensive tickets to sporting events are one of those things that are the easiest to cut out of a budget. Many teams are already estimating their attendance to drop by several percentage points. So if sporting events are already too expensive for many to afford, why are they upping their spending, which would inevitably raise ticket prices, forcing more people to watch from the comfort and affordability of their own homes. So if more people refuse to buy tickets, teams go further into debt because such a large part of their money is already promised away. Why isn't baseball instead conserving costs and making tickets affordable? If baseball as a whole decided that they will not spend so much money, then players will have no choice but to accept lower contracts. If they hold out for higher contracts, then the press will paint a picture of them as being selfish, greedy people who want to further the economic turmoil of the country. If all MLB teams hold to this concept, players will have no choice but to sign for lesser amounts. If the MLBPA stands against this, then all players will look bad in the eyes of the whole country. But hey, I'm just thinkin' outloud.

It has begun

He isn't even living in the white house yet, but his plans for gradually taking away our freedom has already started. If you listened to Obama's pre-election interviews, he often mentioned Sean Hannity's name with disdain. Voices like Hannity's and Rush Limbaugh's were among the leading voices warning of Obama's reign over this nation. Now Obama gets to have the last word. He will be trying to silence those voices, taking his first step toward taking away freedom of speech...well freedom of speech that isn't praising his name. After all, he is the savior. We should be praising him, right? Well, here's what our savior is up to. Please note that whenever the name savior is used, it is done with absolute sarcasm. Among the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) there is a term called localization, referring to how radio stations need to endorse local radio programs before carrying national syndications in order to keep their license. If a radio station doesn't meet this requirement, the FCC can shut them down. Obama and the rest of the Left wing nut jobs are scheming to make those regulations just a bit tighter, which would put radio stations in fear of airing conservative syndications because if they did, they would be shut down. So now the government will be telling us what opinions we can and cannot listen to. The only reaching across the isle this president will be doing is reaching across to slap a conservative or take money out of their pocket. You want change, America? You got it. And you thought all that socialism talk was just poking fun at a candidate. Is it still funny? Getting funnier?

The Real Reason for the Government Bailout

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well these two pictures are worth close to 2 billion dollars.

Next season New York will open 2 new baseball stadiums. Yes, both the Mets and Yankees are both getting new stadiums in the same year. No, neither team deserves it right now based on their records from this season. Regardless, the New Yankee Stadium costs $1.3 billion, and Citi Field (the Mets' new stadium) will cost $610 million, which I find funny seeing that the Yankee staium is double the cost of the Mets' stadium when the Mets' at least almost made the playoffs this year. Those lucky New York taxpayers get to split the bill with the Mets and Yankees for those stadiums. I believe the New York taxpayers will get to split about $200 million of that bill. Citi Group gets to pay $20 million per year for the naming rights to the stadium. Now seeing as our country is looking at a $700 billion bailout, this probably isn't helping the situation. I propose that both teams need to make the playoffs before they're allowed to move into their stadiums. But hey, I'm just thinkin' outloud. What do I know...

Ron Artest and his "culture"

I really don't know what to comment about this story because either way, it will probably sound racist and I'll get in trouble for something. So I'm just going to retell the story. Ron Artest recently became a Houston Rocket. If you don't remember Ron Artest, he's the one who jumped into the crowd a few years ago and attacked a fan. Besides that he's generally known for getting into fights in the NBA. Enough history. When word spread about him becoming a Houston Rocket, Yao Ming was interviewed about it and made a statement that he hoped Artest has stopped attacking fans. Of course, this got back to Artest who said, "I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto. That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about." I don't think anyone knows what to say about this quote. From what I can gather, Artest seems to indicate that his culture is all about violence and attacking people he doesn't see eye-to-eye with? Does anyone want to touch this one?

At Least You're Not This Guy

Minor league baseball player John Odom was recently traded from the Calgary Vipers to the Laredo Broncos. So big deal. He was just traded for another minor league player, right? Wrong. Did the team want money for him? Nope. So what did the Calgary Vipers get in return for the trade? Ten maple bats. The Bronco's GM surprisingly said, "They just wanted some bats, good bats -- maple bats." According to the Prairie Sticks website (the company that sells the bats), each bat costs $62.50. So for ten bats, the grand total is $625. What did John have to say about it? "It'll make a better story if I make it to the big leagues." Yah...that's looking like a strong possibility at this point. So as you go through the upcoming weeks and you find that your self-esteem is low, just remember that it could be worse. You could be this guy.