Still in Florida for interviews....

STILL SOMEWHERE IN FLORIDA – This is another one of those days on the road, and for a technologically challenged writer who leaves his house two days earlier without a power chord, it’s even tougher. After a long day of draining interviews, and prior to a scheduled early start this morning, he phoned lamenting the fact that he has no idea how he could get a typical days writing up on the site as his computer ran out of juice Thursday morning.

Immediately we threatened to write as a ghost writer for John, but decided that if an entire college’s fan base was going to be up in arms about John’s words, it’s probably best that they really are his words. Then we threatened to dock his salary, but remembered there is no salary. Therefore, for those of you who did visit on this Friday, we decided to give you a few links to previews we like for the upcoming sports weekend along with one of our favorite posts John has written.

A few articles previewing the sports weekend:
Australian Open - Andy Murray vs. Roger Federer
PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open - Piercy resting easy with lead, fewer distractions
SI.com's college basketball - Seth Davis' weekend picks


The post below is John’s first post-surgery on the reminder of why sports is important. His health scare aside, it also shows how very quickly some things change (Tiger) and some stay the same (Federer in another grand-slam final this weekend).

One thing John wanted to relay is that this isn’t him ‘punking out,’ and he’ll find some way to make it up. Enjoy.

FOTB Staff

-----------------------------

From 7/5/09

Well, I’m back.

I don’t know if I’m any wiser but I sure am grateful—grateful the blockages in my heart were discovered during a routine stress test and not after a heart attack; grateful to my friends and family who rallied to my side during the past week and to everyone who posted here or sent good wishes in one form or another. I know when people get sick they talk later about how overwhelmed they were by the kindness of people but it really is true. I am overwhelmed by it all.

I am very lucky to have the family I have and the friends from so many walks of life that I have. I sit here feeling lucky to be alive, to be able to hug my kids and to be able to write a week after septuple bypass surgery. (Friends have kidded me that I’m so competitive I had to have seven, not just three or four).

One thing I was reminded of during my hospital stay was one of the reasons sports IS important. It isn’t that crisis puts sports in perspective it’s that sports gives us a much needed diversion during crisis. On Monday night, while I was still in the ICU I was able to watch some television. Even hearing the stale sportscenter one-liners was a relief. Hearing Tiger Woods claim that his learning center in California has helped TEN MILLION people made me laugh out loud and made me think the drugs must seriously affecting my brain. Did he say ten million? Yes, I learned later, he did say ten million. Even watching the Mets do their Keystone Kops act was better than staring at the clock.

So, Thank God for sports—the good, the bad, the ridiculous.

On Sunday, we saw something that was better than good. I almost never regret my decision 15 years ago to focus on covering golf rather than tennis. Not only have I greatly enjoyed reporting and writing about golf but tennis is by far the most frustrating sport there is to cover because of our lack of access to the athletes and the mind-numbing lack of organization in the sport.

One day a year I miss covering tennis. It’s always the day of the men’s final at Wimbledon. With all due respect to the greatness of The Williams sisters a best-of-three match that often last less than 90 minutes simply can’t have the drama of a five set marathon in which both players are still hitting winners four hours after the match has started.

There is also the uniqueness of Wimbledon. There’s no tennis venue anything like it—even with the new sliding roof—and very few sports venues that are comparably dramatic. Plus, there are no thanks to corporate sponsors during the awards ceremonies. Can you imagine with the score 14-all in the fifth set, Ted Robinson saying, “let’s go courtside to Jimmy Roberts who is with the CEO of AT+T.”

Jimmy: “Mr. CEO, another great Wimbledon, you must be so proud.”

CEO: “Jimmy, on behalf of all of us at AT+T we’re proud to be associated with Tiger and this great event.”

Whoops, wrong sport.

Wimbledon finals produce unique drama. Once a fifth set begins, you never know when it will end. Unlike the U.S. Open, where the fifth set can be decided in a tiebreak, someone has to break serve to win. Tiebreaks can be dramatic but, as difficult as it was for Andy Roddick to lose, he did not lose the match without losing serve. He lost it once—the 38th time he served.

Roger Federer is one of those athletes you just don’t root against. He’s brilliant, he’s a superb competitor, he has class and dignity and he now has 15 major championships—more than any man in history.

But if your heart didn’t go out to Roddick on Sunday, you have no heart. (Mine is working just fine, thank-you). Here’s why it’s truly sad that Roddick may never win Wimbledon: he could easily be mailing it in by now. He won the U.S. Open in 2003, he’s made millions, his wife is a gorgeous model and he could put his career on cruise control at 27, say that Federer and Rafael Nadal are just a little too good and be a top ten player for another five years.

But he hasn’t taken that route. He’s changed coaches and training regimens. He’s lost weight and worked on his ground strokes. He’s gotten tougher mentally as he proved in the semis when he outlasted Scotland’s Andy Murray in front of a crowd that would have made Cameron Indoor Stadium feel like a walk in the park for a road team.

He was SO close against Federer. He had four set points for a two set lead in the second and blew them all. He had two break points in the fifth and couldn’t convert. Federer kept hitting winners; Roddick kept answering. The number of times Roddick HAD to come up with a first serve and did was almost uncountable. It was great, great tennis.

And, in the end, Federer was a little better, a little tougher.

Roddick couldn’t have handled it with more grace. He apologized to Pete Sampras for not preventing Federer from breaking his all-time record for major wins. He thanked the crowd—which had pulled so vehemently against him two days earlier. And, when Federer said something about knowing how Roddick felt after his five set loss to Nadal a year ago he smiled and said, “no you don’t, you already had five (titles).”

It was all special stuff and when you saw the tears in Roddick’s eyes you really couldn’t help but hope there’s somehow a Wimbledon title out there for him in the future. He deserves it.

I was glad to have the chance to see it. REALLY glad.

John's Appearance on the Tony Kornheiser Show

I made an appearance on the debut of Tony Kornheiser's most recent new radio show Tuesday. Click the permalink, then the link below, to listen to the segment on a range of topics from Red Auerbach weekly lunches to the surgery.

Click here for the radio segment: John on the Tony Kornheiser Show

Well, I’m Back – Thanks to All; Sports’ Special Place; Federer’s Historic Day is Roddick’s Heartbreaker

Well, I’m back.

I don’t know if I’m any wiser but I sure am grateful—grateful the blockages in my heart were discovered during a routine stress test and not after a heart attack; grateful to my friends and family who rallied to my side during the past week and to everyone who posted here or sent good wishes in one form or another. I know when people get sick they talk later about how overwhelmed they were by the kindness of people but it really is true. I am overwhelmed by it all.

I am very lucky to have the family I have and the friends from so many walks of life that I have. I sit here feeling lucky to be alive, to be able to hug my kids and to be able to write a week after septuple bypass surgery. (Friends have kidded me that I’m so competitive I had to have seven, not just three or four).

One thing I was reminded of during my hospital stay was one of the reasons sports IS important. It isn’t that crisis puts sports in perspective it’s that sports gives us a much needed diversion during crisis. On Monday night, while I was still in the ICU I was able to watch some television. Even hearing the stale sportscenter one-liners was a relief. Hearing Tiger Woods claim that his learning center in California has helped TEN MILLION people made me laugh out loud and made me think the drugs must seriously affecting my brain. Did he say ten million? Yes, I learned later, he did say ten million. Even watching the Mets do their Keystone Kops act was better than staring at the clock.

So, Thank God for sports—the good, the bad, the ridiculous.

On Sunday, we saw something that was better than good. I almost never regret my decision 15 years ago to focus on covering golf rather than tennis. Not only have I greatly enjoyed reporting and writing about golf but tennis is by far the most frustrating sport there is to cover because of our lack of access to the athletes and the mind-numbing lack of organization in the sport.

One day a year I miss covering tennis. It’s always the day of the men’s final at Wimbledon. With all due respect to the greatness of The Williams sisters a best-of-three match that often last less than 90 minutes simply can’t have the drama of a five set marathon in which both players are still hitting winners four hours after the match has started.

There is also the uniqueness of Wimbledon. There’s no tennis venue anything like it—even with the new sliding roof—and very few sports venues that are comparably dramatic. Plus, there are no thanks to corporate sponsors during the awards ceremonies. Can you imagine with the score 14-all in the fifth set, Ted Robinson saying, “let’s go courtside to Jimmy Roberts who is with the CEO of AT+T.”

Jimmy: “Mr. CEO, another great Wimbledon, you must be so proud.”

CEO: “Jimmy, on behalf of all of us at AT+T we’re proud to be associated with Tiger and this great event.”

Whoops, wrong sport.

Wimbledon finals produce unique drama. Once a fifth set begins, you never know when it will end. Unlike the U.S. Open, where the fifth set can be decided in a tiebreak, someone has to break serve to win. Tiebreaks can be dramatic but, as difficult as it was for Andy Roddick to lose, he did not lose the match without losing serve. He lost it once—the 38th time he served.

Roger Federer is one of those athletes you just don’t root against. He’s brilliant, he’s a superb competitor, he has class and dignity and he now has 15 major championships—more than any man in history.

But if your heart didn’t go out to Roddick on Sunday, you have no heart. (Mine is working just fine, thank-you). Here’s why it’s truly sad that Roddick may never win Wimbledon: he could easily be mailing it in by now. He won the U.S. Open in 2003, he’s made millions, his wife is a gorgeous model and he could put his career on cruise control at 27, say that Federer and Rafael Nadal are just a little too good and be a top ten player for another five years.

But he hasn’t taken that route. He’s changed coaches and training regimens. He’s lost weight and worked on his ground strokes. He’s gotten tougher mentally as he proved in the semis when he outlasted Scotland’s Andy Murray in front of a crowd that would have made Cameron Indoor Stadium feel like a walk in the park for a road team.

He was SO close against Federer. He had four set points for a two set lead in the second and blew them all. He had two break points in the fifth and couldn’t convert. Federer kept hitting winners; Roddick kept answering. The number of times Roddick HAD to come up with a first serve and did was almost uncountable. It was great, great tennis.

And, in the end, Federer was a little better, a little tougher.

Roddick couldn’t have handled it with more grace. He apologized to Pete Sampras for not preventing Federer from breaking his all-time record for major wins. He thanked the crowd—which had pulled so vehemently against him two days earlier. And, when Federer said something about knowing how Roddick felt after his five set loss to Nadal a year ago he smiled and said, “no you don’t, you already had five (titles).”

It was all special stuff and when you saw the tears in Roddick’s eyes you really couldn’t help but hope there’s somehow a Wimbledon title out there for him in the future. He deserves it.

I was glad to have the chance to see it. REALLY glad.

Great News!!

This morning, we talked to John from his hospital bed at the Washington (DC) Hospital Center. It was our first conversation with him since Sunday. His voice sounds stronger than we anticipated and he says, other than some chest soreness, he feels pretty good; though he does tire easily. The end result was open heart surgery and there were seven blockages they had to address.

Thanks to his swimming regimen, he had no real symptoms prior to the stress test and, even after that, felt fine. So, the annual checkup was the key to his prognosis. We urge all of you to think about scheduling same if you fit the profile or just ask your Doctor.

He has been up walking around in order to keep any chest congestion clear; which is always a concern in any post-operative care. If at the end of today the chest x-ray looks good, he will be on the way home early evening. He has not been to this site since Sunday and told us to thank all of you again for your comments. He is looking forward to reading all of them over the long weekend. If there are any new developments over the weekend, we will post them here. Otherwise, look for something fresh in this space on Monday. From all of us at FOTB, we wish you a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend.

------------“Feinstein on the Brink” Staff

Tuesday Night Update

We checked in with John's brother Bob this afternoon at the hospital. He said "John is getting back to his normal cranky self. He is out of ICU and has seen family, has had a few visitors and is on the road to recovery."

Thanks to all of you who have left your best wishes with John. The Doctors will probably not allow him to get on the computer for a few days, but we will make sure that he sees all of your comments. We'll update you again tomorrow, as we try to continue to fill this space in our pinch-hitting role, while John is on the DL. We hope he is back and swinging from the heels soon.

---------“Feinstein on the Brink” Staff

*****Surgery Update******

We wanted to give an update on John’s status coming out of surgery…..John made it through successful bypass surgery and is recovering well. Please check back for updates on his condition as the week progresses – we should have news on his status periodically.

In addition to updates, we will take this time to link to John’s other work at The Washington Post, The Golf Channel and Golf Digest. Keep coming back to the site over the next few days to catch some topics you might have missed.

--“Feinstein on the Brink” Staff

An Unexpected Monday – Heart Bypass Surgery

This will be, I’m sorry to report, my last post for at least a few days. The reason is simple: on Monday morning (I’m writing this Sunday) I will be undergoing bypass surgery.

It started with a routine thalium stress test last Wednesday. When I had my annual check-up in February, my doctor suggested that, given that I’m over 50 and there is a history of heart disease in my family, a stress test would probably be a good idea. So, we scheduled it for the week after the U.S. Open—the first real break in my schedule.

I did well on the treadmill—went almost nine minutes before my heart rate got to 150—which surprised me because I’m not in great swimming shape right now and I’m more overweight than usual. The doctor said my swimming, even when not in great shape, was probably the reason for that.

The next day though he called—right after I’d worked out—and said there was a “spot,” on one of my arteries that might be a blockage. He wanted me to go in for an angiogram and said I might as well do it the next day since I had a busy week coming up with the PGA Tour in town at Congressional and the fact that I was supposed to move on Tuesday.

“It’s really no more of a big deal than a trip to the dentist,” he said.

Not exactly.

The angiogram showed “four to six,” blockages in my heart—one of them 100 percent. The doctor who did it said there was really no option other than bypass. I asked how could that be when I had not had a heart attack or even chest pains and my cholesterol level was 162.

He smiled. “First, you’ve been lucky,” he said. “Second, your heart is strong thanks to your swimming. It’s your arteries that are screwed up.”

After I got through freaking out I asked if it could be done right then and there. The surgeon came in and said, “look, my team and I have already done three today. Yours will take a little longer (four hours or so) because there are so many blockages. We’ll put you down for first thing Monday morning.

And so, I’m on the schedule for 7:30 Monday morning.

I am, of course, scared. I know these guys do this surgery all the time (three times on Friday) but the old saying goes that routine surgery is surgery performed on someone other than you. I know, having talked to others who have been through bypass that the recovery isn’t easy but you do come out on the other end feeling a lot better.

That’s what I want now—to come out on the other end.

Everyone is telling me I’m lucky because it was caught this way, not with a heart attack. My heart muscle is un-damaged. I am, besides the damn arteries, healthy so I should be able to get through the surgery okay and recover okay.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t feel too lucky Friday afternoon.

The weekend has been anxious and uplifting all at once. I want to get in and get this over with—obviously—but all the calls and e-mails and offers of help and support from friends has been amazing. You do find out a lot about yourself in a lot of ways at times of crisis and that’s been wonderful.

What I want right now is to be able to sit at this computer in a few days and rip David Frohnmayer again or celebrate something cool that happens this coming week in sports. Of course the first thing I want to do is wake up in the recovery room and get to hug my kids a little while later. Then I can begin to deal with what comes after that.

The doctor did say to me that once this is over I’ll need to consider a lifestyle change. I’m guessing he was talking about the four or five steaks a week and the tendency to steer into McDonald’s when I’m on the road. Okay, I get it. My question is this: does anyone know a bartender who makes a good, low-fat Margarita? God, I could use one right about now.

I’m going to ask my pals Terry Hanson and David Stewart who put the blog together every day to post something when they know I’m through the surgery. My hope is the news will be such that all of you will feel free to disagree with me vehemently again in the very near future.