My oldest grandchild got a smart phone for Christmas. It was a complete surprise. I called her on it while it was still in the box, which added to the story. I’m not here to argue whether or not teenagers should have cellphones. There are good reasons on both side of that argument.

A family member had a baby about 3 a.m. on Christmas Day. Everybody is fine. It was a pretty awesome Christmas present, but it got me to thinking about the obstetrician and the delivery staff at the hospital (yeah, I know, my brain works in mysterious ways).

This is going to be the last you hear on this topic for a while.

This has been a rather eventful week for me. On Wednesday, Dr. Justin Jones of OrthoTennessee-Maryville (formerly known as Maryville Orthopedic Clinic) put a new knee in me.

I just finished a book called Range by Daniel Epstein. The subtitle on the book is “Why generalists triumph in a specialized world.”

If you have paid close attention through the years, you might remember that I had three rules for my kids when they were growing up. We would often recite those on the way into school in the mornings. I can remember pulling in to Ft. Craig School and together reciting those rules.

This is really how this happened. Let me back up a minute. I love to get to my clinic early, long before anyone else shows up. I set up my computer, put up my gym bag, unlock the door, turn on the lights and make a pot of coffee.

This is going to be a hard column to write. I’m often asked where I get ideas for this space. Somehow, something always comes up. This one jumped up and hit me in the heart, so I knew that I had to write it. I want to talk about heroes.

There’s this fellow that works out in our gym. He’s one of the regulars. One morning recently, he brought his young son in with him. I’m guessing the boy is about 7.

Tell me it isn’t so … football season is upon us! I thought summer was just getting cranked up. The dead period is over and it’s here!

Leadership. It’s been said that leaders are born that way. That you either have it or you don’t. I don’t think that is entirely true.

We just concluded the eighth edition of Camp Blackberry. This is a week where my wife and I have all six of our grandchildren for the week, with field trips every day, great meals, art, crafts, lots of swimming and lots of stories. We have our own song playlist and if you see us passing by o…

We see a lot of hamstring injuries in sports medicine. Hamstring injuries are poorly understood and difficult to treat. They can be really tough injuries to come back from.

We recently got back from a vacation to the beach. It was a wonderful time with the whole family. If your family is like mine, most days you can’t drag the kids out of the bed in the morning. But at the beach, the kids (grandkids in this case) were up well before the adults.

My high school football coach died this week. He was 91 and his health had been in decline for a while. If you’ve followed this column, you know my story and the influence he had on my life.

Core strength. Everybody that spends time in a fitness center has heard the term. It’s been around a long time. But maybe misunderstood.

I got a different and somewhat mean-spirited question a couple of weeks ago. “What are you trying to prove?” What do you mean? “I mean all this biking stuff and it always seems like you’re doing something … hiking, traveling. It seems like a man your age should start slowing down.”

I cleaned out my truck last week. Even ran it through one of those car wash things. I do that about once a year, whether it needs it or not. The accumulated junk is massive.

Diet and nutrition. Are there any two things in the world where there has been more conflicting information put out there than these?

“Go as far as you can see and then you will see farther.”

I have a bit of a confession to make. I’m not a big fan of T-ball. You know the game. Baseball or softball. Kids, 6-7 years old. Or younger. For most, their first foray into team sports.

I attended a track meet recently. Actually, it was a middle school track meet. I was there to cover the high school baseball game next door but I had two granddaughters competing in the track meet so I stuck around the track meet until they ran.

I’m a big fan of the magazine Men’s Journal. Yeah, I know…still reading magazines makes me a dinosaur. I do actually read printed material. And I love the feel of a newspaper. Part of the joy of Sunday morning is getting a real newspaper in the mailbox.

I’m hard of hearing. I wear hearing aids. It isn’t just an old man thing (although I qualify in that category). I’ve had hearing aids since I was 40. It probably had to do with spending a lot of time on a tractor. Or playing in a rock band (true story).

I’m not a gifted cyclist, but I’m a good cyclist. What does that mean? It means that I don’t have a lot of talent for the sport. I don’t have a big capacity for endurance activities. Never did.

I recently attended a physical therapy meeting in Austin, Texas known as the Graham Sessions. Named after my friend and fellow physical therapist Patrick Graham, the Graham Sessions is a meeting of 100 physical therapists from around the country who come together to dissect and try to solve …

I have a bum right knee. It all started in 1968, with a football injury. My last knee surgery on that knee was 1995. It doesn’t hurt very often, but it doesn’t always work so well. Watching me run is painful by itself. I think the Maryville High football coaches have a video somewhere of me …

I want to be around people that are always trying to get better. Those people that are trying to get more informed (better educated). Those people that are trying to be better people. Those people that are trying to get better at whatever they do.

I missed John Wilson Huffman’s Eagle ceremony yesterday afternoon. I had a previous commitment. I would really like to have been there. John Wilson is one of my favorite kids.

I have to admit something. I do look at social media from time to time. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Not enough to be a problem (I don’t think) but still daily.

You might know that I head into work really early. I’m not going to say how early because it would either sound like bragging or whining. Let’s just say that it is really early. I love to get to the office, set up my computer, make coffee, and get my day started early. Sleep is not one of my…

A week ago today, a local fellow was riding a bicycle along a country road in south Blount County.

Recently someone asked me not “how” I write this column every week, but “why.”