Saying Goodbye To My First True Love
April 30, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
No, I’m not talking about the first girl that I fell in love with. I’m talking about basketball. I think it’s time to say goodbye…
This past Thursday night I headed up to Hononegah High School for open gym. I hadn’t played full court b-ball since the tourney I was in about a month ago – I gave the tourney highlights, HERE. The first game of open gym was all good. We won and I wasn’t rusty at all. I probably went 4-5 from the floor. And in the second game, I started the game off pulling up from the top of the key and hitting a 3. I thought to myself, man I feel good, pretty damn tired, but good! One of my teammates even said to me; “Geez, do you ever miss!?!”
We then had a couple more trips up and down the court. When we headed back down to our offensive end, I came off a screen, pushed off with my right foot, and then it happened!!! I felt a POP in my right calf. It felt like someone shot me!
The aftermath...
I hobbled over to the sideline in excruciating pain. I knew something was wrong and I couldn’t walk so I called up my dad to pick me up (he only lives a 1/2 mile from the school) and take me over to immediate care to get it checked out. It turns out I tore a muscle in my calf. Damn!
What’s Next?
Ever since I was 8-9 years old, I basically lived with a basketball in my hand… always dribbling around the neighborhood, on the bike path, while walking over to a friend’s house, etc etc. But I think it’s time to say goodbye to my first true love. Not goodbye, as in I’ll never shoot or dribble a ball again. I mean goodbye as in, I’m done playing in tournaments, pick-up games, open gyms, etc. I depend on my body to make a living. If I’m hurt, I can’t effectively demonstrate dribbling moves when giving basketball lessons, and I can’t effectively train people if I can’t demonstrate how to perform a certain lift.
I have given a few basketball lessons and trained a number of people in the weight room since last Thursday’s incident. And let me tell you, it’s not the same! Now, I don’t think that if I continued to play that every time I stepped onto the court I’d walk away with injury. But the risk:reward just isn’t there anymore. If I’m hurt, I can’t do my job optimally. Because I play full court hoops so infrequently nowadays, I’m always VERY SORE the next day or two… which is no fun. In order to get rid of this soreness, I’d have to play a few times a week until I got accustomed to it. And that would just kill my body/joints.
So, on one hand I’m sad that I’m saying bye to playing competitively. But on the other hand, I’m ok with it. I mean, I’ve played more basketball in my life than most people would play in four lifetimes.
Making a Comeback?
Who knows, maybe I’ll miss it so much that I’ll make a Michael Jordan type of comeback. ”Retire” again. Then make another comeback. But I doubt it. I think for now on, all of my cardio is going to be the low-impact kind. Just like I preach to my clients that are 35 years old or older. I can still do battling ropes, use the prowler, do some barbell complexes, etc. etc.
If I do make a comeback, you’ll have to come back to this blog to find out. Because I’m pretty sure ESPN won’t be covering it. 
Although I wonder if I can get ESPN 8 The “Ocho” to air it?!? 
Do you know what movie this is from?
Ok, I guess this it, the time to say goodbye has arrived… Goodbye basketball. Thanks for all that you’ve given me. You’ve changed my life. Thank you and I love you.
True Love
Have any of you made the tough decision to “retire” from a physical activity you love that was beating up your body? If so, how tough was it and did you stay with it? Please, let me know…
Demanding Great Execution vs. Over-Coaching … a Fine Line!
April 24, 2012 by danny · 3 Comments
Lee Taft is a very smart strength coach/movement coach/speed coach (whatever you want to call him). Anyway, I was reading one of his articles earlier today, and really liked this part of his article:
“Always remember the brain is programming the patterns. If they are sloppy that is how they will be programmed in the brain. Demand great execution.”
This is great advice! If you work with clients in the weight room, or athletes on the field/court/ice, keep in mind that the brain will remember poor movement patterns. So, do not let your clients/athletes get sloppy with their form. Once that poor movement pattern is repeated, it will be much more difficult for them to get it right later on. Be strict from the get-go so you set up for future success once you get more advanced down the line (i.e. add more weight to the bar in the weight room, or increase the speed of a drill on the playing field).
If you're training this guy, NEVER let him perform another rep like this again!
However…
If you “over-nitpick,” the client/athlete can get really frustrated that they are not “getting it.” So there is a fine line between demanding great execution and over-coaching. Knowing your client/athlete’s mental make-up is important. You can’t always treat everyone the same way. Some will respond really well even if they are getting frustrated that are having a hard time learning the new skill. They may have the attitude of, “BRING IT! I’m GOING to this. Let me try again!”
While others may need some extra positive reinforcement and encouragement or they’ll start to tune you out and get so frustrated that nothing gets accomplished during the training session or practice.
Having a bunch of regressions and progressions in your arsenal can be very helpful.
As a trainer/coach… some of this can be learned in a book. Some of it can only be learned “in the trenches.” This is why internet coaches/trainers that don’t work with people in person will always be a step behind coaches/trainers that have experience working with people right there in front of their face.
If you are a trainer or a coach, do you treat everyone the same? Or do you make modifications based on the individual that you are working with? Discuss below…
Early Off-Season Training For Basketball Players – Skill Development Is King
April 17, 2012 by danny · 4 Comments
I’ll let the video below provide the majority of the information. But briefly…
Quite often athletes get too caught up in, “harder is better.” i.e. “if I don’t put in 3 hours on the court working on my game, I’m not going to be the best player that I can be.” OR, “if I don’t leave the court feeling like I’m about to puke, I didn’t go hard enough.”
I like this mindset, as I know you are thinking, “I’ll do WHATEVER it takes to be the best player that I can be.” BUT, there are many aspects of your game that help you to become a great player – skill, heart, discipline, conditioning, strength, staying healthy, coachability, etc. etc. And let me tell you, right now in mid-April, conditioning is NOT very important. I’m obviously not saying that you should sit on the couch all day eating doritos and turn into a slob. But when you head to the gym to work on your game, emphasize skill development. Conditioning will become a higher priority as tryouts in October approaches. But for now, focus on improving your skeelz! And oh yeah, get in the weight room, will ya. Check out the video below as I go over two very important factors in getting the most out of your game: Efficiency and the “hierarchy” of off-season training for basketball.
Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts in the comments section below…
Now, go get in the gym and work on those handles, your pull-up J, and work to expand the range on your shot. And remember, do everything with a purpose! For every dribble, every shot, and every move, I want you to visualize that you are being guarded by the best defender in your conference. Go get it!
I’m 36 Years Old Today… but I feel like I’m 86!
March 26, 2012 by danny · 2 Comments
March 26th – another year in the books for me. Why do I feel like an 86 year old fart? Because I played in a basketball tournament this weekend… 4 games! I have blisters all over my feet, scratches and cuts all over my body (thanks for “letting us play,” refs!), and my knees, legs, shoulders, and legs are killing me. I haven’t played in a tournament in YEARRRRRS! But it was a lot of fun as I got to play with my old college coach… Carl Armato, my friends “Shinny,” and “Scooter,” as well as a bunch of players that made it when they could. In other words, because of people’s busy schedule, we were never really at full strength.
For example, in the 1st game we had Todd Townsend on our team. He played on Marquettte’s Final Four team back in the early 2000’s (with Dwyane Wade). He couldn’t make the rest of the games so we were scrambling and calling people left and right to see who we could pick up. We ended up getting enough each game for a full squad, but like I mentioned, it was tough to get a good rhythm going with new guys showing up for each of the 4 games.
This was a unique tourney as it was 4-on-4. The games were played on an elementary court, which is considerably smaller than a high school or college court.
Alright, to recap this weekend’s games…
Game 1
We got off to a good start in the opener on Friday night. It was a hard-fought game and we pulled away a bit at the end, winding up with about a 10 point victory.
Team - We got the W, and we’re “well on our way.”
Me – I played pretty well. I probably shot about 50 % from the floor and give myself a B for the game (grading on an A through F scale).
Game 2
I woke up Saturday morning sore as sh#t! I was thinking, “how am I going to make it through 3 more games!?!” Without the foam roller, lacrosse ball, and a THOROUGH warm-up between each game, there is no way I would have survived. But I did…
Unfortunately we got our ass kicked up and down the court in this game. They had a player that played at the University of Iowa and I think he hit 47 three’s on us (give or take). We got down big early, and stayed down big ’til the end. Frustrating! Me however, I was on fire. It was one of those games where basically everything I shot wound up in the bottom of the net… pull-up jumpers, spinning moves to the basket, And-1s, etc. etc. I’d guess I probably shot about 12-15 from the field.
Team – A BIG fat L!
Me – My best game of the tourney … A+
Game 3
Once again, we didn’t play very well as a team today. And once again, we didn’t defend the 3-ball well… at all! This was a game we should have won, damn it!
Team - Loss #2
Me – I shot average, played average. C
Note: I went out after this game with Shinny and Scooter and we “got after it” a bit. We went to a bar/comedy show to drown our sorrows. And let me tell, it’s hard to keep up with guys that weigh 2 times more than me! We had a fun night, and luckily our final game on Sunday did not tip ’til 3 p.m.
Game 4
Before the game I’m thinking to myself, “if we lose this game, I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight!” And I’m happy to report that we went out with a win. We put it all together… shot well, passed well, play some good D, and finally didn’t let our opponent GO OFF from 3-point land. Good way to close out a fun weekend.
Team - We won and finished 2-2 for the tournament.
Me – Good overall game and I shot it pretty well with a couple And-1s mixed in there. B+
Well, I don’t think that I’m going to be playing in a tournament anytime soon. They take a toll on the body, especially when you don’t play as much anymore. And although I treat my body pretty well in general, there is a BIG difference between being in “general” shape and basketball shape!!!
I’m going to make today an “active recovery” day (similar to what I go over in “My Body Is A MESS!”), then start up a new training block in a couple days.
As for my birthday, I have a few more clients to train, and then we’ll all head over to my parent’s house as my mom is cooking me up a nice little b-day dinner.
My first birthday with the babies = awesome!
March Madness Predictions From My Resident NCAA Hoops Expert…
March 13, 2012 by danny · 2 Comments
I’m going to make this one short and sweet. My good friend, Jeff Rinaldi, who has contributed to many roundtables (MLB, college basketball multiple times, NFL, NBA) on DannyMcLarty.com over the years, is back for more today. So let’s get right to the questions…
The best tournament of them all!
Danny: Give us two teams that you think have the best chance of being this years Cinderella Story.
Jeff: As always the bracket is brutal again. After over studying it like I always do, two teams stick out to me as potential Cinderellas at the price of two Big-10 teams. I actually like New Mexico St. to knock out Indiana in the 1st round and also like Ohio to sting Michigan as well as either or Temple or the winner of the 12/12 game in that region. I think Ohio may get to the sweet 16.
Danny: Which #2 seed will be the first to lose?
Jeff: I definitely think Duke is the weakest #2 seed. They will get by Lehigh but could struggle against Xavier or Notre Dame. Even if they get to the sweet 16 I think they lose to Baylor. They are going down early this year.
Danny: Jeff, since you are Kentucky graduate, of course you are going to pick UK (and it doesn’t hurt that they are loaded). So, if you couldn’t pick Kentucky, who would you go with to cut down the nets this year?
Jeff: Of course I am picking my Kentucky Wildcats to win it all. However, I think Mizzou is very dangerous and would pick them to cut the nets down if it wasn’t for the Cats. Mizzou scares me and should scare everyone else in the field except Kentucky of course.
Danny: Man Jeff, we are on the same page there – I love Mizzou’s guard play and also think they are a dangerous team. I’m hoping my Tarheels step up and take it all!
Thanks again Jeff! I’m sure I’ll be getting a hold of you for your great insight down the line…
So, what do you think of Jeff’s predictions? Who do you think will win it all this year? Do you have any upset specials in mind? Let us hear them in the comments section below.
Go Tarheels!!!
“Follow Through” when DRIBBLING the Basketball
January 18, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
When I work with basketball players I always emphasize the concept of “following through” when dribbling the basketball… kind of like when you you shoot the ball. I could explain more but, it’s easier to do in video…
I haven’t done many basketball posts lately, but I plan on adding more skill related posts in the future. If you are a player or have a son/daughter that plays, make sure you share this video with them… it will go a long way in helping him/her better develop those handles (the good kind of handles ).
If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment below.
Happy handling!
My Body Is a Mess!
December 14, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment
My bod is absolutely killing me. I did something earlier in the week that wasn’t very smart. I hadn’t played full court basketball in about 2 months. I have a group of friend’s that get together for pick up ball on Sunday mornings. Well, I’m usually giving basketball lessons on Sunday mornings. But I received a call from one of my b-ball clients saying that he was sick and unable to make it to our lesson. This opened up a time for me to get to the gym for some pick-up hoops.
My friend Aaron Sullivan opened up the gym for us and I got to see some friends that hadn’t seen in awhile. Everyone lined up for a free throw. First 5 to make their free throw was on one team, the second 5 to make their free throw was on the second team. I ended up being on the team of my long time friend’s Mark Beachey and Jim Ryan. My friend Jeb Blomquist and another guy that I didn’t know was on our team as well. The “rules” were the usual … you win, you stay on the court. Well, we won every game and ended up playing about 7 games. Great, I hadn’t played in forever, and on my first time back I ended up playing 7 games. It was great to play with my old buddies again, but believe me when I tell you that my knees, and hip flexors, hamstrings, low back, etc etc. we’re very sore the next day. And then maybe the worst part – the blisters on my feet were terrible! And this is only the half of it…
The next day I get a call from my friend, “Shinny.” He has been calling me for weeks to get me to play on his team (in a league) on Monday nights. I’ve repeatedly turned him down as I’ve been busy with work and the twins. But this time Shinny really gave it to me; “C’mon Danny, we need you! We may only have 4 guys and we’re playing one of the best teams in the leauge!” So I gave into him and drove down to Byron for the game. I knew I was in trouble when my blisters were killing me while getting in warm-up shots and while doing some dribbling before the game started. Long story short, I played the whole game (except for the couple minutes) and my right knee and my BLISTERS WERE KILLING ME. We won the game easily and it was a lot of fun to play with Shinny and my college coach, Carl Armato. But as I was driving home I was thinking, “what the heck was I thinking!?! Why’d I play on back to back nights after not playing in months!!!???!!!” Here is a picture of what my bloodied socks looked like when I took my basketball shoes off…
Bloody (and dirty) socks - my poor feet/blisters!!!
When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I could barely walk. The joints/muscles that I mentioned above were now hurting X 2.
Anyway, all of this brings me to my point; when you are hurting, doing nothing and just sitting on the couch all day to “rest and recover” is one of the worst things that you can do. I talked more about this in an older post I made on this topic in THIS POST. I actually brought a foam roller with me to the game and rolled before the game, at half time, and immediately after the game. After the 45 minute drive home from the game, I rolled again, and iced my knees. The next day I performed a bunch of light “active recovery drills.” When I lived in California I filmed an example of this…
Above, you see
-Goblet Squats
-Push-ups
-RDL/Bent Over Row (hybrid)
-Wall Hip Flexor Mobilizations (to address my tight quads)
-Hip Thrusts
-Reverse Lunge with Twist
So, moral of the story – don’t be dumb like me and out of nowhere perform an intense, high impact activity on BACK-TO-BACK days when you haven’t done that activity in months!
Second moral – when are really sore, INCLUDE ACTIVE RECOVERY EXERCISES to get the body moving and blood flowing. It will speed up the recovery process much faster than plopping on the couch all day, waiting for the pain to go away.
Do you have any favorite recovery methods after taking a beating from a tough training session(s)/game? Let me hear them…
My New iHoops Basketball Article…
October 20, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment
Yes, the articles that I am about to go over were written for a basketball website. BUT, the information can be beneficial for anyone that is a) new to training, or b) exiting the “newbie” stage of training and transitioning to the “intermediate” stage.
Body weight training
My article, “Basketball Strength Training for Newbies” was published over a year ago. After iHoops published it, I received a bunch of e-mails and comments on the iHoops ’site from youngsters that went something like this; “the information in this article is great, but I need more. I’m new to lifting but want results FAST! What else do you have for me?” While I appreciate the enthusiasm, it is not smart to “skip steps.” Body weight exercises are all that most newbies need. But in time (if they are consistent), they need to start adding significant load (weight) to their lifts in order to get optimal results.
So, I decided to give these youngsters some more advanced exercises with some programming notes to go along with it. I just hope they spent some time working on building that “foundation” with the information I provided in “Basketball Strength Training for Newbies.”
Entering the intermediate stage
Ok, onto the new article that is now up on the iHoops website… “5 Intermediate Strength-Training Lifts for Basketball Players.” Again, if you’ve been working at the newbie level for awhile and you’re starting to transition into the intermediate stage, I think you’ll find this article useful (even if you are not a basketball player).
Enjoy - 5 Intermediate Strength-Training Lifts for Basketball Players
If you like the article, I’d appreciate it if you hit the like button below and/or gave me some love on twitter. Thank you!
Aerobics For Basketball Players?
October 12, 2011 by danny · 2 Comments
Back when I was playing hoops in college, in the pre-season our team was tested in the 1-mile run. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, other than, coach wants to see how good of shape we are in, so I’m going to run this thing as fast as I can. Fast forward a number of years later, and I started to learn more about the body. I learned about different energy systems and which ones are used for particular tasks that we perform when competing in sports, or when working out in general. And as I become more educated, I remember thinking; I wonder why our coach tested us in the mile??? I mean, there is never a point in the game where we run 5 + minutes without a break. Hmm?
Anyway, I now know the mile to pretty much be a pointless test for basketball players. Basically, we sprint up and down the court, get in a defensive stance, chase our opponent around a few screens, box him out when the shot goes up, and sprint down to the other end of the court, run our opponents off a screen or two, and this continues for a bit. OR, a whistle is blown due to a foul, the ball goes out of bounds, a coach calls a T.O., a brawl breaks out in the stands (ahem, Detroit Pistons fans ), or something similar. Regardless, there is a break in the action very often. So again, none of this even comes close to resembling a 1-mile run.
I even touched upon the topic in this article that I wrote a few years back (towards the end of the article where I mention fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers). Strength Coach Charles Poliquin goes into a little further detail on the matter in his article, “Do Basketball Players Need Aerobics?”
With basketball season right around the corner (except for you NBA – come on, get it together!!!), coaches will be preparing their players with their conditioning program. Most basketball coaches know X’s and O’s, but are not qualified to run an “optimal” strength and conditioning program (understandably, as their time is spent recruiting, running camps, scouting, game planning, preparing for practice, etc etc.). Therefore, I’m hoping articles/blog posts like this will help steer these coaches in the right direction. So, if you are a basketball coach that’s about to start conditioning your players for the season, just remember, that basketball is a sport that is filled with a lot of starts and stops throughout the game.
Testing your athletes or simply conditioning your players with the mile run (or further) is NOT the way to go.
Feel free to forward this on to any b-ball coaches that you know. And don’t forget to check out Coach Poliquin’s article for more information on the topic.
Happy training!
NBA Playoff Predictions – 2011
April 15, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment
This should be a great post-season. For the first time in a long time, there are legitimately a handful of teams that are capable of taking home the trophy. My good friends and NBA experts, Jeff Rinaldi and Matt McKenna break it all down. So let’s get to it!
Danny: I’ll start it off with you Jeff. Do you see any upsets in round 1 in the East?
Jeff: Well, I know one upset that WILL NOT happen and that is the dirty Pacers over the Bulls. Stern should think about folding the Pacers. I usually wouldn’t say this but the Bulls should go ahead and look to round 2. I seriously think the Knickerbockers are going to give the Celtics all they want. The Celtics better look out.
Danny: McKenna, your turn. Let’s take a look at the West – any 1st round upsets?
McKenna: I actually have two of them although beating Dallas in the first round is kind of a yearly tradition now isn’t it? I do like Portland though. They are athletic, deep, and just pose tons of match up problems for the Mavs. Kidd couldn’t defend me and rebounding could be an issue so the Blazers are my first pick. To me that isn’t a long shot (Insert Greg Oden joke here). The other upset is the Grizz over the Spurs. The Spurs are prime for a first round exit, they are old and have the potential to have injury issues as soon as the tip goes up. They also know they aren’t as good as either of their second round opponents and certainly won’t beat LA, so why prolong getting embarrassed by a good team. So married men keep an eye on your wives because a little French horn-ball will be on the loose earlier than normal this season.
Danny: Why you gotta do TP like that?! We’ll get to your finals predictions later. For now, give me one team out of each conference that is *capable* of making a deep run even if this team is not your first choice – or the “obvious” choice.
McKenna: I hate to do this Danny but the Magic terrify me and I think they can beat the Bulls. If they are knocking down jump shots and Howard is willing to break a sweat they will murder the Hawks and beat the Bulls in six. Nobody can keep Howard off the boards and once the game slows down in the playoffs controlling the boards is key.
Danny: You’re right, the Magic can be scary. But I’m not worried, just like nobody on the Bulls (or in the league) can slow down Howard, nobody on Orlando can slow down Asik… face!
And Jeff, any surprises?
Jeff: The Pacers! Just kidding. Dreadful team. I like the Thunder to get rolling and knock out the Spurs in round 2. Westbrook and Durant can carry that team. The whole West better look out.
Danny: And who do you think it going to make it to the conference finals, and fight for the right to go for it all? Let’s start with Mr. Rinaldi.
Jeff: Bulls vs Heat. Thunder vs Lakers. Chalk it up!
McKenna: I like the C’s and the Magic in the East. I’m hoping I’m right because if it’s the Bulls I won’t sleep for a couple weeks because Rose is terrifying. In the West I like the Lakers and OKC. I could even fathom the Blazers knocking off LA but Kobe, the most hated man in my household (tied with ARod of course) would never let me enjoy the playoffs.
Danny: Spoken like a true Bostonian! Time for the moment we’ve all been waiting for: who plays in the finals, and who takes home the hardware?!?
Actually fellas if you don’t mind, I’ll get things started…
I really don’t want to do it, but I guess I’m going to have to go with the Lakers. I still think they’ll be able to turn on that switch. Kobe is close to his last leg (last leg of dominance, that is), but I think he still has another year or two of great playoff basketball left in him. Odom has been really good this year and of course they still have Gasol and a much improved Bynum. Onto the Eastern champs… Da Bulls! I know you think I’m being a homer here (and I probably am), but I have really loved this team from the start. When the pieces starting to fall into place this summer, I knew it would be a great year. We (yeah, I’m part of the team) have shooters, scrappers, bangers, defenders, scorers, and of course, Mr. MVP! Believe it or not, I really think that Luol Deng is the “X-Factor.” When he plays well, the Bulls are the best team in the NBA. If he can give us ~18 ppg and be active on both ends of the floor, I like our chances.
Mark it down, Da Bulls in 7!!!
McKenna my friend, what say you?
McKenna: Well I know this will shock people but I like the C’s coming out of the East. They are flawed but this is their last run and I think the old guard will rise up one more time. Plus the Red Sox have gotten off to a rough start so that means the city of Boston is on edge and winning in their building will be tough. I also like the way the seedings fell and I think not having to see the Bulls till the Finals, if that happens, will help. They C’s can still defend and if Rondo stops pouting about losing hid best bud Perkins, he will be seeing him in the Finals for a reunion. That’s right, in the West I’m going with the OKC Thunder! I hate Kobe and karma has got to catch up with him eventually. Re-hashing why this guy is the biggest a-hole in professional sports is unnecessary but trust me he is long overdue for some comeuppance. The Thunder have two great scorers, one who shoots threes and is seven feet tall (Durant), the other (Westbrook) will be guarded by either Derek Fisher or Steve Blake so that is favorable. Ibaka and Perk can match up with Bynum and Gasol so the match ups are going to be good and the chance for a great series has me pumped. David Stern will be crushed he doesn’t get another Lakers vs. Celtics match up but it won’t matter because once the C’s raise the eighteenth banner to the rafters the title will return home and all will be ok in the world.
C’s in 6!!!
Danny: And Jeff?
Jeff: Excellent picks guys. I think we have a re-match of 1991 with Da Bulls vs the Lakeshow. Everything is in order. Young Derrick Rose like MJ, HUNGRY for his 1st title going up against a legend in Kobe (Like Magic) with 5 rings. Da Bulls win 4-1 sending Phil into retirement questtioning his Zen crap, as the team which made him famous ends his career. Rose wins MVP of the finals and Luol Deng (agree with Danny) plays the role of Pippen..an unsung hero. This championship opens the door to another dynasty which all Bulls fans deserve with their years of loyalty.
Danny: Great job guys! It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. I just realized there was barely a word mentioned about the Heat! Have we lost our minds? Or are they just not there yet? Readers, what do you think? Leave your thoughts and predictions in the comments section below.
