thurdl sports

NIH: Mission Statement -- and then some

I was going to do something like this back when I started the new blog imprint, but ended up getting thrown basically right into things, since there's been constant injury news to be reporting on. So, with this about to go dark for two weeks, I thought this might be a good time to talk about what I'd like to do with this blog.

NIH, for those who missed the opening post of this new imprint, is the Nationals Institute of Health, a name I wish I could take credit for. In general it exists because I wanted to be part of the best blogsphere within Major League Baseball, but had nothing to add that wasn't being covered already. So, when no one else leapt on the idea of the NIH, I basically stole it. Yup, that's me, one big ole idea theft.

The purpose of the NIH will be to pass along news of Nationals injuries, whether they be major injuries or minor ones. I'll also be tracking the recovery of DL players, as you've already seen me doing with Patterson and Guzman. Right now, most of this information comes from the Nationals Notes in the Washington Post, official team releases, and occasional trolling of Google News. In short, I'm just one guy who's assembling the available information into a single location.

So then who am I? Basically, I'm a complete neophyte. I really know almost nothing about what I'm talking about except what I read in releases, and what I research. That means that when you read posts where I'm explaining things like a SLAP Tear, I'm doing that research on the fly, and educating myself at the same time that I'm hoping to educate others. By the end of the season, I'll probably have a better idea of what I'm talking about, but ultimately there will always be injuries that pop up that I've never heard about, and will have to research.

So, what do I hope to do with this blog? Well, I hope to make it as helpful as possible to those people who chose to read it. My goal, at the time, is to assemble and pass along the information I can find. Also, I've already planned to start presenting more information about injuries that come up, treatments, and even talk about what other players have come back from the same injuries, and what shape they were in when they made that comeback.

And...I'd also like to know what you, the readers, would be interested in seeing as part of a blog focusing on Nationals injuries. I'm already finding this is a really interesting (and, unfortunately, entirely too frequent) of a subject to work with.

Upcoming entries: UCL injuries, and Tommy John surgery.

Catch y'all in two weeks. Hopefully any news that I have to catch up on will be good news. In these next two weeks there's a chance that John Patterson will finally have his rehab start, for one. Astacio should start to progress, and might actually have a timetable by the NIH comes back.

posted by thurdl @ 4:15 PM