Der Fremde » When I took batting practice

North Queensland have bolstered their NRL playing stocks by tying down rising star Javid Bowen until the end of the 2018 season.Bowen, the nephew of club icon Matthew, has shone in six games so far in his rookie season, including deputising for suspended first-choice winger Kyle Feldt in the past two weeks.Forward Sam Hoare, who has played 14 NRL games but is yet to appear this season, has also extended his contract for a further two seasons.Were really proud of our pathways program and that these two players have progressed through the ranks to the NRL, Cowboys general manager Peter Parr said on Tuesday.And now with their re-signings, it gives us a really strong platform for the future.Bowens re-signing adds depth to the Cowboys premiership-winning backline, all of whom are at least signed on until the end of 2017. Lane Taylor Super Bowl Jersey . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Adrian Amos Super Bowl Jersey . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Kevin-King-Packers-Jersey/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Dave Robinson Super Bowl Jersey . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Kyler Fackrell Super Bowl Jersey . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. ESPNs Buster Olney is on vacation this week, but hes still compiling roundups. View Mondays roundup here.I felt the pop in my elbow and knew exactly what had happened.It was April 1, two nights before our first game of the regular season, and after sliding headfirst into home, I pushed off the ground to get to my feet, and I felt the pop.There was a split-second when a hope zoomed through my mind that maybe the same injury hadnt happened, but when I grabbed my right elbow and felt for the bone, I could feel the indent from a fracture. I had a flashback to the first time this had happened to me.Earlier in spring training, we had found out that the screw placed in my elbow during a surgery in 2010 had split in half, and I had missed a lot of spring training games. There wasnt anything we could do about that without an operation, but as the start of the season got closer, I felt ready to go -- until I started to get up after that slide.When I got to the clubhouse, Gary Waslewski, our team doctor, quickly examined my elbow and gave me a rough look. He knew what had happened too. Most of the guys still playing the game came back from the dugout and gave me a hug. Chip Hale, our manager, spent a good inning or two with me. Its all right, he said. Its going to be fine. There were a couple emotional hours, and Ill never forget the support I got that night, with the players and the coaches letting me know that they were there for me.That night, the X-ray machine at Chase Field happened to be broken, so we went to a hospital for an examination. I was assigned to a room and waited. It just so happened that Kate, my wife, had picked her dad up from the airport within the hour that I got hurt, so she rushed over. Judy Hale, Chips wife, was also a big help.They rolled a portable X-ray machine into my room, but I knew what the images would show. I didnt even bother to look -- not because I was disgusted by it but because it would only confirm what I already assumed. Kate played lacrosse at Notre Dame and knew what it would take to rehabilitate an injury like that, and she was pretty upset, and it became more of a case of me comforting her. (Or maybe she was upset because she knew she would have to deal with me at home the rest of the season.)I had a hard time getting to sleep that night. When you get hurt, you have a lot of stuff racing through your mind.I knew exactly who would do the surgery: Dr. Don Sheridan, who is one of the best in the world at what he does. I had surgery on my hand before, and he did that. We had become friends, and as we got ready for the elbow surgery, he gave me some confidence. He definitely gave me peace of mind by saying, Were going to fix this once and for all.It was a delicate and complicated surgery. He hoped to get the old screw out of the bone -- without making a huge mess of my elbow -- then take some bone from my hip for a graft to help new growth at the point of the fracture. But he had total conviction.I woke up after the surgery, and Dr. Sheridan came in, looking completely exhausted, like someone who had run a marathon. But he had prepared for hours for this, and he was fired up. He showed mme, with a bunch of pictures from the surgery, how well it went.dddddddddddd Everything is exactly where its supposed to be, he told me. For the first time in years, my elbow was in exactly the right alignment.Then Dr. Sheridan reached out with something in his hand and dropped it into my hand: the old screw. I saw the pictures of the hole where the screw was, and I have no idea how he got it out of there. It was pretty amazing. There were lots of hugs in that room.I began working with our great athletic trainers, including Ken Crenshaw, who is unbelievable because of the attitude he brings every day, the unselfishness. Id thank him for some progress we made, and hed say, Its all you. Clearly, thats not true. There were a lot of other people who have helped along the way, including trainer Ryan DiPanfilo, strength and conditioning coordinator Nate Shaw, physical therapist Ben Hagar and medical coordinator Kyle Torgerson. Its a complete team effort, and when you walk into the room and need something, theyll drop whatever theyre doing and immediately say, Lets do it. Theyre completely invested in making you better. Kate has been the No. 1 rock star, getting me ready for each day, making the meals and working on my nutrition, which mightve been the most important part of the healing.Six weeks into the rehabilitation process, I had a scan to determine how the bone was healing, and we didnt expect much. Having gone through this once before, I was thinking we might not have much healing at all. But you could see in the images that it already had gotten a lot better. There were only a couple spots that still showed the fracture line. Ten weeks in, we had another scan, and it was exponentially improved. By week 12, you couldnt see any lines from the fracture; it was rock solid. The whole thing was normal. It was incredible.I sent a text to thank everybody: our athletic trainers, Dr. Waslewski and Dr. Sheridan, and Dr. Sheridan responded with a line from the movie Apollo 13: This is going to be our finest hour. We had gone from that terrible moment at Chase Field on the eve of the season to a fully healed elbow in just a few months.I remember the first time I threw with Ken Crenshaw, something you have to do incrementally, starting with a tennis ball thrown just a couple of feet. That went well, so we moved up to a 4-ounce ball. Then a normal baseball. Everything felt great; everything was so smooth. When I took batting practice in recent years, I had to ease into it with the first swings of the day. Now Im able to take a full hack on the first swing.On Aug. 4, I got to begin my rehabilitation assignment. I got a single in four at-bats, and moving along to Class A, I homered in my first game with the Visalia Rawhide. On my drive away from the park after the game, I was thinking about how awesome it felt to be out on a baseball field. It felt amazing and powerful to be able to do that again. I didnt care where it was, in Class A or the big leagues. I was back on a field, healthy again, whole again. ' ' '