r Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when

It was so good to be a part of our win against Geelong last weekend - not just because of the impressive nature of the victory, but after missing one match through injury, it meant so much to simply be back on the field.The previous round, I was out of the team with my knee injury, sitting in the coachs box during our fantastic win against Carlton with mixed emotions.I was so proud of our young teams performance and ability to rebound from a horrible loss to Adelaide the previous weekend. But despite the incredibly positive result for our team, I felt detached from the win itself; isolated even.A large percentage of an athletes self-worth is determined by their ability to physically do their job. So, when youre sitting on the sidelines - or in my case, in the coachs box - you feel pretty worthless. Even as captain of the club, having spent 16 years at St Kilda, the loss of identity was incredible. I genuinely felt like I had played absolutely no part in the victory - its amazing how on the outer you feel.Against Adelaide, I copped a heavy knee-on-knee collision in the first minute. My day probably should have finished there but we had other injuries, were down on rotations and I could fill a position on the ground, so I played on.At end of the match, as a result of the knock my left knee - the troublesome one - really blew up and filled with fluid. The swelling in the joint made it impossible for my quad to function and I was unable to bend or straighten my leg. I was stuck in a position of real discomfort.Nick Riewoldt: My experiences with concussionPlayers will generally go to extraordinary lengths to ensure they recover from games in time to perform the following week and this particular example of mine was no exception. Please excuse the gory details and photos, but I thought you might like to know what I went through the following week as I tried to get fit for the Carlton game.On the Monday, I had an MRI scan at a medical practice to ascertain the level of damage done, then had my knee drained. After I received some local anesthetic, a large syringe extracted fluid from the joint. Previously when Ive had my knee drained, the fluid is yellowish from weeping inside the joint. But on this occasion (as you can see in the picture) it was a horrible-looking dark blue/red colour which suggested an acute type of injury. I know its not nice to look at but the feeling after that 140mls of fluid came out of the joint was one of instant relief.At that stage, I still thought I was a realistic chance of playing against Carlton.On Tuesday at the football club I was unable to partake in any of the usual physical training and instead I spent the day rotating between ice baths and the physios room to further flush the fluid out of the joint as it had begun to accumulate again.On Wednesday, our day off, I was still thinking I was a chance to play, so I cancelled my usual Wednesday business meetings so I could see our physio Andrew Wallis three times, visit my chiropractor Azim, and do a lot of recovery work in our pool at home, which is freezing cold. We do have solar heating, which my wife Cath constantly tells me we should utilise, but for selfish reasons I keep it cold to use in recovery!On Thursday, I was back at the club and still struggling a fair bit. My knee was drained again - this time 80ml of fluid was taken out. It wasnt quite as dark, which showed the bleeding within the joint had stopped, but it was still pretty sore.At that point, I really needed to complete some form of training to prove my fitness however after discussing it with the coaching and medical teams, we made a call that I would not play against the Blues. Having a bye the next week meant I could rest up for 21 days, rather than rushing back with only seven days between the two games.On game day I arrived at the ground and in my mind I had to reconcile the fact I wasnt going to play - there was a strange, illogical part of me that still half-expected to suit up despite the situation. The urge to play and disappointment at coming up short was extremely strong.Thats why the Daniel Menzel story is so inspiring. To endure the disappointment that is associated with four knee reconstructions requires spades of mental toughness. Same with Alex Johnson at the Swans, although he hasnt yet made it back to the field. You cant have anything but admiration for those guys going through those horrific long-term injuries. I was only missing one game after all!Pre-match I spent time with all the players in the rooms going through their roles and expectations and as the game drew close, I joined Richo and the rest of our coaching panel in the box. I was still dark on not being able to play but Richo encouraged me to not hold back - if you see anything, please contribute and if you think we should do something, let me know. I was grateful for this as it at least allowed me to feel as if I was involved from a leadership perspective.Injuries are a part of an athletes lot. They are part of the overall package, but footballers are obviously still humans and prone to the same phobias and anxieties as the rest of the population; I still get a bit queasy, and flinch at pain-killing injections. Also, I cant help but get extremely nervous in those final moments before Ive been wheeled into an operating theatre for surgery. All up, I think Ive been put under the knife 15 or so times - mostly on my left knee, but also my hamstring tendon, collar bone and nose.Pain is a regular companion during an AFL career. Dont get me wrong - the positives far outweigh the negatives - but injuries and niggles are always there when you play a sport as demanding and brutal as ours. I cant remember the last time I was ever pain-free going into a game - maybe when I was a kid running around the ovals of Hobart and the Gold Coast! Not many players would ever go in feeling 100 percent; everyone carries something during a season - a sore joint, tight muscle, whatever. But once youre up and going during a game or training session, you can generally do what you need to do.The doctors and medical teams at AFL clubs really are the unsung heroes of the industry.For on-field performance, the docs, physios and conditioning staff play an enormous role in making sure were fit to take the field. Their duty of care is enormous - Ive been on the receiving end of some bad incidents with injuries and concussions, and they are the people entrusted with calling your family to reassure them that everything will be OK. Theyre also great sounding boards - I would consider them friends away from the club.I must confess that our club doctors workload seems to double this time of year. Im guilty of calling for advice every time my boy James gets a runny nose. Turns out they are pretty good at fixing those too! Joe Greene Steelers Jersey . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. Dermontti Dawson Youth Jersey .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. http://www.steelerspronfl.com/Youth-JuJu-Smith-Schuster-Elite-Jersey/ . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Hines Ward Steelers Jersey .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. Benny Snell Jr. Womens Jersey . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. OTTAWA, Ontario -- New York Islanders star John Tavares scored twice to lead Canada to a 5-2 victory over the United States on Saturday night in a World Cup of Hockey exhibition game.Logan Couture, Jay Bouwmeester and Matt Duchene also scored for Canada. Braden Holtby allowed two goals on 13 shots, and Corey Crawford faced 10 shots in 26:28 of ice time.The U.S. beat Canada 4-2 on Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.Obviously, didnt get the result we wanted (Friday), Tavares said. Even though its exhibition you want to start on the right foot and thats always our expectation especially when you get a great opportunity to play against one of our rivals back-to-back.Ryan McDonagh and John Carlson scored for the U.S. Cory Schneider started the game and allowwed four goals on 24 shots, and Ben Bishop, who came in for the third period, allowed one goal on 14 shots.ddddddddddddortorella was OK with his teams performance.Quite honestly I felt we played better minutes (Saturday) than we did (Friday), U.S coach John Tortorella said. Well look at the video and just keep on working on our game.The U.S. will face Finland on Tuesday night in an exhibition game in Washington. Canada will complete its pre-tournament schedule against Russia on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.It was important to get better and thats what were trying to do each and every game, Canada coach Mike Babcock said. ' ' '