The Race for Steve Vermillion

Steve Vermillion’s brother, Ryan, sent the following update earlier this week through the Potomac Boat Club Yahoo Group.  We wanted to be sure to share it with all of Steve’s teammates, friends and supporters out there, so we reprinted it below.

We’re thinking of you, Steve.  Hurry back.

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I wanted to bring you up to date on Stephen and ask for your special thoughts and prayers tomorrow. As many of you know Stephen has been battling leukemia for over 18 months. That is a long time, for someone to stay strong, upbeat, thankful and appreciative for everyday he has while battling a disease that ultimately wants to kill him.

Stephen has been a real warrior, trooper, stud or whatever adjective you want to use during this period of time. Think of what you have been through the last 18 months, we have had 2 Christmas’s, 2 New Years Eve’s, 2 St. Patty’s Days, we have all had our birthdays and some of us have had 2 birthdays since Stephen’s diagnosis. We have had births, deaths, times to smile and times to cry, good times and bad times. We wake up and complain about the rain, the snow, our jobs, our class work but we wake up and move on with our day. Stephen wakes up with leukemia every single day. He has to go through another day of chemotherapy, blood transfusions, bone marrow biopsies, spinal taps, platelets, IV antibiotic drips,  CT scans, radiation, skin biopsies and coughing down more pills than 10 people should take.

At times he is his old self, talking, laughing, teasing but other times he is tired, quiet, reserved, in pain, dizzy, nauseated, cold, hot, irritated but he pushes forward not knowing where this journey will take him. He has been declared cancer free, he has been told he beat it, he has received a bone marrow transplant that was supposed to be the answer. He has been told he is strong and not the normal patient, that is body is in great shape and the chemo has not had any detrimental effects on his organs but … he still has leukemia. He has done everything the doctors have asked him to do. He told me one time he would give his left leg if that would cure him, he is willing to do anything to continue to be a husband, father, son, brother, cousin, and friend.

Tomorrow Stephen will be receiving his second bone marrow transplant at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. This time he will be receiving his bone marrow from his 13 year old daughter Sarah. Can you think of a better gift you can give a parent, life. We would all want to give our parents the gift of life, they gave it to us and how great would it be that we could give it back, well Sarah will be doing just that tomorrow morning. Sarah will give her father the gift of life through her bone marrow. Tomorrow morning think of and pray for Stephen and Sarah, that their day will go well and that ultimately this bone marrow transplant will cure Stephen. I know that is what Sarah wants and she believes she is going to save her Dad. We all have busy days, we are pulled in many different directions, demands on our time are always there. When you think you are having a bad day think of what Stephen and Jennifer have gone through the last 18 months.

Tomorrow morning  think of and pray for Stephen, give him the strength he needs to continue the fight. The Doctors are amazed at Stephens physical condition, his ability to tolerate chemo, his mental fortitude they can’t understand it and they don’t have an answer. There is someone who has the answers, our mother. She knows where Stephens strength comes from, it comes from your continued prayers and thoughts. There are thousands of people praying for Stephen, please keep it going, it is working. One day Stephen will finally be able to say he is cancer free.

Thank you for all you have done and will continue to do for Stephen, Jennifer, Sarah and Joe.

I know I have missed family and friends with this email, please forward it on to any of Stephens friends that I have missed, the more people praying the better.

God Bless you all,
Ryan

Ryan P. Vermillion
Head Trainer
Carolina Panthers
Charlotte, NC

PBC Sculling Ladder Returns for ‘09!!!

PBC senior member and newly re-elected member of the Board, Ed Ryan, gives us the run-down on Sculling Ladder ‘09.

Attention all PBC Scullers!

Join us for this time-honored tradition of rowing, the PBC Sculling Ladder! It’s a way to have some fun, generate some friendly competition, and establish an informal pecking order of speed among the scullers in the Club. All PBC scullers are welcome!!!

Here’s how it works:

The Ladder.   You’ll see the Ladder hanging on the bulletin board across from the logbook.  The top rungs are now occupied by the top places from the ‘08 Ladder, as best as I can remember.  If you want to join, just take one of the blank depressors and place your name and age on it, together with any other embellishments you prefer. Place your depressor on the first open spot on the Ladder - - it’s that simple.  While last year we divided the Ladder between Girls and Boys, that distinction evaporated midway through the year and we’ll now have a single coed ladder and let the handicap chart work its magic.

The Equipment.  You, your single (or Club single), and oars.

The Challenge (or How to Move up the Ladder).  Any sculler can challenge another sculler within five rungs above his or her name on the Ladder.  A challenge must be accepted and rowed within two weeks at a mutually convenient time.  I’d like to see early Saturday mornings become the preferred time.  An extra incentive to encourage Saturday a.m.’s. — if raced at that time, the losing rower can immediately challenge the winner and the second race will take place as soon as both rowers can paddle back to the start.   Nice workout too.

The Handicaps.   A sheet of handicaps is posted right next to the Ladder.  It’s been scientifically calculated and essentially is a hybrid between the USRowing handicaps and what I’ll call the Gwadz handicaps.  Use your age as of the end of this year. There’s a lot of literature out there on the aging process and athletic performance, virtually all of it very depressing, and the handicaps are intended to adjust for that, as well as to make the racing as competitive as possible for PBC rowers.  The handicaps make this a great opportunity for everyone, from open through the most senior masters, to get out and scrimmage a bit on the river.    Last year we found that races were extremely competitive, and we’d like to see even more Open Scullers participate.

The Races. The race will be a 1000m race.  Standing start.  Challenger gets choice of lane.  The course - and this generated far too much controversy last year – is generally from the top of the Sisters to Key Bridge, but more precisely it is this:  the start is an (imaginary) line drawn perpendicularly from the first large sycamore tree immediately below the creek that empties on the Virginia side across from the top of Sisters – drawn to the sycamore tree immediately opposite on the DC side; the finish is an (imaginary) line drawn from the upstream edges of the Key Bridge abutments between the second and third arches (Virginia side).  If I can get my hands on a launch, I will tie a ribbon around the trunk of the upstream tree so you’ll know which one.  If you want to make it simple, just think of the top set of rocks at the Sisters to Key Bridge, and just do it.  The handicap adjustment is given at the start (i.e., the handicap differential is calculated, the boat receiving the handicap will start first and the other boat will then count off the differential and then start). This is all on the honor system. If there is a current, and you’re giving time, remember to keep backing lightly while counting down the handicap.
View Larger Map

The Spoils.  If the challenging sculler wins, the positions of the two rowers on the Ladder get reversed and the challenger takes the challengee’s spot (and visa versa), even if this means skipping a few rungs on the way up and down. If the challenging sculler loses, he or she must, at the sole discretion of the challengee, (a) wash the challengee’s boat, or (b) provide the challengee with uninterrupted drink service at the next PBC Happy Hour on the House, and address the challengee throughout such event as my liege.

Have Fun.  Row Fast.

-Ed Ryan