Boring new referees – Rodric Leerling

I’m reading more and more unfortunate reports of molested refs these days. Being hit by players or spectators who didn’t agree with their ruling. But behold, a new generation of refs is about to step in…. and has done so during the last couple of years.

The Calm Before The Storm – Rodric Leerling

It’s hard to keep mum when you are about to sign off for a challenging and exciting new media sales project. These last days clearly were the calm before the storm.

Don’t mess with my assistant – Rodric Leerling

Last weekend I was assigned a rookie ref with an experienced radiation. But with this kind of confidence, you can also go too far or make wrong judgments.

The Cool Projects I Worked For (Part 4 – Consumer Research)- Rodric Leerling

Having worked as a freelancer for several years now, one tends to forget how it all started and how my career choice in 2004 has defined where I am today.

MinutePoll, CoolBrands, SuperBrands, TrendBox

The Cool Projects I worked for (Part 3 – Influencer Marketing) – Rodric Leerling

MTG NL – influencer marketing, MCN, video concepts development

The Cool Projects I Worked For (Part 1 – Crowdsourcing Videos) – Rodric Leerling

Zooppa.com – crowdsourcing advertising videos and graphics.

If there ever was a moment in my sales career I felt an alignment of a business development project with my true pioneering sales qualities, it was with Zooppa.com.

After talking to the doctor and my physiotherapist ….. – Rodric Leerling

It’s finally time to get into physical action again! A gradual build-up of physical exercise is on the roster after talking to the specialis this week.

Back to Knee One – Rodric Leerling

Four and a half months and I’m back to ‘knee one’. The physical situation is similar to when it started in May: a swollen, stiff knee. The latest injection with double dosis steroid worked exactly four weeks.

Rookie Refs Can Be Lazy – Rodric Leerling

The rookie ref this weekend wasn’t that young. In fact, he told me he had been serving several football clubs as club referee and now wanted to join the Dutch FA. He needed more challenge and variation in this assigned games.

Shifting Mentally From Sports Injury To Ailment – Rodric Leerling

After seeing the sports medical doctor, I learned to accept that my swollen knee wasn’t due to a sports injury, but rather an ailment. Changing from the orthopedist (mechanical) to a rheumatologist (inflammatory) should be regarded as logical therefore. Suffering twelve weeks of this kind of swelling (and only a swift pain attack) simply can’t be blamed on excessive sports stress or trauma.

No, the diagnosis probably goes in the direction of my GP’s first hunch back in May: gout or pseudo-gout (chondrocalcinosis). Gout is an ailment in the rheumatic line, caused by christalized acids heaping up in the knee after errors in the body’s metabolism. After reading about the gout causes, I understand why the doctor is studying the ‘pseudo-gout’ option. This ailment looks similar to gout, but this time the chrystals are formed by calcium and not acids. And the circumstances are different.

Some 90ml of excessive (yellow) fluids were extracted from my knee last week and are now being examined, along with new bloodtests and X-rays. A new medication makes me feel lots better and should reduce the inflammation cause. In total, it feels like getting more serious attention, but with a less clear outlook.

A cure for pseudo-gout isn’t around the corner unfortunately. But it can disappear as sudden as it started. Your body has to recover by itself and wash out the calcium chrystals. In two weeks I will know what my physical future holds in terms of sports and exercise. Maybe the current medicins will do the trick and will allow me to start training again.