Parker: Good luck beating the heat

All the talk lately has been about the heat. Guess I'll chip in my two cents as well.

After working through over 20 years of summer baseball, the heat bothered me the least last year by a long stretch. It may sound weird, but spending 8-15 minutes in the sauna after lifting weights prepared me. Sitting through temperatures well past 100 degrees in the steam made 95 seem like nothin'.

No matter your method for gearing up for the heat, you have to stay hydrated. There's no substitute for the liquids your body needs.

Cascade's Ashley Bledsoe battles a Lincoln County defender during Tuesday's scrimmage. Temperatures soared to 99 degrees during the match. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

I noticed Metro schools, along with Wilson and Rutherford Counties, canceled all sports activities outdoors for a few days. This time of year is extremely important for these teams and that likely angered a few coaches. There are ways to both practice and be safe. Perhaps they don't trust all their coaches.

Extra breaks were strategically inserted into Cascade's girls soccer scrimmage against Lincoln County on Tuesday.

The schools might want to have jugs of water and cups on hand for their crowds as well, much like golf courses have every few holes. Last year a Forrest grandparent had to leave the baseball district tournament in Murfreesboro early. I'm not sure if the heat had something to do with it or not, but if you want to watch a game there at 4 p.m., you have to look into the sun on the first base side.

Coach Jeff Fisher moved the Titans' practice indoors on Friday. Kids and parents should take note that if some of the finer athletes in the world have to think twice about the sun's rays, they need to as well.

By no means am I an athletic trainer, but there are a few rules of thumb that most any veteran should know: if you wait till you are thirsty, you waited too long; everyone should keep an eye on everyone else, any sign of someone no longer sweating or starting to stumble or complain of dizziness should cool down and hydrate immediately.

There are preemptive methods that work pretty good from what I hear.

Last football season, Mt. Pleasant tailback Marco Dailey had problems making it through four quarters. Of course the Tigers were beating the mess out of most teams so his talents were no longer necessary late in games. But, when they wanted to keep him on the field, cramps left him on the sidelines.

Shelbyville Central football coach Jason Hardy goes over the importance of hydration with his team after a recent practice. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Apparently, Dailey was working out twice a day on top of going through full pads practices with the team. Add to it the fact that the kid likely hasn't been able to "pinch an inch" since he was two years old.

Someone in the Tiger program found out what was going on and had him ease back a bit and start downing a concoction that helped with hydration. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it likely contained bananas, pickle juice, ice and water among other things.

Dailey went on to run for over 2,500 yards, take home the Mr. Football award for top back in Class A and led the Tigers deep into the playoffs.

Every little bit counts. Simply swapping soda out for water could make a huge difference. My high school baseball coach always told us to eat plenty of salt during lunch.

Like I said, I'm not an expert on the matter but hopefully I've helped some. Feel free to consult a physician before tossing a bunch of items in a blender and forcing them down your kid's throat.

Danny Parker is sports editor of the Times-Gazette.