ready to visit on the right financial terms because Zimbabwe sho

Not all spine fractures are created equal. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo knows this firsthand.The Cowboys announced on Saturday that Romo?suffered a broken bone in his back during Thursdays preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, on a hit that initially generated?nothing more than a scare.?Sources told?ESPN?reporter?Todd Archer that Romo sustained a compression fracture to the L1 vertebra and could?miss six to 10 weeks. The Cowboys have not issued a timetable and coach Jason Garrett has not yet ruled out Romo for the season opener. We live in the world day by day, he said.During the play on which he was injured, Romo was in the process of initiating a slide. At virtually the same moment Romo began his motion toward the ground, Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril arrived to tackle him, wrapping his left arm across Romos shoulder while applying a downward force with his right arm in an attempt to strip the ball from Romos right hand. Romo landed?in a seated position with his back rounded and feet outstretched.The two primary forces in play through his back were compression -- the combination of the downward-directed forces through the spine from both Avril and gravity, in addition to the upward force through his spine from the ground as he landed -- and flexion, or forward bending, as Avrils momentum coming from behind brought Romos torso forward on impact. The spine can tolerate a fair amount of each, but its problematic when the two are combined.The central portion of a spinal vertebra is called the body, and it is architecturally constructed to absorb load, especially in the lower back area. When viewed under a microscope, the bony infrastructure of the vertebral body reveals scaffold-like elements, similar to rebar frames used in construction. The anatomical design reinforces the ability of the vertebra to bear weight, along with any additional load incurred deliberately (when carrying or lifting) or accidentally (while falling).If the physics of a load or collision, however, exceed what the structure is designed to accommodate, the structure will fail. That excess loading happened to Romos spine, resulting in a compression fracture of L1, the first lumbar vertebra. There are five lumbar or low back vertebrae; the L1 is the topmost.How common is this injury? According to Dr. Robert Watkins Jr., orthopedic spine surgeon and co-director of the Marina Spine Center in Marina del Rey, California, it is relatively infrequent among professional athletes.Compression fractures are common in the elderly with weak bones but are pretty rare in young athletes, said Watkins, who treats numerous athletes of all levels.So whats next for Romo? The primary focus for the early phase of recovery is minimizing discomfort.Fractures are painful, and any movement can further aggravate that pain. While broken bones in the extremities can be casted to prevent movement while they heal, its not possible to externally immobilize a specific vertebral segment. Sometimes a back brace or corset is issued, as is the case with Romo, to help control spinal motion that might provoke pain. It cannot entirely restrict movement.Ultimately, pain is the guide when it comes to an athlete progressing his activity; as the pain decreases, the athlete is encouraged to do more in the way of natural movement and physical exertion. Flexion and compression -- the loading forces that contributed to the original injury -- are minimized in the early stages to avoid aggravating the condition. As the athletes pain resolves and his conditioning improves, he can gradually return.?The final phase is being cleared for contact, which depends on the healing progression and minimal risk of further injury.Romos latest injury is unlike the back injury the quarterback?sustained in 2014, when he fractured two transverse processes. Transverse processes are small projections on the vertebrae where soft tissue attaches, but they have no real role in load-bearing. In football, fractures to transverse processes are not uncommon when there is a direct hit, and the result is?bruising and pain at the fracture site. Players can typically return to play as the pain allows, even as the bone continues to heal, because of the low risk involved. Romo returned to play two weeks after sustaining the?injury.With a compression fracture, the recovery time and determination of return to play is dependent on the nuances of the injury. If the fracture is small and the spinal segment is stable, the recovery can be much quicker than if there is significant bone deformity and associated instability. Stable compression fractures are typically managed non-surgically, as will be the case with Romo.Once the pain has resolved and satisfactory healing has occurred, the athlete can be cleared to return.?This could range from a few weeks to a few months. As Garrett noted, the Cowboys?have gotten a lot of different timetables for when [Romo] can return.Despite the relatively low occurrence of compression fractures in athletes, Watkins said there is good news about the recovery.After the bone has healed, most people have no residual pain and they return to full function, he said.The usual caveats of lacking specific details about the injury -- such as whether there is any ligament damage or other associated soft tissue injury -- and the fact that everyone heals at different rates still apply in Romos case, making it difficult to accurately project a timetable.Beyond the pain resolution and the bone healing, there is also the matter of him being football-ready in his conditioning before he takes the field again. There is also his injury history. While it is true that this latest injury was an isolated incident, Romos history of prior disk surgery, two transverse process fractures and a procedure to remove a cyst from his spine cant be ignored.The cumulative trauma of successive injuries regionally (after all, the spine is a single structure in that all vertebral segments are interconnected) can have subtle but real biomechanical consequences that potentially impact Romos overall mobility and strength. Only time will tell if that history poses any challenges to his immediate recovery or to his ability to be functionally effective going forward.This latest injury should not necessarily signal the end of Romos career. Based on the available information, there is no reason to think he wont recover from this particular injury. Ultimately, the question for Romo is the same as for any other NFL player returning from consecutive injuries: How much does he want to continue to expose himself to injury risk, simply by stepping on the football field each week?Although Romos back injury is different this time, the mantra when it comes to Romo is familiar. Wait -- however long it takes --?and see. Kevin Rimane Jersey . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. Loic Mbe Soh Jersey . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. http://www.parissaintgermainfcstore.com/Women-Adrien-Rabiot-Paris-Saint-Germain-Jersey/ . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Moussa Diaby Paris Saint-Germain Jersey . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. Kevin Rimane Paris Saint-Germain Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Najam Sethi, the PCB executive committee head and chairman of the Pakistan Super League, has asked the Punjab government to initiate a process to stage the PSL final in Lahore in March 2017. If some foreign players among the finalists were not willing to play in Pakistan, then the franchises would be allowed to pick from a pool of foreign players who were ready to play in Pakistan, according to Sethi. The final is likely to be held on March 9.All systems being put in place, Sethi told ESPNcricinfo. We are in the process of signing up top foreign players who are ready to play in Lahore if their team gets into the final. All we need are ten top foreign players. If there are some foreign players among the finalists who are not prepared to play in Lahore, we will have an arrangement with others who dont make it to the finals, and facilitate the finalist franchisees to select from that pool of players who are available to play in Lahore.Pakistan has been untenable as an international venue ever since terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Zimbabwe became the first Full-Member nation to visit Pakistan since that incident, but the ICC refused to send its match officials for the series in May 2015.Pakistan then appointed their own match officials, and hoped the Zimbabwe series would serve as a stepping stone to revive international cricket in the country. That ambition, however, suffered a setback when a suicide attack took place near the Gaddafi Stadium during the second ODI. Zimbabwe played the third and final ODI two days later and completed the tour, but the PCB failed to convince any other side to visit the country since.The effort to host the PSL final in Lahore is another step towaards bringing top-flight cricket back to Pakistan, and ESPNcricinfo understands that it is at a primary stage.dddddddddddd Look, it is only a question of one day in Lahore, Sethi said. We can organise fool-proof security. The teams can be flown in and out within 24 hours. We have four armoured buses for transportation and the Punjab police has already demonstrated its efficiency in this regard when Zimbabwe toured last year.Most importantly, the government has succeeded in uprooting most terrorist groups from Punjab. This fact is not lost on the ICC members. Foreign teams will come to Pakistan step by step. Ireland are ready to visit on the right financial terms because Zimbabwe showed the way. The West Indies were in discussions with us but pulled back when the Gulshan bomb went off. If we can demonstrate a successful PSL final in Lahore the message will go out loud and clear that at least short tours in one venue are possible. I personally think that by next year we should be able to hold T20 and ODI matches in Lahore or Karachi with foreign teams.The PCB had initially contacted top agencies, which handle over 100 international players, to consider playing the first season of the PSL in Pakistan. The response, however, was overwhelmingly negative, which forced the board to move the tournament to the UAE.West Indies allrounder Andre Russell, however, became the first high-profile overseas player in the inaugural PSL to express a willingness to play in Pakistan. Other players such as Shane Watson and Darren Sammy had said they would travel to Pakistan subject to security clearance. ' ' '