SUBJECT: ACSM acceptance results, scheduling, and planning.

DATE: February 8, 2019.


Hi all,

I've spent the last two days with my fingers crossed tightly. Tightly tightly. By this morning, they were all sweaty and shaking, as though holding an unpracticed yoga pose for way too long.

But I can finally let go and get some blood back into those fings. Because the results are in.

Heaps of congrats are in order. But can we reflect first? This reflection: It's sort of a disappointing year. In a way. I think we all (you, me, Lord Almighty) could have done a little bit more. You've done a VO2 max test, right?

As you're getting near the end, the person administering the test (usually Mark) always asks: "Can you go another 30 seconds?!" in that simultaneously super masculine and super sensual tone of VanNess voice. As much as you want to impress him, you grunt some breathy, indecipherable gibberish ("Done can't that's!") and leap off the treadmill, straddling its edges. Obviously you've decided you can't complete another 30 seconds.

Two minutes later, while you're sitting on the AT table next to the treadmill, Mark asks you (with no exclamation point this time): "Do you think you could have gone for another 30 seconds?"

The answer is always yes.

So, yeah, I grunted some gibberish as we were submitting back in October. A lot of us did. But we all (you, me, Pam Eibeck) could have done more. In pretty much everything. All the time. For always.

That said, we did get a lot of great projects submitted. The disappointing part is that we had a lot of great projects rejected. Some seriously good ones. A couple of the projects that I considered our strongest works didn't make the cut. This happens every year, but more this year. And if I take my paranoia off its leash, I arrive at this thought:

I think Pacific may have been scrutinized a bit closely this year because of our presence last year. Last year, we presented >30 projects. That was unheard of... at least until we were heard doing it. And the ACSM folks noticed... hard (I heard from a couple of them). Their correspondence was received as praise, but I hate receiving that kind of praise... because it means we've been observed. And once observed, you can no longer sneak around. Or, in our case, sneak in. There's no such thing as a surprise attack once you've been spotted. Last year, we surprise-attacked record representation at ACSM... since the 1950s. It was a big deal. Ridiculous in the best sense of the word. But this year, it seems we had to go through the metal detector twice. And we had 11 projects ding. "But it's just my zipper." "No zippers on the plane!" "I don't think that's a thing." "Get off the plane!" So a bunch of us disembarked.

Maybe it's just coincidence that our acceptance rate fell from 89% two years in a row to 68% immediately after our record-setting year. Maybe. Or maybe I did a shitty job. Equally maybe. Who knows. Even so, we should still be the top program in the U.S. We had 23 total projects accepted (give yourselves a VanNess-voicely-sensual pat on your backs... or at least on your shoulders if you can't reach your backs... or on your chest if you can't reach your shoulders).

Other than our department, the top university usually has some teen number of projects. And it's from a school with at least 30 professors in their HES department. (Last year, the runner up was Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; one of the top research institutions in America.) So... we can be proud that our little familial tribe is probably still ACSM's #1. We'll find out for sure in a few months. But a lot of our students didn't get in. And that's the part I care about. We can resubmit those projects to another conference, and -- having enough MP to cast a sneak attack -- everyone should get in. And then everyone will get the conference experience.

Those are my thoughts of the afternoon.

The next round of thoughts will be about remedying 68%. Lots of options. One of them: Experimental Biology rather than ACSM next time? Those abstracts get published in FASEB. Really good journal. Impact factor of ~5.5. EB 2020 is in San Diego; ACSM 2020 is in San Francisco. Do a small submission to ACSM and a bigger submission to EB? Just do EB? We'll talk. But think about it. And if you decide your thoughts are good, share them with me.

Okay... Below is the list of accepted projects. In chronological order (first round of presenters first, then the next round of presenters, then the next, and so on until Mercedes and Cameron, who have the last possible slot... the only truly boring time to stand by one's poster).

After finding yourself, and identifying your team, it's time to start making your actual posters. Like every year, I won't be available for this part. And it's a lot of work. Plenty of examples of previous posters to work from. And just enough time to do that work. So start now.

Note: Each project will be published in MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE, Volume 51, Issue 5S.


"Quantity Time: Identifying the Benefit of Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction in Major League Baseball" by J.P. Wong, William E. Herrin, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session A-19. Wednesday, May 29 from 9:30am - 11:30am (thematic poster).


"Biomechanics of Pitching: Horizontal Abduction Predicts Power; Power Predicts Strikeouts and Wins" by William P. Lydon, J. Mark Van Ness, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session A-43. Wednesday May 29 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from 9:30am - 11:00am


"Biomechanical Predictors of Fastball Velocity in Collegiate Pitching" by Samson J. Abernathy, William P. Lydon, J. Mark VanNess, J.P. Wong, Alexis C. King, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session A-44. Wednesday, May 29 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from: 9:30am - 11:00am.


"Biceps and Triceps Contribute to Pitching Performance in College Baseball" by Marie R. Acosta, J. Mark Van Ness, William P. Lydon, Brian G. Graham, Alexis C. King, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session A-44. Wednesday, May 29 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from 9:30am - 11:00am.


"Physical Play with Children Predicts Better Hematological Health; Hematological Health Predicts Cognitive and Behavioral Development" by Kendall D. Bietsch, Cynthia Villalobos, William E. Herrin, Jessica Avalos, Norah Medaya, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session A-57. Wednesday, May 29 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from 11:00am - 12:30pm.


"A Three-Dimensional Assessment of Push-Pull Power Ratios Across Various Loads" by Gianna D. Maragliano, J. Mark VanNess, Maggie E. Bristow, Nathaniel J. Holmgren, Joseph Arballo, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session A-40. Wednesday, May 29 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from 11:00am - 12:30pm.


"Workout-Life Balance: How Psychological Stress Affects Force Production in Competitive Powerlifters and Healthy Controls" by Keenan J. Dung, J. Mark VanNess, Nathaniel J. Holmgren, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session A-40. Wednesday, May 29 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from 11:00am - 12:30pm.


"The Prevalence of Depression Among Diabetic Patients is Associated with Hemoglobin" by Angela A. Colback, Cynthia Villalobos, Jonathan M. Saxe, Lewis E. Jacobson, J. Mark VanNess, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session B-58. Wednesday, May 29 from 1:00pm - 6:00pm. Must be present from 2:00pm - 3:30pm.


"Is Seasonal Affective Disorder a Symptom of a Larger Collection of Sedentary and Obesity-Related Disorders?" by Stephanie Ta, Nathaniel J. Holmgren, J. Mark VanNess, Alexis C. King, Lewis E. Jacobson, Jonathan M. Saxe, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session B-58. Wednesday, May 29 from 1:00pm - 6:00pm. Must be present from 2:00pm - 3:30pm.


"Benefits of Behavior: Exercise Enhances Perception of Physical Function Independent of Improvement Among Diabetic Patients" by Shabnam A. Behin, Cynthia Villalobos, Nathaniel J. Holmgren, Alexis C. King, J. Mark VanNess, Paul D. Vosti, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session B-58. Wednesday, May 29 from 1:00pm - 6:00pm. Must be present from 2:00pm - 3:30pm.


"Diurnal and Circannual Variation in Body Temperature: Implications for Heat Illness Protocols" by Nathaniel J. Holmgren, J. Mark VanNess, Lewis E. Jacobson, Jonathan M. Saxe, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session B-58. Wednesday, May 29 from 1:00pm - 6:00pm. Must be present from 2:00pm - 3:30pm.


"Sex-Specific HbA1c Responses to Structured Exercise Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes" by Diana Devitskaya, Cynthia Villalobos, J. Mark VanNess, Paul D. Vosti, Alexis C. King, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session C-07. Thursday, May 30 from 9:30am - 11:30am (thematic poster).


"Reason to Exercise in Diabetic Populations: Use of Rapid-Acting Insulin Predicts Falls in At-Risk Patients" by Saejel G. Mohan, Tina Bhateja, Kathy L. Leslie, J. Mark VanNess, Jonathan M. Saxe, Lewis E. Jacobson, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session C-48. Thursday, May 30 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from 10:30am - 12:00pm.


"Exercise Interventions Improve Drug Abstinence at an Out-Patient Rehabilitation Center" by Emily L. Roessel, J. Mark VanNess, Mercedes K. Steidley, Ryan C. Bain, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session D-10. Thursday, May 30 from 1:30pm - 3:30pm (thematic poster).


"Confirming The Coach's Bias: Power Begets Performance at The Plate" Kento J. Moriguchi, Nathaniel J. Holmgren, J. Mark VanNess, William P. Lydon, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session E-29. Friday, May 31 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from 9:30am - 11:00am.


"Modernization of a Developing Country: Effect on Body Mass Index" by Cynthia Villalobos, William E. Herrin, J. Mark VanNess, Norah Madaya, Margaret E. Ciccolella, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session D-61. Thursday, May 30 from 1:00pm - 6:00pm. Must be present from 3:30pm to 5:00pm.


"The Influence of Fatiguing Exercise on Power Output" by Lena K. Perry, J. Mark VanNess, William P. Lydon, Joey Rossi, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session E-29. Friday, May 31 from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Must be present from 9:30am - 11:00am.


"Kinematic Factors that Contribute to Batting Performance in Collegiate Baseball" by Alexia E. Amo, William P. Lydon, Nathaniel J. Holmgren, J. Mark VanNess, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session F-31. Friday, May 31 from 3:15pm - 5:15pm (thematic poster).


"Vertical Jump Versus Kinematic Sequencing: Advanced Technology Doesn't Always Enhance Appraisal" by Margaret E. Bristow, Nathaniel J. Holmgren, J. Mark VanNess, Brian G. Graham, Joey Rossi, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session G-36. Saturday June 1 from 7:30am - 11:00am. Must be present from 8:00am - 9:30am.


"Biomechanical Analysis of Collegiate Baseball: Training Implications for Enhancement of Pitching Endurance" by Andria C. Moitoza, William P. Lydon, J. Mark VanNess, Alexis C. King, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session G-38. Saturday June 1 from 7:30am - 11:00am. Must be present from 8:00am - 9:30am.


"A Novel Assessment of Baseball Throwing Mechanics" by Mason Jiang, William P. Lydon, J. Mark VanNess, Alexis C. King, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session G-36. Saturday, June 1 from 7:30am - 11:00am. Must be present from 8:00am - 9:30am.


"Lower Limb Kinematic Assessment to Predict Water Polo Performance" by Cameron A. Williams, J. Mark VanNess, Joey Rossi, John Mayberry, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session G-37. Saturday, June 1 from 7:30am - 11:00am. Must be present from 9:30am - 11:00am.


"Functional Assessment of the Upper Limb: Support for Isotonic Measurement Devices" by Mercedes K. Steidley, Emily L. Roessel, J. Mark VanNess, Natalie R. Schlenker, William P. Lydon, Sarah R. McDowell, and Courtney D. Jensen.

Session G-35. Saturday, June 1 from 7:30am - 11:00am. Must be present from 9:30am - 11:00am.


Okay.

Courtney