Stretcher

This year's Extreme Rules pay-per-view event left us with some unanswered questions but also some new beginnings. In the main event (a rare moment in WWE history where all wrestlers in a final match on PPV weren't on a full-time WWE schedule), Brock Lesnar defeated Triple H in a cage match. Lesnar went up 2-1 on "The Game" and is likely poised for another future match in WWE (not against Triple H), perhaps at Summerslam or Wrestlemania 30. Questions coming out of this match are: will Triple H wrestle again?

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said "everything's fine" after he collapsed at practice Friday and was taken off the court on a stretcher and to Baylor Medical Center. Mavericks President Donnie Nelson said Carlisle was "lightheaded and fainted" on the court at American Airlines Center. Carlisle was released from the hospital later Friday. "I got to feeling a little lightheaded," Carlisle told a Dallas radio station, "fainted and, before I knew it, they were pulling me out of there on a stretcher.

Forward Patrik Elias left the Devils' game against the Avalanche on a stretcher after being checked by defenseman Ryan Wilson . Wilson hit Elias with a high check at the Avalanche blue line 38 seconds into the second period Saturday in Colorado's 3-1 victory. Elias stayed on the ice for about 5 minutes before he was secured onto the stretcher. He waved to the crowd as he was taken off the ice. Elias had X-rays at the Pepsi Center and was taken to a hospital for a CT scan.

Like the hundreds of thousands of people who were at Woodstock, Bob Somers has stories. But he's one of the few who also left with a T-shirt, a red one he lucked into and held onto even as he changed from a 19-year-old who skinny-dipped with strangers in the rain into a guy with a government job, a wife he met through golfing, two docile dogs and a tract house in a Columbia subdivision. Over the past 40 years, that red shirt became a a link to a mystical weekend and a reminder that no matter how respectable, conservative — or, heck, ordinary — he comes to look on the outside, inside there's a shaggy-haired kid who just wants to make the world a better place.

It is a strange procession indeed, this group of Army medics on a seemingly endless tour of Odenton and Fort Meade.The men are carrying a stretcher with a dummy on board. An Army ambulance trails slowly. Every few minutes or so, like a volleyball team, the soldiers rotate positions."People stare at us," said medical specialist James Cose. "They must be saying, 'What the hell are they doing over there?' They probably think we're lunatics."These eight members of the 85th Medical Battalion are trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by carrying a stretcher, weighed down with 140 pounds of sand, for 150 miles, the equivalent of going from Baltimore to Ocean City.

I'm sure we all had preconceived notions about what would happen when Mr. McMahon returned to TV, but I never expected him to get kicked in the head by Randy Orton and carted off on a stretcher. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

The feud between Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy is starting to click. The brothers highlighted a good episode of Smackdown Friday, as Matt opened with a solid promo, and an exciting stretcher match between them closed it. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- For the second time in eight days, Edgar Prado, the former Maryland jockey, was carted off the Gulfstream track on a stretcher. In the eighth race yesterday, his mount, Sliver Of Silver, swerved suddenly at the head of the stretch, dumping Prado into the path of Twilight Mirage, ridden by Mike Smith. Twilight Mirage ran over the fallen rider. Prado was taken to a hospital and released after X-rays revealed no broken bones. His agent, Steve Rushing, said the jockey was sore and bruised.

Q: I would like to know the value and vintage of the chair in the enclosed picture. The finish is as when it was bought, but the seat has been re-caned. There are 68 holes around the seat for caning. The stretcher in front is curved to accommodate hoop skirts.A: Your Victorian side chair was made between 1860 and 1875, and would sell for $125 to $135 in good condition.The hoop skirt stretcher is a myth. Imagine where the front of a hoop skirt would be if the back were restrained by the stretcher.

National Aquarium officials have never seen it happen. But it did. A shark gnawed its way through a collapsible canvas stretcher.And seven people were holding it.Fortunately, no one was hurt, not even the shark."

Forward Patrik Elias left the Devils' game against the Avalanche on a stretcher after being checked by defenseman Ryan Wilson . Wilson hit Elias with a high check at the Avalanche blue line 38 seconds into the second period Saturday in Colorado's 3-1 victory. Elias stayed on the ice for about 5 minutes before he was secured onto the stretcher. He waved to the crowd as he was taken off the ice. Elias had X-rays at the Pepsi Center and was taken to a hospital for a CT scan.

DURHAM, N.C. - Maryland, which has suffered a rash of injuries, lost safety Antwine Perez after a tackle at the end of the first quarter. He did not return to the game. Perez lay on the field after making a hit with his head and shoulders on a pass play. Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen walked out to midfield as Perez was being immobilized and taken out on a stretcher. The team announced at halftime Perez was alert and not seriously hurt. The Terps were already playing without starters Nolan Carroll (cornerback)

The feud between Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy is starting to click. The brothers highlighted a good episode of Smackdown Friday, as Matt opened with a solid promo, and an exciting stretcher match between them closed it. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

I'm sure we all had preconceived notions about what would happen when Mr. McMahon returned to TV, but I never expected him to get kicked in the head by Randy Orton and carted off on a stretcher. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The primary objective for the top U.S. skaters at Four Continents Figure Skating Championships is to get through two injury-free performances. There is nothing at stake here and little to gain except for more competitive ice time before the World Championships in Tokyo next month. That was brought home yesterday during the pairs long program, when Canadian champion Jessica Dube was struck under the left eye by the blade of her partner Bryce Davison during side-by-side flying camel spins.

We moved back from Moscow a year ago, and there are lots of things I miss about the place: the sardonic humor, Baltika beer, the cold snap that comes in late August. But one thing I never expected to feel nostalgic about, and certainly do, is Russian culture's healthy skepticism about the value of always telling the truth. Lies, of course, can be despicable things. But in the West, the gentle art of deception - the flamboyant, shameless or spiritually uplifting stretcher - has long since fallen out of fashion.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said "everything's fine" after he collapsed at practice Friday and was taken off the court on a stretcher and to Baylor Medical Center. Mavericks President Donnie Nelson said Carlisle was "lightheaded and fainted" on the court at American Airlines Center. Carlisle was released from the hospital later Friday. "I got to feeling a little lightheaded," Carlisle told a Dallas radio station, "fainted and, before I knew it, they were pulling me out of there on a stretcher.

On the heels of a sharp rise in the number of calls to help obese people, the Baltimore County Fire Department has acquired new equipment to accommodate such patients: a larger, sturdier stretcher and a ramp and winches to pull it into medical vehicles. The new equipment -- which cost about $16,000 -- was on display yesterday, as county fire officials explained that the number of calls for bariatric patients has risen eightfold in the past five years, up to as many as 40 annually. But more than just providing a needed practical capability, the equipment affords a more respectful way to serve obese patients, said Joseph Brown, director of EMS for the county fire department.

On the heels of a sharp rise in the number of calls to help obese people, the Baltimore County Fire Department has acquired new equipment to accommodate such patients: a larger, sturdier stretcher and a ramp and winches to pull it into medical vehicles. The new equipment -- which cost about $16,000 -- was on display yesterday, as county fire officials explained that the number of calls for bariatric patients has risen eightfold in the past five years, up to as many as 40 annually. But more than just providing a needed practical capability, the equipment affords a more respectful way to serve obese patients, said Joseph Brown, director of EMS for the county fire department.

MANY RUNNING enthusiasts I know don't particularly like treadmills. They argue that for all the energy you expend, you never get anywhere. I was reminded of them when Dean Miner of Utah State University's cooperative extension program talked about the people he helps who are facing debt. "They often feel that nothing they do will make any difference," Miner said. That sentiment can start early. In 2002, the average student loan debt was $18,900, and students slinging credit cards typically carried $1,600 in balances, according to Nellie Mae, a college lender based in Braintree, Mass.