For NCAA Chief Medical Officer BRIAN HAINLINE and his staff, the upcoming academic year will be unlike any other. The Power Five conferences recently passed concussion legislation in which protocols were reviewed by an independent committee. Hainline called the process “fast and furious,” as all 65 of the schools had to submit approved protocols prior to the beginning of football season next month. Now, he is focusing his attention to implementing protocols for the remaining NCAA schools. Hainline is a resident of the Douglaston community of N.Y. who travels to the governing body’s HQ in Indianapolis during the week and returns home on Friday nights. Here, Dr. Hainline tells THE DAILY his plans for this upcoming weekend.
BREAKING AWAY: My wife and I are driving out to Bridgehampton on Long Island on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with our good friends. We will probably spend the night drinking some good wine and enjoying nice food. This trip is an annual tradition every summer. The entire weekend is basically going to be centered on sports and lively conversation. On Saturday morning, my buddy OREN and I will load up on carbs, get hydrated and take a 50-mile bike ride. We stop in Montauk, have another mini breakfast and then ride back. I am sure we will be going to the market Saturday night for some fresh fish to throw on the grill. I love to eat and I love dessert. I never skimp on that. I do not think that is a guilty pleasure, but it certainly is a pleasure. We head back to Douglaston on Sunday. Hopefully, we do not get back too late in the afternoon because I have a tennis game lined up. Normally on Sunday night I head back to Indianapolis. But this particular Sunday, I will be at home because I am going to DC very early Monday morning. When I am home and we are vegging out at night, we tune into Netflix or Hulu. We have not even finished “MAD MEN” yet. We just got through the first half of the last episode.
FAMILY MAN: Because I travel a lot during the week, I spend my weekends with the family as much as possible. My wife and I have two grown kids and a child in college who is home with us for the summer. Every other weekend, our 7-year-old granddaughter spends the night at our house. I do not know that there is anything that gives me more pleasure than that. We have a great dinner in the morning and then she is on my shoulders; we walk the dog around the neighborhood; we water flowers; and this and that. Then, our other children come over for a lunch or dinner. What is great about a sleepover with a grandchild is that she is pretty well behaved and then you can hand them off.
SECRET GARDEN: My wife and I wake up early on weekends in the summer and go out to Jones Beach when no one is there. You can walk a couple of miles and only run into a couple of people. But by the time you are ready leave, everyone is coming in with their beer cans and boom-boom machines. Weekend breakfast is a ritual for us. I always work out early in the morning and come back and make poached eggs. We both love to garden. There is not a huge amount of property in Queens -- it is all city land -- but we have a lot of roses all over the place.
