Evernham said Gordon believes his car is ready

ATLANTA -- Greg Norman is recovering from a chain saw accident that nearly cost him his left hand, but not his sense of humour. "At least I can still play tennis," Norman told The Associated Press by phone Sunday morning. Norman, the Hall of Fame golfer and entrepreneur, was cutting back trees in his South Florida home when the weight of a branch pulled his left hand toward the chain saw. He said the blade hit him just below where a person would be wearing a wrist watch. He said doctors told him it missed his artery by a fraction of an inch. "Thank God the blade wasnt running full speed or it would have taken my hand off," Norman said. "I handled everything as calmly as I could. There is no major damage. There is nerve damage, but no muscular damage. They fixed me up and here I am." He posted a photo on Instagram from the hospital bed of his heavily bandaged left hand protected by a large piece of purple foam. "Working with a chainsaw ALWAYS be respectful of the unexpected. I was one lucky man today. Damaged, but not down & out. Still have left hand," he posted. The Shark woke up Sunday to more than 200 comments on Instagram, and news stories from America to Australia. "I just didnt expect when I posted that Instagram that it would explode like that," Norman said. Oddly enough, Norman had posted another Instagram a week earlier standing next to a tree and holding a chain saw. "Time to trim the sea grapes today. Never ask someone to do something that you can do yourself. Love to work!" Norman said he would do it again. "When Im on a ranch, I love to run the bulldozer, the grader, whatever. I like doing stuff. I never ask anybody to do that for me if I can do it myself," he said. Norman posted another Instagram on Sunday morning, standing in front of the tree without a shirt while giving a thumbs-up with his right hand. His left hand was protected by the purple foam the size of a small waste basket. "Thank u all for your concern & good wishes. All well the morning after the accident. Here I am at the scene of the crime w/ my new fashion statement!" Norman said he would have to keep the foam for at least a few days and would be in a sling for a few weeks before starting rehab. The 59-year-old Australian was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001. He hasnt played competitively in two years. "Theres a little tingling in my fingers, which is better than no fingers at all," he said. Air Max 97 Silver Bullet For Sale . -- Down to 10 men and behind on the scoreboard, Toronto FC displayed its perseverance. Air Max 97 Neon Seoul For Sale . Henderson (20-3) received winning scores of 48-47 and 49-46, and the other judge scored it 48-47 for Thomson (20-6). The announcement drew boos from the United Center crowd. "Train this hard for this long, its such a long camp and I see my title shot disappear," said Thomson, who fought most of the fight with a broken right hand. http://www.outletairmax97.com/air-max-97-plus-cheap.html.com) - Devin Booker scored 19 points and top-ranked Kentucky put on a defensive clinic in an 83-44 obliteration of UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic. Nike Vapormax 97 Metallic Gold . JOHNS, N. Nike Air Max 97 Plus Sale . The goals took Liverpools tally in the Premier League this season to 70, overtaking Manchester City as the top scorers, and left the fourth-place team just four points behind league leader Chelsea.CONCORD, N.C. -- Sprint Cup points leader Jeff Gordon cut short his practice because of back spasms and the No. 24 team has Regan Smith on standby should the four-time champion not be able to run the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night. Gordon went just 11 laps Saturday before he told his crew he couldnt continue. He left out of a side door of his hauler and was escorted out of the track to get treatment. Crew chief Alan Gustafson said the team would not run the car in the final practice session and instead will get it ready for Sundays race. "Ive had some spasms in the past, but this one, it was a little bit different," said the 42-year-old Gordon. "And so I just want to really be cautious and take care of it. It doesnt do me any good to be in the car right now." Gustafson said the plan was for Gordon to start the longest event in NASCAR. Should the pain be too much, then Smith would take over the Hendrick Motorsports car. Gustafson said Gordon felt back pain after qualifying Thursday night and had hoped things would improve before Saturdays practice sessions. But "after the first run, we talked about it and it was pretty detrimental to him physically to continue," Gustafson said. Gordon said on Twitter he planned to rest and "be ready for 600 miles 2moro." The four-time series champion is having one of the steadiest starts of his career with eight top-10 finishes in the first 11 races. Gordon moved into the points lead following a second-place finish at Texas Motor Speedwway in early April and hes stayed out front ever since.dddddddddddd He cemented his place in the Sprint Cups championship Chase two weeks ago with a victory at Kansas Speedway. Gordon will start 27th and hope his back holds out for 400 laps around the 1.5-mile race track. "Luckily, we had a good 11 laps there and weve got our teammates and information that were going to be able to gather from them," Gordon said. "Its all coming together very fast right now." Gordon has had back spasms in the past and even considered retiring because of the severe pain. Regular treatment has kept the pain mostly in check and Gustafson hopes that will be the case again for Sunday. Doctors "will get him in the best condition he can and get him ready to run tomorrow," Gustafson said. This weeks race marks the 20th anniversary of Gordons first Sprint Cup victory. His crew chief then, Ray Evernham, said Gordon is much tougher than some believe and has raced through illness and pain before. "We won the Southern 500 (at Darlington) when he started throwing up halfway" through the race, said Evernham, currently working for Hendrick Motorsports. Evernham said Gordon believes his car is ready and is being smart by not hurting himself further by practicing. "Hell do everything he needs to do to get to feeling good and I know him and tomorrow night in that car, he may need some help getting out of it, but when hes in it, hes going to be at 100 per cent," Evernham said. ' ' '