I must admit that I do wonder how in the *&%^ing world Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler manages his sugar during what I can only assume to be an intense several hours every Sunday. I asked a friend of mine, who has type 1, how she managed her sugars when she recently ran a marathon. They were, predictably, up and down. But from a novice's standpoint, it seems like she may have had more luxury of stopping to treat a low or deal with a high. There are no TV timeouts in community marathoning, though.

When a professional sports team – and all that comes with it including your job, sponsorships, advertising, ad nauseum – are essentially riding on whether or not you can throw a football to a guy 50 yards down the field without getting sacked, the stakes are a little higher.

  (READ MORE)

We're constantly weighing things. Weighing grams. Weighing negatives. Weighing the lesser of two evils.

On the soccer field at halftime I weigh the effect grapes will have on Charlie when his blood sugar is 260. I weigh this against the sadness he'll have if he's the only kid unable to enjoy a halftime snack. This one's easy though. I'll never ever subject him to exclusion.

But, how many grapes? I don't like that he's 260, but he's running around like a wildebeest for two hours. He should come down. Right? Well, maybe. He may also go up higher with all that adrenaline pumping. He may just stay the same somehow and then plummet later. I can't bolus him and risk a low.

But there's that difficult decision again. The rest of his teammates are reclining on soccer ball pillows and popping grapes like Julius Caesar and I've allotted Charlie a measly three. (READ MORE)

My inaugural season coaching Charlie's soccer team - The R2s - came to an end. The soccer part went well. We scored "THIS many" goals. (Holding up sticky orange fingers) The other teams scored "THIS many goals." (Holding up slightly less sticky orange fingers.)

I know soccer. That part comes easy. But managing diabetes when there's 117 various obstacles working against me? Not so much. I often found myself winging it; rolling the dice; holding my breath; crossing my fingers; thanking my lucky stars; speaking in clichés.

I did a lot of research on pumping strategies for excessive activity. The more I read, the more confusing it got.

Reduce basal rates by 50 percent 1 to 2 hours prior to activity. OK, I can do that.

However, watch out for high blood sugars just prior to activity due to adrenaline.

If using insulin to treat high blood sugar, use caution as activity speeds up the effect of insulin. (READ MORE)