With my blog being called "Engaging Sports and Personal News," there is just going to be a little bit of every kind of post ranging from things in the sports world to... Well, my own world. Hence the "personal" part.
So maybe that wasn't the best "punch line," if you will, for this blog entry, but I was not sure if I had stated that yet and I felt that the audience should know... Plus, I couldn't really wrack my brain enough to come up with something clever for my third entry. Honestly.
Now, I'm sure that it doesn't take someone who lives under a rock to realize the severity of injuries that can come about from sports. Whether these injuries end up being career-ending, long term or maybe just something minor. I occasionally have a debate with myself and always ask, "have injuries really increased in sports since around the 1980s-'90s, has the severity of multiple injuries increased, or have these "new rules" in selective sports made athletes... Weaker?" I don't think that there's a REAL answer to this. Yeah, sure, we could go ahead and look at stats of injuries from back then to the present, but what about the questioning of the severity or the questioning of athletes and their preparation.
Obviously I can't really speak about witnessing sports of 'way back when' considering I wasn't born until the '90s, but lifelong, extreme injuries stick with an athlete for the rest of their life when they are mentioned on Sportscenter or something other than. For example, the incident with Lawrence Taylor and Joe Theismann... Ouch, I still cringe just thinking about seeing videos of that play. Or, the hit to Darryl Stingley from Jack Tatum that ended that man's career.
An even more recent occurrence of a memorable injury, Louisville's guard Kevin Ware who suffered that brutal... And I mean brutal injury, last year during the March Madness tournament.
Again, my point with those few examples are that of course there were severe injuries back then in sports, but it just seems much more common that you hear of ridiculous injuries in sports nowadays. When I say ridiculous, I mean those injuries that you NEVER want to look at that replay again because it might actually seem to pain you. Kevin Ware's injury is a good example of that. I mean, the man who suffered the injury himself admits on a show called Unguarded staring Rachel Nichols that he has not even watched the replay of it... I don't blame him.
There's also those non-contact injuries that seem to damage a certain athlete's career. Especially if they become reoccurring. You see more of these type of injuries in basketball. The hitting and more violent, for lack of a better word, injuries can be left up to football.
Here's the personal, feel free to take pity on me, part of my blog post... With my specific preferences for teams and athletes in sports, I can witness, first-hand, severe injuries. My teams have had quite the go-around with injuries. Starting with my Pittsburgh Steelers, injuries have become the normality for this team this season. The very first week, you lose your Pro Bowl center for the rest of the season to an ACL tear. Gosh, those ACL injuries are so killer. From the first game of the season to the 11th week of the NFL, there has not been a break in injuries for those guys. Speaking of an ACL injury, let's take a turn to the NBA and to my Chicago Bulls. A turn for the worst. Do I really need to say more? As if having the star point guard out for all last season wasn't enough, Derrick Rose won't be out on that court anymore for this season due to a medical meniscus after playing just ten games. What devastation that means to the team, the organization, the fans, and the city of Chicago... Even though we know that he'll have a strong recovery. Am I being biased? Nahh.
Enough feeling sorry for me... The athletes that have suffered the more severe side of getting injured include Minnesota Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson who suffered an ACL injury as well. He had a killer recovery, which is always what you wish for in sports. Oklahoma City Thunder's point guard Russell Westbrook suffered a tear to his lateral meniscus last season. Kobe Bryant, for the Los Angeles Lakers, just recently made his return from rupturing his Achilles after being away from the game for eight months. Boy, was that an anticipated return for Laker Nation or what? I can relate.
To the NFL world, ACL injuries have escalated within the past year... Rob Gronkowski with the most recent one. The Miami Dolphins lost a tight end to an ACL tear. And we have all heard the concussion and head injury stories. I'm sure James Harrison could give his two cents about those. Not that he suffered any, but caused them. But that's all apart of the game, right? Anyway, Head injuries have led to the more "strict" calls from the officials which have led to much... MUCH controversy! So, have the new rules from the NFL weakened the players? Well, maybe in their own mindset, but rule changes can't physically weaken someone. It's all in how the athlete prepares themselves.
Now... I'm not ruling out that the changes that the NFL has made hasn't made players more of "babies," but that's a whole other blog post.
I guess there really is no way to answer the question of why the injuries have increased majorly over the passed couple of years in different sports, but it does raise a good question and a good blog post... Hopefully!
Here are a couple of the links to some of those injuries. I will do you a favor and let you know which link is whose... Some are graphic! Can't say I didn't warn you. :)
Kevin Ware http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoiaUV7fGEI
Derrick Rose http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo1UlzDeY-o
Joe Theismann http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7acc6qwcmQ
Kobe Bryant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKiQsg-8nEM
Adrian Peterson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1ln51oIAAE
So maybe that wasn't the best "punch line," if you will, for this blog entry, but I was not sure if I had stated that yet and I felt that the audience should know... Plus, I couldn't really wrack my brain enough to come up with something clever for my third entry. Honestly.
Now, I'm sure that it doesn't take someone who lives under a rock to realize the severity of injuries that can come about from sports. Whether these injuries end up being career-ending, long term or maybe just something minor. I occasionally have a debate with myself and always ask, "have injuries really increased in sports since around the 1980s-'90s, has the severity of multiple injuries increased, or have these "new rules" in selective sports made athletes... Weaker?" I don't think that there's a REAL answer to this. Yeah, sure, we could go ahead and look at stats of injuries from back then to the present, but what about the questioning of the severity or the questioning of athletes and their preparation.
Obviously I can't really speak about witnessing sports of 'way back when' considering I wasn't born until the '90s, but lifelong, extreme injuries stick with an athlete for the rest of their life when they are mentioned on Sportscenter or something other than. For example, the incident with Lawrence Taylor and Joe Theismann... Ouch, I still cringe just thinking about seeing videos of that play. Or, the hit to Darryl Stingley from Jack Tatum that ended that man's career.
An even more recent occurrence of a memorable injury, Louisville's guard Kevin Ware who suffered that brutal... And I mean brutal injury, last year during the March Madness tournament.
Again, my point with those few examples are that of course there were severe injuries back then in sports, but it just seems much more common that you hear of ridiculous injuries in sports nowadays. When I say ridiculous, I mean those injuries that you NEVER want to look at that replay again because it might actually seem to pain you. Kevin Ware's injury is a good example of that. I mean, the man who suffered the injury himself admits on a show called Unguarded staring Rachel Nichols that he has not even watched the replay of it... I don't blame him.
Kevin Ware... You're welcome for showing the picture with the towel over the leg.
There's also those non-contact injuries that seem to damage a certain athlete's career. Especially if they become reoccurring. You see more of these type of injuries in basketball. The hitting and more violent, for lack of a better word, injuries can be left up to football.
Here's the personal, feel free to take pity on me, part of my blog post... With my specific preferences for teams and athletes in sports, I can witness, first-hand, severe injuries. My teams have had quite the go-around with injuries. Starting with my Pittsburgh Steelers, injuries have become the normality for this team this season. The very first week, you lose your Pro Bowl center for the rest of the season to an ACL tear. Gosh, those ACL injuries are so killer. From the first game of the season to the 11th week of the NFL, there has not been a break in injuries for those guys. Speaking of an ACL injury, let's take a turn to the NBA and to my Chicago Bulls. A turn for the worst. Do I really need to say more? As if having the star point guard out for all last season wasn't enough, Derrick Rose won't be out on that court anymore for this season due to a medical meniscus after playing just ten games. What devastation that means to the team, the organization, the fans, and the city of Chicago... Even though we know that he'll have a strong recovery. Am I being biased? Nahh.
Derrick Rose on crutches after tearing medical meniscus.
Enough feeling sorry for me... The athletes that have suffered the more severe side of getting injured include Minnesota Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson who suffered an ACL injury as well. He had a killer recovery, which is always what you wish for in sports. Oklahoma City Thunder's point guard Russell Westbrook suffered a tear to his lateral meniscus last season. Kobe Bryant, for the Los Angeles Lakers, just recently made his return from rupturing his Achilles after being away from the game for eight months. Boy, was that an anticipated return for Laker Nation or what? I can relate.
The moment when all of Laker Nation held their breath as the legend was down.
To the NFL world, ACL injuries have escalated within the past year... Rob Gronkowski with the most recent one. The Miami Dolphins lost a tight end to an ACL tear. And we have all heard the concussion and head injury stories. I'm sure James Harrison could give his two cents about those. Not that he suffered any, but caused them. But that's all apart of the game, right? Anyway, Head injuries have led to the more "strict" calls from the officials which have led to much... MUCH controversy! So, have the new rules from the NFL weakened the players? Well, maybe in their own mindset, but rule changes can't physically weaken someone. It's all in how the athlete prepares themselves.
Now... I'm not ruling out that the changes that the NFL has made hasn't made players more of "babies," but that's a whole other blog post.
I guess there really is no way to answer the question of why the injuries have increased majorly over the passed couple of years in different sports, but it does raise a good question and a good blog post... Hopefully!
Here are a couple of the links to some of those injuries. I will do you a favor and let you know which link is whose... Some are graphic! Can't say I didn't warn you. :)
Kevin Ware http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoiaUV7fGEI
Derrick Rose http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo1UlzDeY-o
Joe Theismann http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7acc6qwcmQ
Kobe Bryant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKiQsg-8nEM
Adrian Peterson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1ln51oIAAE
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