While some will take the headline as sensationalistic ("FAVRE SAYS HE COULD STILL PLAY IN THE NFL!!!!!!), his point is an important one in this article I've linked.
Favre's point is that even now, seven years out, he could still make the throws he used to make (minus some of the length, perhaps, "but that never matters anyway"). It's the hits that drive you from the game, he says. After a while, your body simply can't recover anymore, at least not in the six-and-a-half days between games you get.
Could we protect players more? Sure.
Could we protect them without damaging the game? Not completely, no.
The NBA is looking into lengthening the time that its 82 games take place in, to allow for fewer back-to-back games, fewer debilitating road trips that coaches feel the need to sit their starters just to preserve their bodies for the remainder of the season.
But the CFL (a nine-team league) lost five quarterbacks during the first weekend of games alone, including the first AND second stringers from one team (Montreal). Did you pay to see the third string clipboard holder suffer through a topnotch defense? Neither did I.
If there was an easy solution, we'd already have it. The biggest question is this: where do we believe the line between safety and "the integrity of the game" is?
Showing posts with label injuries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label injuries. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
I may have to renege on my Gold Coast fandom...
As more and more stories emerge on the AFL's Gold Coast Suns, their alleged drug culture, the seedy "double-agent player" Karmichael Hunt (who has since gone back to rugby after a seven million dollar venture into footy over the last four years), the cocaine parties at the end-of-season gatherings, and the 1-11 disaster on the field (stretching back to superstar Gary Ablett's shoulder injury last season, the Suns are actually 2-18 over their last twenty games), including the mysterious firing of coach Guy McKenna at the end of last season...I've decided to pull my allegiance from the Suns as my club of choice when rooting from afar.
It was easy to root for the Suns... new, exciting, young and talented players, the glittering Gold Coast of Australia's touristy southeastern seaside, topped off by the decision of the greatest player in the game: Geelong's Gary Ablett, Jr., chose to make his move from the south coast of Victoria to become the "founding mentor captain" of this new, fledgling club, the seventeenth AFL member (GWS joined the following year, rescuing the Suns from a second "wooden spoon" in 2012).
And they made progress! After three-win seasons in 2011 and 2012, they moved up to 8-14 in 2013, and competitive enough (92%) to make people see the potential for this young team to make finals soon and compete for championships in the not-so-distant future. Last year, after round 9, they were in third place at 7-2, and even after a tough stretch against some top competition, they entered round 15 with an 8-6 record, ready to tackle Collingwood on an even basis for the first time.
The game was a two-faced milestone for the team.
On the negative side, Ablett was tackled and slammed to the ground in the early third quarter, damaging his shoulder to the point where he wouldn't play again the rest of the season. On the positive end, his teammates rallied (with no exchange players on the bench in the fourth quarter due to multiple injuries) and beat Collingwood heroically by five points to move to 9-6, safely in the top eight, a game clear.
Then the wheels not only fell off: they flew across the highway and wrecked three cars, flipped the car over and set it on fire.
The Suns won only one more game all season, barely beating lowly St. Kilda and losing to everyone else, to fall to twelfth at 10-12, still their best season ever. At this moment, this is where Karmichael Hunt admitted yesterday to Queensland police that he brought huge amounts of cocaine to share with his teammates at a weekend party following the Manic Monday season-ending bash.
These accusations came up months ago, as reported by Damian Barrett. and were conveniently swept under the counter. As Barrett notes in that video clip, the essence of the message (then AND now) from both the Suns administration and the AFL, was "Nothing to see here, move along, guys..." , when it seems clear to all that indeed there was and IS something to see and hear.
As a Christian, I forgive mistakes with ease, as Christ does. But what gets people in trouble with not only God but society as a whole? Hypocrisy. LIE about what you did and didn't do, and get caught lying about it, and you've joined the "Barry Bonds/Lance Armstrong/Alex Rodriguez" school of ruining your life.
That appears to be exactly what the Suns have done, are doing, and will continue to try to o for as long as they can get away with it. They've nailed a number of their players for minor drinking violations - a glass of wine with family the weekend after a game? - to bend over backwards to prove they don't have a drug culture, forgetting that the first rule of spotting a liar is to watch them exaggerate in the other direction. Now that Hunt has apparently sung to the cops about what his part in the game was, here's hoping the Suns players AND management finally come clean about this. (But I doubt this will happen.)
Meanwhile...anyone got a team to suggest? My late wife always favored Geelong, as she loved Cats. I've liked the team cultures there and at Fremantle and Hawthorn, for example, beyond their recent success on the field. When they're playing well, I love watching Sydney, Port, or Brisbane. Hmmmm.... I might need to stay neutral for the season...
It was easy to root for the Suns... new, exciting, young and talented players, the glittering Gold Coast of Australia's touristy southeastern seaside, topped off by the decision of the greatest player in the game: Geelong's Gary Ablett, Jr., chose to make his move from the south coast of Victoria to become the "founding mentor captain" of this new, fledgling club, the seventeenth AFL member (GWS joined the following year, rescuing the Suns from a second "wooden spoon" in 2012).
And they made progress! After three-win seasons in 2011 and 2012, they moved up to 8-14 in 2013, and competitive enough (92%) to make people see the potential for this young team to make finals soon and compete for championships in the not-so-distant future. Last year, after round 9, they were in third place at 7-2, and even after a tough stretch against some top competition, they entered round 15 with an 8-6 record, ready to tackle Collingwood on an even basis for the first time.
The game was a two-faced milestone for the team.
On the negative side, Ablett was tackled and slammed to the ground in the early third quarter, damaging his shoulder to the point where he wouldn't play again the rest of the season. On the positive end, his teammates rallied (with no exchange players on the bench in the fourth quarter due to multiple injuries) and beat Collingwood heroically by five points to move to 9-6, safely in the top eight, a game clear.
Then the wheels not only fell off: they flew across the highway and wrecked three cars, flipped the car over and set it on fire.
The Suns won only one more game all season, barely beating lowly St. Kilda and losing to everyone else, to fall to twelfth at 10-12, still their best season ever. At this moment, this is where Karmichael Hunt admitted yesterday to Queensland police that he brought huge amounts of cocaine to share with his teammates at a weekend party following the Manic Monday season-ending bash.
These accusations came up months ago, as reported by Damian Barrett. and were conveniently swept under the counter. As Barrett notes in that video clip, the essence of the message (then AND now) from both the Suns administration and the AFL, was "Nothing to see here, move along, guys..." , when it seems clear to all that indeed there was and IS something to see and hear.
As a Christian, I forgive mistakes with ease, as Christ does. But what gets people in trouble with not only God but society as a whole? Hypocrisy. LIE about what you did and didn't do, and get caught lying about it, and you've joined the "Barry Bonds/Lance Armstrong/Alex Rodriguez" school of ruining your life.
That appears to be exactly what the Suns have done, are doing, and will continue to try to o for as long as they can get away with it. They've nailed a number of their players for minor drinking violations - a glass of wine with family the weekend after a game? - to bend over backwards to prove they don't have a drug culture, forgetting that the first rule of spotting a liar is to watch them exaggerate in the other direction. Now that Hunt has apparently sung to the cops about what his part in the game was, here's hoping the Suns players AND management finally come clean about this. (But I doubt this will happen.)
Meanwhile...anyone got a team to suggest? My late wife always favored Geelong, as she loved Cats. I've liked the team cultures there and at Fremantle and Hawthorn, for example, beyond their recent success on the field. When they're playing well, I love watching Sydney, Port, or Brisbane. Hmmmm.... I might need to stay neutral for the season...
Saturday, June 27, 2015
If you can throw a football, and you have a Canadian passport, please call...
What a disasterous start to the Canadian Football season!
First of all, huge favorite Montreal loses a close game to Ottawa after losing both quarterbacks, leaving the game to a raw rookie who hadn't ever played with the offense in a game (he ran the scout team offense).
Next, the Edmonton Eskimos lost 26-11 to Toronto today in another upset when starting QB Mike Reilly left for the day, carted off the field with a leg injury.
And now, the Saskatchewan RoughRiders are trying to hang on as we speak against the lowly Winnipeg Blue Bombers after their star quarterback Darian Durant left at the end of the first half with an ankle injury he couldn't put an ounce of weight on. Fortunately for them, second stringer Kevin Glenn is a former starter himself, and that depth may allow them to end the weekend as the top Western Division team, the big survivor of Death To Quarterbacks weekend! (Tied at 23 at the moment, though...)
And if they're long term injuries - and early reports are that at least one of Montreal's is season-ending - then Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell is the MVP in waiting as the only surviving star QB!
By the way, before the weekend, here were the Grey Cup championship odds...
Calgary - 13 to 4 (3.25 - 1)
Saskatchewan - 5 to 1 (5 - 1)
Edmonton - 11 to 2 (5.5 - 1)
British Columbia - 6 to 1 (6 - 1)
Hamilton - 13 to 1 (6.5 - 1)
Montreal/Toronto - 8 to 1 each (8 - 1)
Winnipeg - 17 to 2 (8.5 - 1)
Ottawa - 20 to 1 (20 - 1)
It'll be interesting to see how they change next weekend!
First of all, huge favorite Montreal loses a close game to Ottawa after losing both quarterbacks, leaving the game to a raw rookie who hadn't ever played with the offense in a game (he ran the scout team offense).
Next, the Edmonton Eskimos lost 26-11 to Toronto today in another upset when starting QB Mike Reilly left for the day, carted off the field with a leg injury.
And now, the Saskatchewan RoughRiders are trying to hang on as we speak against the lowly Winnipeg Blue Bombers after their star quarterback Darian Durant left at the end of the first half with an ankle injury he couldn't put an ounce of weight on. Fortunately for them, second stringer Kevin Glenn is a former starter himself, and that depth may allow them to end the weekend as the top Western Division team, the big survivor of Death To Quarterbacks weekend! (Tied at 23 at the moment, though...)
And if they're long term injuries - and early reports are that at least one of Montreal's is season-ending - then Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell is the MVP in waiting as the only surviving star QB!
By the way, before the weekend, here were the Grey Cup championship odds...
Calgary - 13 to 4 (3.25 - 1)
Saskatchewan - 5 to 1 (5 - 1)
Edmonton - 11 to 2 (5.5 - 1)
British Columbia - 6 to 1 (6 - 1)
Hamilton - 13 to 1 (6.5 - 1)
Montreal/Toronto - 8 to 1 each (8 - 1)
Winnipeg - 17 to 2 (8.5 - 1)
Ottawa - 20 to 1 (20 - 1)
It'll be interesting to see how they change next weekend!
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Now THAT'S a novel way to solve a QB controversy!
In the christening game of the Canadian Football League season, Montreal hosted last year's expansion Ottawa REDBLACK club, the only team required to CAPITALIZE its name. They were the biggest favorite of the weekend, and rightly so, with Jonathon Crompton at QB and Central Michigan alum Dan LeFevour pushing him, throwing to a loaded receiving corps against a 2-16 team.
So, the Montreal solution? Get them BOTH injured, and be forced to throw in rookie Brandon Bridge, who threw a game-breaking interception as Ottawa leads the Eastern Division at 1-0, winning 20-16. To Ottawa's credit, pinned back with four minutes to go, ran the clock out against the Alouette defense to seal the win - and they can't blame their quarterback situation for that.
The Alouette play by play man closed his broadcast tonight by asking for tweets from any interested Montreal fans who want to try out for quarterback for next week....and I think he was serious...
So, the Montreal solution? Get them BOTH injured, and be forced to throw in rookie Brandon Bridge, who threw a game-breaking interception as Ottawa leads the Eastern Division at 1-0, winning 20-16. To Ottawa's credit, pinned back with four minutes to go, ran the clock out against the Alouette defense to seal the win - and they can't blame their quarterback situation for that.
The Alouette play by play man closed his broadcast tonight by asking for tweets from any interested Montreal fans who want to try out for quarterback for next week....and I think he was serious...
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Week 10 in footy - Freo goes DOWN!
Yes, Fremantle suffered its first defeat, oddly enough at the hands of middling Richmond and in dominating fashion, much worse than the 97-70 score indicates. Richmond scored the first five goals and never looked back, dominating the game from the opening horn. Strangely, ruckman Aaron Sandilands set another record, for positive clearances, and Richmond managed a mere 36 entries into the forward 50...yet Fremantle suffered a 27-point loss!
Saturday's scores included a narrow Carlton loss to Adelaide, 99-90, that saw the dramatic and traumatic end to a legend's career - Chris Judd, twice a Brownlow medalist as best in the league, already in an "extra" season extending his career into 2015, blew out an ACL in the first quarter that put him on a 10-12 month rehab track that made immediate retirement a no-brainer. (Recall this post to understand what a revered player Judd is.) Other games included Sydney coasting over Gold Coast 93-41 (they never bothered getting out of first gear), Geelong holding Essendon goal-less in the first half en route to winning 122-53, and Port Adelaide surprising Western 100-62.
GWS eased over Brisbane by 30, 97-67, and Hawthorn glided past St. Kilda by a score of 132-69 on Sunday, but the big game was the Kangaroo smackdown of West Coast, pulling away to win 85-75 at the end in a wind-blown game in Tasmania. The announcers referred to it as a "four or five goal wind", meaning they expected the team playing towards the wind to score that much more - and in the first half, they weren't disappointed. But to the surprise of all in the last, North Melbourne managed to score just as many as the Eagles did to hold on for a victory.
The very Commonwealth holiday Monday matchup between Collingwood and Melbourne on the Queen's (official) Birthday went the way of the Magpies (as it seemingly always does) by 25 points, 110-85, although the Demons were tied close to three-quarter time!
This coming week is the first of three "bye" weeks, with just six games each week while a third of the teams take a hiatus to lick their wounds (and if you're Gold Coast, find enough healthy players to field a team next week). Here's the line-up:
Geelong/Port Adelaide Friday night (great game potentially! I'll take Geelong...)
Fremantle/Gold Coast Saturday afternoon (on the other hand...)
Essendon/West Coast Saturday twilight (hard to imagine the Dons winning in Perth)
Sydney/North Melbourne Saturday night (should be the Swans despite NMK's last game)
GWS/Collingwood Sunday afternoon (best game of the round - flip a coin! I'll take the Pies)
Melbourne/St. Kilda Sunday twilight (should be close - I'm thinking the Saints...)
Saturday's scores included a narrow Carlton loss to Adelaide, 99-90, that saw the dramatic and traumatic end to a legend's career - Chris Judd, twice a Brownlow medalist as best in the league, already in an "extra" season extending his career into 2015, blew out an ACL in the first quarter that put him on a 10-12 month rehab track that made immediate retirement a no-brainer. (Recall this post to understand what a revered player Judd is.) Other games included Sydney coasting over Gold Coast 93-41 (they never bothered getting out of first gear), Geelong holding Essendon goal-less in the first half en route to winning 122-53, and Port Adelaide surprising Western 100-62.
GWS eased over Brisbane by 30, 97-67, and Hawthorn glided past St. Kilda by a score of 132-69 on Sunday, but the big game was the Kangaroo smackdown of West Coast, pulling away to win 85-75 at the end in a wind-blown game in Tasmania. The announcers referred to it as a "four or five goal wind", meaning they expected the team playing towards the wind to score that much more - and in the first half, they weren't disappointed. But to the surprise of all in the last, North Melbourne managed to score just as many as the Eagles did to hold on for a victory.
The very Commonwealth holiday Monday matchup between Collingwood and Melbourne on the Queen's (official) Birthday went the way of the Magpies (as it seemingly always does) by 25 points, 110-85, although the Demons were tied close to three-quarter time!
This coming week is the first of three "bye" weeks, with just six games each week while a third of the teams take a hiatus to lick their wounds (and if you're Gold Coast, find enough healthy players to field a team next week). Here's the line-up:
Geelong/Port Adelaide Friday night (great game potentially! I'll take Geelong...)
Fremantle/Gold Coast Saturday afternoon (on the other hand...)
Essendon/West Coast Saturday twilight (hard to imagine the Dons winning in Perth)
Sydney/North Melbourne Saturday night (should be the Swans despite NMK's last game)
GWS/Collingwood Sunday afternoon (best game of the round - flip a coin! I'll take the Pies)
Melbourne/St. Kilda Sunday twilight (should be close - I'm thinking the Saints...)
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
A couple of interesting retirements in Australian Rules...
Brent Reilly, longtime Adelaide Crow who recently passed his 200th game, is retiring amidst his recovery from a horrible skull fracture in a training accident back in February. His doctor has advised him never to play contact sports again with the danger of recurrence to his skull, and for obvious reasons he's agreed. One of the great aspects of Aussie Rules is the "manliness" of playing without helmet or padding - but sometimes casualties occur. Interestingly, more injuries seem to happen with American style football, because of the protective gear - you don't see Aussie players leading with their heads, for example, or hitting each other as hard as the linemen do in the NFL. Rarely have any retired footy players had trouble with concussion or head injury issues for those reasons. Still, it's hard to see someone like Brent Reilly have to retire early because of something like this.
On the other hand, here's a different reason for an early retirement that I've almost never heard of in the NFL - only the legendary Pat Tillman comes to mind...
Kane Cornes, fast approaching his 300th game at Port Adelaide (a huge milestone!), has decided to retire immediately following that game on May 23rd. The reason? He's been offered a position as a firefighter for the city of Adelaide.
Picture Shaquille O'Neal actually following through on his thought to become a Miami undercover cop, and you've got an idea what this means in Australia.
Cornes is about to be the only player in Port Adelaide's history to play 300 AFL games, a testament to his durability and ability...and yet, he's ready to step aside now, just because it's a convenient time to start his firefighter training. (He also doesn't want to risk any more injuries in advance of his retirement, although he's been remarkably durable over his 3oo games.)
Amazing.
On the other hand, here's a different reason for an early retirement that I've almost never heard of in the NFL - only the legendary Pat Tillman comes to mind...
Kane Cornes, fast approaching his 300th game at Port Adelaide (a huge milestone!), has decided to retire immediately following that game on May 23rd. The reason? He's been offered a position as a firefighter for the city of Adelaide.
Picture Shaquille O'Neal actually following through on his thought to become a Miami undercover cop, and you've got an idea what this means in Australia.
Cornes is about to be the only player in Port Adelaide's history to play 300 AFL games, a testament to his durability and ability...and yet, he's ready to step aside now, just because it's a convenient time to start his firefighter training. (He also doesn't want to risk any more injuries in advance of his retirement, although he's been remarkably durable over his 3oo games.)
Amazing.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Here's a drastic situation for the Gold Coast Suns
Each AFL team dresses twenty-two players for a match - 18 starters, 3 bench players ("interchange"), and one substitute. In other words, 21 play from the word go, and one serves to replace an injured player.
Gold Coast head coach Rodney Eade, whose tenure with the Suns has begun with a shocking five losses in six games, has expressed his concern that Gold Coast will not be able to field a full team - he only has twenty players who are able to practice at this point. If his feeder team was playing this weekend (they have a bye), they would have to forfeit because they're going to be loaning the senior side too many players to leave enough for themselves!
The last numbers produced this weekend by the AFL itself imply that the Suns have more players injured than NOT injured!
"The list of those unavailable already includes the likes of Gary Ablett, Jaeger O'Meara, David Swallow, Nick Malceski, Jack Martin and the suspended Steven May. Eade said it could be argued the club was missing 12 of its best 15 players."
What a predicament! For a team expected to make its first finals ever this year, this injury ravaged season has been nothing short of disasterous.
Gold Coast head coach Rodney Eade, whose tenure with the Suns has begun with a shocking five losses in six games, has expressed his concern that Gold Coast will not be able to field a full team - he only has twenty players who are able to practice at this point. If his feeder team was playing this weekend (they have a bye), they would have to forfeit because they're going to be loaning the senior side too many players to leave enough for themselves!
The last numbers produced this weekend by the AFL itself imply that the Suns have more players injured than NOT injured!
"The list of those unavailable already includes the likes of Gary Ablett, Jaeger O'Meara, David Swallow, Nick Malceski, Jack Martin and the suspended Steven May. Eade said it could be argued the club was missing 12 of its best 15 players."
What a predicament! For a team expected to make its first finals ever this year, this injury ravaged season has been nothing short of disasterous.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
An interesting perspective on football injuries, from a guy who should know
While this is an AFL article, it applies to ALL sports: American football, futbol, basketball, you name it. When you're injured, take care of it.
Gary Ablett Jr, the consensus best player in footy, had a season-ending shoulder injury in round 15 last year, went through surgery and rehab, and pronounced himself ready to start the season. But in rounds one and two, he was mugged mercilessly by the opposition "taggers" (defenders assigned to cover him) and it was clear that the shoulder still wasn't "right". Rather than play half-strength, he's chosen to sit out for at least two weeks and try to put it back into the shape it needs to be to play a roughhouse game like footy.
Retired AFL legend Wayne Carey writes a thoughtful article on the topic in The Age, and it's worth a read no matter what sport you follow - are short-term on-field endeavors worth long-term physical damage? It relates back to the concussion conversations in American football, and to the knee damage that so many basketball players suffer as well. In short, Carey says he's changed his mind and now agrees with Ablett's decision, because of the difficulty Carey now has trying to pick up his infant daughter.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Injuries are not just a stateside football thing...
Three days into the Aussie Rules pre-season, we've already had two major knee injuries that threaten to end the season for two of our best and brightest: Tom Libertore of the Western Bulldogs blew an ACL in their game last night against Richmond, while the West Coast Eagles confirmed that they've lost defender and 2014 best-and-fairest Eric Mackenzie with a similar injury for an undetermined amount of time after defeating Carlton on Friday night.
Pre-season is a terrible dilemma for coaches of all sports: how do you prepare your team for the "real" season without endangering your still-out-of-condition athletes? They've got to play, or they won't get into game readiness - even the players tell you that - but if they're out of shape, are they safe to play? ACL injuries are notoriously fickle occurrences anyway: these could have happened to any athlete at virtually any time, and Mackenzie's injury in particular was almost ludicrous in its lack of contact. Perhaps it's simple coincidence that these two injuries to star players happened in the first three days of pre-season...but it makes you think.
(And here are the highlights from Friday and Saturday's games - West Coast v Carlton on Friday, Brisbane edging St. Kilda on Saturday afternoon, as well as the Richmond / Western Bulldog game.
Pre-season is a terrible dilemma for coaches of all sports: how do you prepare your team for the "real" season without endangering your still-out-of-condition athletes? They've got to play, or they won't get into game readiness - even the players tell you that - but if they're out of shape, are they safe to play? ACL injuries are notoriously fickle occurrences anyway: these could have happened to any athlete at virtually any time, and Mackenzie's injury in particular was almost ludicrous in its lack of contact. Perhaps it's simple coincidence that these two injuries to star players happened in the first three days of pre-season...but it makes you think.
(And here are the highlights from Friday and Saturday's games - West Coast v Carlton on Friday, Brisbane edging St. Kilda on Saturday afternoon, as well as the Richmond / Western Bulldog game.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
What do Australians think of the Super Bowl today? This is interesting...
Sports Fan magazine is online for free and anyone can check it out at www.sportsfan.com.au if they're interested - they have some of the best commentary on Aussie footy (and rugby and cricket and many other Australian sports) around.
But this take by senior writer Adam Jones about why he WON'T watch the Super Bowl (while many of his fellow Aussies will) is particularly interesting, coming from an outside-America sports fanatic as it is.
We American football folks have a problem.
But this take by senior writer Adam Jones about why he WON'T watch the Super Bowl (while many of his fellow Aussies will) is particularly interesting, coming from an outside-America sports fanatic as it is.
We American football folks have a problem.
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