Another Strange Sports Injury

We Know He Didn't Get Hurt By Tripping Over The Chair Or Extension Cord

It's kind of comical when you hear about an athlete having a non sports related injury. The latest in hte long line of weird injuries is recent Chicago Bulls signee Carlos Boozer. Boozer recently broke his right hand answering his door. Now he'll have a two month stay on the injured list to start the season. Here's how Boozer explained how it all went down.

 "It happened last night, probably 5:30-6 o'clock at night, got it looked at right away. I find out for sure today when I saw the hand specialist. I'm going to get it done as soon as possible, so Tuesday morning I'm going in early to get the surgery taken care of so I can start my rehab process.




"It was just dark. My doorbell had rang and I tripped over a bag, tried to brace myself and it popped. I jumped back up, opened the door and my hand was still a little bit numb.



"It was a gym bag. It was a big bag I had first thing over here at the hotel for training camp. I went back to my place, hadn't unpacked the bag yet, came around the corner, running to get the door and fell over it. I'm 265, 5 percent body fat. I'm heavy, man. I guess I had to brace myself and my weight just collapsed the bone right there."

If that indeed is true, Carlos should know better than to leave a big bag where it could provide a potential danger. All kids and commofolk know this and so should you. Especially if your injury prone like he is.

Start The Firing And Speculation

Now that the MLB regular season is over its time to start the offseason speculation and get the firing squads ready.

The New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates wasted no time in giving their managers their walking papers. The Mets went for the double and also fired GM Omar Minaya. That rumor had been in the hopper for quite awhile. The Mets have been a bunch of overpaid underachievers for the last three seasons. Not much has gone right since losing Game 7 in the 2006 NLCS. That isn't what the top brass in Queens were looking for when they acquired the likes of Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay, Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez. Now the stories will start flying about who replaces Jerry Manuel and Minaya. I hear former Mets manager Bobby Valentine is on the list as well as former Mets second baseman Wally Backman.

The Brewers decided not to pick up the option on Ken Macha for the 2011 season. This came after two losing seasons after they made the playoffs in 2008. I guess this was bound to happen since they did fire Ned Yost with 12 games left in the 2008 season. There also were rumblings that he wasn't connecting with his players which is the reason why he was canned in Oakland. I guess Dale Sveum and Willie Randolph are on the list as of now.

Which brings me to the Pittsburgh Pirates. They fired John Russell after he compiled an astounding 299 losses in three seasons. The Pirates have been on this slippery slope for a while. Trading away young proven players for minor league prospects. Amazingly GM Neal Huntington was retained, since he's made some poor trades and questionable moves himself.  His saving grace is that this pattern had been going on long before he or Russell got into town.  Russell’s stoic demeanor, reluctance to argue most calls and peculiar strategy—such as letting a pitcher bat with runners in scoring position while the Pirates trailed by five runs—made him unpopular among fans. Russell’s first team in 2008 was competitive until midseason, when the franchise—eager to stockpile a talent-bereft farm system—began dealing away or cutting productive players such as Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Freddy Sanchez Jack Wilson Nate McLouth Adam LaRoche, Matt Capps, John Grabow, Tom Gorzelanny, Ian Snell, Sean Burnett and Nyjer Morgan. Also traded was 2010 major league home run leader Jose Bautista during a two-year roster purge. Russell was a surprise hire by the Pirates, especially after he was fired from being the third base coach by previous management. He was hired by Huntington and team prez Frank Coonelly because he had a reputation of being a patient, adept developer of young talent. I guess the Pirates were wrong about that. This franchise is a big mess and shows no signs of getting better anytime soon. They have identified no candidates (surprise) and I can't think of anyone that would take that job without a lifetime contract since they'll essentially be starting from rubble.

Kobe Says He'd Beat LeBron 1 on 1

Drop the 3-point shootout and slam dunk contest immediately and replace with a 1-on-1 competition. Smartest idea I have read in years. Absolutley right, who would not want to see that? Take 8 top NBA stars (pick 'em any way you want as long as Kobe, LeBrpn and Carmelo are in) and play a 1-on-1 tourney with $2 mil to the winner and that would be MUST SEE TV. That would be something every basketball fan would tune in to.

Philly Fans Will Go With Anyone

If your from Philly don't take offense. I'm not cracking on you guys or anything. It's just when it comes to fandom, you guys are hooligans. Check out the fight in the video from last weeks game against the Jags.


 


Your team was layin the smack down on J'ville. You didn't have to go all the way with it though.

Hope The Phillies Fans Are Happy

My second half predictions didn't go as planned, but I was on the money about one thing. The Philadelphia Phillies pulling out the NL East. The Phillies came through with another strong second half to overtake the Atlanta Braves and leave the New York Mets choking on infield dirt. In my opinion they are and were always the team to beat in the National League. They also have a great chance at winning the World Series. Everyone knows about the potent offense, but this time around they have the Roy boys (Halladay and Oswalt) as well as Cole Hamels anchoring the rotation. The only flaw i see is the bullpen, especially if Brad Lidge isn't on.

Phillie fans, I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Just because they were about 6 or 7 games back earlier in the summer I knew they would come back strong. They just needed some key components to get right. I say get ready for a Phillies/Yankees rematch.  

What I Saw In College Football II

This past week in college football exposed some teams and revealed some other things.

Texas was and is fraudulent. I thought that either Texas, Oklahoma, or Florida would get popped by some team lesser than them. Texas was throttled by a so-so UCLA team at home 34-12. Florida had a convincing win over Kentucky going into their showdown with Alabama. Maybe Texas and Oklahoma were looking ahead to the Red River Shootout because the Sooners escaped Cincinnati with a 31-29 win. The way Oklahoma is playing they'll be lucky to escape the season without a loss. USC also is on this list, but i see them getting whipped by Stanford or Oregon and not one of the dregs of the Pac-10. Michigan is also under consideration. If they can't beat down Indiana they aren't bonafide Big Ten contenders. Also receiving votes:Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Georgia.

Mark Ingram is back in the Heisman hunt. After missing the first two games Alabama's Mark Ingram has made quite an impression with the Heisman voters. Even though one of the games was against Duke, he showed up big time against Arkansas. Its going to be difficult to keep him away from New York.

 

Arkansas will be a force, it just won't be this year. Even though the Hogs suffered a tough loss to Alabama, Arkansas will be a force to reckon with. They still won't beat the Alabama's and Florida's, at least not right now, once Bobby Petrino gets this train rolling you don't want to be on the tracks. Remember how he made Louisville into a darkhorse national contender.

 

Miami won't win the ACC unless Jacory Harris cuts down his interceptions. This is an absolute must. I know Randy Shannon blasted his backs and receivers for poor route running and dropped/tipped passes but that only goes so far. Harris needs to make better decisions because the Canes are superior to any other team in the ACC at this point.

Lions Fans Shouldn't Turn On Them

In the past week I've been hearing a lot of Detroit Lions fans chirping about how they've lost faith in head coach Jim Schwartz and how they're the same old Lions. True, they keep ringing up the losses, but personally I don't think they're the same old Lions. I'm not drinking the Kool Aid or anything, I just know they are what they are. I won't stop supporting them because they're lousy. Fellow Lions fans should do the same. I'm not trying to tell you guys how to live your life. I'm not Lions free and will never claim to be. I know they're bad and they are bad until I'm proven otherwise. After watching years of football, I do see they're on the right track. 

You see, the NFL is set up for teams to win anywhere from 6-10 games. Of course that's something we Lions fans haven't seen for a long time, save for Rod Marinelli's 7-9 mirage 3 years ago. Then we see other teams like the Dolphins and Falcons go from 1 or 2 wins to the playoffs in one year. People fail to forget that both of them had some recent success, although mediocre. The Lions have had none. What I'm saying is that, there needs to be some patience. They're still digging out from the mistakes Matt Millen made. Once you guys realize what they are, instead of thinking they're on the verge of being a playoff team, the better off you guys will be. They won't rise from the ashes like the Falcons and Dolphins. They're slowly building something and they are heading in the right direction. It takes time. Just be patient.