I'm not a huge sports fan; I generally don't try to watch every game or know stats of every player of a given sport. But I do follow the Philly teams (mostly Eagles and Phillies) and have a great appreciation for what the athletes do, especially given my own less than average ability at most sports. But one thing that has always bothered me about sports, and not just at the professional level, is the number of injuries that players have.
Today is a great example of that. During the Eagles game, which was unbearable for a number of other, non-injury related reasons, at least three or four players left the field because of injuries. Most notably was Michael Vick's rib injury that took him out of the game. While I know that I would look pretty bad if two 250-pound men wearing pads and body armor tackled me, I've never understood how players who train for months to get themselves into such a high state of physical fitness can be hurt in one moment. And I don't mean things like broken legs, obviously that can happen in an instant, but subtler things like muscle sprains or tears. After all the hours of training in the off-season and in between games, how are their bodies not able to play for 60 minutes (or less) of game time?
With other sports that are less physical than football I am even more surprised. How do you get hurt playing baseball? Most of the game is spent standing around waiting for something to happen or sitting in the dugout. And then the few minutes of excitement and activity involve hitting a ball and running 90ish feet at a time. At speeds that definitely would not qualify players for Olympic sprinting events. Not to minimize what the players are doing, but I've never been able to figure out how players spend weeks recovering from injuries.
The weirdest thing is that plays that I think should cause injuries don't seem to. Carlos Ruiz was hit in the elbow today with a pitch...and just shook it off and walked to first base. He was in pain, but still played. He didn't even sit out an inning to get it looked at. The same thing is true for one of the Braves' outfielders that caught a ball and collided with a fence along the back wall of the stadium. Those kinds of impacts, to me, seem like what would cause health concerns and injuries.
As a non-sports person I'd be interested to hear any explanation from athletes who may have experienced injuries or know someone who has.
I watched this past Sunday's game, and to describe it from an Eagles fan's point of view, it was BRUTAL. I agree with you about how surprising it is that athletes can get hurt while carrying out one particular idea of action, whereas in another play they walk away without any scratches. It just startles you about the luck they have sometimes at avoiding serious injuries.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I find very interesting is how athletes are also able to come back from an injury that was may have been assumed to be career ending.....but then they will come back full force and play harder than they ever did before.
Well as an athlete myself, injuries are very very random. They happen when you least expect them and for freak reasons. For example, you said you don't understand why in baseball they are filled with all kinds of predominantly muscle injuries. Well the reason for that is because they ARE standing around waiting for a long time and then there's a sudden movement once the time comes to sprint. Doing that could cause a lot of strain on muscles and ligaments and very easily sprain them. The same happens in tennis (my sport). The constant game of running from one side to another, up and down quickly and sporadically and then hitting a ball while you're at it could cause a problem.
ReplyDeleteLast Saturday, I slightly pulled my hamstring because this girl I played hit the ball short and really off the court. In an effort to return it and still have time to get back to place, I slightly did a split (Kim Clijsters style haha). However, the courts were not the best to play on and so my shoes simply caused me to slide even further, resulting in an irritation of my left hamstring. Later, a return of serve caused more pain until I needed to call a trainer to stretch it for me.
As for heavy contact sports, no amount of training or muscles could possibly prepare you to come out injury free from a game where those 250 lb guys pound you. It doesn't happen in practices because you are being more careful and intensity is just not the same. It's a mental thing.
I think one thing we need to understand is that athletes are never at 100% health. Because they spend so much time training on their strength and speed it can back fire. On professional levels one would think; "ok this is their job, how can they get hurt so easily?" or "how can they miss something like that, they are professional..." With all the pressure to perform at their best athletes seldom rest enough. They are always trying to improve their strength and speed. Most, if not all injuries happen when an the athlete is tired and become "lazy" in their body movements. They are less likely to protect themselves and avoid dangerous accidents.
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