INJURIES...

After an athlete undergoes surgery, everyone hopes for the best when they return, but the best is not always the outcome. Many professional athletes experience tears, blowouts and overuse injuries, undergo an operation to return to play. Most of the time, not at the same elite and competitive level as pre-injury.

My burning question is how many prolific athletes have recovered from serious injuries?? And is their overall production affected after surgery??

Off the top of my head I can only think of recent stars going down and not making it back to the top like Carson Palmer and I’m beginning to wonder if Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will come out gunning this NFL season. Carson did not have a strong come back after knee surgery, he seemed to always be a day behind and a dollar short. I always wish for the best in athletes….but I’m hoping Peyton doesn’t come back at full speed (it would make an easier go of it for the Bengals). And for Tom, the once “Golden Boy” of the NFL, is soon to be replaced by the likes of Matt Stafford and Mark Sanchez.

I’m starting to think that an injury at the pro level is not so much career ending, but the end of a superstar.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3796019

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2008-12-28/tom-bradys-recovery-reportedly-well-behind-schedule

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/colts/2008-07-14-peytonmanning-surgery_N.htm

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT MLB SALERIES WERE GETTING OUT OF CONTROL…

FC BARCA is like a giant card shark, acquiring players left and right. These moves have brought the clubs payroll to over $300 million. FC Barcelona recently acquired a midfielder for $40 plus million. The club also added 5 other top players including Rohnoldino.

You may say all the spending is worth it…FC BARCA just beat MAN UNITED in the recent UEFA Champions League final this past spring.

Normally, I am opposed to big spending on players…usually a team will shell out some gargantuan amount of money to lure a player over to their side and the result is less than perfect. I see the point behind it all; if you can get the right mix of players, the club should win championships. Most of the time the big money plan does not show results for US professional teams. There are a few exceptions, like the LA Laker's dynasty.

FC BARCA has made it work, now will this winning mix last longer than one season?
The team has started to test again with a preseason campaign state side. They beat the LA Galaxy 2-1.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/index.html

WHY DOES LA HAVE 2 MLB TEAMS AND NO NFL TEAM??

Just a few facts…

LA is the second largest city in the United States
Green Bay is the 266^th largest city and they have a NFL team

The argument is that LA doesn’t have enough money to build a stadium…
LA is one of the top 25 wealthiest cities in America

There is enough money in the Hollywood hills to build 10 stadiums

Another dispute…
There is too many fun things to do in LA and no one would come to see a NFL game
Do the letters USC ring any bells?? Last time I checked it was one of the largest stadiums in the NCAA and it’s always packed

LA is not a “sports” town…
One word…Lakers

I think that it is very unique of LA to have had a few football teams and lost them all for one reason or another. The city is in a tough spot; the NFL is not looking to expand. That leaves LA with one option, steal a team from another city. Maybe the Bills…T.O. is full of glitz and drama, he would be a perfect fit for the LA lifestyle!

http://wealth.mongabay.com/tables/100_income_zip_codes-20000.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/7371-boo-nfl-why-doesnt-los-angeles-have-a-team

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080830154228AACSnos

NBA BABY

Just a quick update for all the history nerds…

AUGUST 3, 1949- Today in history, the NBA was founded. The National Basketball Association (NBA) formed from the combination of two leagues, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball League (NBL).

The new NBA was comprised of 17 teams that represented both leagues roots, featuring small and large cities. In the early 1950s, after the combination, the NBA lost fan support, but in the mid 50s, the league implemented a 24-second shot clock. This made the game play quicker which brought the fans back to watch the games.

AUGUST 3, 2009- Today, the NBA has 30 teams across the United States. The teams not only find local talent, but talent from around the world.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Landing&displayDate=8/3&categoryId=sports

X GAMES 15

I am so stoked!!! The X GAMES are one of the raddest parts of summer! Until recently, the games were the only time the extreme sports got coverage on TV. In the last two years I’ve noticed Mt. Dew sponsoring more televised events.

The X GAMES are a showcase for undervalued athletes. I don’t think that the athletes are undervalued, but I think many people don’t see the athleticism of the games. X GAMES athletes are considered non-traditional because they participate in sports that you can’t receive a scholarship at a university. Although this group of athletes gets paid for being the best in their disciplines, mostly they play for the love of sport, not the money. I’ve never heard of a BMXer making $41 million.

I feel that these athletes are more creative than their traditional counterparts. Some athletes helped to found the sport, some to take it to the next level and some creative new tricks.

Right now I’m glued to the TV watching to see the next big trick!

http://espn.go.com/action/

Hall of Fame

MLB, P-E AND THE HOF

Some MLB fans are in an uproar about inducing players into the hall of fame that have used performance-enhancing drugs. “OMG! We can’t allow cheaters into the sacred establishment!”

There is always going to be some controversy about who is admitted into the Hall of Fame. There is the Pete Rose scandal, the cocaine years and now we have entered the decade of performance-enhanced players.

My gripe about the situation is that the fans are willing to let this decade’s of great ball players into the Hall of Fame and overlook their cheating by using steroids, etc. Where I find the problem is that the fans still won’t let Pete Rose in because he cheated by betting on his team and baseball. My question is why is one form of cheating “ok” and others not. The way I see it, in a very simple view, yes the players cheated, but I believe that they would have become great ball players regardless of use and does betting make you less of a player or just have less character.

My solution to the problem is to have a wing at the Hall of Fame dedicated to the players that have questionable ethics or performance. That way the Hall would not deny the great accomplishments made by players and the fans would be able to judge the players of their own time.

I HATE PITTSBURGH

I hate Pittsburgh for no other reason than the fact that I grew up in Cincinnati. My least favorite part about living in the Charlotte area is seeing all the Steeler logos plastered on fans cars. When I think about the town and teams I feel a bit of rage building inside me…

After growing up in the Nasti Nati, I have such a deep hatred for the city that I don’t even eat Heinz Ketchup.

What really fuels my fire is that fact that the city has winning clubs….I don’t even want to hear about or see the teams on the news. It really hurt my heart when the Wings lost the Cup to the Penguin’s.

The only time I actually like to hear about the city is when Ben Roethlisberger does something stupid….like when Toothlessberger crashed his bike while not wearing a helmet. I found this slightly ironic because he wears a helmet at work…you would think it would be a habit.