Grip on Sports: There is a lot of good in sports and there is one really bad part – the injuries
A GRIP ON SPORTS • You can argue all day and all night what the best part of sports is. There are many contenders, from the competition to the thrill of victory to how many times it is an uplifting force in the lives of individuals, groups and areas. But there is only one answer when asked the worst part of sports: injuries.
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• Let’s face it. There is a lot of crud on the periphery of sports. Corruption, hypocrisy, nepotism, all of those things’ relatives. Each has supporters in the “worst of” category.
Forget about all that.
When a players goes down with an injury, especially a major one, that’s when sports gets dark.
We’re thinking about this on this near-perfect Friday morning because of Klay Thompson, who tore his left ACL in the second half of the Warriors’ loss to Toronto last night.
It was an innocuous play. A transition layup with just a bit of contact. A play you’ve seen a million times. And yet, as Thompson came down awkwardly, grabbed his left knee and writhed on the floor, you knew his life had changed.
As had his teammates Kevin Durant’s had just a few days before when he ruptured his Achilles tendon.
There was a time since I’ve been watching sports when such injuries were an athletic career’s death sentence. Gale Sayers is just one transcendent talent from my youth who comes to mind, his career ended by knee injuries.
Thankfully, it’s not that way anymore. Players in all sports return to productive careers after breaking and tearing and rupturing parts of their body that never were meant to be broken or torn or ruptured.
It just takes hard work and time.
The first one all athletes, especially professional athletes, are used to. They wouldn’t be where they are without hard work. They just have to transfer the work ethic they’ve used their whole lives to excel into their rehabilitation.
It’s the other word that is more problematic.
An athlete’s career has a use-by date. It may be long, it may be short. But there is an end. Injuries, no matter if they are overcome, cut into that career. A year missed rehabbing an Achilles, as Durant faces, is a year that is never recouped.
In Durant and Thompson’s case, they both face a long period of rehabilitation just as they were entering free agency. The injuries they suffered this past week will cut into the amount of money they would have received.
Yes, that’s a bit crass to bring up, but this is their livelihood. Everything a professional athlete does impacts their paycheck – and future paychecks. Still, that’s not why injuries suck.
Every time an athlete goes down with an injury like Thompson suffered last night, my first thought is how much pain they are suffering now and how much pain they will have to fight through in the future to get back to where they were. It’s a process, a tough process whether you are a 15-year-old swimmer or a 30-year-old basketball player. Pain will be Thompson’s teammate for the next year or so, as will, at times, doubt and angst. Only through faith in those helping you, through time spent in rehab, though hard work, will Thompson be able to cut those feelings from his personal roster.
It’s just another reason why injuries are the worst part of sports.
• It’s just a coincidence we have a story in today’s paper about another professional athlete with Inland Northwest ties, the Rams’ Cooper Kupp, and his journey back from a major knee injury.
Coincidence and the prevalence of injuries. It’s not easy to use your body in such a way pro athletes do, and sometimes the body breaks down no matter how fine-tuned they have made it.
Kupp is still dealing with the affects of last season’s injury. He doesn’t know when he will be able to go full bore. He misses playing. The Rams miss him. And those of us who watch miss seeing his particular brand of perfection as a wide receiver.
As I said, injuries suck.
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WSU: Around the Pac-12, will Arizona be hit with NCAA sanctions on par with those that crippled USC’s football program? … The conference changed its transfer rules recently. Colson Yankoff, who is from Coeur d’Alene, took advantage to transfer from Washington to UCLA. … Oregon State dipped into its past to hire its new baseball coach.
Gonzaga: The biggest game on the non-conference schedule? That would be the visit from North Carolina. Now we know the date that will happen. Jim Meehan has the particulars. The date? That would be Dec. 18.
EWE: We mentioned Ryan Collingwood’s story above on Kupp’s rehab. That’s just part of what Ryan did this week in the Los Angeles area. He also has a longer piece on Eastern’s connection to the Rams’ roster. It’s pretty extensive.
Indians: The Northwest League season begins today, though the Indians open up on the road. No matter. Dave Nichols has a couple stories on the team, including the relationship between the “big club” and Spokane as well as a look at the new manager. … Johnathan Curley examines the fan experience at Avista Stadium and what’s on tap this season.
Mariners: I don’t know if this will make you feel any better, but the M’s aren’t the only team in baseball with bullpen woes. In fact, their bullpen isn’t the worst in the game. I know. Hard to believe. But it’s true, even after the bullpen imploded again yesterday in a 10-5 loss to the Twins. … Should Daniel Vogelbach be in the home run derby? He will probably be the M’s All-Star representative, so why not? … The M’s signed their two top draft picks.
Seahawks: Minicamp is over. Bob Condotta shares his impressions. … Russell Wilson isn’t feeling any pressure. … Shaqueem Griffin is getting older and wiser.
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• We spent quite a bit of time yesterday watching the U.S. Open from Pebble Beach. It’s a beautiful place. I choked up a little when Fox showed a few views, places I had walked over the years with my late father-in-law, who used to play Pebble just about every year in a California state firefighters tournament. He was the best father in law a guy could have – and a heck of a golfer. Until later …