Oscars and injuries
Well I won the Oscar Pool; I got 19 of the 23 selections correct. Despite seeing only three of the movies that were nominated for anything. I saw Good Night and Good Luck, Star Wars Episode III, and Wallace and Grommit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
But that’s fuck all to do with soccer; I’m just braggin’. Hey, it beats me whining about the cat at the Oscar Party I attended (a story which resulted in hypothermia.)
What is it that makes a player injury prone?
Is there some Karma involved?
Is there some inverse relationship between skill and durability?
Is there some law that states that a great player can only be available to a team for 30% of the time?
Or is that just a law that applies to my teams?
The players that spring to my mind when you say the term ‘injury prone’ are:
Tab Ramos
Claudio Reyna
John O’Brien
Kieron Dyer
Craig Bellamy
Michael Owen
Jonathan Woodgate
Elena Marcelino
Eddie Pope
There’s a range of players and of reasons there. Bellamy and Owen are blazingly fast, so it’s hardly surprising that they tweak a hamstring from time to time. Kieran Dyer is a little shit who doesn’t put in the time off the pitch to get back in shape; he’s content to simply pick up his (massive) wages for nothing.
Jonathan Woodgate is simply an idiot who injures himself through reckless behavior (not entirely, but he sure seems to be cursed.)
Elena Marcelino? Never heard of him? Newcastle bought him for Five Million Pounds in the late 90s. He was a Spanish international defender who promptly spent four years on the injured list due to – get this – a FINGER injury!
On to the US: It’s always those guys who we can barely do without. Ramos, Reyna, O’Brien.
John O’Brien must have visited the same voodoo doctor as Jonathan Woodgate. These guys could get hurt brushing their teeth.
Eddie Pope is one of those guys who’s constantly injured but seems to come back quickly. He goes down with a devastating ligament injury only to bounce back mere months later. At least he used to.
Compare these guys to the kind of player who is never out of the team. Cobi Jones, Alan Shearer, Roy Keane, Marcelo Balboa.
All of these guys have had long injury layoffs, but they’ve always been the exceptions. Roy Keane had the broken leg but then was barely out of the team. Cobi Jones was never hurt until a couple of years ago. Balboa had the ACL surgery but was an iron man before and after.
Is there something about these types of players? I notice that Jones, Shearer, Keane and Balboa were all captains of their squads—is there a mental toughness element? I’m sure there is, but surely there’s more to it.
Whatever it is, I can only hope that Johnny O from Playo Del Ray California is fit for Germany this summer.
But that’s fuck all to do with soccer; I’m just braggin’. Hey, it beats me whining about the cat at the Oscar Party I attended (a story which resulted in hypothermia.)
What is it that makes a player injury prone?
Is there some Karma involved?
Is there some inverse relationship between skill and durability?
Is there some law that states that a great player can only be available to a team for 30% of the time?
Or is that just a law that applies to my teams?
The players that spring to my mind when you say the term ‘injury prone’ are:
Tab Ramos
Claudio Reyna
John O’Brien
Kieron Dyer
Craig Bellamy
Michael Owen
Jonathan Woodgate
Elena Marcelino
Eddie Pope
There’s a range of players and of reasons there. Bellamy and Owen are blazingly fast, so it’s hardly surprising that they tweak a hamstring from time to time. Kieran Dyer is a little shit who doesn’t put in the time off the pitch to get back in shape; he’s content to simply pick up his (massive) wages for nothing.
Jonathan Woodgate is simply an idiot who injures himself through reckless behavior (not entirely, but he sure seems to be cursed.)
Elena Marcelino? Never heard of him? Newcastle bought him for Five Million Pounds in the late 90s. He was a Spanish international defender who promptly spent four years on the injured list due to – get this – a FINGER injury!
On to the US: It’s always those guys who we can barely do without. Ramos, Reyna, O’Brien.
John O’Brien must have visited the same voodoo doctor as Jonathan Woodgate. These guys could get hurt brushing their teeth.
Eddie Pope is one of those guys who’s constantly injured but seems to come back quickly. He goes down with a devastating ligament injury only to bounce back mere months later. At least he used to.
Compare these guys to the kind of player who is never out of the team. Cobi Jones, Alan Shearer, Roy Keane, Marcelo Balboa.
All of these guys have had long injury layoffs, but they’ve always been the exceptions. Roy Keane had the broken leg but then was barely out of the team. Cobi Jones was never hurt until a couple of years ago. Balboa had the ACL surgery but was an iron man before and after.
Is there something about these types of players? I notice that Jones, Shearer, Keane and Balboa were all captains of their squads—is there a mental toughness element? I’m sure there is, but surely there’s more to it.
Whatever it is, I can only hope that Johnny O from Playo Del Ray California is fit for Germany this summer.
posted by Zathras at 1:35 PM
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