Dangerous Game

Baseball is a game that is played and enjoyed by many people. Unfortunately, it can also be a very dangerous game. Yesterday during a spring training game between the Braves and Cardinals, Brian McCann lined a foul ball into the Braves dugout, and it struck one of the Braves coaches, Luis Salazar, near the left eye. After he has hit in the face by the ball, Salazar fell and hit his head on the ground. Salazar was unresponsive and unconscious for several minutes, and was airlifted to a local hospital. The good news is he is alive. The bad news is he suffered several facial fractures that required multiple surgeries today, more surgery in the future, and it is still unknown if he will regain vision in his left eye. This was an unfortunate accident that likely could not have been prevented. However, most college, minor, and major league dugouts do not have netting/fencing to protect the players and coaches in the dugout. If a ball is lined into the dugout, the people in the dugout literally have a few milliseconds to react. Fortunately, this type of situation does not happen often in baseball, but when it does, the results are scary. In 2007, Juan Encarnacion was struck by a foul ball in his face while in the on deck circle, lost vision in one eye, and never played another baseball game. Hopefully Salazar will make a full recovery, and baseball will take steps to increase the safety of players, coaches, and fans.

Albert Pujols: Is He Worth It?

Some of you may or may not know this, but I am a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan, and have enjoyed watching Albert Pujols play for the Cardinals over the course of the past 10 seasons. How much do I like the Cardinals and Pujols? When my wife and I adopted our dog a little over two years ago, we decided to name him Albert (we call him Albe for short). From a kinesiological and mechanical perspective, Pujols has one of the most efficient and consistent swings in baseball. From a fan's perspective, he has helped the Cardinals win a lot of baseball games over the past 10 seasons. However, his contract expires at the end of this season, and the Cardinals and Pujols failed to reach an agreement on an extension before his self-imposed deadline at the start of spring training. That means he will likely become a free agent after the 2011 season and every team can bid on him. Rumors have surfaced that Pujols is seeking a 10 year contract worth 300 million dollars, which would make him the highest paid player in baseball history. I don't know if he really asked for this type of contract, but there is no doubt it is going to take a lot of money over many years to sign Pujols. The real question that has to be answered is he worth that much money and that many years. On the surface, the answer to the question appears to be yes. When you look at the first 10 years of Pujols's career in terms of most major offensive categories (batting average, home runs, runs batted in, runs scored, etc.), he ranks in the top 3 all time. There is no doubt that he makes the Cardinals a better team and generates millions of dollars in revenue through ticket sales and merchandise sales for the Cardinals. But if you dig a little deeper, you will see that his numbers have declined slightly over the past few seasons. Also, Pujols is currently 31 years old, and most baseball players show a sharp decline in their statistics around 35-36. So, while Pujols may currently be worth $30 million a year, will he still be worth that the last 5 years of his contract? The other factor that has to be considered is his elbow. Pujols has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, that could possibly rupture at any time, which would require Tommy John Surgery to repair and cause him to miss anywhere from 7-12 months of action. The bottom line is this: Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball, and has been for the past several years. He deserves to make a lot of money. Is he worth $300 million for 10 years? I'm not so sure about that, and I'm glad I don't have to make that decision. While I do feel the Cardinals could increase their payroll over $100 million, they are not the Yankees or Red Sox with unlimited financial flexibility. While I am a big Pujols fan, I am an even bigger Cardinals fan. I would love to see Albert finish his career in a Cardinals uniform, but not at the expense of sacrificing the Cardinals competitive chances with an extremely large contract. Hopefully both sides will be able to reach a compromise and he doesn't end up playing for the Cubs next year.

American College of Sports Medicine Southeast Chapter Regional Meeting

Last week, myself and two other faculty members (Drs. Hale and Kavasis) traveled with a group of seven students to the American College of Sports Medicine Southeast Chapter Regional Meeting in Greenville, SC. The students included Nigel Collins, Katelyn Graben (graduate student), Kelly Harkins, Jenny Morton, Eddie Neal, Laura Beth Roby, and Lindsey Triplett. The students each presented research in poster format that they have worked on with us over the course of the past year. They were also able to attend other presentations based on the latest research in kinesiology and sports medicine. The students did a wonderful job with their presentations and representing Mississippi State University. The picture above is of Eddie, Lindsey, and Kelly, who represented us and performed very well at the student quiz bowl. The experience was very positive for both the students and faculty and we hope to take even more students to the conference next year.

Will Maurkice Pouncey Play?

I'm sure that everyone is aware that the Super Bowl is this Sunday. One of the biggest questions entering the game is whether or not Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey will be able to play in the game. Pouncey suffered a high ankle sprain during the AFC Championship game 9 days ago against the Jets. I have previously blogged about high ankle sprains, so I won't go into a very detailed description of the injury. In Pouncey's case, he was blocking down field when a defender landed on the posterior (back) side of his lower leg, forcing it forward. This mechanism forces the ankle into hyper-dorsiflexion (imagine planting your foot on the ground, and then moving your lower leg towards the top of your foot past comfortable limits). When this occurs, the talus, which is the bone between the tibia (on the medial, or inside of the lower leg) and fibula (on the lateral, or outside of the lower leg) is pushed up between the tibia and fibula, and this causes tearing of the ligaments that hold these two bones together. Rehabilitation for a high ankle sprain typically takes 4-6 weeks, although this will vary based on the severity of the injury. I've been involved in cases in which the player was able to play a week later, and others in which it took 6-8 weeks for the athlete to return. The best treatment of a high ankle sprain is rest, but for football players during a season, this is not likely an option. I imagine Pouncey has not put any weight on his ankle since the injury occurred, and has been receiving almost around the clock treatment to help control the swelling and pain and regain range of motion. As it gets closer to game day, he will probably attempt some football type drills to see if he can tolerate the injury. In my opinion, it will be very difficult, but not impossible, for him to play Sunday. If he does play, he will be in a lot of pain and will have limited mobility. But since it is the Super Bowl, I would not rule it out.

The Jay Cutler Debate

If you pay any attention to sports and the NFL, the big debate right now if over Jay Cutler and if he could have returned to play against the Packers on Sunday in the NFC Championship game after injuring his knee. During the game, very little information was given out about the severity of the injury, causing many current NFL players and those in the media to question Cutler's toughness and desire. Yesterday, a MRI revealed that Cutler had a Grade II sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of his left knee. A while back, I blogged about MCL injuries and more specifically, Troy Polamalu's MCL sprain. With a grade II MCL sprain, there is some tearing of the fibers of the ligament, which would result in a great deal of pain and loss of stability to the medial side of the knee. Since it was Cutler's left knee, and he is right handed, it would be exposed when he is throwing the ball and susceptible to further injury. The knee was also examined by the team's athletic trainers and doctors, and they determined he did not need to play. In my professional opinion, it would be very difficult for a quarterback to play after immediately sustaining a grade II MCL sprain. Some stories have come out that Drew Brees played this season with an injured MCL. One, we do not know the severity of the injury, and two, I am sure Brees received extensive treatment during the week before Sunday and was properly taped and braced for the games. I think many people do not like Jay Cutler, and they just wanted to pile on him. I have no personal like or dislike towards Cutler, but it would be difficult for any player, especially a quarterback, to play immediately after suffering a grade II MCL sprain.

Happy New Year

I hope that everyone had a great holiday season and a happy new year. Classes started back today at Mississippi State so it is time to get back into the swing of things. I'm teaching three courses this semester, one of which is a new course for me and the department. Sport Biomechanics should be a really fun and exciting class for the students to learn how to apply mechanical principles to sport performance in order to evaluate skills, improve technique, and prevent injury. I'm also teaching Anatomical Kinesiology and Motor Learning, and team teaching a research readings class with two other faculty members. It should be a busy semester but very exciting. The picture on the left is from a 4D ultrasound taken last week. My wife Amy and I are very excited for the arrival of Cameron Charles Knight (Cameron and Charles are both family names) this March. I might even be able to use him in my Motor Development class in the Fall!!

The Incredible Streak is Over

Brett Favre's streak of 297 consecutive games started at quarterback in the NFL is over. To me, this is the most incredible streak in all of sports. Favre has battled through many injuries during his career, but the latest one ended the streak. During last week's game against the Buffalo Bills, Favre was hit hard and landed on the tip of his right shoulder. I recently blogged that this mechanism of injury could cause a fracture of the clavicle. Well, another injury this mechanism can cause and did cause to Favre is a sternoclavicular joint fracture. This joint is where the proximal end of the clavicle (the end closest to the center of the body) articulates with the sternum. You can see in the above picture that many ligaments help hold this joint together. Anytime you move your shoulder, the clavicle will move/rotate as well. Place your left hand on your right sternoclavicular joint, move your right shoulder up and down, and you can feel the clavicle move. Now, imagine the amount of pain you would be in as you moved your shoulder if the ligaments that held the clavicle and sternum together were injured. As a quarterback, this pain would be intensified due to the throwing motion, plus the probability of getting hit around the shoulder. It just wasn't worth the risk for Favre to play. It would have been very risky for him to get an injection near the joint to numb the joint for the game, because of the arteries, nerves, and veins that pass right behind the clavicle.

Now, for a little background on myself and how I've followed Brett Favre. Growing up in Hattiesburg and attending Southern Miss football games since before I could walk, I remember watching Brett Favre play when I was just a kid; I especially remember being at Legion Field in 1990 and watching Favre lead the Eagles to a victory over Alabama just weeks after he had a car wreck and lost a portion of his large intestine. I became a Packers fan as soon as he was traded there, and watched every game I could growing up. I eventually got to see Favre play as a professional with the Jets two years ago, and couldn't believe how close he got to the Super Bowl last year. I was five years old when Favre first started at Southern Miss, and 10 when his NFL streak began. I am just shy of 29 years old as the streak ends. I can't remember what football was like without Brett Favre. The NFL just won't be the same without him.