I'm all shards
I can't take this anymore. Sick of hearing sportwriters, who last time I checked had only an anecdotal grasp of human anatomy and surgical procedures, speculate on the future of Amare. Know just fine, thank you, that microfracturing fucks up careers. And above all else, am capable of listing casualties we miss only slightly today.
(That's what's so frightening: not that Amare might not come back, but that we might forget him)
So what I need, to make it possible for me to enjoy my time away from Houston, is for an authoritative voice or two to show themselves. I would like someone with a distinctly technical understanding of STAT's situation to clarify for me:
a) How is this microfracture different from all others?
b) How might his freakish athleticism and youth figure into recovery?
c) Do we really have any comparable cases to go by?
d) When did medicine become a science of uninformed public consensus?
IF YOU DON'T HAVE THREE LETTERS AFTER YOUR NAME, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!!!!!!!!
And don't forget, if Amare goes, there's a good chance that this blog dies with him. Believe that.
posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 8/02/2006 01:18:00 PM
19 comments
19 Comments:
You know what i'm tired of. I hate to bring this up but its bill simmons talking about larry bird. I'm starting to hate his overdone redundant writing. Does he know any other player than Larry Bird. I loved his columns in 2001 but he is like mtv now. Whatever. Scoop Jackson for premier espn writer.
Scoop Jackson may be the dumbest writer writing for a major outlet today. Take a Scoop Jackson column and subtract every sentence that is there solely for effect, that conveys no new information, and you'll usually end up with two, maybe three, mildly interesting factoids. Can't stand the dram, Scoop.
just as an observer - it looks to me like it takes two years to fully recover from microfracture surgury.
Two key examples: Jason Kidd and Adrian Griffin.
That first year they came back, everyone said they were done . . .but the following year they returned to much closer to their "normal" game.
Re: page 2 -- I miss Ralph Wiley. Whitlock can be pretty good, even though he doesn't write about the NBA much [his NFL writings are useless and crazy, demonstrated most notably by his deranged affection for Jeff George].
I remember that Whitlock had a column around a year ago in which he quoted an NBA personel guy, with attribution, as saying that teams look for white dudes as the 12th men so that white fans can have somebody to relate to. I couldn't believe that he got that quote on the record. I'd link to it, but his old columns are all "insider" now, and I'm a cheap bastard.
what about the two letters M and D? surely a physician could provide some useful information??
STRICTLY D.D.S.
fine, two letters would be okay, i guess. are you volunteering or just trying to help?
Amare will return to lead the League of Stars to salvation and the ultimate realization of FreeDarko.
-Captain Caveman, Esq.
Amare's surgeries are like taking Anakin Skywalker, the greatest young Jedi in the universe, cutting off his legs, burning most of his flesh, and sticking him in the Darth Vader suit, and telling him, "OK boy, go do your thing."
Or maybe not...
Two things,
I'm not sure there is a good comparison to Amare (outside of horses, which this was pioneered on) for two reasons.
A) The procedure is still pretty new, and getting better all the time.
B) I don't know of any athletes that have undergone it this young. It's usually ones on the downward slope that feel the need to get it to try to fix their detiorating cartilege. They aren't gonna deal with it the same as a young freak is.
Too lazy to look this stuff up. But I think we are gonna have to wait and see. He did look spry for the US team practices. If he's strong, hopefully he'll get some time at center in Asia.
Secondly, Bill Simmons.
Yes his Boston obsession is annoying. But his whole schtick is writing about the things he cares about. He wrote about the clips a lot more than the celtics this year. I was bored with this article too.
But tell me, who among us, especially those of us still here, didn't love the trade value column. We may have had quibbles with bits and pieces, but hell, that's half the fun of it.
Best writer on espn?
They have good writers? Who would that be?
Can the sg be entertaining, at times, when you seperate the wheat from the chaff, yes, more than most I'd say. But, is lots of it completely skippable, yes.
Anyway, I'll just end this with,
I hate JEFF GEORGE.
And I too hope Amare comes back as he was. We've only gotten a glimpse of what kind of force of nature he could be.
Two things,
I'm not sure there is a good comparison to Amare (outside of horses, which this was pioneered on) for two reasons.
A) The procedure is still pretty new, and getting better all the time.
B) I don't know of any athletes that have undergone it this young. It's usually ones on the downward slope that feel the need to get it to try to fix their detiorating cartilege. They aren't gonna deal with it the same as a young freak is.
Too lazy to look this stuff up. But I think we are gonna have to wait and see. He did look spry for the US team practices. If he's strong, hopefully he'll get some time at center in Asia.
Secondly, Bill Simmons.
Yes his Boston obsession is annoying. But his whole schtick is writing about the things he cares about. He wrote about the clips a lot more than the celtics this year. I was bored with this article too.
But tell me, who among us, especially those of us still here, didn't love the trade value column. We may have had quibbles with bits and pieces, but hell, that's half the fun of it.
Best writer on espn?
They have good writers? Who would that be?
Can the sg be entertaining, at times, when you seperate the wheat from the chaff, yes, more than most I'd say. But, is lots of it completely skippable, yes.
Anyway, I'll just end this with,
I hate JEFF GEORGE.
And I too hope Amare comes back as he was. We've only gotten a glimpse of what kind of force of nature he could be.
In defense of Scoop Jackson:
You can take almost any sportswriter, esp those in the Page 2 type deals, subtract every sentence that is just for effect or only deals with old info, and only come up with one or two factoids. You could do it with freedarko and come up with very little, because freedarko doesn't bank on factoids.
Don't look for content as the be all end all of a sports article.
Scoop Jackson is one small notch above Mike Lupica on the totem pole of sports writers. (How does Lupica even have a job? His faux-literary columns usually sound like this: "It wasn't supposed to be this way. The Yankees are supposed to win the World Series any year, anytime. Someone's head needs to roll.")
btw, I hadn't previously thought highly of Chad Ford, but the recent "Playing for Peace" article was excellent.
That photo is tremendous.
From a March 24, 2006 article by Stan McNeal (not a doctor, but this quotes a doctor directly):
"The doctor who performed Stoudemire's surgery, Suns team physician Tom Carter, has reasons to believe Stoudemire's case will turn out differently...
...Carter, however, remains upbeat. He cites numerous reasons to think Stoudemire should not be compared to other microfracture victims:
Stoudemire turned 23 in November, which means his knees have not absorbed nearly as much punishment as veteran players' knees.
Stoudemire's left knee otherwise was "pristine."
At three-eighths of an inch by one-fourth of an inch by one-eighth of an inch thick, Stoudemire's lesion was not considered large.
The location of the lesion, on the lower part of the femur on the inside of the knee, was not on a weight-bearing joint."
I am with you, Bethlehem. As surprising and wonderful as the Sun's season was this year, it was missing the element of absolute joy that Amare's apotheosis brought the previous year. I can't give up, won't give up my faith that he will be back.
in slight defense of Chad Ford, isn't the anti-Chad-Fordism really stemming from his yearly hype of unheard of Euro-stars (Skita, Darko, Zarko) and not really so much focused on his writing skills per se?
Jack, it's not about new facts. I understand that these columnists rarely report anything new. New isn't what I want. I want someone I can read and enjoy even if I don't feel like feeling emotions a 10 year old feels while watching the Black Stallion or something. Scoop never writes anything that's not meant to just reek with emotion and drama, and it's sickening. As one good example, here's the opener for an album a few months ago about Lebron in the playoffs. After reading it, tell me exactly what Scoop has said:
When the shirt arrived it was like Christmas in May.
Witness
That's all it said.
LeBron James
Paul Sancya/AP Photo
Watch LeBron bite his nails while you can.
Because that's what we all are.
For the past seven years, since his first high school game, wearing No. 32, when football was his favorite sport, I've personally been a witness to the post-Tiger Woods phenomenon that has now reached its apex: LeBron James. The Era officially began a couple weeks ago. With Playoff Game 1. Nike blessed me with the shirt just in time. He messed around and dropped an Ice Cube. 32/11/11. It was a good day.
But yesterday wasn't. And today may not be one either. Neither will Friday, Sunday nor any day next week. Because, for possibly the first time in his professional career, LeBron James is about to face greater greatness. Something greater than he.
Understand, the Pistons are witnesses too. But none of them has the T-shirt.
Yet their role in what we're about to witness happen to LeBron is essential to what's going to make that "Best Ever" tag placed on him accurate. This series will be the best thing that ever happens to LeBron.
He just doesn't know it yet.
Man, I can't stand this kind of writing. At least Simmons says something. It may be about the most trivial thing in the world sometimes, but I'd rather hear something about the White Shadow than nothing at all on a trip through someone's emotional fantasyland.
Errr. . . the opener for a column. Not an album. Don't know where I go that.
He should be getting some minutes tonight in the televised game against puerto rico. I think it was T who said it might take until next season before we see him at the destroying the spurs in the conference finals level, but i expect him to average over 20 and be maybe better overall. If the rest of his game catches up with his athleticism, next season, we could be in for a huge, once in a generation treat.
I know i'm in the extreme minority here, but i couldn't be more excited about tonight's game and the rest of the fiba tourney. I'm gonna try as hard as i can to watch the other games, even if i have to watch them online or order a channel/ppv for it. I've been researching all the teams the past few weeks. Should be fun.
ESPN is reporting Amare got dropped from the roster, so he could rehab:
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/wbc2006/news/story?id=2538791
-SML
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