Playing Hurt

Watching last night's Braves/Brewers game got me thinking about the most unspoken aspect about athletics - injuries.

The Braves, picked by some to be World Series contenders, have been decimated by injuries this season. Smoltz, Hampton, Glavine, Soriano, Moylan, Chipper, Escobar, Kotsay, Diaz. The season has basically been ruined by tears, tweaks, strains, and pulls.

Meanwhile, the Brewers are playing great baseball behind ace pitcher Ben Sheets. Sheets is one of the game's greats, but injuries have plagued his entire career. Just yesterday I heard a baseball analyst mention the Brewers as Wild Card favorites, "as long as Ben Sheets stays healthy."

Success in sports is predicated on many factors. Strategy. Skill. Speed. We love to discuss these aspects of athletics. Games are won and lost because of these factors.

But what about injuries? Why don't we talk more about those?

For example, the most common cited reasons for the Lakers' loss in the NBA Finals were softness in the paint, the failure of the Triangle Offense against the Celtic defense, Phil Jackson's mishandling of the bench, and Lamar Odom no-showing the series.

But what about Andrew Bynum's absence? He would have solved the softness problem in the middle, taken the load off Lamar Odom, given the Lakers a post-up offense against the physical interior of Kendrick Perkins and P.J. Brown. He would have made a difference in the series.

To mention this, however, is to make an excuse. It is a legitimate one, but the reason both athletes and fans avoid mentioning injuries is because it sounds like whining. It is too easy as well. Who wants to read that the Braves' problems in one-run games is injuries in the bullpen? No, it must be young players, poor managing strategy and on-the-field breakdowns.

Injuries have derailed record-setting careers (Ken Griffey Jr.), Hall of Fame potential (Mark Prior and Kerry Wood) and team championships (Lakers). Yet, they are a largely unmentioned part of sports.