Tag: dumbest injuries

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Arizona Cardinals

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #1 Bill Gramatica


[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports. And here it is folks, the all time dumbest in-game injury in sports history.]

While it certainly is debatable whether #2 Gus Frerotte really should get the honor of the dumbest in-game injury of all time, the fact that he’s a kicker and it was with the laughingstock Cardinals puts Bill Gramatica over the top. Gramatica got injured celebrating a made field goal in the first quarter. While jumping and contorting in typical Gramatica fashion, he landed awkwardly and tore ligaments and cartilage in his right knee.

Bill was placed on injured reserve and missed the remainder of the season. Arizona went on to lose the game to the New York Giants 17-13 but Gramatica won his way into the dumbass hall of fame. Sadly, Bill’s days in the NFL are over and we can only cringe at the thought of a similar performance from his overly enthusiastic brother Martin.

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Categories
Washington Redskins

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #2 Gus Frerotte


[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #2.]

Most players get excited when they play in NFL’s spotlight game, but Gus Frerotte probably went a wee bit overboard in 1997. After a touchdown in the second quarter, Washington quarterback Frerotte, for some unknown reason, celebrated by ramming his head into a thinly padded cement wall during a game against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football that ended in a 7-7 tie. The Redskins numbskull was rushed via ambulance to the nearest hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a concussion. He fought bouts of wooziness for the rest of the season.

There is no truth to the rumor that upon finding out the final score, Frerotte asked who won.

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Categories
Boston Celtics

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #3 Tony Allen

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #3.]

With three minutes remaining in the third quarter of a game versus Indiana, Boston’s Tony Allen decided to woo the crowd with a high-flying dunk after a foul had stopped play on the floor. After missing the wide open jam, Allen landed awkwardly on his left knee and crumpled on the famous parquet hardwood. Allen tore two ligaments in his knee which led to ACL reconstructive surgery, along with having cartilage repaired. The luck of the Irish was definitely not on Allen’s side during that game as the stupid slam will keep him out of the lineup for the rest of the season.

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Categories
College Football

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #4 Ted Ginn Jr.

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #4.]

It could have been the fairy tale ending to Ted Ginn’s career. He returned the opening kickoff for a BCS title game record 93 yard touchdown but proceeded to injure his left foot during the end zone celebration. Ohio State was humiliated for the remainder of the game as the Buckeye’s offense could only muster a pathetic 82 yards while their playmaker watched from the sideline on crutches. Rumor has it that Ted Ginn Sr. more or less ordered Jr. not to return to the game, saying something along the lines of “you’re in the draft after this game” and “it’s not that important.” You can literally see dollar signs in Sr.’s eyes when he looks at his boy.

Here’s the fateful play:

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Categories
Soccer

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #5 Paulo Diogo

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #5.]

In a Swiss soccer league game, a Servette FC player set-up a successful goal and in wild merriment he scaled a fence that was in place to separate the fans from the field. The just married Paulo Diogo’s wedding band snagged on the fence as he leapt off and part of his finger along with his ring remainder atop the fence after he had hit the ground. Talk about a symbol of love.

And if having a finger ripped off isn’t bad enough, a referee misinterpreted Diogo’s writhing on the ground and shrieks of agony as an excessive celebration and threw a yellow card in his face. Unfortunately, doctors were unable to reattach the ring finger and instead opted to amputate what portion was left.

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Categories
Boston Red Sox

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #6 Clarence "Climax" Blethen

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #6.]

We’re going old school with this injury.  Clarence Blethen isn’t a name that most baseball fans know, but once you’ve heard his story he’s pretty hard to forget.  Blethen was a toothless 30 year old rookie pitcher for the Red Sox in 1923.  Climax felt that he appeared more intimidating on the mound when he removed his false teeth.  In order to keep his choppers safe while pitching he would keep them in his back pocket.  On September 21, it finally happened; he forgot to reinsert his dentures and while sliding into second base, he literally bit his own ass.

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Phoenix Suns

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #7 Kevin Johnson


[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports. Here’s #7.]

The game winning shot is a moment that most players live for but it can be dangerous when a 250+ pound man is looking to give you a celebratory embrace. Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson found out the hard way when he buried a buzzer beating bucket and an animated Charles Barkley rushed over, grabbed Johnson and squeezed him with such force that his shoulder was dislocated. K.J. had his arm in a sling while he watched from the bench in street clothes for the next two weeks. Nowadays Barkley doesn’t get that worked up unless he’s doubling down in a hand of blackjack or someone ate the last cheesesteak.

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Categories
Cleveland Browns

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #8 Orlando Brown


[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports. Here’s #8.]

In 1999, Cleveland’s Orlando Brown was struck in the right eye with a flag thrown by referee Jeff Triplette. The little yellow flag was weighted down with close to a pound of bb’s and apparently Brown didn’t appreciate the incredible accuracy displayed by Triplette because Brown hulked-up and went berserk, shoving Triplette to the ground which lead to an ejection from the game and suspension from the league. The injury was so severe that Brown was forced to remain sidelined for several years, but he remained busy during the down time as Brown and the NFL alternated suing each other over the incident.

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Categories
Boxing

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #9 Evander Holyfield

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports. Here’s #9.]

This one is more bizarre than dumb and it might have injured Mike Tyson’s career more than Holyfield but it certainly belongs on this list. Mike Tyson took insanity to a whole other level during a fight with Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997. In front of a sold out crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Iron Mike took a page from the Iron Chef and gruesomely bit the ear of Holyfield. After some commotion, the fight was resumed and in Tyson-esque lunacy he again bites and removes a chunk from the left ear of Holyfield. Bedlam takes over the ring and the chaos quickly spreads into the crowd before moving to the hotel lobby and eventually to the streets outside. Tyson was suspended from boxing and his purse was withheld. Tyson’s life has continued to spiral downward to the point where he is now considering a new career in porn. Ear nibbling is off limits though.

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Categories
St. Louis Cardinals

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #10 Vince Coleman

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports. Here’s #10.]


This isn’t exactly in-game but it’s close enough to game time that it made our Top 10 list. Before game 3 of the 1985 NLCS, the grounds crew decided to roll up the electronically-operated tarp. The only problem? Vince Coleman was standing behind the cylinder. All of the sudden, Coleman was trapped underneath the contraption and suffered a serious leg injury.

Coleman sustained a bone chip in his knee and leg bruises and would miss the rest of the postseason. Alls well that ends well (almost) as the Cardinals were able to pull out the NLCS despite being down 2-1. They did lose to the Kansas City Royals (yes, Virginia, once the Royals weren’t a Triple A level team) in the World Series. According to Coleman, “that tarp was a real man-eater.”

(Source: Baseball Library.com)

See #9 in the Top 10 Dumbest in-game injuries of all time.