Triage Time: More Than Just a Game
September 24th, 2008 by Will Carroll
When tragic news comes out like several of the injuries covered in this issue of Triage Time, it makes us realize what is truly important. We here at Fantasycollegeblitz.com are very happy to hear that Dante Love and Gary Rogers will eventually resume a normal life, albeit one that might not include playing the game again. At the end of the day, their health is by far more important than a fantasy football lineup. Onto the updates….
Dante Love WR BALL STATE
It hit a little too close to home for me when Dante Love (right, Icon SMI) left the field on a stretcher Saturday. He went to Bloomington Hospital, then Methodist, home of some of the best orthopedists in the world. Why close? Because I’ve made that same journey. I had an accident years ago that broke my C6 vertebrae and I made the same journey through the same hospitals, though mine was the result of happenstance and not a hit. Love had surgery to stabilize his fracture and has movement in all his extremities, a great sign that he’ll have a normal life. It’s unlikely that Love will return to the Cardinals this season, a tremendous loss for a team that should be crowing about a big victory over a Big Ten school. Love – and every player – should thank the team of Athletic Trainers and doctors that kept him stable, went through the proper procedures, and made it possible for him to someday walk and maybe even play football again someday.
One thing that’s bothering me is how the injury happened. While I wouldn’t watch if you’re squeamish, it appears that Love was pulled upright just before the big hit by a “horse collar” tackle. It’s clearly not intentional and no one could anticipate what happened next, since the mechanism isn’t the classic head-down injury, but this dangerous technique is far too prevalent at lower levels.
Gary Rogers QB WASHINGTON STATE
Love wasn’t the only spinal injury to a young player this week, a reminder of just how violent and dangerous college football can be. Rogers’ career at State is over after he fractured his C-7 vertebrae. He’ll be in a hard collar for four months, but has no deficits and should make a full recovery. While fractures like this are uncommon due in large part to better equipment and more consciousness of the dangers of playing what coaches call “head down football,” they’re just uncommon, not unheard of. The consensus is that there’s little more to be done, but that we’re going to have to accept this level of risk.
Blaine Irby TE TEXAS
A dislocation is one of the most painful injuries in sports, so you can imagine how Blaine Irby felt when he got hit low. His knee hyperextended, the patella (kneecap) popped out of place, and there was likely significant tearing of tendons and ligaments. The sophomore is going to have a very long road back and doctors I spoke with said that he has less than a 25% chance of returning to level. A lot of Longhorns are calling the low hit dirty, but as the announcers point out, that’s the taught technique for smaller corners. Taught or not, this is the cost.
Javarris James RB MIAMI (FL)
“Baby J”, the cousin of former Miami great Edgerrin James, will miss at least a couple more weeks with a high ankle sprain. While he’s definitely out for this week’s game against UNC, the team still hopes to have him ready for the Sterger Bowl, but this injury is one that often takes eight weeks to completely heal. James is actually still in a walking boot and still has some residual swelling, so things aren’t looking good for even an FSU-week return. Without James, the team lacks a power running game and is forced to overuse Graig Cooper, who simply hasn’t been able to take a feature back’s workload.
Andrew Hatch QB LSU
If it wasn’t so serious an issue, watching coaches dance around saying the word “concussion” might be funny. Les Miles wouldn’t say that Andrew Hatch had a concussion — though he did — and decided to call it a “nick to the head region.” Umm, Les, I’ve nicked myself shaving, which I guess would be on my head region. (Don’t go there.) While it stung, it was a far cry from having a linebacker knock me upside the head, which is what happened with Hatch. Concussions are very hard to read and even with Jarrett Lee playing well, Miles still won’t commit to not using Hatch. Some sources say Hatch will start this week if he’s showing no ill symptoms by Friday.
Chris Nickson QB VANDERBILT
Vandy doesn’t think that Chris Nickson, a starting QB that still hasn’t thrown for 100 yards this season, will be back for their next game. His sprained shoulder remains tender and still has some range of motion deficit. Landing on the shoulder like he and other QBs often do have a broad range of responses due to the different angles, forces, and the individual’s response and pain tolerance. The shoulder is perhaps the most complex in the body. Unlike knees or elbows, which are merely hinges, the wide articulations and sheer number of structures inside the shoulder make healing slow and surgery tough. The Commodores do have an off week, so there’s still a chance that Nickson will be back for the big matchup with Auburn.
DaJuane Collins RB TOLEDO
Toledo running back DaJuane Collins left last week’s game limping, but here’s the problem with trying to cover even mid-majors like Toledo. There’s just no information out there. Questions I had were deflected by team officials and the best the local press has come up with is that they can confirm he was limping at the end of the game. Still, a bit of digging brought me to “The Independent Collegian,” Toledo’s stilted sounding student paper. There, reporter Jason Mack discussed Collins leaving the game with a “left ankle injury.” It’s smart to assume it’s a sprain and Collins is expected back. He at least doesn’t have it as bad as Toledo CB Brandon Marrow, who injured himself when he slid into a CANNON on the sideline. You have to love college sports.
Tyrell Sutton RB NORTHWESTERN
It’s easy to see a college injury and say what my buddy Goldy always used to when someone went down: “At least he’s got his education.” It worked unless the Aggies were playing Arkansas, when he’d substitute ”sister” for “education.” At Northwestern or other schools with stellar academic resources, that might hold true, but for the Wildcats, without Sutton, the whole team might need to concentrate more on their studies. Sources tell me that Sutton hyperextended his leg and was held out for precautionary reasons more than a serious injury. He’s expected to play as Northwestern opens Big Ten play against Iowa.
Jeremiah Masoli QB OREGON
College teams have depth. A guy goes down, there’s another one. The problem is that he’s often not as good, doesn’t make the right decisions, gets too excited like 19 year olds will do, or just doesn’t understand the offense. When Jeremiah Masoli went down with a concussion, the Ducks sent in Chris Harper. The problem was described by one source as “Harper can’t throw.” Unless we’re talking about Navy, that’s a problem. Masoli is expected back, though as we all know by now, recovery from a concussion is impossible to predict.
Chris Wells RB OHIO STATE
If one more person emails me and tells me it’s “THE Ohio State University,” I’m going to shove buckeyes in places that you really don’t want buckeyes. I don’t care about that, that Miami (FL) is “Da U” or that the A&M in Texas A&M doesn’t stand for anything, just like Lee Corso. Ohio State fans should be a bit less on edge this week. They’re facing Minnesota, have Terrelle Pryor locked in at QB now, and will get Beanie Wells back in his starting role. Jim Tressel is saying that Wells has to make it through the week without a setback, but sources tell me that Wells is “100% ready to go.” We’ll see whether Wells can stay healthy, which seems to be the one question NFL scouts are asking.
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