RGIII's knee

[Kiwon]

Good for him. He should get something for being a slave to the white man.

Word is...Quentin Tarantino is going to add RGIII and Dan Snyder dolls to his collection.

[Patler]

The Washington Nationals shut down 15-6 All-Star pitcher Stephen Strasburg a month before the baseball season ended and kept him from the Playoffs. They were blasted from every direction, including the pitcher himself. Their concern? - His long-term health. The media and the fans reaction? - The Nats are crazy for not going with their best pitcher. They are blowing a very, very rare opportunity to make it to the World Series.

To let RGIII or Strasburg play or not play, either decision is controversial and debatable. This certitude, after the fact, though, that's what is annoying.

That was the only second half of the Strasburg fiasco. In his rookie year, after Strasburg was held out of several games, one of the Nationals own announcers, Rob Dibble (himself a former MLB pitcher), was very critical of Strasburg, saying he needed to toughen up, and that he couldn't sit out every time he had a stiff shoulder or sore elbow. This was the major leagues after all, and you pitch even when you hurt a little. A couple days later, it was determined that Strasburg had a torn ligament in his elbow, needed Tommy John surgery. would miss the rest of that season and most of the following season.

[pbmax]

People are crazy.... I've never seen more Monday morning quarterbacking or medical "experts" who gained their knowledge without needing to go to med school.

...

RGIII made a choice, Shanahan made a choice based upon his interaction with RGIII.

Why are people speaking as if Shanahan is sitting in a living room watching endless replays on HD TV? The guy is standing on the sidelines and directing his team in real time. His mind is on a thousand different things, in addition to the health of his quarterback.

The same factor is at work that demanded instant replay. Fans can see in great detail the stupidity on the field.

If I can see Colt McCoy get a likely concussive blow from James Harrison yet the team medical personnel and coaches don't know this, or wish to pretend they don't know, that is not a problem with fans, TV or the media. That is a problem for the team, player and coach. They probably need to amend rules so that medical personnel somewhere can view the TV broadcast. You cannot be serious about this issue if you cannot remove a player after an blow like that for evaluation.

We don't need a Dancing With the Stars online vote to help team Doctors, we just need the League and team to take advantage of the same technology they use to enforce all the other rules.

As for Shanahan, Griffin had a prior injury that caused him to miss parts of two games and was hindering his play going into the game. It was apparent on at least one of his runs during the first two drives. His play got worse as the game went on. I cannot know with absolute metaphysical certainty that Shanahan knew Griffin was hobbling, but it seems likely. It was evident not from replay, but live action. But I can see a case where the coach doesn't see it or is not made aware. So someone, somewhere in the stadium should be watching for him.

[pbmax]

That was the only second half of the Strasburg fiasco. In his rookie year, after Strasburg was held out of several games, one of the Nationals own announcers, Rob Dibble (himself a former MLB pitcher), was very critical of Strasburg, saying he needed to toughen up, and that he couldn't sit out every time he had a stiff shoulder or sore elbow. This was the major leagues after all, and you pitch even when you hurt a little. A couple days later, it was determined that Strasburg had a torn ligament in his elbow, needed Tommy John surgery. would miss the rest of that season and most of the following season.

Team employ PR departments to avoid public embarrassments and keep the waves of public emotion away from the critical decision making progress. If the Nationals or Redskins are making decisions based on tomorrow's headlines (like, say, the Jets) then there is little hope for them.

[pbmax]

OK, perhaps not completely torn?

Judy Battista @judybattista
RT @MarkMaske: R. Griffin surgery ongoing, person close to situation just said. ACL found in decent condition but "needs to be stronger."
Retweeted by SC_DougFarrar

[Kiwon]

I blame Mike Sherman, Mike McCarthy, and Brad Childress for not pulling Favre before his last pass in a playoff game was intercepted. They should have known.

[pbmax]

MarkMaske @MarkMaske
R. Griffin's surgery is completed, according to person close to situation. Griffin had both his LCL and ACL repaired.

[pbmax]

I blame Mike Sherman, Mike McCarthy, and Brad Childress for not pulling Favre before his last pass in a playoff game was intercepted. They should have known.

Agreed. We all knew by then.

[mraynrand]

MarkMaske @MarkMaske
R. Griffin's surgery is completed, according to person close to situation. Griffin had both his LCL and ACL repaired.

I'll be interested to know what they really did. He already had the ACL repaired - I assume they originally used a part of the patellar ligament, so did they just try and reattach a ruptured ligament, or did they have to harvest a new ligament piece and do a complete reconstruction? Sometimes they use part of the hamstring to repair/replace an ACL, but IIRC, they don't typically do this as it will compromise the hammy. What a mess. The LCL should be totally fine. Good thing they drafted Cousins. That's looking very, very smart from a team that looks very, very stupid for how they handled RGIII.

[mraynrand]

Might have blown up, but not like Cutler. Most of the world missed that Cutler actually did go back into the game after the injury but had trouble playing. This wasn't clear at the time but in hindsight I remember the drive he came back in on, right before the half I think.

Still, he threw a reasonable deep ball that Shields intercepted. He wasn't hurting horribly, but the optics were bad, nevertheless. Plus, personally speaking, I think the guy's a tool, so I'm just going to judge him more harshly. That aspect had nothing to do with the injury, just pure anti-Cutler prejudice.

[gbgary]

I'll be interested to know what they really did. He already had the ACL repaired - I assume they originally used a part of the patellar ligament, so did they just try and reattach a ruptured ligament, or did they have to harvest a new ligament piece and do a complete reconstruction? Sometimes they use part of the hamstring to repair/replace an ACL, but IIRC, they don't typically do this as it will compromise the hammy. What a mess. The LCL should be totally fine. Good thing they drafted Cousins. That's looking very, very smart from a team that looks very, very stupid for how they handled RGIII.

athletes seldom have the patellar tendon used in acl surgery as to speed up the recovery. it just leads to tendenitus. they ususally use cadaver tendons. his recovery time will be dictated by how big a rehab monster he is. it's all about rebuilding the strength in the quad.

[mraynrand]

athletes seldom have the patellar tendon used in acl surgery as to speed up the recovery. it just leads to tendenitus. they ususally use cadaver tendons.

Jerry rice used his - that's how he got the second injury. What you say makes sense. Maybe they can use Dick Jauron as a donor?

[Guiness]

OK, perhaps not completely torn?

Judy Battista @judybattista
RT @MarkMaske: R. Griffin surgery ongoing, person close to situation just said. ACL found in decent condition but "needs to be stronger."
Retweeted by SC_DougFarrar

We're getting live updates DURING the surgery now? How does that work, did they have a runner going in and out of the op room? This reminds me of an SNL skit (or was is a Doonesbury comic?) where they were selling a service that allowed you to view the output from Cheney's heart rate monitor.

[pbmax]

We're getting live updates DURING the surgery now? How does that work, did they have a runner going in and out of the op room? This reminds me of an SNL skit (or was is a Doonesbury comic?) where they were selling a service that allowed you to view the output from Cheney's heart rate monitor.

Someone asked online if it was ethical for Maske to pose as a nurse during surgery.

[mraynrand]

I want the feed from the Webcam mounted on the Surgeon's forehead