Full disclosure - I do not know the specific injury that was suffered and I have not seen any x-rays or scans of the player.
I am not an Orthopod but as a Radiologist, I'll do my best to answer your question about some types of injuries that may be career ending:
One would be a complete dislocation of the knee, which in addition to multiple ligamentous tears, there is potential for neurovascular injury of the nerves (usually peroneal nerve) and blood vessels (popliteal artery) located behind the knee. This needs to be treated quickly with surgery.
Another injury that would potentially be career ending would injury be a fracture of the tibial plateau. This is usually caused by an axial loading injury combined with angulated stress. This can also be associated with ligamentous and meniscal tears. Even after repair in young people, this can lead to early osteoarthritis.
Additionally, traumas where there is significant cartilaginous injury can be difficult to recover from as they can lead to early onset of osteoarthritis.
Multiple soft tissue injuries (meniscal/ligamentous tears) associated with osseous injuries (fractures, contusions etc) can be tough to recover from and there can be a long recovery time.
Anyhow, this list is not meant to be exhaustive but hopefully helpful.
Certainly receiving an athletic scholarship, housing, and meals is not free and I am not suggesting that it is. The reality is that the players are not compensated fairly for services performed under the current schema. NCAA rules prohibit the players from having an outside job. This paradigm is untenable and to suggest otherwise is unrealistic. Elite D1 football and basketball programs bring an extraordinary amount of income to colleges and universities, and that money is used to fund a variety of unprofitable teams within the athletic dept. including Tile IX sports; however the athletes receive none of the monetary benefits. I am not suggesting paying players cash under the table, but simply provide a fair stipend as part of the scholarship. As an aside, I don't think the comparison with PhD candidates is an accurate one. As for the comment regarding what would players do if they don't play professionally, would they coach? First off, the athlete is not required to major in said sport, but if they want to they should be allowed to. Secondly, if the want to coach, then coach. I guess I don't understand the problem with designing a major meant to benefit the participants. If you majored in finance for example, but found a career in something else, what would be the difference?
Football and basketball players should absolutely be paid. The NCAA and major D1 college athletics have essentially set-up an entirely unnatural paradigm, whereby an entertainment product has been cultivated, and financial rewards gained, but the real earners (stars of the show) receive 0% of the money. Pay them a reasonable stipend or provide them with additional benefits. Until that changes, the rules will continue to be broken. Didn't CBS pay billions of dollars to the NCAA for the rights to broadcast March Madness? Additionally, I see no reason why football and basketball players can't major in their respective sport. Artists are allowed to major in Art. Therefore, develop a curriculum that is useful for athletes wanting to play professionally; courses may include: Contract Law, Personal Finance, Investing, Media Relations, Public Speaking etc., and provide for them the tools to use in their lives after college. Just my 2 cents.
Recent Comments
Great news!
Classic example of the better team pulling ahead to soundly win the game.
Ha, :) I try not to use "clinical correlation or rule out" much in my reports, but some of the older Rad colleagues still do.
Med school in Boston - Tufts '03
Full disclosure - I do not know the specific injury that was suffered and I have not seen any x-rays or scans of the player.
I am not an Orthopod but as a Radiologist, I'll do my best to answer your question about some types of injuries that may be career ending:
One would be a complete dislocation of the knee, which in addition to multiple ligamentous tears, there is potential for neurovascular injury of the nerves (usually peroneal nerve) and blood vessels (popliteal artery) located behind the knee. This needs to be treated quickly with surgery.
Another injury that would potentially be career ending would injury be a fracture of the tibial plateau. This is usually caused by an axial loading injury combined with angulated stress. This can also be associated with ligamentous and meniscal tears. Even after repair in young people, this can lead to early osteoarthritis.
Additionally, traumas where there is significant cartilaginous injury can be difficult to recover from as they can lead to early onset of osteoarthritis.
Multiple soft tissue injuries (meniscal/ligamentous tears) associated with osseous injuries (fractures, contusions etc) can be tough to recover from and there can be a long recovery time.
Anyhow, this list is not meant to be exhaustive but hopefully helpful.
GO BLUE!
LSA '98
Certainly receiving an athletic scholarship, housing, and meals is not free and I am not suggesting that it is. The reality is that the players are not compensated fairly for services performed under the current schema. NCAA rules prohibit the players from having an outside job. This paradigm is untenable and to suggest otherwise is unrealistic. Elite D1 football and basketball programs bring an extraordinary amount of income to colleges and universities, and that money is used to fund a variety of unprofitable teams within the athletic dept. including Tile IX sports; however the athletes receive none of the monetary benefits. I am not suggesting paying players cash under the table, but simply provide a fair stipend as part of the scholarship. As an aside, I don't think the comparison with PhD candidates is an accurate one. As for the comment regarding what would players do if they don't play professionally, would they coach? First off, the athlete is not required to major in said sport, but if they want to they should be allowed to. Secondly, if the want to coach, then coach. I guess I don't understand the problem with designing a major meant to benefit the participants. If you majored in finance for example, but found a career in something else, what would be the difference?
Football and basketball players should absolutely be paid. The NCAA and major D1 college athletics have essentially set-up an entirely unnatural paradigm, whereby an entertainment product has been cultivated, and financial rewards gained, but the real earners (stars of the show) receive 0% of the money. Pay them a reasonable stipend or provide them with additional benefits. Until that changes, the rules will continue to be broken. Didn't CBS pay billions of dollars to the NCAA for the rights to broadcast March Madness? Additionally, I see no reason why football and basketball players can't major in their respective sport. Artists are allowed to major in Art. Therefore, develop a curriculum that is useful for athletes wanting to play professionally; courses may include: Contract Law, Personal Finance, Investing, Media Relations, Public Speaking etc., and provide for them the tools to use in their lives after college. Just my 2 cents.
csides
LSA '98