You did what?

All sports fans know their favorite player can go down for the season on any given play. A torn ACL, a broken leg, or a concussion, can completely ruin a season and leave one feeling deflated about their team's chance for a championship. Injuries are an unfortunately (as the cliche goes) a part of the game, but not always! Just ask Marty Cordova, 1995 American League rookie of the year, who fell asleep in a tanning bed and burned himself so badly he was ordered by doctors to avoid sunlight for several days! While none of these players pulled a Steve Irwin (and by the way, who do I talk to about getting the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to change their mascot) they all hold a special spot in the stupid Hall of Fame.

David Boston, didn't anyone tell you to have your nipples pierced AFTER the season? Boston from THE Ohio State University (who, by the way got their ass put in a sling this week) once cried himself out of a Chargers practice complaining of sore nipples after getting them pierced. Lionel Simmons and Joel "Guitar Hero" Zumaya both had painful injuries from, well, their favorite video games. Simmons had just been named player of the week in 1990-91 season when he was forced to miss several games due to a painful case of "Nintendo thumb". I wonder what level of Tetris he was on? Detroit Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski told a Detroit radio staion that the team felt Zumaya's right wrist and forearm inflammation that sidelined him for three games of the ALCS was caused by too much Guitar Hero, a video game where the player uses a guitar shaped controller and plays air guitar to their favorite songs-great way to help your team get to the World Series Joel. And finally, one of my favorite sports injuries of all time. Rookie Vince Coleman of the St. Louis Cardinals was well on his way to World Series stardom when, he was eaten by a tarp machine!? Coleman was stretching before an NLCS game when his left leg became caught in Busch Stadium's automated tarpaulin as it unrolled across the infield, trapping him for about 30 seconds. We thought this guy was fast?! He did not play in the World Series, which the Cardinals still won.

So all the old guys can sit and tell you about their favorite player, the guy who played in sub-zero weather, with a broken nose, and a cast on a broken arm...but I think we have 'em beat, sore nips and all.