Rivera will most likely miss the rest of the 2012 season. At age 42, Major League Baseball’s last number 42 may have ended his career on Thursday. Rivera dropped a number of hints that this season may be his last. Considering Rivera’s stature in baseball and his first ballot Hall of Fame resume, my best bet would be that he either beats the six month rehab time and plays again this year or comes back next season to leave on his own terms.
| Tough to watch from any angle. 1 |
WHAT AN AWFUL WEEK!
Regardless, bad news often comes in bunches. This past week offered a freight container of bad news. Here is a quick review of the week that was.
Saturday, April 28
Derrick Rose tears his ACL approaching the final minute of Game 1 of the first round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs. The Bulls were up by double digits and appeared to have the game in hand when the reigning MVP landed awkwardly while driving to the basket. With Rose’s injury, the Bulls hopes of winning the Eastern Conference, let alone the NBA Finals, are all but lost.
| Tough to watch and possibly unnecessary. 2 |
Monday, April 30
New York Knicks star forward Amare Stoudemire lacerated his non-shooting hand after punching a glass pane of a fire extinguisher compartment in the Knicks locker room. Stoudemire missed Game 3 of the series, which the Knicks lost. His status for Game 4 is questionable.
| Tough to see, but it has to be tougher on Stoudemire, who is not doubt kicking himself constantly for his costly stupidity. We've all done something incredibly stupid, but Stoudemire's mistake was for the world to see. 3 |
Wednesday, May 2
"Black Wednesday” in the National Football League…. Roger Goodell brought the hammer down on four current and former New Orleans Saints players for their involvement in the Bountygate scandal. Three players, two of which are no longer with the Saints, were suspended for part of the 2012 season.
The whammy was the year long suspension of Saints defensive captain Jonathan Vilma. In spite of the severity of the alleged offense, being the ringleader among the players in the Saints bounty system, the severity of Vilma’s punishment, including the loss of several million dollars in salary, was stunning and sent shockwaves throughout the fraternity of NFL players and legions of Saints fans.
In hindsight, if the reemergence of the ugliness of the Bountygate scandal was the worst news of the day, it would have been a pretty good day. Unfortunately, the suspensions and surrounding controversy were a blip on the radar compared to the news that would follow in the afternoon.
Former San Diego Chargers, New England Patriots, and Miami Dolphins linebacker and future Hall of Famer Junior Seau was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. He was age 43. Rampant speculation about the safety of the game, dangers of concussions, and concerns about the well being of players after they leave the NFL followed. At the end of the day, a relatively young man and father who was beloved by his southern California community and an icon of the National Football League was gone far too soon in far too tragic fashion.
4
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While not tragic like the news of Junior Seau’s passing, another future Hall of Fame player was suddenly and unexpectedly saddled with a very difficult set of circumstances. Yankees closing pitcher Mariano Rivera suffered a probable season ending, and possible career ending, freak knee injury before a game in Kansas City. Rivera is the all time leader in saves in MLB history with 608.
| Baseball fans can only hope that we get another chance to see this scene. 5 |
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1) Image from http://nbcsports.msnbc.com
2) Image from www.zimbio.com
3) Image from www.terezowens.com
4) Image from www.chargers.com
5) Image from www.seattlesportsinsider.com
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