Wade to Miss Summer Olympics Due to Knee Surgery

Through out the NBA playoffs there were rumblings that Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade was suffering from a knee injury, however there was never an official announcement. Well today it was announced that Wade will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks and will have to miss the 2012 summer Olympics.

Have to give Wade some credit for pushing through with such an injury, know it has to be satisfying that it was all worth it having an NBA championship to show for it.

Bright side, at least Wade doesn’t have to answer questions all summer long about Olympians being paid and can sit back and enjoy the summer off with his family.

Related: Wade Says Olympians Should Be Paid

H/T To RealGM.com and Tim Reynolds

Travis Hafner Sent to the Disabled List

As reported by Cleveland.com Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner has been placed on the 15 day disabled list due to an injury to his right knee.

This should come as no surprise as in the last 4 years he’s been on the disabled list 6 times. We should not only be used to him being injured at this point, expect him to be injured. I don’t mean to be a Debbie downer on Hafner; however his production the last few years has been very low to nonexistent. Though his production has provided a nice jolt in the middle of the lineup if you can’t rely on him to play every day what good is he to you?

Related: Josh Beckett Missed Game from Golf Injury

This season he’s hit 6 homeruns and 23 RBI, not bad for the first month of the season, and considering his power numbers has been down in previous season, this would rank as phenomenal for him.

Hopefully it’s nothing more than just a bruise and a after a couple weeks off and rehab he’ll be able to return to play and produce at the rate he was prior to the injury. The only concern I have is, while he is out, the Indians won’t have enough offense to maintain their current position.

Dwight Howard to Have Season Ending Back Surgery

As the soap opera with Dwight Howard progresses, there will now be a long intermission as Howard will have season ending back surgery, according to ESPN.

Dwight had missed the last week with back pain and was diagnosed with a bulging disk in his back.

Howard will surgery and will miss the rest of the regular season, playoffs and the summer Olympics.

Related: Gilbert Arenas Put Dog Poop in a Teammates Shoes

Now things become interesting, as the Orlando Magic with their options on whether to trade Howard or roll the dice and see if they can resign in the summer of 2013. But with this back injury will suitors be as willing to give up the farm not knowing how Howard’s back will be long term.

As I’ve said before, the Magic should’ve rid them selves of this headache long time ago.

Nonetheless let’s hope that Dwight recovers fully from this, we’ve seen what back injuries can do to players, i.e. David Robinson.

Why the Rush to get Rid of Baron Davis?

If you listened to a lot of talk going around, you’d think Baron Davis is finished and has nothing left to offer. You ask me, and I’ll tell you that for a team with a young core, highly touted rookie point guard and in dire need of leadership, Baron can give a lot to a team right now especially the Cleveland Cavs.

What most will dismiss is Baron hasn’t been fully healthy the last few years of his career; so what better place to be than Cleveland, with one of the best collection of hospitals in the world (Cleveland Clinic, Metro Health, University Hospitals). However, his back issues and lack of support with the Clippers may have contributed to his lack luster play. The Clippers have been historically bad, and when they didn’t retain Elton Brand to play with him what else did he have to look forward to besides playing at home. Not to mention, sometimes playing at home, can be more a detriment. Not to say it was a distraction, but it’s like when he got back to Los Angeles, he fell into the black hole of the NBA.

His value with the Cavs comes in when you look at their roster, there are very few players that can stand up in the locker room and command respect from day one. Thus after a lockout, a training camp that will be shortened and rushed, who are the young guys supposed to look to for guidance, who is going to take them under their wing and show them the ropes. Only 3 players on the team have been in the league 7 years or longer, and most of the guys with more than 2 years of experience have been journey men or 8^th/9^th guys on the bench, but are getting a chance with us because we’re that bad.

So before you get so gung ho to trade away a two time all star consider the ramifications. Furthermore before you say they can use him in the amnesty program (a provision that allows you to release a player and have his salary not count against the salary cap), he’s more valuable to them on the team than playing for someone else, considering they would still be paying him. I’m pretty sure Dan Gilbert or any other billionaire, isn’t interested in paying people to go away. I’m not saying that having a mentor is going to guarantee that Kyrie Irving becomes a top flight point guard, but having a peer you can relate to makes the transition a lot smoother.

Jerome Harrison Has Alot on His Brain

In the movie ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Rosie Perez’s character Gloria had a saying. Sometimes when you lose you actually win. Such is the case for Jerome Harrison who was set to be traded to the Philadelphia Eagles contingent upon him passing his physical. He failed, which might be the best thing to happen. During the physical doctors discovered a brain tumor, which since caught early should allow him to lead a healthy and normal life and allow him to continue his career. Now treatment for his tumor will sideline him for the rest of the year, however, losing a year on the field to make sure your health is alright sounds like a win to me.

Can’t a Man Be Sick In Peace

Maybe it’s because of the bye week; possibly it’s because they got trounced by the Titans 31-13 that all of this is falling on Peyton Hillis. But one thing for sure is it shouldn’t. Something that took place almost 2 weeks ago is still story. What reason do we have to believe that Hillis would sit out if he was able to play? There’s nothing to suggest that he’s ever given less than 100% effort for the Browns since he’s been in Cleveland. And for fans and media to question how sick a person is feeling is not right on so many levels. First, how can we accurately assume how much pain another man is in especially when it comes to being sick? Everybody responds to being sick differently so why hammer him if you can’t be sure of how he’s really feeling. Second, how many of us wake up not sick and would love to just call off of work and still get paid? I do believe that Hillis was sick and wanted to play but just couldn’t, but I’m not mad that he got the most out of the situation. He was sick, got a chance to stay home and still get paid, no crime in that at all. Contract or no contract issue, I don’t think that factored into his decision not play, I think it was based clearly on his health first everything else second. How’s this comparison for you, what would’ve been the difference if he had a concussion and decided that he couldn’t go, would it had been ok for him to sit out then? And the way the fans are harping on it, you would’ve thought he was the reason they lost to the Dolphins, let’s not forget they did win the game. In close, let’s not make this bigger than it needs to be, the guy was sick and couldn’t run through linebackers and blow his nose at the same time, no need to make it seem like he quit on the team after a 3 and 1.

Peyton Manning Out for Week 1

Peyton Manning 208 straight games started streak will end as he will miss the seasoner opener. Colts chairman Bill Polian told ESPN NY 1050 this afternoon that indeed his franchis qb would be out. Good luck Colts fans as Kerry Collins will now be your starting quarterback.

Updated: Thursday 3pm
It has been reported that Peyton Manning has gone under the knife again. This will be the second surgery on his neck since May. The recovery timetable is probably the same as before 6-8 weeks. In my opinion, shut him down for the rest of the year. Nothing can be gained from rushing him. Allow him to heal and plenty of time for the neck to regnerate cells. Taking into account that its a neck injury one would rather operate on the side of caution.

Colts to Start Season Without Peyton and Tressel?

The Indianapolis Colts and Jim Tressel have agreed that he will sit out the first 6 games of the season due to his 5 game suspension he would’ve served had he not resigned as head coach from Ohio State. On one hand this is great; considering the NFL suspended Terrelle Pryor for the same 5 games he was due to miss. However, it’s completely stupid that their taking care of the NCAA’s work for them. Let them clean up their own mess. This is a slippery slope you’re getting into, because where do you draw the line. Do you ignore transgressions from the last two years; do you plan to punishment everyone going forward? Was this even discussed during the lockout and put in the CBA? There’s too much gray area for this enforcement to be a mainstay, especially considering Roger Goodell doesn’t like to follow any type of precedent with the decisions he makes.

The NFL world was abuzz after an Indianapolis radio host said that Peyton Manning would need a second neck surgery. It was later reported that no surgery has been planned, but he has been instructed to not practice. The issue is, the nerves in his neck are healing slower than expected, and it’s more a body heals when it heals type thing. From a person who has had numerous surgeries, I completely understand the healing process and when the rehab consist of sitting and waiting until the body lets you know it’s ready you can’t be too careful. When it just doesn’t’ feel right, you have to take a step back just so you don’t cause yourself more problems later. Hopefully it’s nothing serious because if he misses any significant time, the Texans will finally be able to climb atop the AFC South mountain.

Eric Steinbach Out for the Year

As soon as the Browns thought they had the left side of the line sured up, they find that Eric Steinbach will likely be out for the rest of the season due to his back problems. This take a grenade to the strength of the team which was the left side of the offensive line. Look for Browns Oneil Cousins and rookie Jason Pinkston to battle it out for the starting spot at left gaurd. With the Browns having so many holes to fill this injury comes at the worse possible time.