ouch!

Last night, I was reminded of something that I've wondered about: why do ballplayers insist on not rubbing the parts of their bodies that have just been beaned by pitches? I realize that a lot of it has to do with baseball tradition, but wouldn't it be a good idea to massage the area immediately to get some blood movement going? Isn't it crucial to the healing process? I would think that that's more important than showing how tough one is. It's awfully admirable at the same time, which I suppose is the point. After all, pitches average what, 80-90 miles per hour?

Which gets me thinking of how pain is dealt with in other sports, in particular how it relates to rules and infractions. The first one being of course, football. I've never played organized football, and definitely not tackle football - I doubt most people have. Sitting at home and watching it on TV, it's easy to forget the level of pain that players put up with on each and every play, let alone the injuries that are so bad that a player actually lets it show. Note that penalties aren't necessarily called due to injuries.

Basketball. Ah, now we start getting a peek at how players sometimes over-act and over-react in order to 'get the calls' from the referees. Although my natural inclination is to give players the benefit of the doubt, all I have to do is compare the behavior of athletes from other sports in similar situations. It's funny when even basketball commentators use the term 'flopping' to describe how players emphasize being fouled, thereby helping the officials. The term 'Euro-flopper' is especially amusing, applied to basketball players from Europe that use the technique to show they've been fouled. Upsetting really, when it works. A Spurs player flopped on a drive to the basket to avoid an upset against the Warriors last season...

Which brings me to soccer. Just from the highlights, I've never seen so much agony and high drama! Talk about flopping. As much as I'd like to believe that they aren't exaggerating injuries, it's amazing how well they recover as soon as the penalty cards go up. The thing is, it's such a physical sport that injuries must be common - no pads and helmets here - but still, there's something Shakespearean about the way players react to going down. Shouldn't soccer highlights be accompanied by operatic music or something? This futball is nothing like football, although with new rules in place, NFL quarterbacks are beginning to resemble gridiron Lawrence Oliviers because of the ease with which they can now draw penalty flags. Funny how that works.