What Is A "Sports Hernia"?

[Clay Dreslough]

I always thought "Sports Hernia" basically meant that you hurt the family jewels. Sorta like "Jock Itch", because it's impolite to call it "Scrotum Itch".

I wasn't exactly right:

What is a sports hernia? It was mentioned recently in the sports pages as the injury keeping Packers' center Mike Flanagan out of the lineup.

A sports hernia, or athletic pubalgia, is a tear in the muscles of the lower abdomen. It causes pain in the lower abdomen or groin. Men get athletic pubalgia more commonly than women.

One possibility is that tight or strong hip flexor muscles cause the pelvis to tip forward. This stretches the lower muscles of the abdomen and might eventually lead to tears in the muscle and tissue.

Activities that require bending over and leaning forward - Flanagan plays center, remember - lead to this problem. Athletes in soccer, hockey, rugby, tennis, track and football most likely suffer sports hernias. The symptoms are usually worse during sudden movements: sprinting, kicking, sneezing, coughing and more.

[Jeff Olsen]

If you want to talk about bizarre injuries:

Roger Craig
Cut his hand on a bra strap.

Mickey Tettleton
Once missed action with athlete's foot ... caused by tying his shoes too tight.

Ryan Klesko
Once overexerted himself and pulled a muscle ... while picking up his lunch tray.

Bret Barberie
Missed a game after rubbing chili juice in his eye.

Wade Boggs
Injured himself while pulling on his cowboy boots.

Kevin Mitchell
The master of all bizarre injuries, he once injured himself while eating a cupcake. That, of course, was when he wasn't missing games because of vomiting -induced muscle strains, or strained eyelids.

Ken Griffey, Jr.
Missed a game after suffering a pinched testicle from his protective cup.

Oddibe McDowell
Sliced his hand at the Texas welcome home luncheon while attempting to butter his roll.

Glenallen Hill
Went on the DL because of cuts suffered after smashing a glass table while dreaming he was being attacked by spiders.

Terry Harper
Separated his shoulder while waving a teammate home and subsequently high-fiving him.

Rickey Henderson
Missed a game because of frostbite ... in August.

Mark Smith
Injured his hand after sticking it in an air conditioner to "find out why it wasn't working."

Jose Cardenal
Missed a game in 1974 because he couldn't blink.

George Brett
Broke his toe on a chair at his home while running from the kitchen to the TV to watch Bill Buckner hit.

Vince Coleman
Missed the 1985 World Series after getting rolled up in the tarp machine.

John Smoltz
Once burned his chest while ironing a shirt ... which he was still wearing.

Tom Glavine
Redefining the phrase "star hurler," he broke a rib in 1992 after vomiting up airplane food.

Nolan Ryan
Missed a start after being bitten on his hand ... by a coyote.

Doc Gooden
Missed a start when Vince Coleman accidentally struck him with a golf club in the clubhouse.

Steve Sparks
Dislocated his shoulder attempting to tear a phone book in half.

Ricky Bones
Went on the disabled list in 2000 after injuring himself while changing channels on the clubhouse TV.

Greg (Allen) Harris
Injured his wrist while flicking sunflower seeds in the dugout.

Jason Isringhausen
Broke his hand while punching a trash can just weeks after stabbing himself in the leg trying to open a package.

[Bad_Ash]

Glavine pitched the whole 2nd half of the season with that broken rib.

What about Clint Barmes?

John Tudor had 2 of the most bizarre in an actual game. The lousy broadcaster and former catcher Steve Lyons breaking Tudor's leg sliding into the dugout after a foul ball. Then Tudor broke his arm while pitching. It was one of the greatest eefus (sp?) pitches of all time.

When any odd injury happens to an athlete my dad has 2 explanations for them: drunk or steriods. I bet that isn't far from the truth.

[robinhoodnik]

Jeff, I think we may read some of the same books. lol. You left out a few good ones.
Ken Caminitti: Broke three bones in his back falling out of a hunting blind
Vince Coleman: Tripped on a tarpaulin at Busch Stadium on October 13, 1985, before game four of the National League Championship Series, and was done for the season. The Cards won the series but lost to the Royals in seven games.
Cecil Upshaw: On the second day of the 1970 season, pitcher Cecil Upshaw, dunking an imaginary basketball on a metal awning, caught his ring finger and severed nerves and arteries.

[Jeff Olsen]

Jeff, I think we may read some of the same books.

Total Baseball?

Lotsa good injury, accident, and death stories in there.

[robinhoodnik]

Nope, don't have that one yet. I've read those injuries in some of my books too. Must be from the same source. Exact wording and everything. The injuriesI listed were from "Curveballs and Screwballs" by Jeffrey and Douglas B. Lyons. I'll have to get Total Baseball now.