FanHouse Ouch

If you didn't know already, more than a few Michigan Wolverine fans are upset with how this football season has turned out. Not only is the nation's longest bowl streak over, but the Wolverines are enduring their first eight-loss season ever. Number nine looks to be on the horizon, as Rich Rodriguez's squad heads to Columbus for the annual Big Ten Championship Game Ohio State-Michigan game.

It isn't just fans who are upset with the team's non-performance this season. Even some former Wolverine players are getting into the act. On Monday, Desmond Howard, of all people, gave an interview to a Columbus radio station on Monday and left no doubt about his opinion of the team's performance this season:

"I made a comment (Sunday) on our show that it's not like they were trying to learn a spread offense (as much as) like they were trying to learn how to play football in some of those games, they looked so bad. This isn't Michigan, this is like Michigan Tech."

For the benefit of the unenlightened, yes, there's really a Michigan Tech. It's located in the Upper Peninsula, so far up it's actually closer to Minneapolis than to Detroit. Howard's comparsion is unfair, though.

The Cubs have had players miss time already this spring thanks to some very odd reasons. Mark DeRosa had to be hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat, and needed surgery to fix it. Meanwhile, pitcher Jose Ascanio, got jacked up in an attempted robbery. On top of that, Alfonso Soriano just broke his finger. Still, none of these guys are going through anything like Felix Pie is right now.

Get ready to cringe, fellas. From the Cubs official site,

...outfielder Felix Pie missed a couple of days early because of a twisted testicle.

Ouch.

I've no idea how it happened, and I'm not sure I want to know. Maybe he sneezed a la Sammy Sosa. Maybe Carlos Zambrano got angry at him, and thought he needed to learn a painful lesson. Who knows?

The only thing I do know, is that there aren't many other things I can think of that are more painful than a twisted testicle. Mine start to hurt just typing it. Kudos to Felix for only missing a few days. If that happened to me, I'd probably need a week or two off.

While not quite as gruesome as Shaun Livingston's knee injury (which, in an eerie coincidence, happened exactly one month ago to the day), Jorge Garbajosa's ankle injury on Monday night certainly ranks up there. You may not think it's that bad at first, but that's probably because you're not getting the right angle on it -- fortunately, the first slow motion replay shows it pretty good (or bad, depending on your point of view).

I'm guessing it was even more disgusting up close -- watch teammate Jose Calderon's reaction as soon as he sees it. He does a double-take and then immediately motions to the bench. Al Jefferson's reaction once he finally notices is even more telling -- he immediately cringes and looks away. After the game, Jefferson had this to say:

"I really thought he broke his leg," Jefferson said. "We bumped, my leg hit his leg, and I looked down and he was all twisted up. He was screaming, and I could feel his pain."

Not surprisingly, someone quickly put a towel over Garbajosa's ankle as he was being tended to on the floor and then as he was carted off the court -- you don't want to subject fans sitting up close to something like that. The announcer guessed that he dislocated his ankle, which, considering the fact that bones were definitely not where they were supposed to be, I'd say sounds about right. Needless to say, whatever the official diagnosis is, it's safe to rule out him playing again this season and probably even the playoffs.

That's Red Sox prospect Jacoby Ellsbury Jeff Corsaletti getting whacked in the head earlier this month by catcher Frank Pesanello Caleb Ginsberg, a catcher for Northeastern University who just collected the last bit of empirical evidence needed to complete his thesis, titled "Batting Helmet Ear Flaps: Friend or Foe?"

Update: It's the video that's funny, not my writing, right? Good thing, because apparently I originally botched both the names of both players involved. According to commenter Mike down below:

I play on Northeastern's baseball team and was in the dugout for this game ... its Caleb Ginsberg catching and Jeff Corsaletti at the plate getting plunked in the head.

I'm giving Mike the benefit of the doubt on this one, especially given his Northeastern email address. Thanks for the correction!

(via Red Sox Monster and The Big Lead)