A user by the name of brockweaver over at reddit.com posted this gruesome image.  It shows post operation on his ruptured Achilles.  He goes on to tell the story how this injury occurred,

I completely ruptured my right achilles while playing old man basketball over the noon hour. Had to drive my stick shift home with an umbrella to run the gas pedal.

Caught the ball on the baseline, then started to drive hard slightly to my left. Popped when I pushed forward off my back foot. I was playing on a really nice wood floor too, so that probably didn’t make any difference. So basically, avoid all the typical motions you do in basketball every time down the court and you’re probably good.

For the first time ever, no. I’ve always finished — played with a broken metacarpal, severely sprained ankle, cracked rib, concussion, etc. But this one put me down for a good 5 minutes and I couldn’t point my toe, much less put pressure on it. So I had to bail in the middle of the game. I felt like a real wanker.

Brockweaver also goes on to post some pre and post operation pictures.  The crew here at TPS wishes you a full and speedy recovery!

As quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, Vick suffered numerous criticisms of his passing ability, and has been used many times as an example of why speed and athleticism don’t automatically result in greatness.  Maybe, however, it was the NFL that wasn’t ready for Mike Vick.

The incredible success of spread offenses in college has begun to creep into professional football and hybrid players that can run, pass and catch are the fashionable trend.  Ronnie Brown of the Miami Dolphins had a resurgence last season running the “wildcat” offense, including a game with 4 rushing touchdowns and 1 passing.

Perhaps NFL offenses have evolved enough that Michael Vick will be able to use his strengths and be rewarded, rather than forced into pocket passing and be criticized.

Without going into any of the drama surrounding Vick’s dog problems, I think that if he does return to the league, the Michael Vick Experience will once again be open and exciting as ever.

Via guest reporter Brian at Illegal Use Of Hands

TMQ’s theory being that teams blitz too much, and, logically, when you blitz you have less players in your defensive backfield, therefore it is easier for the other team to complete a pass, and extend the drive with a first down.

The ideal offense against a blitz is a pass-first offense, with big wide receivers that can break tackles and get yards after the catch, and running backs with good hands to catch the ball out of the backfield.  Essentially a west-coast offense, with a ton of receiving options and a quarterback who knows who to dump the ball off to.

Sound familiar?  It should.  Anyone who watched the Arizona Cardinals beat the Eagles in the NFC championship saw Kurt Warner in action.  Warner may be a statue in the pocket, but with Fitzgerald, Boldin, Breaston and Edgerrin James, to name a few, the Cardinals have numerous great options for him to throw to.  Against Carolina as well, Warner torched the defense almost every time they blitzed.

Larry Fitzgerald romping through a secondary depleted by blitzing might be fun to watch (for must of us) but you would think that at some point the other team would figure it out.  Neither Carolina nor Philadelphia got it.  They kept blitzing and Warner kept completing passes, and lo – the Cardinals are in the Super Bowl!

Thanks to astute analysts employed by ESPN and every other news outlet in the nation, we are all well aware that the Pittsburgh Steelers have a great defense – best in the NFL during the regular season and crucial in their playoff wins so far.

We also have been told why Pittsburgh is so good.

They use a zone-blitzing defensive scheme that allegedly keeps the quarterback on his heels and out of rhythm because he never knows where the blitz is coming from.  Well, I’m pretty sure Carolina and Philadelphia didn’t blitz over and over from the same position, so I don’t see how that’s going to help them.

If the Steelers have been paying attention, they will have seen Kurt Warner putting on a clinic in how to beat the blitz, and they’ll back their defense down.

So far in these playoffs, the Steelers have beat the Chargers and the Ravens, quarterbacked by Phillp Rivers and Joe Flacco, respectively.  Well, no disrespect to them but neither of them has the experience of Kurt Warner, and while they succumbed to the Steeler blitz, Warner tore apart every blitz the NFC’s best could bring.  Not only that, but neither of those teams has a receiving corps quite like the Cardinals.

Let’s be honest, nobody does.  How many other third-string wide receivers broke 1,000 yards this season?

The Steelers may have a great defense but they will have to be careful before they blitz their way out of the Super Bowl.

Via guest reporter Brian at Illegal Use Of Hands

For the first time in Bo Ryan’s career as Wisconsin head coach, the team has lost two games in a row at home, and for the first time since 1998 the Badgers have lost five conference games in a row.

During the most recent loss to Purdue, the ESPN announcers diagnosed the problem as a “lack of offensive identity.”  The one thing they didn’t point out is that Bo Ryan, as coach, is responsible for creating that.  Players can only do so much individually and Ryan’s job is to bring them together as a team.

Last night against the Boilermakers with the game on the line, Ryan put the ball in the hands of freshman point guard Jordan Taylor instead of junior Trevon Hughes.  Taylor missed an off-balance lay-up that would’ve tied the game, and the Badgers had to foul.  After Purdue made both their free throws, Trevon Hughes sank a three with .2 seconds left on the clock, and the Badgers lost by one point.

Granted, Taylor did make a big three against Iowa to send that game to overtime, but still, why not give the ball to Hughes, one of your best scorers?

As a Badger sports fan, it is frustrating to watch another season where our high hopes are smashed immediately after conference play starts.  We just went through this in the fall with the football team, and now it’s déjà vu all over again, to quote the great Yogi Berra.  The basketball team, like the football team, has the talent but is underachieving.

For a team expected to challenge for the Big Ten title, this five-game losing streak isn’t the final nail in the coffin – it’s the dirt being poured in and the grass being replaced.

Unless there’s some sort of miracle in the last ten games of the season, the Badgers’ high hopes will have to wait another season.

Via guest reporter Brian at Illegal Use Of Hands