It's Harmful To Play Hurt
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Fred Bowen's July 10 column ["Athletes Who Show Us There Are No Limits," The Score, KidsPost] boggled my mind.
He grouped Tiger Woods's "remarkable" performance in golf's U.S. Open with those by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the Wimbledon tennis final and 41-year-old Dana Torres in the Olympic swimming trials.
In describing Woods's grit in playing with knee and lower leg injuries, Bowen taught a bad lesson to his young audience. To the contrary, it is never worth it to play hurt; I would label Woods's playing in this condition as "foolhardy." By giving winning a higher priority than taking care of his body, Woods may have even shortened his career. The number of athletes who have unwisely played with injuries is legion, including Little League pitchers who have lost promising futures by throwing too many curveballs at such a young age and then continuing to pitch with "sore arms."
My own Big 10 basketball career ended when I suffered a serious knee injury, whereupon the team doctor drained the fluid from my knee and sent me back to practice sessions. I knew I was through, and soon my coach agreed. I hope that Bowen will write another column to correct the message this one seems to send to impressionable young athletes -- that it is okay to play hurt.
-- Doug Snyder
Bowie
