Horrific Sports Injuries
I must be in a macabre mood today. I got into a conversation with someone earlier today and we, for some reason, started talking about really bad sports injuries. You know, the kind that you just can't watch the video replay of. That made me start thinking of the worst sports injuries I've seen, either live or on video. There are a lot of bad ones to choose from, but I think I've settled on the following top ten list:
Honorable Mention: Tony Conigliaro, 18 August 1967
Conigliaro was a rookie of the year, superstar baseball player for the Red Sox in the late sixties. Then, in a horrific incident, he took a fastball flush in his face. He was never the same player again and was out of baseball in a couple of years. It was mostly because of his injury that batting helmets today have earflaps. He died in 1990, eight years after never fully recovering from a massive heart attack.
Honorable Mention: Rudy Tomjanovich, 9 December 1977
Tomjanovich, playing for the Houston Rockets, was in a game against the Lakers, when he was decked by a punch by Kermit Washington. It smashed his face, resulting in multiple broken bones and was even life-threatening at one point.
10. Swede Savage, May/June 1973
People tend to remember the spectacular, horrific starting crash by Salt Walther when they think of the 1973 Indianapolis 500. But for me, the more horrific crash that sad year was the one by Swede Savage. Leading the race, Savage lost control coming off of turn four and smashed into the inside wall of the frontstretch, a section of wall no longer there, I think. In the film of the crash, which happens right in front of the camerman, he pans up afterwards and you can distinctly see Savage, trapped in his cockpit (and conscious) burning. And burning. And burning. Until finally the rescue crews put some extinguisher on him. Tragically, Savage died 33 days later from his burns and, to boot, a pit crewman running to the seen was also killed when he was run over by a fire truck.
9. Dave Dravecky, 15 August 1989
Dave Dravecky was a good pitcher for the Giants in the 80s. In one game, the lefty was throwing a pitch when his upper arm snapped in half. It's hard to watch. Turned out he had cancer in the arm, and after they operated on him, he made a comeback to the major leagues. Then, it happened again. He eventually had to get the arm amputated. In our gross, mordant humor, the baseball guys I would hang out with at the old Hole in the Wall in Austin would call him "Snap." I may have even come up with that nickname in a bad, drunken moment. But he kind of deserves it: he's a member of the John Birch Society.
8. Tim Krumrie, 22 January 1989
Super Bowl XXIII in 1989, Cincinatti v. San Francisco. Tim Krumrie is the nose guard of the Bengals and one of the best in the business. In the first quarter, he takes a terrible blow to the knee and its just shuddering.
7. Napoleon McCallum, 1994
A great Navy running back, McCallum was having a fine career as a Raider when, on one Monday night, his leg was bent so badly that it almost came out of the socket at the knee. McCallum almost lost his leg due to the tackle, and as far as I know, never played again. It was just gruesome.
6. Daryl Stingley, 12 August 1978
Stingley was a hot receiver for the New England Patriots in 1978. On a pass play, in preseason, Raider Jack "The Assassin" Tatum delivered a blow to Stingley, who was stretched out to try and catch a pass. The hit broke Stingley's neck, which paralyzed him from the neck down. The image of Stingley's still body after the hit is something I will never forget.
5. Ruffian, 7 July 1975
Ruffian was one of the best racehorces in history. A 3-year old filly in 1975, she had never been headed, let alone beaten. Late that season, a match race was set up for Ruffian to go against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. It was at Belmont. The race started at the backstretch and as the two horses went down the backstretch, Ruffian nosed in front. Then, horribly, she broke down. She had snapped bones in her back foot. The problem was that Ruffian was such a competitor that her jockey couldn't get her to slow down. It took an agonizing amount of time before Ruffian finally stopped running. And by this time, her hind bottom leg was literally hanging on by a thread. It was sickening, and they euthanized the next day after surgery that she did not respond well to. Horse racing fans call it maybe the most heartbreaking moment in the sport. Barbaro, today, though sad, doesn't come close to what happened with Ruffian.
4. Gordon Smiley, May 1982
Smiley was a driver at Indianapolis. On Pole Day in 1982, he lost his car and slammed into the wall on turn one. The car hit head first and exploded into a thousand pieces. What is really bad about the video is that you can see Smiley's body, still strapped to his chair, being dragged down the shortstretch with the canopy of his car. It's pretty clear he was killed instantly, but the sight is still ghastly.
3. Tom Pryce, 5 March 1977
A formula one race in 1977. There is a car that has stopped on the side of the road. Assistance comes. Some assistance members have to cross the road to get there. As one young guy runs across the road, he is hit head on by a race car. He is almost literally sliced in half and dies instantly. Meanwhile, the fire extinguisher he had been holding smashes into the face of the driver that hit him, Tom Pryce. Both are killed instantly. Pryce's car continues down the track and when the help finally gets there, they find a nearly decapitulated driver. Shudder.
2. Joe Theismann, 20 November 1985
I still can't watch replays of this. Theismann, then going toward a Hall of Fame career, and the scrappy QB of the Redskins with his single facemask bar, going down from Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson, and the lower leg snapping in half. Taylor leaping up, yelling at the sidelines for help. Theismann screaming in pain. The announcers aghast at the replays. I still remember when it happened, and I still can't watch it again.
1. Clint Malarchuk, 22 March 1989
To this day, the scariest thing I've ever seen in sports. As a Buffalo Sabre, Malarchuk was the goalie against the St. Louis Blues in a game in 1989. There was a play on the net, and somehow, when the defenseman took down the attacker, the former's lost his balance and his skate came up against Malarchuk's neck. It happened to sever the outside jugular vein of Malarchuk. Malarchuk tried to get up, but blood was pouring out of his wound onto the ice. Malarchuk was very lucky: he was on the Zamboni side of the ice, where the ambulance could come; and, his trainer had served as a medic in Vietnam and so knew what to do. They got him off the ice, amaingly on his own feet, and repaired the damage. 300 stitches later, he was back on the ice in two weeks. But if you watch the video, you wonder how he survived that and didn't just die on the ice. It's remarkable. It's almost a miracle.
I could link you to video of most of what I have just posted, but why? Find them on your own, if you want to. It's not that hard. Decorum tells me not to.
Honorable Mention: Tony Conigliaro, 18 August 1967
Conigliaro was a rookie of the year, superstar baseball player for the Red Sox in the late sixties. Then, in a horrific incident, he took a fastball flush in his face. He was never the same player again and was out of baseball in a couple of years. It was mostly because of his injury that batting helmets today have earflaps. He died in 1990, eight years after never fully recovering from a massive heart attack.
Honorable Mention: Rudy Tomjanovich, 9 December 1977
Tomjanovich, playing for the Houston Rockets, was in a game against the Lakers, when he was decked by a punch by Kermit Washington. It smashed his face, resulting in multiple broken bones and was even life-threatening at one point.
10. Swede Savage, May/June 1973
People tend to remember the spectacular, horrific starting crash by Salt Walther when they think of the 1973 Indianapolis 500. But for me, the more horrific crash that sad year was the one by Swede Savage. Leading the race, Savage lost control coming off of turn four and smashed into the inside wall of the frontstretch, a section of wall no longer there, I think. In the film of the crash, which happens right in front of the camerman, he pans up afterwards and you can distinctly see Savage, trapped in his cockpit (and conscious) burning. And burning. And burning. Until finally the rescue crews put some extinguisher on him. Tragically, Savage died 33 days later from his burns and, to boot, a pit crewman running to the seen was also killed when he was run over by a fire truck.
9. Dave Dravecky, 15 August 1989
Dave Dravecky was a good pitcher for the Giants in the 80s. In one game, the lefty was throwing a pitch when his upper arm snapped in half. It's hard to watch. Turned out he had cancer in the arm, and after they operated on him, he made a comeback to the major leagues. Then, it happened again. He eventually had to get the arm amputated. In our gross, mordant humor, the baseball guys I would hang out with at the old Hole in the Wall in Austin would call him "Snap." I may have even come up with that nickname in a bad, drunken moment. But he kind of deserves it: he's a member of the John Birch Society.
8. Tim Krumrie, 22 January 1989
Super Bowl XXIII in 1989, Cincinatti v. San Francisco. Tim Krumrie is the nose guard of the Bengals and one of the best in the business. In the first quarter, he takes a terrible blow to the knee and its just shuddering.
7. Napoleon McCallum, 1994
A great Navy running back, McCallum was having a fine career as a Raider when, on one Monday night, his leg was bent so badly that it almost came out of the socket at the knee. McCallum almost lost his leg due to the tackle, and as far as I know, never played again. It was just gruesome.
6. Daryl Stingley, 12 August 1978
Stingley was a hot receiver for the New England Patriots in 1978. On a pass play, in preseason, Raider Jack "The Assassin" Tatum delivered a blow to Stingley, who was stretched out to try and catch a pass. The hit broke Stingley's neck, which paralyzed him from the neck down. The image of Stingley's still body after the hit is something I will never forget.
5. Ruffian, 7 July 1975
Ruffian was one of the best racehorces in history. A 3-year old filly in 1975, she had never been headed, let alone beaten. Late that season, a match race was set up for Ruffian to go against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. It was at Belmont. The race started at the backstretch and as the two horses went down the backstretch, Ruffian nosed in front. Then, horribly, she broke down. She had snapped bones in her back foot. The problem was that Ruffian was such a competitor that her jockey couldn't get her to slow down. It took an agonizing amount of time before Ruffian finally stopped running. And by this time, her hind bottom leg was literally hanging on by a thread. It was sickening, and they euthanized the next day after surgery that she did not respond well to. Horse racing fans call it maybe the most heartbreaking moment in the sport. Barbaro, today, though sad, doesn't come close to what happened with Ruffian.
4. Gordon Smiley, May 1982
Smiley was a driver at Indianapolis. On Pole Day in 1982, he lost his car and slammed into the wall on turn one. The car hit head first and exploded into a thousand pieces. What is really bad about the video is that you can see Smiley's body, still strapped to his chair, being dragged down the shortstretch with the canopy of his car. It's pretty clear he was killed instantly, but the sight is still ghastly.
3. Tom Pryce, 5 March 1977
A formula one race in 1977. There is a car that has stopped on the side of the road. Assistance comes. Some assistance members have to cross the road to get there. As one young guy runs across the road, he is hit head on by a race car. He is almost literally sliced in half and dies instantly. Meanwhile, the fire extinguisher he had been holding smashes into the face of the driver that hit him, Tom Pryce. Both are killed instantly. Pryce's car continues down the track and when the help finally gets there, they find a nearly decapitulated driver. Shudder.
2. Joe Theismann, 20 November 1985
I still can't watch replays of this. Theismann, then going toward a Hall of Fame career, and the scrappy QB of the Redskins with his single facemask bar, going down from Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson, and the lower leg snapping in half. Taylor leaping up, yelling at the sidelines for help. Theismann screaming in pain. The announcers aghast at the replays. I still remember when it happened, and I still can't watch it again.
1. Clint Malarchuk, 22 March 1989
To this day, the scariest thing I've ever seen in sports. As a Buffalo Sabre, Malarchuk was the goalie against the St. Louis Blues in a game in 1989. There was a play on the net, and somehow, when the defenseman took down the attacker, the former's lost his balance and his skate came up against Malarchuk's neck. It happened to sever the outside jugular vein of Malarchuk. Malarchuk tried to get up, but blood was pouring out of his wound onto the ice. Malarchuk was very lucky: he was on the Zamboni side of the ice, where the ambulance could come; and, his trainer had served as a medic in Vietnam and so knew what to do. They got him off the ice, amaingly on his own feet, and repaired the damage. 300 stitches later, he was back on the ice in two weeks. But if you watch the video, you wonder how he survived that and didn't just die on the ice. It's remarkable. It's almost a miracle.
I could link you to video of most of what I have just posted, but why? Find them on your own, if you want to. It's not that hard. Decorum tells me not to.
posted by cc at
7:03 PM
1 Comments:
Doug here, Steve. My God! The Pryce thing sounds made up it's so bad. I can't imagine anything really topping that, though the Gordon Smiley bit isn't very cheery, either.
On Dravecky, I read a story from some guy who had been on those Padres teams, and he said Dravecky was just a naive, super-nice guy who was gullible and taken in by Eric Show, who was a bona fide bircher and asshole. I think Andy Hawkins was the other one who joined up, but I guess he was kind of just a naive bumpkin follower who did what Show said.
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