# Eeeewwwww! \[NCAA basketball injury\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 31, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471 "2013-03-31T22:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/41 "2013-04-01T23:33:57Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > If I am reading the bylaws right, it may not be possible to get a medical redshirt if you haven’t used your normal redshirt year. I think he’s probably eligible for a red\* sock\*, however. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/42 "2013-04-01T23:37:50Z")
The worst danger for a break like that is a sharp piece of bone severing a nerve. There is also concern about muscle damage (inevitable, but you can heal from that) and damage to tendons. The surgery last night was apparently successful and they have him up on crutches already (really, it’s best to get up as soon as possible after surgery to promote good circulation). As long as he can avoid infection and compartment syndrome (a form of swelling that can cut off circulation to muscles) he should be OK. The bone is now reinforced with a metal rod. He needs to heal up - a break like that can take a long time to mend fully and then go through rehab. The damaged muscles and tissue need to heal up - also a long time. If he’s fortunate and avoids the worst complications (and it looked like they stabilized that injury ASAP and got him to medical care very quickly) he can heal all the way from this. That’s a number of ifs, of course. He has youth on his side, and he’s presumably a healthy athlete, which are both to his advantage. I wish him well. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/43 "2013-04-01T23:39:54Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > [http://i.imgur.com/tsXkj3i.gif](http://i.imgur.com/tsXkj3i.gif) Oo, thank you for the animated GIF of the bench. That is both awesome and horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/44 "2013-04-02T00:43:14Z")
I saw it on TV when it happened. I don’t ever need to see it again. I’m not surprised some people threw up. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/45 "2013-04-02T01:30:03Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > I wonder if he doesn’t have a bone tumor in that area which weakened the bone. It is unusual for a healthy young person to break a bone like that. This is what I’m wondering about. The first thing I thought when they were talking about it on the news was that it must be pathological. The second thing I wondered about is if it has something to do with unusually tall people with unusually long bones, but he’s not _that_ tall. Maybe his age has something to do with it? Is he just young enough to still have incomplete growth plates or something, combined with being taller than average? The way the leg was dangling, he broke _two_ bones. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/46 "2013-04-02T01:37:41Z")
The best theory I’ve heard is an undiagnosed stress fracture. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/47 "2013-04-02T02:10:19Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > This is what I’m wondering about. The first thing I thought when they were talking about it on the news was that it must be pathological. The second thing I wondered about is if it has something to do with unusually tall people with unusually long bones, but he’s not _that_ tall. Maybe his age has something to do with it? Is he just young enough to still have incomplete growth plates or something, combined with being taller than average? The way the leg was dangling, he broke _two_ bones. Growth plates are on the ends of bones. The break was in the middle of the bone shaft. Not related, in other words. There could have been some undiagnosed flaw in his leg bone(s). Or he just had the bad luck to land at _exactly_ the right angle to snap the bone. Or both. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/48 "2013-04-02T04:42:56Z")
Interesting with that GIF to compare everyone’s reactions one by one. The assistant coaches were seemingly unfazed. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/49 "2013-04-03T02:32:46Z")
Someone just texted me a closeup. Some things freak me out. Some don’t. This didn’t. Hey man, got an extra joint? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/50 "2013-04-03T03:51:17Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > [http://i.imgur.com/tsXkj3i.gif](http://i.imgur.com/tsXkj3i.gif) Did that guy on the end faint? > [@Trom](#): > > I luckily was out of my chair when it happened live. > > For whatever reason, compound fractures are extremely unsettling. Clint Malarchuk’s injury was worse, but I find that footage much easier to stomach. Probably because you can’t see the wound up close. It’s definitely scarier, though. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/51 "2013-04-03T07:14:50Z")
I have seen shootings, stabbings, mangled bodies in car wrecks, blood, gore, guts. I have seen someone literally blow their brains out with a shotgun. None of that bothers me much. But whenever I see limbs bent in the wrong direction or a sudden extra joint I get the heebie jeebies. I unfortunately got to see live on TV the Theisman incident, Tim Krumrie’s Superbowl break and Napolean MacCallum’s knee go in the totally opposite direction. I’m glad I wasn’t watching this one live. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/52 "2013-04-03T11:48:09Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Did that guy on the end faint? It certainly looks like it but CBS was still following game action before everyone realized what happened. So that’s the whole reaction shot. More fun with Google: how did k brings up how did kevin ware break his leg at #3 ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/53 "2013-04-06T23:21:13Z")
[Kevin Ware Top Ten on Letterman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seJ2LTPaFfw) ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/54 "2013-04-07T22:32:06Z")
The second worse live sports injury I’ve witnessed was the Willis McGahee fiesta (?) bowl crunch and this one was worse by many orders of magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/55 "2013-04-07T22:41:50Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > [Kevin Ware Top Ten on Letterman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seJ2LTPaFfw) That’s awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471/56 "2013-04-07T23:43:01Z")
Mr. Ware certainly seems to be in good spirits regarding the reason for his 15 minutes of fame. I hope he continues to do well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeewwwww-ncaa-basketball-injury/654471.md?page=2)