The Chargers lost to the Patriots yesterday, and the team's star running back LaDainian Thomlinson, widely considered the best player in the NFL, couldn't play. He tweaked his knee last weekend and after giving it a go at the start of Sunday's game, he realized he wouldn't be effective.
In addition, Chargers' Quarterback Phillip Rivers had a knee injury, but he was able to play. After the game Chargers coach Norv Turner handled the press conference, and a reporter asked "If Rivers was able to play with a knee injury, why wasn't LaDainian?"
The coach reacted harshly. "That's a stupid question. Next."
It was a dumb question. Just because one dude has a knee injury and can play, doesn't mean the other guy can, too. A) Not all knee injuries are the same. B) Rivers is a Quarterback who throws the football, LT is a running back who runs. The knee is a little more critical to Thomlinson than Rivers.
I hear the similarities in those criticizing James Stewart right now. He's not tough enough. He needs to suck it up. Etc. Honestly, how could anyone realistically make that judgement? Do any of us know the extent of the injury? For all I know, he could have nothing more than an ingrown hair on his leg and maybe even that's too painful for him to ride with. But the whole damned thing could be blown out, too. I do know the guy is bummed because he wanted to ride, and now he's not riding. But to just guess that the injury wasn't that bad and he just isn't sucking it up is really unfair. As it is, we'll never know for sure, but if James wasn't a competitor he wouldn't be in this sport and wouldn't be as good as he is, so I'm guessing that when he can't go, it's because he really can't go.
Monday, January 21
Daily Kneeds
Posted by Jason Weigandt at 4:01 PM
Labels: James Stewart, Supercross
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13 Comments:
stewart is a tough guy .He would be out there racing if he could,hell I always said he make a good football player.The supercross wont be the same with out him.Plus the only titles Reed can win is when Carmichael or Stewart arent racing.Well I cant wait for the outdoors to start.Get well soon James.
Heres a funny story...
Allegedly James and his dad where in Monsters offices this week trying to sort out their contract...James wanted 1.4 million for the season or he was going to walk from supercross and let Chad, who is no longer on unbound who is owned by monster, win...totally pissing off monster so they don’t have a sponsorship on the champion of the “Monster Energy Supercross”, In theory a nice bargaining chip, Monster told James 1.2 million or forget it...
James and His dad reportedly told the VP of Marketing at Monster to go F$%k himself. He told them where to stick it and no we get to A2...
He showed up late for the show, didnt do the press conference on Thursday, didn’t do more than two laps in each practice, and he developed a "knee injury" that took him out of the Supercross season...
Is this what racing has become?
He took a Bentley from redbull as a signing bonus last year and still walked on his contract and didn’t give the car back and now this with monster over 200K...
I don’t get it at all.
This of course is totally unconfirmed and only Monsters side of the story and was straight from the mouth of a unnamed monster execuitive in the Monster suite after a few beers... but I will call Aldon this week and see what the Stewart camp has to say. Maybe its all just all coincidence...
Monster was also pissed off about Stewart drinking a combination of Monavie, Water and Cytomax on the podium, He reportedly told them, "Im not going to pretend I drink that crap on the podium when I don’t"
Maybe Monsters full of crap? What do you all think?
Ill see what I can find out
Stewart is plenty tough and has proved it time and time again. Rest it and prevent any further damage. Reed's shoulder was bad but it does not compare to having a banged up knee! More surprising is how Honda's team is not stepping up!!! No RC or James means two spots on the podium are open. Where is Millsaps? Short? Tedesco? The best Honda has is Windham????
James is doing the right thing.
Ask ANYONE who has ever had a knee injury. If you dont take care of it it will only get worse.
Whats the worst Motocross injury?
I think if you break your wrist, its the worst, ask RJ, MC, and FRO.
Wrist, Knee, Shoulder. My guess top three shitiest motocross injuries to come back from.
MD
One part of me thought maybe James just Didn't WANT to challenge Reedy, who looks up for it this year. Then again Who are we to say how Bubba feels. Didn't he get the knee FIXED after the injury... at Washogual!? It sounds like they didn't repair the problem,then he banged it up and Can't GO now.Great...
If James hurt his knee on the 20th he had plenty of time to have it looked at. He tore cartiladge the last time as was out for 6 months. he has a habit of waiting until the day of the race and saying "I can't race, I'm too hurt" Everyone was anointing him the second coming of Jesus, but he is a head case. If he had snapped his ACL in half before, I could see sitting out for so long. Throw a damn knee brace on and get out and ride. He is toast, with his blinding speed he had everyone bamboozled, now they know he is a puss. He has historically shown that when he is down he does dumb stuff,(How many times have we seen him flying through the air without his bike?). Before you say anything I have no meniscus left to speak of, my ACL and MCL are completely gone so I know a little about knee injuries, I am 46 years old and have been dealing with it for 20 years. Thank you
Craig Martin
Having James Stewart out is a real disappointment. You wouldn't believe how many people watch Supercross/Motocross just to watch him! When he doesn't race, we don't watch!
He is the fasted, most exciting guy on the Planet!
James being out is a huge disappointment. At this stage, there's no one who can run with Reed. Maybe K-Dub if he wants’ to dig deep thinking this could be his last shot at a championship. J. Hill looks to be a fast learner and could be surprising all of us including Reed by the end of the season.
James is the fastest Supercross rider ever (the G.O.A.T. is the best outdoor/all around rider).
I find it hard to believe the Monster contract theory but I did take notice he didn't drink Monster on the Phoenix podium.
Not fair about the Bentley, he had no choice with the Kawi.Monster deal.
I feel James is really hurt and would be competing if he could. I just wish people would get off his back for awhile. He's a good kid and incredible to watch. I just hope he doesn't become another Travis Pastrana.
Mike - Massachusetts
The Monster story has to be bogus. Kawasaki would have clauses written in to his contract to prevent him from doing what he is allegedly doing (throwing a pissy fit, refusing to race and saying Chad can have it).Fisher's been around long enough to see through any political BS and shut it down if it comes to it.Plus the $200K he's supposed to be quibbling over - he'd make that up in win bonus etc with ease.
Perhaps he's over it all , wants to quit and doesn't know how to admit it? Perhaps his knee is torn to pieces and he can't ride?
Two things are certain though.If he is out until Glen Helen he wont have raced more than a couple of times in almost a year. And if I'm a Factory manager I'm looking at the guy thinking he's super fragile and while he's insanely fast signing him comes with quite a large degree of risk , can he actually go through a full season without tearing himself up? OR perhaps Kawasaki can't afford the overhead to keep him racing. I saw FOUR mechanics involved in changing a spark plug on his bike Saturday night I shit you not.:-)
Hey Weege,
Had to check in on this. I broke the metacarpul's in one hand, the navicular in the other wrist and broke off the top of my tibeual pleateu another time.
Riding hurt is tough but living with the injuries down the road is even worse.
James probably could of toughed it out but at what cost?
The other 18 guys in the main would have loved to have his lap times but James isnt there to finish second.
Big Bruce is right, lots of people watch just to see Stewart.
Best Regards
M. Brown
PS. Sorry about my spelling. Spell check not working.
How about when James finished the SX in Canada and couldn't even stand up and Preston was all in his face? Of course he was riding in pain that day. I think the only reason Chad won A1 and was hanging with him in Phoenix is because James is hurt. If James was healthy, he'd be killing Chad. It's unfortunate for Chad because he'll get the label that he only wins if RC and JBS aren't there, but that fact can't be argued because that's what history will show. I'm just disappointed because Chad is so damn consistent he's probably going to win 16 of 17 races this year and it's going to be a bore. Bring on the GNCC's!!!
Stewart had plenty of time to get his knee fixed properly after Washougal, but he didn't. He had another opportunity to get it fixed after he pulled out of the U.S. Open because his knee still hurt and obviously wasn't healing, but didn't take it. Now he's aggrevated it again and has to pull out of the series. I don't doubt that he's in pain and I believe he should pull out of the series and get it fixed. I just think he's a little lacking in common sense, since he knew his knee wasn't healing properly and chose not to get it fixed when he had the opportunity.
And now comes all the Reed hate: "Yeah, Reed will win but it's only 'cause Bubba's out." Whatever. What's the first thing you have to do to win a race? You have to finish the race. It isn't Reed's fault that Stewart pranged himself. I'm sure Reed would rather fight Stewart for the championship heads-up than take it by default, if for no other reason than if he won, people would praise him for the champion he is rather than bitch that he only won the championship in '04 because Ricky was out. Ah, people will probably still bitch.
I think it's a great opportunity for the sport. Stewart being out opens up another spot on the podium and maybe we'll see some actual racing going on up front. Reed will most likely win, but he's by no means immune to injury either.
I don't think the "anonymous said..Funny Story" was very funny at all. It's a rumor and I would hope those sort of flame wars were above the posters here. The funny thing about "trash talkers" here on the net is they're probably the first guys to call in sick to their work places after too many the night before. Do we as fans and spectators have the right to criticize riders who risk paralization and injury and death every time the put a leg over a bike, I say sure we do when we can say "Hey I have the fastest lap time, how fast were you?"
Anyhow even if Stewarts injury is over money, he deserves ever 200k of it. The bottom line is he is a competitor and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, HE CAN'T GO.(how the heck do you show a CAPITALZED PERIOD...) Oh yeah and the part about Reed not being able to win unless someone is injured is WAY OFF. This guy rides injured all the time, the last few championships in fact. Part of winning a championship is staying healthy enough to get on the podium. It's an integral part of strategy and he has is down. Anyway the seasons not over yet!
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