All better? Ohsweetmercy, there's the slo-mo replay again! In the annals of blood-curdling sports injuries, this is definitely an all-time classic leg break. Wasilewski, who used to play for Anderlecht in Belgium's first division, will be out ... forever, I assume, and Witsel (who plays for Standard Liège) was sent off to think about what horrors he hath wrought. Even if he hadn't broken any rules, wouldn't you almost have to accept a red card after doing something that awful? For the good of your own soul, man.

Now excuse me while I replay this 50 more times while loudly cursing the gods for their cruelty.

Horror Injury Sidelines Anderlecht Defender Wasilewski [Goal.com]

Remarkably, it's only the 15th official death at the Pamplona bull run since 1924. Capuchino—a brown angry fellow who comes from a farm notorious for its feisty bulls—fell down early in the run and got separated from the rest of the pack, which apparently is not a good thing. He became disoriented and aggressive, began charging erratically, and in the process gored three others and injured six more because he's a freaking bull.

He's probably dead at the hands of some swishy matador by now, but at least he chalked one up for his side on the way out.

Man gored to death by bull in Pamplona run [Telegraph]
Mess With The Bull, You Get The Horns (And Killed) [Friends of the Program]

I'm not just posting this for the "oh my god" factor—but seriously, OMG!—but also because I find it slightly amusing when people fuck with animals and then pay the price for it. (I actually felt a little bad for that shark. Guy just wanted to eat.) I'm don't want to get all PETA on you, but the problem with bullfights is not that people are fighting bulls, it's that the fights aren't even fair. Look at how many times the bull has been stabbed. Can you really blame him for being peeved?

GaAAAaAAAAAAAH. Yeah, that's gotta sting. Yes, yes, it's tragic and horrifying, but no one told Lancho to pick a fight with a crazed and wounded half-ton animal. (Plus, the bull was probably slaughtered later, so karma, I guess.)

What's that? You want video? Okay ....

Hey, it could have been worse.

Good gored! Bull catches matador... and tears an eight-inch hole in his side [Daily Mail]
This Guy Sucks At Bull Fighting [Don Chavez]
Horror as matador gets gored by bull and now fights for life - plus more gory bullfighting pics [Daily Mirror]

The Blackhawks lost Game One of the Western Conference Finals yesterday, but Burish's head is still attached to the rest of his body so I guess he has that going for him. Teammate Ben Eager got tangled up with a Red Wing player in the second period and his foot—you know the one with the freshly sharpened blade of steely death attached to it?—came flying up over his head, slicing Burish in the neck. Don't worry, it was only ... *sweet jeebus how is he still alive?!!!?* ... a scratch.

And there go my Cheerios....

Chicago's Adam Burish escapes tragedy [Detroit News]

McGahee spent the night in a Pittsburgh hospital and word this morning is that he is "neurologically intact," which is a nice way of saying he isn't brain dead. He clearly suffered a massive concussion and possibly damaged his neck, but I guess we'll have to wait and see how his body recovers. But the play itself brings to mind two questions:

1.) Has anyone this decade had a harder hard-knock life than McGahee? He's lucky to even be playing in the NFL after his leg was temporarily removed in college, but he keeps coming back after numerous and sundry injuries. I guess he's pretty tough.

2.) Was it a dirty play? Well, I wouldn't say dirty, but it's definitely bad football and that's the real problem. Clark did what way too many defensive players do these days—he tried to hit the runner, instead of tackle him. He dropped his shoulder, lowered his head, didn't see what he was hitting, and did not have his hands out to grab the other player. When you do that, one of two things tend to happen—you bounce off the ball carrier and he keeps going, or someone gets hurt. (Brian Dawkins did the same thing to Larry Fitzgerald in the NFC game. He hit Larry hard at the two, but instead of wrapping him up and keeping him out of the endzone, Fitzgerald kept chugging and scored his first touchdown.)

And Clark nearly did as much damage to himself as he did to McGahee. So, yes, it was a "clean" hit, but it was horrible form and not very smart. Stop throwing yourself around like guided missiles out there, because it's scary and rarely does any good. Unfortunately, it's kind of hard to devise a solution to the injury problem when the very equipment that has been designed to protect football players—hard, unforgiving helmets and shoulders pads—is what makes the game so dangerous.

After big hit, prayers for McGahee [Baltimore Sun]
Willis McGahee Gets "Jacked Up" By Ryan Clark...Clean or Dirty??? [Black Sports Online]

Let's be honest. There is only one reason that we pay grown men millions of dollars a year to play children's games for our amusement—the opportunity to see gruesome, life-changing injuries. I'm not talking about Tiger's wittle scwapped knee or even people who lie about motorcycle accidents. We're talking about leg removals. Throat slashings. Ball crushings. Even off-the-field beat downs and illicit shootings will count if I find them sufficiently amusing. So here they are: The scariest, funniest, bone-bendiest mishaps of 2008. (I'm sure you'll let me know if I forgot any.)

*******

• DeAndre Brown did not know legs could bend like that.

• Martin St. Louis just wanted a little off the top.

• Richard Zednik, on the other hand, will think twice before asking for the "Columbian necktie."

• Derrick Rose does not have serious knife skills.

• Joe Sackic needs a new snowblower.

• Javon Walker should know better than to be in this part of town.

• Clint Malarchuk should probably just be in protective custody at this point.

• Oh, right. That guy.

• Three words you never want to hear come out of your doctor's mouth: "Testicle recalibration surgery."

• Chris Snyder probably concurs.

• Thank goodness we have a civilized sport like MMA to put a stop to this madness.

• Even mascots are not immune to the threat of decapitation.

• "We can probably leave this cart here behind the endzone, right? I'm sure it won't be in the way."

• And the most gut-wrenching, queas-inducing, heart shuddering leg break of them all—Corey Hill's Mr. Fantastic impersonation.

Ouch.

Because the Southern Mississippi senior is not very good at placekicking. He's a decent enough punter, but Britt was only 7-for-13 on field goals lifetime and did not make a single kick over 29 yards this season. Until the last game of his career that is, when Barefoot kicked a 38-yarder, a 46-yarder to tie with 3 minutes left, and 39-yarder in OT to beat Troy in the New Orleans Bowl. He did wear shoes, however, so that's slightly less impressive.

He also did not have an on-air temper tantrum like his counterpart Sam Glusman did, but then again, Glusman's game-tying attempt was blocked. (See above.) Such is life. More fun facts: Barefoot's wife is the first cousin of Lance Bass. What a way to say bye, bye, bye to his college career! Am I right ... anyone ...?

The Golden Eagle victory almost made up for the fact that their wide receiver DeAndre Brown shattered his forelock on a freak play near the endzone. Winning a bowl game is great and everything, but I'm sure that all things considered, Brown would much rather have his left leg still attached to his body. (The replay below is not for the squeamish.)

In other bowl news ...

EagleBank Bowl: Riley Skinner only threw 11 passes for Wake Forest, but he completed every single one of them—and that was still four more passes than the other team even attempted, as the Deacons rallied to beat Navy's all-running, all-the-time attack.

St. Petersburg Bowl: South Florida manhandled Memphis, 41-14 in the (sigh) MagicJack.com St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field. Memphis may have fired their phone company, but perhaps they should fire their athletic director for agreeing to play the Bulls in their own backyard.

New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State’s Gartrell Johnson had 375 total yards, including 285 yards rushing—the second-highest bowl total in history—as the Rams held off Fresno State 40-35.

Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona won its first bowl game in 10 years, by upsetting No. 17 BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. It's okay, though, because I'm sure the Mormon fans had blast on the Strip after the game. Sheesh.

Bowls/Postseason Scoreboard [Yahoo]

UFC fighter Corey Hill was fighting Dale Hartt in a special "Fight For the Troops" event last night, when he tried a low sweeping kick with his right leg. Hartt threw his own knee up to defend himself, and the next thing you know Hill's leg looked like Gumby after getting roughed up by a mop ringer. I'm pretty certain that shin bones are not supposed to stretch that much.

I know what you're thinking, and no. That picture has not been doctored. Here's a Joe Rogan video that (sorta) proves it.

Hill could not go on (duh!) and Hartt won by TKO. And some where in Maryland, Joe Theismann feels a great disturbance in the Force.

And just for good measure ... animated GIF!

UPDATE: The most disturbing version yet:

Corey Hill suffers broken leg in loss to Dale Hartt at UFC Fight Night 16 (Pic) [MMA Mania]

While trying to entertain the crowd during a 4th quarter timeout, a member of the Cavs Scream Team lost their balance during a tumbling routine, landed on their face, and was flat-out knocked unconscious. The game was halted for about 10 minutes while medical staff attended to the fallen soul and both teams came together for some stone-cold group prayer. The dancer was carted off on a stretcher, but "never lost movement in his extremities". Even his penis.

(Important Note: So yeah, the photo is definitely not of the cheerleader in question. In fact, it's not even a member of the same gender. But since there's no photos, or God-willing video, of the injured dancer as of yet, it'll have to do. If you need more verisimilitude in your life, feel free to save the image to your computer and photoshop a penis onto her, which is exactly how I'll be spending my next half-hour.) Hey, look! We found a photo that has to do with the actual Scream Team!

UPDATE: It has been brought to our attention that the Scream Team are the "annoying people who throw stuff out to the fans", which makes it even more important that we somehow get video of this disaster.

Cavaliers dancer injured during preseason game vs. Wizards [USA Today]