Countdown To Fun With The T-Mac Injury Ticker

It's safe to say that the the Houston Chronicle has about had it with Tracy McGrady. These are tough financial times, the newspaper figures, so why is the Houston Rockets' star being paid so much dough for sitting in the whirlpool?

The Chronicle explores the journalistic no-man's land between impartial reporting and the opinion page with their new, fun graphic: The T-Mac Injury Ticker. Now, readers of the paper's online Rockets' home page (I presume that it's in the print edition as well) can keep track at a glance of games missed and cost incurred during McGrady's lengthy knee injury hiatus. McGrady has said that he may stay out until Christmas to rest his knee, so this is just starting to get interesting. It's the Chronicle's T-Mac Injury Ticker vs. McGrady's Operation Shutdown. Let's watch the fun!

However, the Chronicle seems to be at odds with itself. On the one hand you've got the injury ticker, which in effect calls McGrady a malingerer who is stealing money. And then you've got today's Chronicle column by Richard Justice, which includes the observation: "McGrady doesn’t have to prove he’s a tough guy. He is. Anyone who thinks otherwise is clueless. Nor does he have to prove anything about how much he cares. He does care. Forget that three-week timetable for allowing his injured left knee to heal. He’ll be back when he’s back."

Of course the real fun will come in January once McGrady is back playing, when Chronicle reporters attempt to get some quotes.

Houston Rockets [Houston Chronicle] The Houston Chronicle Seems To Dislike Tracy McGrady [Fan IQ]