Injuries.
Yesterday, A's pitcher Brandon McCarthy was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat. On impact, McCarthy immediately falls, removes his hat, and squirms in pain. When the trainers came out, to my personal surprise, he sat up.  After a 90+ MPH baseball to the side of his head, he sat up. he rubbed his head a lot, probably expecting blood. Then even more shockingly, he stood up. He walked off the field on his own power. Today, he was operated on for epidural hemorrhage. This all makes me think. Athletes... We're stubborn as hell. We want to play. To succeed, to win. You can't win off the stretcher. I know I'm stubborn. When my knee pops, I try to hide the fact that I have half the mobility. I just want to play. One of my favorite cases is Chase Utley, and Danny Way. Utley is in his mid-30's. His knees are shot. He's had some freakish hand injuries. But he's always on the field, always 110%. Never slowing down, even in pain. Hell, he finished a game with a broken hand, his glove hand. Danny way, well... The guy just skates. Jumping the Great Wall of China with torn ankle and foot ligaments, winning X-Games with a fractured ankle, and again with a sprained ankle, the guy is unstoppable. Then there's Derek Redmond, a British runner. At the '92 Games, Redmond was running in the 400 meters semi-finals. Just 26 seconds in, he pulled his hamstring. He immediately slowed up, and dropped to a knee. But he got up. Hardly running, more of a hop, with an expression of an athlete who knew his career was over, he continued the race. A few people tried to stop him, a couple tried to help, but he pushed them all away. Then his dad came out, put his sons arm around him, and Derek Redmond broke into tears. That right there - the perseverance to just finish - is something every athlete has. A drive, a motivation. I cant stand being told I can't play, just because it hurts. Tape it up, and put me in. As athletes, not playing when you're supposed to play, it's like quitting. We don't like quitting, do we? I know I don't. Pain comes with being an athlete. We understand that.

Athletes, unite!