Last Night Was a Banner Night for Orthopedic Surgeons

Last night was not a good night for elbows and knees.  A couple of injuries, one in the NBA and one in the NCAA, dampened an otherwise fine night of basketball.

The worst, by far, was the Milwaukee Bucks Andrew Bogut, and his gruesome elbow injury.  Bogut landed awkwardly after a breakaway dunk, and looked as though he obliterated his elbow (Amar’e Stoudemire was called for a flagrant foul, but his push on Bogut’s lower back was not the cause of the fall).

Here’s the video…but be warned, it’s not for the squeamish.

The damage, however, isn’t as bad as it could have been.  According to The Big Lead, Bogut dislocated his elbow and broke his hand, and is obviously out for the season.

Then there was Da’Sean Butler’s knee injury, which wasn’t so much disturbing, as it was sad and emotional,.  Butler has been West Virginia’s go-to guy all year, and even though the game was out of reach at this point, that was no way for Butler’s career at West Virginia to end.

CBS analyst Clark Kellogg told a rather touching story about Butler, which really lends credence to the type of person Da’Sean Butler is.  Seems that a WVU fan, while watching the game vs. Kentucky, suffered a heart attack.  Butler took it upon himself to visit this unfortunate woman in the hospital, of his own volition mind you, in the hopes of boosting her spirits.  You can’t help but like Da’Sean Butler after hearing that.

One final thing–maybe it’s just me, but I was floored by Bob Huggins treatment of Butler while he was lying on the floor in agony.  And I mean floored in a good way.  Huggins always struck me as this gruff, hard-nosed guy…which is why it was so pleasant to see that side of him.  Watching him console an obviously pained and distraught Da’Sean Butler really opened my eyes as far as how much Bob Huggins cares for and about his players.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s dusty in here…I have a little something in my eye.