Last night brought news that Marlins starting left fielder, Chris Coghlan, could miss the rest of the season after he injured his knee--that's right--smashing a shaving cream pie into his teammate's face in a victory celebration.
The world is going to laugh at this one for a long time, but Coghlan shouldn't feel too bad. Modern sports history is filled with ridiculous injuries caused by ridiculous over-celebration. Since Coghlan won't be doing too much for a while, we thought we could give him some reading material: A list of five sports figures who hurt themselves in even more preposterous situations than his.
1) Ted Ginn Jr. after the opening kickoff of the 2007 BCS Championship game.
He darted 93 yards to give Ohio State the lead after the first play of the game. But it was the last play of Ginn's college career. The ensuing dogpile hurt his ankle enough to know him out for the rest of the game. Florida went on to beat Ohio State 41-14, giving Tebow the first of two National Championships. The next year, Ginn was dropping passes for the Miami Dolphins.
2) Gus Frerotte headbutting a wall.
It was 1997 when then-Washington Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte rushed down the right side for a touchdown, ran through the endzone, and famously headbutted what he thought was a padded cement wall. Hard. It wasn't. He missed the rest of the game with a neck injury.
3) Bill Gramatica tearing his ACL celebrating a field goal.
The kick only put the Cardinals up 3-0, and it wasn't even half-time. But nothing can stop a Gramatica brother from jumping for joy like he just won the Super Bowl after a successful kick. Nothing, that is, except a torn ACL. His celebratory leaping ended quickly when he landed awkwardly (the entire damn thing was awkward) and his knee buckled. He missed the rest of the season.
4) Lindsey Vonn missing an Olympic event after a champagne accident.
She was the best American skier at this year's Winter Olympics, but she missed an event she had a good chance to medal in after cutting her hand on a broken champagne bottle. She had been celebrating a gold in the downhill event. This reminds us of the ever thinning line between Olympic athletes and rockstars.
5) Kendry Morales breaking his leg after an early season grand slam.
It was a walk-off grand slam against Seattle, a division foe. But it was also in May -- a good five months before the World Series. And the absurd post-homerun trot pile delivered by his over-enthusiastic teammates broke Morales' leg and knocked him for the season. The Angels, a team many called favorites to win the AL West, is lagging, nearly 10 games out of the playoffs at the All-Star break.
