Zumaya hurt by video game
December 14th, 2006
I’ve heard of tennis elbow, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of “video game forearm,” a new ailment which plagued Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya during the playoffs.
Zumaya, 22, was known to play “Guitar Hero,” a PlayStation 2 game in which a player uses a guitar-shaped controller to simulate the performance of popular songs.
During the radio interview, Dombrowski said the Tigers’ athletic training staff discovered that Zumaya’s forearm pain was more consistent with the action of a guitar player than a baseball pitcher. The Tigers asked Zumaya to stop playing the video game, and he did.
What next? Text-messaging wrist?
No, what’s next is some genius filing a lawsuit against Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo for their game controllers causing a repetitive-use injury. I’ll bet you a steak.
Actually, Carlos Zambrano was said to have strained his forearm because he was im’ing/chatting too much with his brother who lived far away.
I remember Lionel Simmons (The L-Train) missing action in 1991 while with the Sacramento Kings because of “Nintendo Thumb,” or, more accurately, tendinitis in his wrist from playing too much GameBoy.
Here’s a great list of weird injuries: http://www.thegreek.com/2004/betting-game.asp
Warning to Cardinals fans: one of the injuries on the list involves a tarp roller.