Injuries a tough part of athletics

On the same day, but in different ways, Garner Meads and Raul Lopez called it quits this week. There was one striking similarity, though: the culprit. Injuries took them both out.

They say you can't avoid death and taxes. If you're an athlete, you can add injuries to that grim list. The only question is whether the injuries will end your career, or simply follow like wolf in winter.

According to the experts, the question in the minds of Meads and Lopez now is how to dim the lights on a lifetime of athletic accomplishment.

In both cases, they appear to have options. They are smart, personable and should do well outside basketball. But that doesn't mean it will be easy. Or preferable. It simply means they'll adjust. That is difficult even for non-injured retirees. A few years ago, a Deseret Morning News writer saw ex-Jazz forward Antoine Carr sitting at a table inside a Davis County Kmart with a hand-made sign that said, "Meet the Big Dog. Autographs $5."

Life outside the bright lights can be cruel.

Meads announced Thursday he is leaving the BYU basketball team, a victim of injuries ranging from bad knees to a punctured lung to abdominal tears. He wished the team well and acknowledged the need to move forward.

Lopez, on the other hand, hasn't retired. But after two reconstruction surgeries on one knee, and surgical repairs on the other, his NBA career is likely over. Lopez and the Jazz are working on a deal to release him from the last year on his contract, so he can return to play in Spain. Perhaps a limited European schedule, compared to the four-game-a-week NBA grind, will work. He has the heart of a lion, his fans say. But he also has the wobbly knees of a colt.

It isn't just the injuries that wear down athletes. It's the pressure. In a business where results are the main criterion, playing through pain is expected. Sitting on the sidelines isn't.

"What most people don't realize amid all this persona surrounding sports — tough guys always win — is that some people's bodies can't take it any longer. We have no real compassion for those guys, because it doesn't fit the image of sports. But the injuries are very real," said Dr. Keith Henschen, a University of Utah sports psychologist.

"In this society," he continued, "if they can't perform for us — and that's the bottom line — we'll look for somebody that can. We look at our athletes very impersonally. We love them until they can't perform any more."