During the Louisville versus Duke National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s tournament basketball game on Sunday night, the Cardinals’ Kevin Ware sustained a horrific and gruesome injury to his right leg.
The injury was so severe that it caused Louisville coach Rick Pitino to cry, Louisville players to collapse and the crowd of more than 20,000 to go silent.
CBS, which broadcast the game, should be applauded for its decision to not continuously show the injury. The broadcast team did replay it twice immediately after, but that was it.
If one didn’t see the injury, it was difficult to watch. Ware, who is a sophomore for the Cardinals, leapt toward a shooting Duke player. As he landed, his right leg snapped below the knee, breaking his shin bone, which popped through the skin. As he lay on the sidelines immediately after the injury, one could see that the bottom part of his leg was dangling.
The injury was eerily similar to that of former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theisman, who broke his leg on national television in 1985 when the New York Giants’ Lawrence Taylor sacked him, causing his leg to snap in two places. ABC, which broadcast the game that night, repeatedly showed the stomach-churning scene.
In 2002, during the Fiesta Bowl National Championship game between the Miami Hurricanes and Ohio State Buckeyes, the Hurricanes’ star running back Willis McGahee was hit from the side, causing his left leg to bend in a 90-degree angle toward the outside. The network airing the game continued to show the injury, which was a terrible sight.
Severe injuries are a part of sports, and some fans can handle watching legs breaking, ankles snapping and joints dislocating. While the story had to be told on Sunday, the images did not need to be repeatedly shown, and we applaud CBS for this.
The network instead focused on Ware’s teammates’ reactions and updating the viewers at home as to what was happening to Ware on the court as teammates and trainers surrounded him.
CBS showed replays of reactions to the injury, such as Duke’s Tyler Thornton quickly turning his head as he appeared to feel sick from the sight of Ware, who was guarding Thornton at the time of the injury. The network also showed shots of the hushed crowd.
That was the appropriate way to handle the situation, as network television will sometimes continue to try to shock and awe by replaying horrific-looking injuries. We understand that there is a macabre human desire to see moments of despair, but there is no reason for it to be continuously shown. If people want to see the injury, then they can watch it on the Internet on numerous websites such as YouTube ”“ and that’s OK. It should be up to the person to decide if they want to see something so graphic. It is not the network’s place to continue showing it.
There was a nine-minute break in the action on Sunday, but viewers watching the broadcast could feel the moment, which made more of an impact than seeing it over and over again.
Thankfully, Ware should be able to play again next year after his leg heals, and he wants to travel with the team to Atlanta next week ”“ as his teammates rallied around him to help beat Duke and advance to the Final Four.
Ӣ Ӣ Ӣ
Today’s editorial was written by Sports Editor Al Edwards on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
