[81alum]

I just read Montoya out for the year with a knee injury.

This makes me so very sad, for her, and for us fans both. 

The constant problem of injuries is a major diminishment of the joy of sports.  Happened to my own daughter and I can emphatically say that the role of injuries was absolutely paramount in limiting her achievement and eventually convincing her to leave her sport.  Kids get started and rise to high levels vs. their peers at beginning and intermediate levels when injuries are seldom a factor.  But the better at their sport they become--the more likely they will be injured.  And so injuries become a dominant factor at a certain level.

The random and unfair plague of injuries is hard to square with fandom, which involves getting attached to favorite athletes and vicariously participating in the joy of their success.

[81alum]

I just read Montoya out for the year with a knee injury.

This makes me so very sad, for her, and for us fans both. 

The constant problem of injuries is a major diminishment of the joy of sports.  Happened to my own daughter and I can emphatically say that the role of injuries was absolutely paramount in limiting her achievement and eventually convincing her to leave her sport.  Kids get started and rise to high levels vs. their peers at beginning and intermediate levels when injuries are seldom a factor.  But the better at their sport they become--the more likely they will be injured.  And so injuries become a dominant factor at a certain level.

The random and unfair plague of injuries is hard to square with fandom, which involves getting attached to favorite athletes and vicariously participating in the joy of their success.