Is Tyson Gay Injury Prone Due to His Speed?

This needs to stop.

I’ve had countless conversations with my colleague John W. Davis and read a recent article and I seem to be in the minority that Tyson Gay is not a running Saltine Cracker.

Gay has done this.
1.  Hamstring injury
2. Groin injury
3. Tendon injury

Does any of that seem odd for a world class sprinter?

He recently injured his tendon.  That is a freak thing that can happen to anyone.  He injured his hamstring back at college days and injuries to the muscle is fairly common in the sport.

Gay’s fast movement has nothing to do with the fact this his tendon is sore. Absolutely nothing. He has been working out since the fall, practicing five days a week and hoping planes to compete in races around the globe. It happened to Usain Bolt, it happened to Maurice Greene, He injured his tendon. Same thing.

Shawn Crawford battled injuries in both feet in between making the 2004 and 2008 Olympic teams.

Lui Chang injured his foot and leg after the pounding of hurdling. That is completely different story. There is nothing about Gay’s injuries that has anything to do with stress or wear and tear or anything brittle.

Freak thing, it could happen to anyone.

I don’t see anything in Gay’s injuries that tell me he’s anything more than incredibly unlucky. There was nothing in what happened recently that should tell us otherwise. 

DWTS: Greene Runs Out of Time

Maurice Greene’s run on ABC’s Dancing With the Star came to end on Tuesday night. Former Olympic champion Greene and partner Cheryl Burke were the most recent celebrities voted off of the popular dancing show.

The dancing duo received 48 out of a possible 60 for their quickstep and paso doble routines Monday. But it was not enough to keep them on the show, as the competition heated up in the last couple weeks of the show.

The four remaining celebrity contestants — model-actress Brooke Burke, singer Lance Bass, former NFL star Warren Sapp and Hannah Montana actor Cody Linley — will compete in the semifinals.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

DWTS: Maurice Speeds Through Performance

In a pleasant surprise, Olympian Maurice Greene arguably had his best night. He responded to partner Cheryl Burke’s demands and delivered a sizzling salsa. Even if Cheryl called him “lazy” during a frustrated rant in the rehearsal studio.

It was an upset on the show this week. Toni Braxton was this week’s celeb-castaway. Cloris Leachman is safe for another week, but Toni Braxton wasn’t so lucky on the DWTS results show. The singer and her professional partner, Alec Mazo, were eliminated Tuesday from ABC’s popular dancing competition.

Celebrities remaining in the competition include TV personality Brooke Burke; singer Lance Bass; former NFL star Warren Sapp; Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene; actor Cody Linley; and actresses Cloris Leachman and Susan Lucci. Chef Rocco DiSpirito, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, actor Ted McGinley and comedian Jeffrey Ross were previously eliminated.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

DWTS: Greene Close To The Edge

How much longer can Maurice go?

The competition to remain on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars is steadily increasing with each passing week. This week, Maurice Greene and his partner, Cheryl Burke performed the Samba. The former Olympic 100-meter gold medalist proclaimed that “the samba’s the party dance but man, partying has never been this hard!”

During the practice sessions, Cheryl enlisted the help of Maurice’s daugher to help relax her dad and have a little bit of fun. In the performance, Maurice danced to “That’s the Way I Like It,” in a big afro wig and generally the dance came off as fun, albeit he appeared to miss the beat on a couple occasions.

With that, Carrie Ann said that she felt he was “stuck in the same place” and he is developing as a dancer. Bruno commented that it was “not so fabulous” and that at this point in the competition, he wants to “see some precision” in the dances.

Len said that “that’s the way I sort of like it.” He thought Maurice got the “fun element” of the dance and that it was “fun to watch.” They had a score of 22 out of 30 points.

Phone lines, text votes (AT&T customers only) and online polls will open at the top of each performance show so that viewers can vote for their favorites. Phone and text lines will remain open until noon (Eastern Time) on the day of the results show.

To vote for Maurice Greene, dial 800-868-3404. The text-in code is 3404.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

DWTS: Maurice Clutch On ‘Dancing With The Stars’

Job well done.

This week’s Dancing With The Stars may prove to be Maurice Greene’s best dance so far. In the practice video he was struggling with the footwork so his partner Cheryl Burke took him to the park for tire practice.

Back in the ballroom, they kicked off the performance with Maurice jumping over Cheryl from the stage. Once the main part of the dance routine, Maurice actually display good the footwork. The jive really let his personality show well, which is his biggest strengths. All things considered, Maurice and Greene delivered a very entertaining performance.

Carrie Ann called Maurice a wild untamed beast, adding that it worked perfectly in the jive. Great job. Len said this is more like it. Fast, bright, lively. Full of kicks. He thought it was Maurice’s best dance. Bruno told Maurice that he can rock when he wants to. Good pace, sense of energy, and fun. He also liked the attention to detail Maurice showed. Score: 24 (8,8,8).

And now comes word that Olympian Misty May-Treanor suffered an ankle injury, not a broken ankle, as some reports claimed, and her status is uncertain. On the dance floor, Warren Sapp is displaying skills much like his championship days back for the Bucs.

New episodes air on Tuesdays and results air on Wednesdays. The team, consisting of a professional dancer and a celebrity, receiving the lowest combination of judge scores and viewer’s scores each week is eliminated from the show.

Phone lines, text votes (AT&T customers only) and online polls will open at the top of each performance show so that viewers can vote for their favorites. Phone and text lines will remain open until noon (Eastern Time) on the day of the results show.

To vote for Maurice Greene, dial 800-868-3404. The text-in code is 3404.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

DWTS: Maurice Greene Not Up To Speed?

Greene Remains as Third Celebrity Given Walking Papers.

On the second week of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), Maurice Greene and Cheryl Burke danced the rhumba to an unfortunate cover of the Marvin Gaye classic “Mercy, Mercy Me”, but head judge Len Goodman summed up Maurice’s performance saying, “You talk the talk, but you don’t dance the dance.”

Wow!

This Olympian needs to step it up or he can kiss “winner winner chicken dinner” goodbye.

Week 2 Final Score: Maurice and Cheryl: 19

Kim is out. Celebrity Kim Kardashian of E!’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star looks fabulous. She is fashionably dressed and has it all going on. There is one small problem: Kardashian’s dancing.

Her partner, professional dancer Mark Ballas could not even help matters out.

Maybe our expectations of Kardashian were not properly set from the beginning. One would half-expect the famous socialite, who regularly hits the L.A. party scene, to have spent some time on the dance floor. Isn’t that what socialites do at clubs?

Fresh off the beach, Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor is remaining in the competition.

New episodes air on Tuesdays and results air on Wednesdays. The team, consisting of a professional dancer and a celebrity, receiving the lowest combination of judge scores and viewer’s scores each week is eliminated from the show.

Phone lines, text votes (AT&T customers only) and online polls will open at the top of each performance show so that viewers can vote for their favorites. Phone and text lines will remain open until noon (Eastern Time) on the day of the results show.

To vote for Maurice Greene, dial 800-868-3404. The text-in code is 3404.

Olympian Greene Survives To Dance Another Day

In case you missed the action, the judges liked what they saw on the dance floor. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene and his dance partner Cheryl Burke managed to stay alive for another week on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

The starting blocks are his natural work place, but Greene really shined in the solo spots on the dance floor. His charisma and personality really come through when he seemed to just be having a lot fun.

Two-time show champion Cheryl Burke deserves a great deal of credit. She again showed an understanding of make her partners come off really well and Greene did an impressive job partnering.

Phone lines, text votes (AT&T customers only) and online polls will open at the top of each performance show so that viewers can vote for their favorites. Phone and text lines will remain open until noon (Eastern Time) on the day of the results show.

To vote for Maurice Greene, dial 800-868-3404. The text-in code is 3404.

Anyone can get voted off at any time on this show. Can Maurice Greene make it past week 2?

Jay Hicks

Tyson Gay Rewrites American 100-Meter Record in Eugene!

Tyson Gay put on a sprinting clinic during the quarterfinal heats. He set a new (9.77) American Record in the quarterfinal round heat. I’ve never seen a round of 100 heats that produced six sub-10 second times.

His time beat the previous (9.79 ) American record held by former great Maurice Greene. After the race Gay said,”If I can follow in [Greene's] footsteps and win an Olympic medal, I’ll go down in history as one of the greatest.”

Tyson said that he nearly cried out of fear that he had not made it through the previous round when he inadvertently slowed up thinking he had reached the finish line. His coach Jon Drummond said that “champions  do not do hose kind of things, and you need to make up for it in the next around.” 

Everyone has been just handing World Record Holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica the Olympic gold medal in Beijing. This race is indication that it will be war on the track in the men’s 100-meters in August. That, of course, is assuming that all goes as planned, and Gay qualifies for the U.S. Olympic Team. After a day like today, let’s just be clear that no assumptions can be made.

By Jay Hicks

Richards, Wariner, and Greene Spotted in Valencia!

Jonathan Edwards, Maurice Greene, Janeth Jeposgei, IAAF President Lamine Diack, Sanya Richards, Jeremy Wariner, Jonas Wistrom CEO of AF and Susanna Kallur.

Americans Sanya Richards, Jeremy Wariner, and Maurice Greene were in Valencia, Spain to promote the upcoming ÅF Golden League Tour. Europe’s lucrative outdoor track circuit kicks off in three months.

Athletes will compete for a part of the $1 million jackpot. A share of which is on offer to any athlete who can win at all six ÅF Golden League events. The six events in this year’s ÅF Golden League take place in Berlin (June 1), Oslo (6 June), Paris (July 11), Rome (July 18), Zürich (August 29) and Brussels (September 5). Appearance fees up to $100,000 per race are also paid by meet directors to entice top athletes to run in their meets.

I wonder if Maurice Greene, a well-known trash talker, was reminding the younger athletes that Nigeria’s Olusoji Fasuba’s victory in 6.51 didn’t touch the 60-meter world record of 6.39, that Greene set 10 years ago?

Jay Hicks

Greene Retires!

on Monday, after two long seasons plagued with injuries.

On retirement Maurice said, “I don’t think I can have that mental battle with myself coming back from injury any more. It takes a lot out of you mentally … you start getting down and then you get depressed.”

The Kansas City native won’t be bored though. Reportedly he’s to pursue coaching and business interests. Recently, he launched Mo Entertainment, a hip hop record label.