What a nice compliment to an in-depth political piece. I think so. If you are squeamish at all, DO NOT CLICK ANY LINKS. I mean this! The following list is not for everyone. They aren't all blood and guts, but you can't watch these and not grimace. In light of a terrible skiing accident involving American Olympic skier Scott McCartney, I went on a YouTube spree in search of the best and most gruesome sports injuries in history. Enjoy.


10) A-Head Of The Pack: The Greg Louganis dive. Not as much gruesome as it is famous. One of the most memorable sports injuries ever wasn't exactly an injury as the "athlete" got right up. Actually, he swam up.

9) Games of Inches: Who ever said gymnastics wasn't a contact sport? Well, it's not. Unless you're this guy.

8) Downhill...Flying?: Hermann Maier. You know by now that downhill skiing is an extremely dangerous sport. 60 mph on two stick isn't exactly a sport where you are in control. So when you go out of control, it really hits the fan.

7) Mary Pierce-ing Scream: This isn't one of those close-ups of an ankle rolling backwards. No, those are coming up. The injury isn't even caught on camera. It's the aftermath that gives it the #7 spot on the list. The agony of Mary Pierce tearing her ACL is terrifying.

6) When Outfielders Collide: Part of the game. Baseball can be brutal sometimes. This is one of those.

5) Napoleon Knee Dynamite: Napoleon McCallum was a backup running back in the NFL until this Monday Night game. As terrible as it looks, the physical explosion inside his leg was even worse. McCallum suffered a ruptured artery, 3 torn ligaments, a torn calf and hamstring, and nerve damage. All of this obviously ended his career immediately.

4) The Break: Joe Theismann. One of, if not the, most famous sports injury of all time. If you watch football you've seen this. There's no doubt about it. When people get their knee twisted in the wrong direction, this is the video everybody reverts to. Thanks to this incident, we get to listen to Theismann during NFL broadcasts.

3) Tyrone ProthrO-NO!: This guy could have ended up being one of Alabama's most talented receivers yet. Remember the ESPY winning catch? Unfortunately, the #3 injury is the play that his career was defined by. For me, this is the most visually stunning injury. If you have a thing about watching broken ankles, DO NOT WATCH IT.

2) The Opposite Of What Is Good: Willis McGahee. The injury that defined a season. Who knows how the 2002 Fiesta Bowl would have gone down had McGahee not been taken out of the game with this devastating knee blow. There is no doubt in this writer's mind the Canes would have taken their 2nd straight national title. Who knows. What I do know is this injury makes me sick both physically and nostalgically.

#1) Red Ice: Ever seen Mr. Brooks? How about Saw 2? Sweeney Todd? All these movies have one thing in common with Clint Malarchuk. Throats get cut. When you're on a hockey rink, that blood has nowhere to go. As the blood flowing from his sliced carotid artery created a pool of red on the ice, Malarchuk's life was coming to an end. How the goalie survived is beyond words. There is no injury in the history of sports more gruesome or jaw-dropping than his.