Injuries on slow-mo have got to go

I wasn’t even watching the match between Fremantle and Port Adelaide yesterday, when Michael Barlow suffered that cringe-worthy leg injury. But Channel Ten made sure I saw it ten times during the Adelaide vs Essendon match later that night. So, slow motion injuries – should they stay or should they go?

Fremantle midfielder Michael Barlow and his bowed leg is burnt into my brain.

It’s horrific. It’s disgusting. It would make anyone cringe.

It was replayed numerous times from different angles during Channel Ten’s coverage of the Essendon vs Adelaide clash. Each time more sickening than the last.

But why? Why do broadcasters feel the need to etch into our minds the exact moment a bone breaks, a shoulder dislocates, or a player gets concussed? What is there to gain from replaying this footage so many times?

They’re commentators, not team doctors. There’s just no need.

Maybe it’s a girl thing. Maybe it’s not. But what can we possibly gain from letting out a collective “Ouch!” the exact millisecond we see an injury occur?

I don’t know about you, but when my dinner goes down, I want it to stay down.

It’s been happening for decades since the beginning of sports coverage. But now with super slow motion, high definition televisions and instant replays, the pain (for the player and the viewer) lasts long after the initial live broadcast.

Naturally then, the slow motion treatment given to Michael Barlow’s injury is not an isolated case.

In April Andrew Bogut got his name back in the sports headlines in Australia with his slow motion injury going viral across the web.

Then just last week, there was the gutsy, body-on-the-line effort by New Zealand Warriors winger Kevin Locke, which saw him almost cut in half by the goal post.

Surprisingly he escaped with just a few bruises and a medial ligament strain. Diving on the ball with tacklers chasing, his try won them the game, and earned Locke the admiration of both Warriors and Roosters fans alike. But please don’t play that footage more than once.

But probably the most horrifying slow motion injury I’ve ever had the displeasure to witness, was way back in July 2001, when Scott Prince was a young Brisbane Bronco.

After a routine kick, an attempted smother saw his leg snap in two places. Imagine if you will, a leg as rigid as a gummi worm. That was what was replayed on television. Again, and again, and again. I was 11 at the time, and I still remember it today.

I’m all for playing tough. And in all cases, the injured player should be commended for their effort. But we don’t need sickening images like these replayed again and again in slow motion.

They’ve got to go.