38-year old switch hitting 3B Chipper Jones will miss the rest of this season due to a torn left ACL.  Jones had hinted at retirement at the end of the 2010 season and this injury could cement his plans.  But you never know because he might not want to end his career on this kind of sour note.  Jones played in 95 games for the Braves this year and he was 84 of 317 (.265 avg, .806 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 10 homers, 46 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  Even if this is the end for Chipper Jones I would vote for him when he becomes elgible for the Hall of Fame.  Jones has played in 2,261 games in his 17 years in the majors and he is 2,490 of 8,142 (.306 avg, .941 OPS) with 1,505 runs scored, 436 homers, 1,491 RBIs and 147 stolen bases.  Jones was at his best when he won his only MVP Award in 1999.  In 1999, Jones played in 157 games for the Braves in which he was 181 of 567 (.319 avg, 1.074 OPS) with 116 runs scored, 45 homers, 110 RBIs and 25 stolen bases.  Jones was easily one of the best players of his generation and I hope he does come back for one more year.

Greg Oden’s season ending injury the other night got me to thinking about the Trailblazers’ draft history as they passed on Kevin Durant to pick Oden in the 2007 NBA Draft.  Oden has played in 82 games (60 starts) in his three seasons with the Blazers and he is averaging 22.1 minutes, 9.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  Kevin Durant has been incredible for the Supersonics/Thunder so far in his NBA career.  He has played in 173 games (all starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 37.0 minutes, 23.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  The Trailblazers just hope that Oden turns things around soon because Durant is looking like he is going to be a elite player for a long, long time.

Let’s turn back the clock now to the 1984 NBA Draft when the Trailblazers chose center Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan.  The reasoning was sound at the time that you take a good big man over a guard.  Bowie though was very injury prone in his time with the Blazers while Michael Jordan was probably the best player in NBA history.  Bowie played in 139 games (101 starts) in his five years with the Trailblazers in which he averaged 28.2 minutes, 10.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.5 blocked shots per game.  Bowie played in 511 games (349 starts) in his NBA career and he averaged 27.6 minutes, 10.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game.  Michael Jordan played in 1,072 games (1,039 starts) in his NBA career and he averaged 38.3 minutes, 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. 

The Trailblazers just hope that they have not made the same mistake twice.

Starting QB Jake Delhomme has a broken finger on his throwing hand and it could cause him to miss some time.  Delhomme has played in 11 games this season for the Panthers and he has completed 178 of 321 passes (55.5%) for 2,015 yards with 8 TD passes and 18 INTs (59.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 17 times for 60 yards (3.5 ypc) so far this season.  This makes things easier for Coach Fox who has likely wanted to bench Delhomme for his poor play for quite some time now.  Matt Moore will practice with the first team until they make a decision on Delhomme.  Moore has played in 2 games for the Panthers this season and he has completed 6 of 12 passes (50%) for 63 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (30.9 QB Rating).  A.J. Feeley will move up to the second team for the Panthers with Delhomme injured.  As bad as Delhomme has played this season the Panthers can’t do much worse with Moore or Feeley starting for them.

Ben Roethlisberger is out for tomorrow’s game against the division rival Baltimore Ravens.  He is still having issues with the concussion he suffered last week against the Chiefs.  Roethlisberger has played in all 10 games for the Steelers this season and he has completed 237 of 344 passes (68.9%) for 2,867 yards with 17 TD passes and 10 INTs (98.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 26 times for 42 yards (1.6 ypc) with 2 TDs this year.  The Steelers will be forced to start 24-year old Dennis Dixon at QB.  Dixon has played in 1 game in his NFL career and he has completed his only pass attempt for 3 yards.  He also has 2 carries for -3 yards (-1.5 ypc) this year.  Under ordinary circumstances the Steelers would likely just run the ball more with Rashard Mendenhall.  But, two factors will make that hard to do.  First up is the Ravens’ D which is allowing only 92.1 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry.  Secondly, Rashard Mendenhall ran his mouth last season before the Steelers played the Ravens and they broke his shoulder ending his rookie year.  This is a big, big loss for the Steelers and they better hope his concussion like syndrome doesn’t linger too long or the Steelers will be watching the playoffs on T.V.