I could swear, although no one else can remember, that Hill was doing ok until Olanzo Mourning stepped on his ankle during the playoffs. Or was it the last game of the season?

Does anyone else recall that?

Anyway, I still do not like how G.Hill left the Pistons. He sort of indicated that he was going to re-sign, at least seemed somewhat interested, then at something like 12:01am on the 1st day teams could talk to players he was landing in Orlando to commit to a new contract. There was some tampering going on but Dumars did not want to persue the issue.

I forgive the incident because as it turned out he ended up unknowingly doing us a huge favor. If he had re-upped then the Pistons would never have been able to accomplish what they have. Hill gave us a clean slate salary wise and Ben Wallace. Could not ask for a better parting gift.

But he was talking a lot of trash in Orlando that 1st summer and somehow thought that he was disrespected. How, I have no idea. Something about the Pistons should have been nicer to him after he told them that he was signing with Orlando.

Like the Low said. It is just a front with him. I will go along with it because I think the man is a joke. Never made it out of the 1st round and somehow he does not look bothered by that. Almost seems happy about it. Perhaps he is afraid of success - who knows.

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Grant was always soft. He is not any better nowadays. He tried to prove things to whom? Thousands of people he doesn't know? Pleeeez, give me a break (no pun intended). As soon as this series is over (hopefully after 2 more games) there will be no more Hill or Darko for that matter to worry about.

I blame a couple of things for Grant's injury. Part of it is bad luck. The other part is the myth that it is heroic to play through injuries. How many times have you heard commentators put a positive spin on players who play on with injured parts? A lot of the time it isn't heroic...it's just stupid.

It's part of the sports culture in America though. If you work hard enough and grit it out you can rehab through anything. It's all hard work and toughness.

It implies that sitting out when you are hurt makes you a sissy, which is really only true if you are Vince Carter.

I think linwood going to the game and yelling "man up" might have been the tipping point with Grant.

On the other hand, how many people who played through injuries actually spent the next 4 years correcting the problem that their playing through injuries created? I don't think many. Maybe that played part in Grant's decision to keep on playing. However, I don't think we'll ever know the truth.

Baseball and football, hockey I don't know about, used to be a lot worse when it came to players playing with injuries when they shouldn't have. Both were really bad before the respective player unions got some strength.

For a good look at how NFL players are forced and tricked into playing through injuries read The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL by Tim Green. It's about 10 years old now but worth the read. Makes the NBA look like a walk in the park.

I'd take Grant in a heartbeat.

Good. You should feel bad. You have a very sharp tongue, and we all warned you it was going to hurt someone innocent one day. I certainly hope you've learned your lesson.

He isn't the only Magic player you've emotionally scarred. The Detroit News quoted Arroyo saying to a teammate the other day "I glad to be in Orlando because this guy in stands with painted Pistons face, he said Pass damned ball already." "I tell you Darko, it really hurt my feelings."

This will be Grant Hill next year (You know he still has that teal uni).

Tay, here's a better quality pic. Still funny though. Imagine Hill wearing his old Pistons uni doing this...
http://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/.../GrantHill.jpg