Football Web site places hex on Pro Bowler

By Os Davis | Wednesday, August 01, 2007 | ( 2 )

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Call it "The RealFootball365 Curse." On the very day this Web site printed a brazen proclamation that Frank Gore should be considered a No. 1 fantasy football pick, the San Francisco 49er running back suffered a broken bone in his hand to put his short-term future in doubt.

(The writer of the aforementioned voodoo prose shall remain nameless, for fear of recriminatory wrath from 49ers backers.)

The injury, though minor enough that Gore will be participating in practices with a cast on the hand, has to be cause for concern in the San Francisco camp for a few reasons.

Firstly, this news is now becoming a bit of a dangerous precedent for Gore, who had work done on his knees during his college days and on his shoulders after his rookie season. Certainly, no one -- least of all this writer -- is yet willing to label Gore "frail," but a guy expected to carry a LaDainian Tomlinson-like load for the Niners this year has to avoid the injury bug while taking lots of hits.

The bad news also creates speculation regarding Gore's potential performance in the first few weeks of the season. Granted, Weeks 1-4 -- vs. Arizona, at St. Louis, at Pittsburgh, vs. Seattle -- can probably be considered of moderate difficulty level, but the running game is fairly well nonexistent without Gore's contribution. Maurice Hicks, Michael Robinson and Thomas Clayton combined for 482 total yards in the NFL last season. (Hmmm, think the Kansas City Chiefs might be willing to part with Priest Holmes?)

What makes a Gore supporter like myself most concerned about the broken bone is its location. Hand or wrist, metacarpal or trapezium, Gore does not need any limitation on his slightly suspect capability to hold onto the ball. Standing out among Gore's beautiful 2006 stats is an ugly six fumbles (five lost) against nine TDs. For Gore's career, he has eight (seven lost) against 12 scores.

Yikes. Those who believe (ahem) that Gore can overcome his almost terminal case of the dropsies before he becomes the ball-carrier's version of Vinny Testaverde are now forced to reconsider. Anyone doubting the reality of such an injury can reference "Warner, Kurt" and "hand injuries, nagging" before going on to "fumbles, plethora of."

As for the fantasy game, sentiments of those such as myself who were salivating over the possibility of bagging Gore with that early first-round choice are surely eerily similar to those the man himself had: "Ouch."

We'll have to assume that the Gore column/Gore injury thing is merely a coincidence. This no-nonsense, muggle-written, 100 percent guaranteed voodoo-free column will now step in line with the rest of humanity and put Tomlinson at No. 1 on the draft board.

Of course, the true No. 1 should be Reggie Bush, but just in case this RealFootball365 curse turns out to be real, I don't want to write that here.

Oops.

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	About Os Davis Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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