Eye troubles in training camp

Training camp is less than a week in, and we have already (strangely) seen two cases of eye injuries, providing minor setbacks to the players involved. The first was Amare Stoudemire, who received an inadvertent finger to the right eye from Boris Diaw during a scrimmage on Wednesday night.

The Suns' team ophthalmologist Dr. Jay Schwartz described Stoudemire's injury:

"Amare had a small tear of what is called the iris root. This is where the colored part of the eye meets the white part of the eye on the inside."

It was determined that Stoudemire's injury wasn't highly serious, and he attended the Suns' shoot-around on Friday morning wearing sunglasses. He might need to get used to the feeling, as coach Terry Porter indicated that Stoudemire might need to wear protective goggles when he returns. This prompted Suns center Shaquille O'Neal to refer to Stoudemire as "Kareem Abdul Amare."

The second eye-injury of training camp was sustained by the Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah. Noah also suffered an inadvertent jab to the eye from a teammate, Thabo Sefolosha. Sounds like this is a bit more serious than Stoudemire's injury, as Noah is expected to miss around five days of practice. According to the Daily Herald, blood has accumulated in the anterior chamber of the eye, and a bright red streak was visible at the bottom of Noah's left eye.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a goggled Noah by the time the season starts, making him hands down the most ridiculous-looking player in the