"Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" has done it again. This always interesting show has a story this month that medheads will love. Armen Keteyian highlights the increasing risk to young pitchers by talking with Tim Kremchek, team doctor for the Reds and Nationals. They show the surgery pretty graphically.

Tim highlights a case with a sixteen year old kid who's going to need Tommy John, talks about the 10-year-old elbow he did, and discusses the epidemic. They also show Jim Andrews examining a high schooler. Dr. Kremchek did a great job explaining the causes - too many pitches, too many bad pitches, too little rest.

The 12 year old they highlight with the 80 game schedule and the poorly thrown "spike curve" (He doorknobs it, rather than coming over the top) just makes my blood boil. "That's a crime," Kremchek says and I ABSOLUTELY agree. He also highlights the evil that is the radar gun. I'm telling you, next time I see a radar gun at a little league or travel team game, I'm going to go off. They should be banned.

They did a great job of showing the father, almost in tears, wondering if "it's something he done" that put his young son under the knife. Unfortunately, it's a lesson he didn't learn until it was too late. The contrast between the young kids and the pros was very stark. The curveball section of the Chandler Braves study versus the little leaguers snapping off curves was ... oh, it's just sick.

Showing Tommy John surgery with the 16 year olds family looking on was a great lesson. The scars on kids and the motion capture were also great lessons. I absolutely agree with Kremchek's proposed limits on pitchers and support it wholeheartedly. This piece is a classic and one that I wish I could distribute with copies of "Saving The Pitcher." I'd advise everyone to take a look at this piece.