Today, Wizards All-Star forward Caron Butler(notes), now blogging for NBA.com as “Agent Zero 2.0,” dives deeper into the caffeinated murk of his addiction to the “neon-yellow rocket fuel” known as Mountain Dew:

“I lost 11 pounds this summer by giving up Mountain Dew. That’s right Mountain Dew. A lot of people don’t know I’m a Mountain Dew addict so I guess this is my confession.

To try and give this up was crazy for me! I was going through withdrawals. I was in the bed sweating. My wife would turn over in the bed and ask “Are you OK?” Honestly, those first two weeks without The Dew [were] the roughest two weeks of my life. I’m talking headaches, sweats and everything. Before that I drank at least six 12-ounce Mountain Dews a day.

It was so bad at one point that I had to have a cold one right there at the night stand before I went to bed. I had to get the coasters and let it drip a lil’ bit and just have it waiting on me. Come 2 a.m., I’d wake up out of my sleep, I’d pop one open and hear the fizz sound … and just down it! Then I always had to have another one in the morning when I woke up. Before practice I had one too and before games I would knock back two.”

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Injuries are a big part of every sport, and can ruin a talented athlete’s career. Sometimes as a fan, you have no choice but to sit back and laugh when an athlete gets hurt. There are instances where an athlete does something so stupid, or is so careless, that you have absolutely no sympathy for his or her injury and wonder how these guys actually get paid to do something with their bodies. Here is the list of the top 10 strangest, dumbest and funniest pro-athlete injuries of all time:

10. (Tie) Kellen Winslow Jr., Ron Gant, Jay Williams: All three of these guys had a type of motorcycle/dirt bike accident. Although not as amusing as some of the others, Jay Williams and Kellen Winslow Jr. have missed at least two years as a result of their injuries, and many question if they will ever play again. Nice job guys – you got a multimillion dollar contract, and blew it riding a bike.

9. Ken Griffey Jr.: There is not enough space in this paper to list all of Griffey’s injuries, but one stands out as the funniest. Ken once missed a game after his protective cup slipped, and pinched one of his testicles. Isn’t the cup supposed to stop you from getting hit where it hurts? Maybe that’s the real reason why Griffey can never get healthy. (He also once strained his back lifting boxes).

8. Jeff Kent: Although most people agree that Kent is lying about this injury, he missed the beginning of the 2002 season when falling off his pickup truck while attempting to wash it. Many believed he actually fell off a motorcycle, which would violate his contract, but the fact that he could make up a story as stupid as this is certainly worth mention.

7. Moises Alou: The best one-two punch on this list, Moises started things off by injuring his knee by falling off a treadmill in 1999. After recovering and planning to play in 2000, Alou then re-injured his knee after running over his son. with a bicycle. As a result, Moises was out of action for more than a season and also was also nominated for the “World’s Worst Father” award.

6. Glenallen Hill: There are many people afraid of spiders, but how many have had a nightmare about them, fallen out of bed and through a glass table, and never woken up from any of this? Hill did it and missed several games with cuts all over his body. Kind of puts those girls who make the guys kill spiders for them in perspective.

5. Clint Barmes: At one point winning the race for the NL batting title, Barmes’ rookie season came to a screeching halt when he broke his collarbone after falling down the stairs. Barmes was carrying a frozen load of deer meat, given to him by former NL batting champion Todd Helton. Looks like Todd was desperate to remain the last rookie to hold the batting crown.

4. Sammy Sosa: Aside from all the steroids and the corked bat controversy, Sammy Sosa really made headlines after missing time in 2004 with a strained ligament in his back. How did he get it? A violent sneeze. Sosa reportedly sneezed so hard that his back jerked forward causing the injury. Sosa was then ordered to stay away from pepper, pollen and ragweed for the remainder of the season.

3. Marty Cordova: Not the most famous guy on this list, but when you miss part of a season because you are sunburned, you become notable fairly quickly. The best part of the story, however, is that it was not a sunburn that occurred during a hot day in Arizona or Miami. Cordova actually burned himself while in a tanning salon in May 2002. When teammates were asked about it, they reported that he wanted to “look good in his prom pictures.”

2. Gus Frerotte: The sharpie, the pom-poms, the cell phone.all classic end zone celebrations. Yet none of them top the ever-popular slamming your head into the wall behind the end zone. In 1997, Frerotte decided to bang his head into the wall behind the end zone after his TD rush, and missed the rest of a key game with neck pains. I think someone needs to clarify to Gus the meaning of “use your head.”

1. Bill Gramatica: Not only the dumbest sports injury, but probably one of the stupidest things you’ll ever witness, period. After nailing a 42-yard field goal to put the lowly Arizona Cardinals up 3-0 in the first half of a regular season game, kicker Bill Gramatica jumped up in wild celebration, came down, and tore his ACL. Gramatica missed the rest of the season, and embarrassed the kicker position nationwide. Gramatica is no longer a kicker in the NFL, but will forever be remembered by me, and many others, for the funniest thing to ever happen on a football field.

Honorable Mentions:

- Pitcher Adam Eaton stabs himself while attempting to open a DVD in 2001.

- Vince Coleman misses the 1985 World Series after getting caught in the tarp machine.

- Wade Boggs misses games after hurting himself putting on his cowboy boots.

- Spanish goalie Santiago Canizares drops a bottle of cologne on his foot and misses the 2002 World Cup.

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The Dallas Cowboys reiterated today that the team would not limit the number of standing-room-only Party Passes at their new stadium after fans became unruly Sunday when they were refused entry.

An Arlington fire department official said earlier today that the Cowboys had agreed to limit the number of party passes issued for the end zone decks to 15,000, but a Cowboys spokesman said that limit was already in place.
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The Cowboys sold 30,000 Party Passes to Sunday’s home opener, which set the NFL regular season attendance record. A large number of fans with Party Passes were unaware the tickets didn’t guarantee them access to the stadium.

The number of people who can stand on the six end zone decks is 15,000, city and Cowboys officials said. Don Crowson, an Arlington assistant fire chief, said that is based on current configurations for those areas. If bars, concession stands and other structures are added or removed, that number could change.

Crowson said standing room only capacity could also be added in clubs or other parts of the stadium outside of the decks.

Team spokesman Brett Daniels said Sunday was a special event because it was the Cowboys’ first regular season game at the new $1.15 billion stadium. The attendance for that game against the New York Giants, which the Cowboys lost, was 105,121. City officials said they don’t expect the Cowboys to have crowds that size at every game.

Daniels said earlier this week that about 7,500 Party Passes had been sold for Monday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers. The new stadium holds about 75,000 fans in the suites and seating bowl. It was the large end zone decks and plazas that allowed the Cowboys to set that attendance record.

Fans who purchased Party Passes were sent e-mails saying they could stand on decks inside the stadium only if space were available. If the decks reached capacity, people with Party Passes would have to remain outside in the 7 acres of plazas.

Many fans with Party Passes said they were unaware of the restrictions and pressed against the end zone gates and demanded to be allowed inside. Public safety and Cowboys officials decided to take down the barriers and allow the crowd to move freely between the plazas and decks for safety reasons.

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