Greg Oden goes down again, but for how long? A year-long delay of his NBA debut was barely long enough for Greg Oden to go down again with a new injury. The Portland Trailblazers center, who sat out the 2007 season after knee surgery, suffered a foot sprain just two and a half minutes into Portland’s game versus the Lakers. The player says he landed on Laker Derek Fisher’s foot after coming down from a rebound attempt. Oden was set to undergo an MRI Wednesday to determine the seriousness of the injury. “It happens,” Oden said Tuesday night. “You’re out there, you’re playing, you’re battling. It happens.”

Jason Taylor could’ve wound up paralyzed from injury.

A Washington Redskins star is recovering from surgery last week that may have prevented his death if an injury went untreated. Defensive end and former “Dancing with the Stars” competitor Jason Taylor evidently took a hit in the ‘skins 24-17 win over Arizona last week, but he didn’t know that blood had collected near his ankle. The condition, known as compartment syndrome, left an odd feeling in his leg, but Taylor says he was frightened when he was rushed into surgery. “I was a little scared about that and didn’t quite understand why it had to be done so suddenly,” Taylor recalls. “I kept telling the doctor, ‘Let’s wait until the sun comes up and let me talk to some people,’ and they kept stressing how important it was to get it done right away.” A 20-minute operation to drain the blood was successful and may have prevented possible paralysis, or even death, experts say. Taylor sat out Sunday’s game versus Dallas and is expected to play soon. 

League rule says no to Ocho Cinco. The NFL star formerly known as Chad Johnson’s legal name change hasn’t brought him the privilege of wearing his new moniker on a Cincinnati Bengals jersey. He may be formally known as Chad Ocho Cinco, but the league says that, until Johnson squares up with the sportswear company responsible for NFL fashions, his nameplate will read “C. Johnson.” “He has a financial obligation to Reebok, which produces the jerseys available to fans,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tells AP. “That has to be resolved before the on-field jersey can be changed.” “Ocho Cinco” represents Johnson’s nickname and translates in Spanish to his jersey No. 85 – which will be pretty redundant when it does show up under the new legal name.

Venus and Serena Williams could face-off on a world stage for the second time this year. The sisters, who not long ago battled to a Wimbledon title confrontation which Venus won, are on track to possibly meet again Saturday in a singles tennis final at the Beijing Olympics. The pair won in both singles and doubles play Tuesday, with Serena beating Australia’s Samantha Stosur and Venus defeating Iveta Benesova. The Williams duo joined to beat Benesova and Nicole Vaidisova, both of the Czech Republic. Venus says she’s excited about the potential for a title rematch against her younger sibling: “That would be fantastic. Obviously, it’s a long ways away, but the third round makes it closer. I’m really excited for both of us to be playing really well for the U.S.”

Golf champ will spend five more months recuperating

Tiger Woods fans will have to wait until 2009 to see him dominate on the golf course again “As far as swinging a club, that’s not going to happen until next year,” Woods announced in a Tuesday newsletter to readers of his tigerwoods.com Web site. He’ll spend five more months recovering from knee surgery. “I just don’t have a choice,” he wrote. “We simply don’t know what type of swelling there would be or if there would be any residual effects the next day, once you start wheeling and dealing on the knee. Everyone’s body reacts differently. I could putt right now, but I’m not going to do it.” There’s sure to be plenty of competition for Tiger’s crown as king of the game during his absence.

Vikings’ safety Williams out for early season. Minnesota’s Madieu Williams has been sidelined for at least six weeks with a neck injury. The West African-born free agent acquisition suffered from spasms last week, but wouldn’t discuss the nature of his ailment. “I’m not allowed to discuss the condition of my injuries,” Williams tells the Star Tribune newspaper. He began with the Vikings after leaving the Bengals for a $33 million, six-year deal during the off-season.

Matt Murphy has a new apartment, stock investments and plans to go into the sneaker biz, all thanks to a $752,000 net from the sale of Barry Bonds’ home run ball. Murphy, 22, was at the San Francisco Giants game last summer when Bonds hit homer No. 756 to break legend Hank Aaron’s long-standing career record. Along with his other plans, Murphy and two friends are opening a Manhattan restaurant this week. Meanwhile, Bonds, who showed up this past weekend at the Giants’ anniversary ceremony, says he’s not retired, despite having no contract to play this season.

Braylon Edwards receives foot stitches. A star Cleveland Browns receiver is recovering from a weird pre-season injury following a race in which he wore only socks. Braylon Edwards was sprinting recently against teammate Donté Stallworth, who opened the back of Edwards’ foot with his cleats, creating a gash that required stitches. No explanation was given for why Edwards didn’t wear shoes during the race. But the injury happened after Saturday’s practice, so Edwards may have been jokingly showboating. The injury isn’t thought to be serious, but the receiver spent a night in the hospital as a precaution.

When it comes to injury-related deaths, the gap between Black and White American youths is narrowing, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study found that between 1999 and 2005 injury-related deaths among Blacks ages 15 to 24 decreased, while injury-related deaths among Whites increased. The findings are published in the June, 2008, edition of Injury Prevention. “Between the years of 1999 and 2005 the injury mortality rates among Black males have experienced a steady decline,” said Susan Baker, MPH, an author of the study and professor in the Bloomberg School ’s Center for Injury Research and Policy. “The reduction could be due to a number of preventive efforts, as well as demographic and economic changes,” said Guoqing Hu, Ph.D., lead author and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Health Policy and Management. The researchers found the most important factors in the reduction of injury death disparity was fewer car crashes and suicides by gun among Black males and an increase in suicide by suffocation (typically hanging) and unintentional poisoning, such as a drug overdose, among White males. Among young women, Black females experienced a decline in the rate of firearm suicide, while White females experienced an increase in unintentional poisoning and suicidal suffocation.

High blood pressure follows you to adulthood.

High blood pressure in childhood is associated with higher blood pressure or hypertension in adulthood, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Their analysis of previously published blood-pressure tracking studies over the last four decades show a consistent relationship between children’s blood pressure levels with their blood pressure levels as adults. “The blood pressure tracking data indicate that children with elevated blood pressure levels often grew up to become adults with elevated blood pressure,” said Youfa Wang, MD, Ph.D., senior author of the study and associate professor with the Bloomberg School’s Center for Human Nutrition. “It is important to monitor blood pressure in children – since early detection and intervention could prevent hypertension and related disease risks later in life. For example, studies show that even slightly elevated blood pressure as adults will increase future risks for cardiovascular disease considerably. “Wang and Xiaoli Chen, MD, Ph.D., former postdoctoral research fellow in the Bloomberg School’s Department of International Health, studied blood pressure levels at various ages and follow-up lengths from previously published studies that monitored children’s blood pressure levels for as long as 40 years across multiple countries and continents. Currently it is estimated that nearly 73 million adults in the United States have high blood pressure. African Americans have higher rates of hypertension, which is one of the major modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease, can lead to heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and a number of other health problems. A previous study conducted by Wang and colleagues found that approximately 60 percent of American adults had pre-hypertension or hypertension in 1999 to 2000, and several population groups were disproportionately affected. The prevalence of hypertension has increased nearly 10 percentage points compared to findings in a 1988-94 national survey. Wang credits this in part to the rising obesity epidemic.