I was with my dog at the park and he was playing with one of his favorite friends, Opie, who is a Beagle mix. Aside from wrestling, they run around after each other. It's so odd to watch, because they'll run, with the dog out in front making moves like O.J. did in those old Hertz commercials, running through the airport (side note: I need to stop using references from the 70s and stop using O.J. as an example).

Once one dog catches the other, they just stand there looking into each others eyes for a few seconds, before beginning the chase again.

But during one chase yesterday, Opie hit the side of my dog at full speed. He went down and was hurt. He tried to get up, and collapsed again. I was nervous, but within seconds, he was walking around and playing again. And he didn't hold it against Opie.

This all reminded me of a story last month involing a guy named Aloisio, a soccer player for a Brazillian team. He collided with an opponent, but instead of just having the wind knocked out of him, or cracking a rib, he was hurt in a weirder fashion.

He choked on the gum he was chewing.

A doctor said that he injured his head and even stopped breathing momentarily, with the gum obstructing his airway.

The player said he didn't remember much but that he'll never chew gum while he plays again.

I stopped chewing gum while I played sports in 10th grade. I had a basketball coach tell us he saw someone choking to death because he was chewing gum during a game. I wasn't sure I believed it, but a week later during a pick-up game, I breathed in quickly as I ran up the court, and swallowed my gum. It was a scarey few seconds, and I realized how easily it could've gone down the wrong way.

Now, if we can only get people to stop spitting their gum on the ground, where it seems to act like a magnet for the soles of our shoes!