Genie Bouchard Suffers Brutal Pickleball Injury

That's it, pickleball is officially a sport. 

Retired tennis superstar Genie Bouchard, 30, broke major news Thursday night that she'd suffered a brutal eye injury from playing pickleball and gave the sport significant street cred in the process. 

Let's face it, people are pretty liberal these days when they call an activity a sport. Video games are now a sport. Cornhole is now a sport. People are playing fast and loose with what can be considered a sport. 

Those days are over with pickleball. It's now a sport. 

"Got hit in the eye with a pickleball during training today. It was a shank off my partner’s paddle straight into the eye. Went to urgent care and have a scratched cornea. The things we do for this sport! Will be healed in a matter of days," Genie reported to her fans. 

Pickleball has taken major steps with its street cred, including that disgusting viral video where the guy kicked his opponent in the head

In November, a Mexican resort pickleball match turned very ugly when Peter Shonk, who was blown up when an opponent knocked him out with a kick to the head during a post-match celebration gone very wrong. 

Until recently, the only real drama surrounding pickleball was the noise ordinance issues the sport had across the United States. That drama never really gained steam. 

But now, you throw in Bouchard's injury and the kick to the head and you have real momentum for the sport.

"Besides, it’s not a sport. Any game that you can take up after breakfast and be pretty good at by lunch is not a sport. And it’s not great exercise. A Canadian study last fall found that an hour of pickleball gets you only half as many steps as just walking the hour," sports columnist Rick Reilly wrote in 2023 for the Washington Post. 

Times are changing, Rick. We have ourselves a sport. 

Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com