Peter King Writes a Column Every Week, Unless He Doesn't

Couldn't resist this gem from today's MMQB column:

It's a sad day for the NFL if [Rod] Smith isn't going to play anymore -- which, barring a very unlikely recovery by the 37-year-old, is likely.

There exist two terrible aspects to this sentence. First, the Gammons-esque ambiguous pronoun to start the sentence - what, exactly, is the "sad day"? If the sad day is the day Smith announces his retirement, then why not say that? If it's the day Smith attempts a comeback but is really still hurt and he runs one route before collapsing to the ground in pain, that would also be sad, but we don't know what he means. Instead, he gives us the extremely abstract "if Smith isn't going to play anymore".

Second, this is the qualifier to end all qualifiers: he's saying that Smith's retirement is only "likely" if his "unlikely" recovery doesn't happen. Way to put all your eggs in one basket, Peter! I'm surprised his Super Bowl prediction wasn't something like, "The Patriots are likely to win, unless the Giants win, which is unlikely. In the unlikely event that the Giants win, the Patriots' chances of victory become significantly less likely."