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Jermaine O'Neal out EIGHT weeks!

In my previous post, I said Jermaine O'Neal could be out as much as two weeks. Unfortunately for Pacers fans (and Jermaine's fantasy owners), it looks like he's out at least eight weeks.

From the Pacers official site:

Enthused by the acquisition of Peja Stojakovic and the coinciding end of the Ron Artest saga, Pacers players and coaches hoped Thursday's practice would signal a fresh start for the team.

Instead, the news was hauntingly familiar. Jermaine O'Neal, the team's leader in scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking and its primary low-post offensive presence, will miss at least eight weeks with what was described as "a significant tear in his left groin" in a statement released by the franchise.

"You're doing so bad, you lose four in a row, you're not playing well, then you come in and you're thinking you'll have a good practice and start turning things around somehow and the first news you get is that," said Sarunas Jasikevicius. "It's just crazy. But, hey, that's the way it is."

It doesn't look like this hit the major national sources yet, but Ian, my trusty source in D.C. and writing partner over at Detroit Bad Boys just heard it on the Dan Patrick Show and dug up the link above.