So just judging by the usual football injury theatrics, a lightning strike hurts just about as much as getting kicked in the shins or being tripped. Or is that the other way around?

here's a link to an excellent picture of a nearby lightning strike.

http://205.243.100.155/frames/longarc.htm#Pos-Lightning1

You can check out a very large snapshot of the biggest strike here
http://photos.gakman.com/2006-random/huge+lightning+strike.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=4