Nick submitted this article prior to the Bryce Harper wall escapade but it would certainly fall into this opinion piece.
While I didn’t intend to write a post about brain injury in sport, I was inspired to write it based on some events in the NHL playoffs. Since it’s not my point to dissect the danger of the two hits, I won’t spend much time on them. In fact, I’ll just share the links to the Gryba hit on Eller and the Abdelkader hit on Lydman. Seriously, whether I think either of those hits was clean or delivered with malicious intent is not, in any way, the basis or inspiration for this post. What is, is the idea that we – the North American contact sports-loving public – have all but abdicated our right to a free conscience. Whether either hitter was deserving of the suspension they have subsequently received, depends not on the hit they delivered, but on which team you cheer for (or against), or whether or not you like seeing big hits in hockey. It has nothing to do with what happened.
Some people don’t like where the NHL or NFL are heading; the frequency with which penalties are called when a player hits anywhere near an opposing player’s head. I don’t think that either of these two leagues, NHL and NFL, understand the concept of risk and reward. Hard hitting contact sports are so popular because they exhibit risk in a raw form. That’s probably why some/many of the athletes who make it to the highest levels get into the types of trouble they do. We watch news about multi-millionaire athletes who crash Porsches or who get arrested, and we may think “why would someone with so much to lose risk so much?” However, the athletes actually made logical (that doesn’t necessarily mean good) decisions. They do what all of us do before making most decisions. They, however briefly, look at their risk/reward histories plus their confidence Continue reading
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A while back I saw that Chris Nowinski tweeted this, 
I was forwarded an information sheet on the newly enacted Ohio Return to Play Law. It appears as a 
One of the more gratifying things about this blog is the chance to educate anyone about concussions and the athletic training profession. I truly enjoy going out to speak and even debate this hot topic. I understand that my thought process is not like everyone else, nor do I expect everyone to see it the way I do; however I do want people to become more educated and understand what we are facing with this problem.
There was big news out of Bloomington, Illinois coming and I was getting fired up because the word on the street was they had been working with the 
Concussions have gained so much attention that the news is almost inundated with story-after-story of occurrences, recovery, litigation and people trying to mitigate the injury. There seems to be a shortage of press clipping and stories on how to handle this injury. More often I have witnessed stories downplaying the injury or the oft cited “
The thing about expectations is that they presume a certain course of events. In July 2003, I assumed that I would start my co-op job in Ottawa in September and I based my expectations for the coming years on that presumption – my previous post, .png)
Working on a cause is difficult, especially if you are trying to swim upriver. When the cause is in direct conflict with the juggernaut that is football it becomes even more difficult – even at the high school level. I received and provided counsel to this individual as he fights a good fight in regards to player safety, most notably concussions. I applaud this individuals effort, attention to detail, player first mentality, and his willingness to sacrifice his job. What we have below is a microcosm of the issues we face with concussions; detailed and beyond sufficient for action – that is not being taken except against this author.
Looking for some help out there… Due to a myriad of factors I have let time slip away from me and have gotten behind the seasons for concussion data collection.
As has been said countless times in countless articles about brain injury, “every brain injury is different”. I don’t know and don’t care to know how many times I’ve heard or read it. That phrase is used primarily for the benefit the general public to explain or define a lasting injury about which little is known. Although geared towards people who have – seemingly – little or no experience with brain injury, the statement should still be understood as fully as possible by those of use who have such experience.
I think I have had enough time to digest the information in the 4th Consensus Statement; it is enough time for me to give an opinion. 
This is one heck of a way to start out National Athletic Trainer Month…
I love radio hits, any chance I get to explain my angle as well as spread the necessary information is a blessing. I have provided some doozy sound bites and probably some head scratching comments; one thing you get – I really hope – is little BS when it come to this information. The only problem with local radio and most syndicated sports talk is that I get – at the most – ten minutes to get the necessary information out.
From Sunday Night down in Australia a story of how 
Continuing with my analogy from my last post, 
Here is a follow-up on the Gfeller Neurotrauma Symposium that 
I don’t know how to make this much more clear.
On Twitter yesterday I commented on the words Jim Nantz spoke on “Face the Nation” 
As much as I can, I read about and watch professional contact sports. I also read, and have read, a lot about the financial crisis; more specifically, what led to it. Naturally, since I was brain injured in 2003, I have become very interested in brain injury. Hence this blog. I have also taken a bigger picture view of almost everything and, influenced by many books I’ve read, notably Collapse by Jared Diamond, I’ve been noticing similarities between different situations and events in society. Not connections or links. Similarities in our perception. They make sense to me – that’s why I thought of them. They’re not perfect or identical, they’re similar, the theme is the same. I see the same prevailing theme in the lead up to the financial crisis as we have seen in the current concussion/brain injury issue in professional contact sports.
So at 3:15pm EST the NFLPA will hold a news conference to discuss some “goings on”; the biggest nugget in this presser will be the 
If you paid attention yesterday you saw that 
I’ve been on long hiatuses from writing before, but coming back from this one feels a bit strange. Lots of stuff happened, but I couldn’t decide how, or if I wanted to write about any of it. My decision not to write was probably based more on lethargy than I want to admit, but it was also based on my desire to take a break. A real break. A do-nothing break. I apologize in advance for the sequencing and general disorder of this post because I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to say. Right now, I’d place bets on ‘nothing’, but there’s a chance, however small, that I’ll pen (or type as the case may be) the most eloquent and poignant piece of literature in the English language. That would actually be a better bet, because the odds of that happening are astronomical, so betting even a penney would net you more money than you could spend in 5 lifetimes. But I digress…
