Chris Circo

What Impact can WE make?

Dustin Fink1 Comment

I have worked with Battle Sports Science for the past year, mainly as the athletic trainer trying to come up with all the problems one would have by putting any “concussion” device on the field of play.  The things I have gained out of this relationship are: friendship, an opportunity to be the overbearing and opinionated athletic trainer, be on the cutting edge of the concussion awareness movement, tickets to a Nebraska football game, and a few Impact Indicators (oh and an unflattering picture of me on the package).  More importantly what I have learned in the relationship; is that with Chris Circo at the helm there is truly a company out there looking to make a difference – yes they aim to profit as well – however they want to get it right.  It all begins with the words and actions.  One such action that carried heavy weight for me was a conversation about their mouthguards.  I mentioned to Circo that I felt his product claims on the mouthguard was out of line in terms of their concussion claims, and just asked him to remove it.  Guess what, he did!  He had to change packaging and even when there was a distributor that had the old verbage on a website was found he made a call and had that changed too.

I tell you this because Chris has worked on a post for this blog (hopefully others) to use to bring up the question: “How can WE ALL help?”  It explains what they are trying to accomplish as well, using the Impact Indicator as a good first step;

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What Vince Lombardi can teach us about protecting athletes from brain injuries.

Gap-toothed and sporting a trademark crew cut, the face of Vince Lombardi brings to mind one word for most football fans, winning. It’s easy to see why too. The legendary coach led the Green Bay Packers to 3 straight league championships, won 2 consecutive Super Bowls and never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL. He’s also famous for a quote about winning he never uttered, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” The hard-nosed coach’s actual quote “Winning isn’t everything … but wanting to win is” gives us I believe, cause to stop and think.

The place we find ourselves today in the battle to reduce head injuries in football is Continue reading →

Tuesday Quick Hits

Dustin FinkLeave a comment

The concussion news cycle seems to have slowed a bit over the past week.  Sure there has been plenty of newsworthy events, including cases of kids getting hurt, but the amount of news seen in the searches has dropped quite a bit recently.  I must say that over the past few weeks I have seen more and more “mainstream” outlets picking up on the awareness issue.  One such case is NPR and a story about products that have been popping up.  The title is a bit misleading as mouthguards are not discussed, it does take a look at the Battle Sports Science Impact Indicator;

Battle Sports Science CEO Chris Circo says his product does measure rotational movement as well as direct head impacts. Circo, who’s had five concussions and takes anti-seizure medication, says he knows how complex brain injuries are. In an interview, he is more circumspect than his trumpet-like email to the media.

“Does the Impact Indicator prevent concussions? Absolutely not,” Circo says. “Does it diagnose concussions? Absolutely not.”

But, as advertised, it does help, says Circo. And despite Halstead’s fear, Circo insists Continue reading →