Reply To: Articles

[hockeygod]

Concussion dodging real head-shaker
Athletes altering base-line testing playing with fire

First posted: Saturday, April 23, 2011 Steve Macfarlane, Calgary Sun

As the hockey world awaits the return of Sidney Crosby, disturbing news comes out of the football realm.

You’d think they’d know better by now just from the long-term effects of concussions on their own sport’s legends, or that they could learn from the men on ice and see athletes such as Crosby and Marc Savard sitting out long periods of time because of head trauma.

But, no, there’s talk NFL players are actually skewing tests on purpose in the pre-season so if they suffer concussions during the year, no one will notice.

A doctor who has treated NFLers past and present for post-concussion symptoms told Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez some players aren’t co-operating when it comes to establishing grounds for their own safety.

How?

By intentionally sabotaging the baseline test that tackles things such as memory, concentration, cognitive thinking and balance.

“Players are smart. They know that if they have a concussion and score badly that, ‘I’m going to be taken out. It’s going to affect my
livelihood,’ ” Dr. Daniel Amen told Marvez.

“I’ve had a number of players tell me they purposely do bad on the testing to start so if they get a concussion it doesn’t affect them.
“We need to educate them that this is a really dumb idea, that it’s the rest of their life that they’re playing with.”

Just ask Crosby, who apparently wasn’t convinced he’d suffered a first concussion in the Winter Classic Jan. 1 and continued to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

A second blow to the head a few nights later has forced him out of almost four months of action with no timetable set for a return.

He’s been skating and practising without contact for weeks but still hasn’t been cleared by doctors to attempt a comeback.

“If you were under the impression that he was moving closer … he’s got to pass the next stage of what he can do,” Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week. “That has not happened yet.”

Don’t hold your breath, either, because Crosby is smart enough now not to risk what could be another decade of dominance in the NHL just to enjoy a few weeks of playoff hockey.

Some of those dummies in the NFL should follow his example.

But it gets worse than just the alleged admission some are flubbing tests on purpose so they can play while woozy later.

Footballers, according to an online story on BeyondChron — a San Francisco news website — have also turned to drugs to improve mental focus before one of those tests created to gauge their brain function after injury.

“Ritalin will work,” said Amen, who founded the Amen Clinic and began treating retired NFL players with brain damage in the late 1990s.

“It helps boost activity to the front part of the brain.

“In my mind, it’s not the first thing I would do to rehabilitate a concussion, but it would be on the list of things to do.

“Clearly, it’s not approved by the NFL or a smart thing to do and try to cheat the test.”

As much as professional leagues are trying to prevent concussions, or at least stop their players from suiting up in spite of them, it’s up to the players to be smart enough to protect themselves.

And maybe some of them have already taken too many blows to the head for that.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."