...stumble and fall. The world around them spins and it seems like at any moment, they could pass out. It has been seen in sports for as long as they have been around and now it is really coming to light. Concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy are gaining more and more attention in the world of hockey as more and more athletes are being diagnosed with concussions and CTE is being diagnosed post-mortem. The biggest question that arises when CTE is discussed is the most simple. What is CTE? Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions...
Words: 1596 - Pages: 7
...today’s time, all sports have a specific set of rules to go by, and there are medical teams present at every sporting event. Most would say that every sport is prepared for the injuries that occur, but that is not the case when it comes to concussions. Recently in sports such as, Boxing, Hockey, and Football, there have been new rules created to either prevent concussions, or to emphasize the seriousness of concussions occurring. In the sport of boxing, a boxer can be knocked down multiple times and is allowed to keep fighting if they can seem alert by standing up before the ref counts to ten, many believe boxers are receiving concussions when knocked down and should not be allowed to keep fighting. In the NHL or National Hockey League, players are constantly being smacked into the arena glass by opposing players and many players fall head first on the solid-seeming ice, which can easily result to a concussion. The NHL is currently to figure out a way to slow down the game speed of hockey to lower the number of concussions, which have doubled since the previous season. In the NFL, players who now commit head to head contact tackles will be fined and can also be suspended if felt necessary. Players who now suffer concussions in the NFL during a game can no longer return to that same game and must go through several medical tests to become eligible to play in the next game. With all these new rules and regulations, it seems as if the governing boards of these...
Words: 1226 - Pages: 5
...10/2/14 Concussions in Sports “As Larry got checked out by doctors’ moments ago, he re-enters the game on offense as the Cardinals attempt to win the game.” Concussions are becoming a huge topic in all four major sports leagues, The National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL). Most of the concussions do tend to happen in football or in hockey, but even boxers, professional wrestlers, Mixed Martial Artists (MMA), and soccer players have been diagnosed with concussions. “Over 250 current or retired athletes - including 50 NFL players and 12 hockey players - have pledged to donate their brains, including Keith Primeau, who retired from the NHL in 2006 due to post-concussion syndrome” (McIlroy and Mick). That itself is a pretty crazy number and that is just in the past five years. That kind of shows how committed to fixing and understanding the concussion crisis is upon us. Concussion protocols in all sports needs to be redefined. There have been concussion protocols for the NFL and NHL that have been put into place since the frequency of concussions started happening. Teams across the nation and even world have started to employ neurologists for when a player gets a concussion so that the proper steps are taken. Usually a player has to sit out if he has failed a part of the concussion test. Recently an Arizona Cardinals player named John Abraham had his first serious concussion. He had...
Words: 2087 - Pages: 9
...Tommy Novak C. Kaiser English 111 11/3/2015 NHL and brain injuries Playing hockey often leads to brain injuries later in life, hockey injuries can be prevented by wearing safer equipment and rule changes can be implemented to improve player safety. All of the hitting and checking have gone unnoticed for far too long so many great athletes have been injured by someone else’s hitting and/or checking. A few of these injured players include but are not just limited to Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins who decided to take the 2011 season off due to lingering concussion symptoms from a hit. Patrick Kane, of the Chicago Blackhawks who suffered a broken collarbone, and Stan Mikita who has no recollection at all of ever lacing up the skate and playing hockey. And...
Words: 422 - Pages: 2
...The Debate on Fighting in Hockey Brandon M. Robsion Devry University The Debate on Fighting in Hockey There is no sporting event that brings an explosion quite like that of an ice hockey fight. Ice hockey has always been stereotyped as brutal and unnecessarily violent, a game full of players who are nothing but “goons”. Fighting in hockey is a form of sanctioned violence, as it has deemed acceptable in hockey since the introduction of the National Hockey League in 1917. The league did note even penalize it until the 1922 NHL season (Brandon 2013). A recent political uproar has taken place within the hockey world as more people are pushing to have fighting completely removed from the game. As a hockey player for over 25 years, I have been through every situation where fighting has occurred within the sport. Being an avid fan, I have noticed a recent uproar on this topic within the last decade. Despite the outcry against fighting in the NHL the league needs to maintain its current stance on fighting. As hockey continues to grow in North America and around the world, more people are being exposed to the game. This has caused many debates on this topic, and if it’s really needed in today’s game. Fighting in hockey is a big part of North American hockey, yet is banned in world events like the Olympics and other world hockey tournaments. Raising the debate, should fighting be banned in all of hockey? For those who are not avid hockey fans, the stereotype is generally that...
Words: 1455 - Pages: 6
...Persuasive Essay Draft Daniel Petry Keiser University Being an athletes is one of the best-paid jobs on Earth. Being that they are paid so much the cost for the consumer is very high. The prices of tickets and sports memorabilia have been steadily rising over the years. The average ticket prices for the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL all rose 5% to 10% this year, according to Jon Greenberg, executive editor of Team Marketing Report. (Mihoces). Athletes are very highly paid due to the fact that there is a large demand of viewers that like to follow their sport. Without the fans, the demand for sports wouldn’t be as high and due to the fact that the fans pay their salaries. The fact of the matter is that professional athletes are making a lot of money because people are willing to pay the high costs of tickets and merchandise to watch some of the best athletes. A good example of that is if you compare the salary of the average NFL player to the average MLS player. The average NFL player makes $705,882 while the average MLS player makes $79,500 (Keating). In America we have the best football players in the world and people are more willing to pay more to watch them than MLS players. Revenue in all sporting franchises has been going up at a steady rate each year due to the work of the athletes and it only makes sense that their pay increases relative to the money coming into their sport. It is simply economics, “athletes, like all workers, are worth what the free market is willing...
Words: 1162 - Pages: 5
...Occupational Safety and Health Case Study Draft Introduction Concussions have casted a dark shadow over sports throughout the last decade. They are the most common head and brain injuries suffered by athletes. A concussion is “a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull” ("Concussion - WebMD: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention"). The major problem regarding concussions is that they are not visible to the human eye. Concussions occur all the way from Pop Warner leagues as a child to the professional leagues. My friend has played football his whole life. Unfortunately, he has been plagued by concussions ever since he started to play the sport. He is a prime example of an ordinary kid who plays a sport he loves, but has altered his future forever. Commissioners are actively trying to reduce the number of head injuries that occur while playing. However, the main problem regarding head injuries in sports is that players tend to rush back to their respective sports, without proper testing and treatment. This results in athletes risking their playing careers, a life filled with long-term head complications, and eventually putting their lives in danger. As an injured athlete, there comes a point where you have to ask yourself, is rushing back to the game really worth a lifetime filled with head injuries and complications? So what do team doctors need...
Words: 3182 - Pages: 13
...stature often bring comparisons to one of the greatest hockey players ever—the great one himself, Wayne Gretzky.” In 1997 at the age of 7, Crosby scored 159 goals in just 55 games. He was the youngest player in history to score a goal in the World Junior Championship. Sidney Crosby has a passion and love for a sport that he is very talented in. He continues to be a leader in the hockey world. Some additional accomplishments include: * Best hockey prospect for the 2005 NHL amateur entry draft. * Art Ross and Hart trophies in his second NHL season (2007). * Youngest player in NHL history to captain a team to the Stanley Cup. * Rocket Richard trophy (2010) * Scored at least one point in 25 consecutive games. 11th longest streak in NHL history (2010). * Scored the winning goal against the United States which earned Canada a gold-medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Vancouver Olympics 2010 reasons. I always wanted to be the best and to get the most out of myself. Not everyone plays for that reason, but if you want to make the NHL you have to have that passion to better yourself and to learn. You have to put in time, but you shouldn’t look at it as putting in time. It should be a matter of doing something you want” One of the main reasons for his outstanding success is his commitment to the...
Words: 1068 - Pages: 5
...Subsequent to extreme head contact, brain related injuries come up often. While concussions create major setbacks for hockey players, the severity of the mutilated organ . Albeit simple concussions last for only seven to ten days, any damage weakens the brain and can never be fully fixed again. In the worst cases, players, such as Geoff Courtnall and Pat LaFontaine, have suffered a mix of grade two and three concussions. (Grade two: Lasts twenty minutes or more and may cause the victim to forget the accident. Grade three: Very sever and the victim may lose consciousness) (Carroll et al. 74) (Carroll et al. 75). Whilst other sports also cause concussions, National Hockey League players are five times more likely to suffer from a concussion than players in the National Football League (Branch 56). Because the brain floats inside the skull, a sudden force to the head can cause the brain to damage other parts inside the body. In the spinal cord, vertebrates can either dislocate from their sockets or break/wear out, therefore becoming useless. Within the inner skull, inadequate walls increase the likelihood of concussions and other brain injuries (Carroll et al. 159). When dealing with head injuries, some succumb to mental problems. One type of mental issue is loss of memory, which often times worsens over time (Branch 142). Although very uncommon...
Words: 988 - Pages: 4
...About 53% of all high school students sustain a concussion before and while playing a sport. In sports such as football and hockey concussions are sometimes not taken seriously and kids may go back in during the game they got the concussion. Kids do not realize the risk they take when they do not wear the proper head gear. If concussions are not taken care of, they can leave a player out of the game and practices for up to a month, they may also cause physical contact sports less popular. Kids can suffer severe long-term effects from a concussion if not treated properly.. Concussions are a big deal with a small solution. If concussions are not taken care of, they can leave a player out of the game and practices for up to a month. If a player...
Words: 498 - Pages: 2
...Society Concussions in Sport: An Analytical Discussion “I had no idea what a nickel was (Kevin Kolb, The Concussion Blog).” NFL quarterback Kevin Kolb has suffered three major concussions since 2010 (Galliford, Buffalorumblings). His most recent one just this past August effectively ended his football career. This is just one example of the many in which multiple or severe concussions have cut short careers in sports. The issue of player safety in sport has become a topic of controversy and debate in recent years. Many professional leagues such as the NFL and the NHL have adopted strict concussion test protocols and procedures for its players. Player safety has no doubt become a major concern in contact sports. The problem is, many of these regulations have yet to address what happens after playing careers are over. What happens to former players’ mental and physical health after they retire? How do players whom have suffered multiple concussions playing contact sports live their lives as opposed to players whom have played non-contact sports such as golf or baseball? What will be questioned in this analysis is do known players that have suffered multiple and/or severe concussions throughout their playing careers due to playing a contact sport develop abnormally high levels of mental and physical health problems at an early age? Previous history on the attempts to lower the frequency of severe injury and concussions have shown advances...
Words: 3098 - Pages: 13
...individual fights. While officials tolerate fighting during hockey games, they impose a variety of penalties on players who engage in fights. Unique to North American professional team sports, the National Hockey League (NHL) and most minor professional leagues in North America do not eject players outright for fighting but major European and collegiate hockey leagues do. The debate over allowing fighting in ice hockey games is ongoing. Despite its potentially negative consequences, such as heavier enforcers knocking each other out, some administrators are not considering eliminating fighting from the game, as some players consider it essential. Additionally, the majority of fans oppose eliminating fights from professional hockey games. Examples In an NHL preseason game between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues on September 21, 1969 Bruins defenseman Ted Green and Blues left wing Wayne Maki, attacking Green, engaged in a bloody stick-swinging fight that resulted in Green sustaining a skull fracture and brain damage, forcing him to miss the entire season of 1969–70, with Maki emerging uninjured. As a result of the fight, Green would play for the remaining nine years of his professional career with a pioneering variety of hockey helmet in both the NHL and WHA. April 20, 1984 a bench clearing brawl broke out at the end of the second period of a second-round playoffs matchup between the Quebec Nordiques and the Montreal Canadians, after many...
Words: 1813 - Pages: 8
...latimes.com HELENE ELLIOTT / ON THE NHL NHL's discipline chief gets backup on head-injury punishments After reports that a group of general managers had complained Brendan Shanahan had been too forceful in handing out punishment, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly says he has been consistent and clear. Helene Elliott 6:00 PM PDT, October 10, 2011 | | The NHL gave Brendan Shanahan a hammer. And though the new czar of discipline is swinging it more forcefully than anyone expected, the league insists the hammer won't be replaced with a feather. Shanahan, head of the league's new player safety department, has aggressively carried out the NHL's overdue directive to punish players who hit opponents in the head. Predictably, he has faced a backlash, maybe because his decisiveness and clarity are startling after Colin Campbell's meek, muddled rulings. Hardliners grumble the game is becoming soft. A report Saturday on "Hockey Night in Canada's" Hot Stove feature said a group of general managers went to Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly "and made it very clear that they are very unhappy" with Shanahan, though the report didn't identify them. Daly on Monday backed Shanahan's performance and said he and Bettman had not heard from any disgruntled club executives. "There is only one general manager that I am aware of that has expressed concern to either Gary or me about the standard that Brendan has been imposing and he did so only in response to...
Words: 735 - Pages: 3
...greatest hockey players. After doing research, I realized there has been one legally deaf player who played National Hockey League. Jim Kyte became the first noted and legally to date deaf NHL player. All sports entertain us in part because of the thrill and unpredictability watching the greatness of athletes dominate. My interest came across hockey player Jim, as I learned he was deaf playing in a sport with incredible high speeds along with the occasional two player fight resulting in an all-out-brawl in the middle in the rink. Kyte was renowned for his strong competiveness and strong physical ability to play defense. Jim was born full-hearing and not deaf, but rather later years at the tender age of three. When doctors discovered, he had been born with a hereditary hearing aliment that was caused by a degeneration of the audio nerve. Jim Kyte is legendary for having a 6’5 body frame broke out into the scene of his professional hockey career in 1982 drafted 12th overall by the Winnipeg jets. As being the first deaf NHL player, he was also the first player to wear hearing aids while playing. To protect his hearing aids, Jim wore a special customized helmet that had flaps covering the center of his ears. He played 13 seasons in the NHL; until an auto accident in 1997 causing severe post-concussion syndrome resulting retirement in the summer of 1998. His father, John Kyte was his biggest motivator by saying, “It may be a handicap, but it’s not a disability.” By the supportive words...
Words: 923 - Pages: 4
...Running head: CONCUSSIONS IN SPORTS 1 Concussions In Sports Robert Hayes DeVry University CONCUSSIONS IN SPORTS 2 In todays society the sporting world plays some kind of role in all of our lives whether we realize it or not. Some of us may say that “I never watch sports” or “I’m not really a fan of sports,” could be true. One thing I can guarantee is that you have a family member, neighbor, friend, or co-worker that has some kind of affiliation with sports, it could be the clothing that we wear or that some else is wearing, maybe the accessories you see people wearing when you go out, or just could be a commercial you have seen on television. Wherever you are in the United States I can guarantee that you have some kind of affiliation with some kind of sport. As of the year 2013 studies show that “sixty percent of our children between the ages of five years of age and eighteen years of age play some kind of sport outside of school activities”, and if you think about how much sixty percent of our child population in the United States is, that is a lot of kids. Now think about how many of those parents think about there children having the potential for a brain traumatic injury, I would guess that statistic is probably quite a bit lower than ten percent, no study to my knowledge has been done for this. So I am writing this paper to make parents aware of what is currently...
Words: 1528 - Pages: 7
