Did you see and hear there’s a new movie coming out starring Will Smith called “Concussion”? All I have to say is... “Are you kidding me?” I’m sorry, but this whole idea that concussions are this growing epidemic is ridiculous. Concussions have been occurring in sports since the dawn of time — ever since the first cave man “konked” a female over the head with his club. It’s prevalent today because experts are better at diagnosing the symptoms and results of getting hit in the head. I’m on the side who thinks all this concussion rhetoric is a bit overblown.
So we need a movie to explain concussions are bad? They are part of sports and if it is an issue in ones family, my advice is to simply pull the kid from sports.
I recently saw a report from the CDC saying the amount of reported concussions has doubled in the last 10 years.
Again, are you kidding me? That is inflated because of the exposure the injury is receiving and — like I said — better ways of diagnosing.
Millions of youth, school-age and professional athletes have participated in sporting activities since the sports first began. Just think of all those people who have come and gone in major sports who suffer little or no effect from playing the games.
Are professional athletes really gonna find someone to blame for their injuries after they most likely made millions of dollars from playing said sport?
People, as we all know are made up differently and some are more susceptible to different kinds of injuries like bone breakage, bruising, muscle tears, etc.
I realize the subject of concussions can hit hard to a family or athlete who has experienced them. Some of those people may now be suffering physical, cognitive or emotional changes. But it’s not that common (though many would make you believe otherwise). Most athletes make it out of their sport, into adulthood and their geriatric years with no ill side-effects.
A fine example is Alan Page, who played 15 seasons of professional football including 238 straight games, nine straight pro-bowls, had 173 sacks and was an all-NFL selection six times. He also played junior football and college ball for Notre Dame before retiring in 1981. He went into law following his football career and was even a Supreme Court Judge.
No brain problems for #88.
The movie, “Concussion” is aiming to stir up more controversy about sports injuries and lay the blame on leagues such as the NFL, WBA, MLS and others for injuries those players accepted were part of the game when they signed their contracts.
I recently read somewhere that states are now considering disallowing “headers” in youth soccer to try and alleviate concussion problems in that sport. Or even make them start wearing headgear, Huh? For soccer? The sport has been around for hundreds of years and now — just because a few kids have suffered head injuries — the sport needs to be changed?
Come on!
What about all the kids who played the sport in their youth and have not had any ill-effects from bouncing a soccer ball off their heads. Are they lying about it? Are all soccer players brain damaged?
What is going to be the effects of this for national or even global sports contests (Olympics, etc.) if the kids are not allowed to do headers in competition until they are older?
If you get your head injured in the sport you are playing and it has a lasting effect, my advice is to quit the sport and find something else to do. We can’t go around altering the sports just because a few happen to get headaches.
I think one of the main reasons people are getting more hurt in sports is because of the equipment (or lack of it). More and more leagues are looking to make their players faster and more agile so they eliminate the bulk of pads that were not only designed to protect the hittee, but also the hitter. For years the NFL featured (and still does to some extent) players who didn’t wear any thigh, knee, hip or tailbone protectors so they could be faster than their opponents. The result? Defenders streamlined their uniforms so they could keep up with them. Consequently, instead of a tackle being a padded thigh hitting a padded shoulder, now it was sometimes a bone-on-bone collision and thus, more severe injuries — especially to the head.
(Note that last year and this year, more and more teams in the NFL are reverting back to lower-body padding in a limited capacity — but it’s a start in my opinion).
Equipment nowadays is so much more protective to players than it was in my days of playing football. I remember I was so small, my shoulder pads dwarfed my frame and my helmet could turn around from front to back should someone grab my facemask and twist. We wore heavy, clothed pants that had padding covering players from head to toe.
Yes, we had some players incur injuries that could be considered concussions nowadays but the collisions were far less violent. Kids just couldn’t generate the speed to cause harm because the pads they wore slowed them down.
I think it’s a shame that the media and a few self-entitled individuals want to point fingers in blame at someone or something to explain the woes they are experiencing for their own injuries or an injury to their child.
Most people recover from a common sports concussion within three months. It’s those who receive multiple concussions in short periods of time that are in the gravest danger. Quit the sport if you are susceptible to that kind of injury.
Use common sense and there will be no one to blame for the consequences of your or your child’s decision.
People need to be responsible for their own actions and results from their choices.
It’s a no-brainer.
