Eeyore wrote:
 
> I guess I had thought that only football was plagued with this problem.
>  My opinion is that if someone is still suffering from the effects of a
> concussion, there is no excuse for playing them in a contact sport like
> hockey.  If this report is accurate, I have to question the judgement of
> those involved with the CC hockey program.  I won't point the finger at
> anyone in particular, since I have no idea who was informed of the
> situation.  But anyone who knew that Brian Waldo was not fully recovered
> from a concussion and sent him back onto the ice in game conditions
> ought to be held fully responsible for what happens.
>
> I can't entirely explain why, though it will probably be obvious to some
> of you, but a concussion (or any other brain injury) seems to me to be
> entirely different from, say, a knee injury.  Watching Muhammed Ali, or
> a host of former NFL players, ought to show us that what is being risked
> with the brain is different from a muscle or joint not just in degree
> but in kind.
>
> We all ought to take a hard look at this case and ask ourselves what the
> risks asked (or even permitted) of our athletes should be.  We should
> ask ourselves this question before we fins out the extent of Brian
> Waldo's injury, because whether he is perfectly okay by next week or is
> permanently impaired or somewhere in between, the next decision will be
> made in the same state of imperfect knowledge we have now.
 
Head injuries are, indeed, a bird of a different feather in all sports.
I must say that I have never seen the training staff at CC as anything
but very professional and concerned about the athlete's health first and
foremost.  My wife, who played basketball at CC, would echo this
sentiment.  Therefore I want to be very careful about how my post is
seen.  There is a great deal of unknown information about this
situation, and we certainly aren't privvy to all the data that the
coaches used to make the game decision.  With 20/20 hindsight, we may
agree that the risk turned out to be not worth it, but who knows what
foresight was involved in this decision.  It certainly has been
(unfortunately) a busy year for the training staff at CC!
 
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