Russ Bone wrote:
>
> As reported, his injury was a concussion. The seriousness of it,
> however, was complicated by the fact that it came on top of another
> concussion he suffered a couple of weeks ago at Michigan Tech. I spoke
> with his mother this weekend (prior to the re-injury), and she said that
> there were times that he still experienced some symptoms of the prior
> concussion, and would be used sparingly against the hard-hitting Sioux.
> Apparently, sparing use was even too much.
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.
J. Michael Neal
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