Sports: The Importance Of Concussions In Sports
Concussions In Sports
Concussions are very serious injuries in sports now a day. They seem to be occurring more and more as players start trying to become faster and stronger. NFL.com did an article in 2010 that showed in the 2010 season that the concussion rate had gone up 21% from 2009 (Press). A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull (Healthwise 1). The concussion can either be minor or it can be severe to where there could be bleeding of the brain. The NFL, NHL, and NCAAF deal with these kinds of injuries all the time, and have tried to make the sports safer for the players. What is also hard for the players is dealing …show more content…
with these injuries after their careers in the sport they played in are done. Some symptoms of a concussion are dizziness, headaches, memory loss, fuzzy or blurry vision, sleepiness, feeling like everything around you is moving slowly, and emotional problems of anger sadness or nervousness. Concussions can be diagnosed by a doctor at a hospital, he will most likely have a CT scan done on the head or an MRI so he can make sure the brain isn’t bleeding or bruised. Once the doctor has looked over the results from the scans and has determined that you do have a concussion, then he’ll proscribe a headache medicine to the patient and tell you to take it easy and not to do any ruff activities until all the symptoms have subsided. The NFL, NHL, and NCAAF have put more rules into effect to help prevent concussions in their sports.
The NFL has made it illegal for players to leave their feet and hit a “defenseless player” with a helmet to helmet hit (NFL.com Wire Reports). The NFL has most recently put a rule into place stating that there is to be a doctor on the sidelines during the games to monitor players who have taken blows to the head, and decide whether or not that player should return to the game or sit out for the rest of the game. The NHL has made it illegal for players to elbow other players in the head when they aren’t looking, and the players can’t leave the ice to hit a player anymore. The NHL is still putting a few more rules into place, but hasn’t finalized any of them yet. Some of the new rules that could be put into place are making the rinks a little larger than they are now but still not as big as Olympic size rinks, reintroducing the Two-Line pass rule to slow down the game in the neutral zone, and reducing the plastic on the elbow pads so players don’t feel invincible anymore (Ploszay). The NCAAF has put two new rules in place; “one is the banning of the wedge on kickoff returns, this is where blockers make a wall to block for the ball carrier. The second rule put into place is if a player is injured and play is stopped then that player has to come off the field and sit out for at least one play” (Wilson). These sports have done their best to prevent concussions and are
still trying to put some more rules into place to make the sports even safer for the players. The lasting effects of concussions stay with a person for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately once a person has their first concussion the next ones can happen easier than the last one. Sports players who have retired, or are still playing in their sport, deal with these issues of concussions all the time. Former San Francisco 49ers lineman George Visger has lived his life out of a notebook for 20 years now… he states, “I get up in the morning and I have no clue what I have to do that day. If it’s not written down it doesn’t exist,” (Smith 1). Pittsburg Penguin’s forward Sidney Crosby has been dealing with a concussion since the 2011 Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals. He came back November 21, 2011 but only played until December 7, 2011 where he was then placed back onto injured reserve. It wasn’t until a couple days ago that Crosby was eligible to play in games and receive full contact during practice. This just shows how unpredictable the timetable of when a concussion is fully healed. In conclusion concussions in sports are a very hard thing to monitor, but sports officials have taken great strides into preventing them in sports. The new rules that have been placed are some great examples of how the officials are making their sports safer for the players. Even though just recently sports officials have taken interest into preventing sport related concussions, the officials are trying there hardest to help those ex-players out who have retired from their sport to cope with their concussion related problems.
Works Cited
Healthwise. WebMD. 23 July 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
NFL.com Wire Reports. NFL.com. 6 August 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
Ploszay, John. Bleacher Report. 14 March 2012. Web. 20 March 2012.
Press, The Associated. nfl.com. 13 December 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
Smith, Stephanie. CNN. 5 February 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
Wilson, Brad. Lehighvalleylive.com. 5 September 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
Concussions are very serious injuries in sports now a day. They seem to be occurring more and more as players start trying to become faster and stronger. NFL.com did an article in 2010 that showed in the 2010 season that the concussion rate had gone up 21% from 2009 (Press). A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull (Healthwise 1). The concussion can either be minor or it can be severe to where there could be bleeding of the brain. The NFL, NHL, and NCAAF deal with these kinds of injuries all the time, and have tried to make the sports safer for the players. What is also hard for the players is dealing …show more content…
with these injuries after their careers in the sport they played in are done. Some symptoms of a concussion are dizziness, headaches, memory loss, fuzzy or blurry vision, sleepiness, feeling like everything around you is moving slowly, and emotional problems of anger sadness or nervousness. Concussions can be diagnosed by a doctor at a hospital, he will most likely have a CT scan done on the head or an MRI so he can make sure the brain isn’t bleeding or bruised. Once the doctor has looked over the results from the scans and has determined that you do have a concussion, then he’ll proscribe a headache medicine to the patient and tell you to take it easy and not to do any ruff activities until all the symptoms have subsided. The NFL, NHL, and NCAAF have put more rules into effect to help prevent concussions in their sports.
The NFL has made it illegal for players to leave their feet and hit a “defenseless player” with a helmet to helmet hit (NFL.com Wire Reports). The NFL has most recently put a rule into place stating that there is to be a doctor on the sidelines during the games to monitor players who have taken blows to the head, and decide whether or not that player should return to the game or sit out for the rest of the game. The NHL has made it illegal for players to elbow other players in the head when they aren’t looking, and the players can’t leave the ice to hit a player anymore. The NHL is still putting a few more rules into place, but hasn’t finalized any of them yet. Some of the new rules that could be put into place are making the rinks a little larger than they are now but still not as big as Olympic size rinks, reintroducing the Two-Line pass rule to slow down the game in the neutral zone, and reducing the plastic on the elbow pads so players don’t feel invincible anymore (Ploszay). The NCAAF has put two new rules in place; “one is the banning of the wedge on kickoff returns, this is where blockers make a wall to block for the ball carrier. The second rule put into place is if a player is injured and play is stopped then that player has to come off the field and sit out for at least one play” (Wilson). These sports have done their best to prevent concussions and are
still trying to put some more rules into place to make the sports even safer for the players. The lasting effects of concussions stay with a person for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately once a person has their first concussion the next ones can happen easier than the last one. Sports players who have retired, or are still playing in their sport, deal with these issues of concussions all the time. Former San Francisco 49ers lineman George Visger has lived his life out of a notebook for 20 years now… he states, “I get up in the morning and I have no clue what I have to do that day. If it’s not written down it doesn’t exist,” (Smith 1). Pittsburg Penguin’s forward Sidney Crosby has been dealing with a concussion since the 2011 Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals. He came back November 21, 2011 but only played until December 7, 2011 where he was then placed back onto injured reserve. It wasn’t until a couple days ago that Crosby was eligible to play in games and receive full contact during practice. This just shows how unpredictable the timetable of when a concussion is fully healed. In conclusion concussions in sports are a very hard thing to monitor, but sports officials have taken great strides into preventing them in sports. The new rules that have been placed are some great examples of how the officials are making their sports safer for the players. Even though just recently sports officials have taken interest into preventing sport related concussions, the officials are trying there hardest to help those ex-players out who have retired from their sport to cope with their concussion related problems.
Works Cited
Healthwise. WebMD. 23 July 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
NFL.com Wire Reports. NFL.com. 6 August 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
Ploszay, John. Bleacher Report. 14 March 2012. Web. 20 March 2012.
Press, The Associated. nfl.com. 13 December 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
Smith, Stephanie. CNN. 5 February 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.
Wilson, Brad. Lehighvalleylive.com. 5 September 2010. Web. 20 March 2012.