The huddled masses

Too many times in sports, the viewing public is enamored by the violence of the game. Whether it's a segment on 'Jacked Up', countless replays of a knockout in MMA or a shoulder lowering hit in the boards, we sit awestruck by the sheer aggression displayed. The harder the hit, the louder we cheer. Unless, of course, the player doesn't get up or the fighter lays on the mat not moving. Then, it's not so funny anymore.

An article was recently released by the New York Times, and subsequently re-posted and rehashed by all the different news outlets regarding the idea that Lou Gehrig may not have died of the disease nicknamed after him, ALS, but rather a form of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Further reading shows there is a strong likelihood there is a distinct link between concussive syndromes like CTE (currently being studied in the NFL and other hard hitting sports), and ALS.

CTE in the barest of terms is brain damage caused by multiple concussions. Repeated brain injuries cause a protein to become defective and accumulate, replacing healthy brain tissue with tissue that instead shows up like black spongy dots on scans. It manifests itself by leaving a person with memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression, some of which happens almost immediately after the trauma, or may not appear until years later. A person with CTE will likely deal with thoughts of suicide, as well as alcohol or drug abuse. CTE has also been linked to PTSD in soldiers after IED attacks.

For those unfamiliar, ALS is a wicked and nasty disease. It attacks the central nervous system in a way that causes muscle function to decrease in stages until it become non-existent. A person with the disease will eventually lose the ability to move in any way, including the ability to breathe, while remaining mentally cognizant. People have compared it to being buried alive. (The most famous living person with ALS is Professor Stephen Hawking.) ALS starts off insipidly, leaving a person weaker, with some minor twitching and cramping of the muscles as well as general stiffness. In most cases, they have difficulty speaking, and eventually lose the ability completely as their airway and tongue become atrophied. ALS is 100% fatal, with half of it's sufferers dying in the first 3 years after diagnosis, and over 90% within 6 years. In very rare cases, people with the disease live longer than that, locked inside their body unable to function as they used to.

Scary thought, isn't it? Well it's rare, right? Most of us will never come in contact with someone with ALS, and most people are even unaware of what the disease is. The recent studies of traumatic head injuries in sports is bringing this disease into the spotlight though and making it hit home a little harder than it had in the past. We've been hearing about recent deaths in the sporting world being attributed to brain damage caused by playing football, hockey and even wrestling. Chris Henry was found to be suffering from CTE at the time of his death. Reggie Fleming who played in the NHL had it. Chris Benoit of WWE fame was found to be suffering from CTE, after he murdered his wife and son, and committed suicide. So we're finding out about all these brain injuries now after decades of players throwing their bodies out there for the fun of the game. For the sport. . . Did these players ever think they'd be laying down their lives? Maybe. Some of the older players did play for their paychecks, some of which were less than what you and I make. There were no multi-million dollar contracts with shoe deals. The NFL still pays the legends who built the league from the ground up pensions in triple digits. You read that right. Not thousands, not hundreds of thousands, but hundreds. Some old timers are on welfare, their broken bodies unable to support them. Some are unable to remember the glory days of playing football, or baseball, or hockey because their brains are literally mush.

So what's my point? How many people put their children into Little League programs in this country without a second thought? How many high school programs are running two-a-days in full pads right now? How many kids go home after practice with a headache? I have no doubt programs of all sorts all across the country are becoming more vigilant in asking the questions of their players as to how they're feeling and monitoring player health more closely. But is that enough? How many inner-city programs are playing with second and third hand equipment, which wouldn't get past the city line into the suburbs? And how many of those kids would play through anything to get their shot at getting a college scholarship, because it's their way out? This isn't just a major league issue. This isn't just a professional sports problem. It's not even just something that needs to be addressed starting at the college or high school levels. Kids are bigger, faster and stronger now than they ever were. I am in NO way advocating we shouldn't have Little League programs. I am in NO way saying kids should be pulled out of playing sports because we are concerned with something that COULD happen. What I am saying is there needs to be a greater vigilance to be aware of the symptoms of concussive syndromes IN ALL LEVELS OF ALL SPORTS. I know Little League coaches are normally unpaid volunteers, but unpaid does not have to equate to ignorance. I know some cities live and breathe their high school sports, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the children playing them and their futures. Education for this type of injury shouldn't just be something you hear about on the news when another childhood hero dies as a result of playing the game he or she loved.

Maybe what I'm saying isn't getting through. Chris Henry was 26 years old when he died. That's almost 6 years younger than I am. He wasn't known as a big hitter, and he wasn't known to suffer from concussions. He was young and in the prime of his life and living his dream, and was found to have this after he passed away. This isn't something they can diagnose conclusively until AFTER DEATH. Maybe having CTE caused some of his behavioral issues. Maybe it didn't. But how many athletes are suffering from this right now, without knowing, because there was no education on proper ways to deal with concussions? How many people don't have any idea what a concussion even is or what it might feel like? How many times have we heard someone say they got their 'bell rung' and not thought anything of it? Do we wait until someone big is diagnosed with ALS caused by CTE before we have these discussions? I know I sound alarmist. I don't mean to. I've only had a concussion once in my life, from fall while skiing. Truth be told, I never want to get one again. I wasn't wearing a helmet and my face bounced off the snow and ice pack twice. I can't imagine that happening even with a helmet on and it NOT hurting. And I'd be willing to bet that's exactly what a 'Jacked Up' style hit in football, or a punch to the face in MMA or boxing, or a baseball to the batting helmet feels like. I've gone to Little League games where kids are applauded for making a big hit and a great tackle. I've watched high school and college sports where players get a slap on the ass for a good job after they popped up from a bone crushing hit. And I wonder how many of them go home with a headache. And how many times that's happened. And I watch the headlines for the next big name we'll read. And we will. This problem is going to get worse before it gets better.