ompeting in any athletic program or sport involves a certain amount of physical risk; be it volleyball, handball, golf, or swimming. Contact sports such as football, wrestling, boxing, or basketball pose an even greater risk of physical injury. However, the risk of concussion has become more and more a very serious and dangerous injury as related to it’s long term effects on the brain and nervous system. Professional athletes, particularly football players, after retirement and when trying to move on with post-sports lives, can suffer from debilitating headaches, violent temper swings, suicidal depression, and loss of motor skills such as walking and even standing. As football players started coming forward, athletes such as soccer players, mixed marshal arts competitors, baseball, and even swimmers and divers have come forward admitting that they too suffer from the effects of concussion and head trauma. This affliction is only now being seriously studied by the sports medicine field. Race car drivers, for whom traumatic brain injury is often a part of their racing career, are looking at that long term effects of concussion. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is willing his brain to science so that the effects of the many concussions he has suffered can be studied There are those who seem to be in total denial about the situation. Recently Jim Irsay compared the situation and its risks to taking aspirin. Irsay is noted for his ability to put his foot in his mouth, but he really made waves with that one.
For a change, the State of Indiana is taking the lead in a positive way on this issue. A law has been passed by the state legislature to require all coaches in public school sponsored sports to receive concession recognition training. Starting in July of 2017 all coaches working with kids in grades 5 through 12 will be required by law to take the training. Formerly only high school football coaches were mandated to take the training. In the 2014-15 school year the IHSAA received 2,200 reports of concussion events in school sports competitions of all kinds. It was noted that many coaches in sports other than football have received no concussion training at all. Taking the training will give coaches immunity from civil suits for concussion injuries Pro sports and the NCAA are now being sued by athletes who say that they were not made aware of the severity of the injuries that concussions can cause. As more light is being thrown onto this issue and more extensive studies are being done to find out how to treat and rehabilitate concussion injuries, it’s hoped that a cure can be discovered to help alleviate the suffering that concussion injuries can cause.
Indy Cars Successfully Return to Phoenix
Indy Car racing returned to the Phoenix “Big D” in a huge way last Saturday night. After an 11 year hiatus, the open wheeled race cars roared back to life and gave fans a great show. The last Phoenix race for the Indy cars was held in 2006 and Sam Hornish Jr. took the checkered flag. The track is laid out in a large D shape, thus the nickname. In this year’s event, Helio Castroneves won the pole in his Penske Dallara Chevy with a new track speed record as the Penske team once again dominated qualifying. Castroneves and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya led much of the race but both drivers experienced tire blowouts which dropped them out of competition. New Zealander Scott Dixon, driving the Target Dalara Chevy for Chip Gnassi took the win for his first Phoenix victory. It was Dixon’s 39th career victory which ties him with Al Unser Sr. for fourth on the all-time win list. French driver Simon Pagenaud brought his Penske Dallara Chevy to second place for the second race and he is the current points leader. Long Beach is the next race in the 2016 series.
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