NFL concussions and the "trickle-down effect"

Two great articles this week on concussions in youth sports. Alan Schwarz in today's New York Times continues his remarkable coverage of the issue.

This quotation from Alan's piece gets to the heart of the issue. (The issue being, until the NFL takes seriously, or seriously enough, the consequences of head trauma, neither will the millions of youth leagues).

“Walking off the pain in an N.F.L. game turns into walking it off in a Little League game — the trickle-down effects on high school and college players are very real and can be fatal,” Representative Hank Johnson, Democrat of Georgia, said in the hearing.

Over at The Daily Beast, Buzz Bissinger takes on pretty much the same subject, though he argues more broadly against the macho sports culture which reaches down to high schools and, in some communities, even youth sports. There's also a nice mention in Buzz's story of Until It Hurts, specifically to reporting in the book about avoidable injuries.

Those of you who've read it know a 16-year-old pitcher in my family had one.

Hand stands and back flips at the kitchen table

Spanning the globe for youth sports dysfunction.

Giuliano Stroe, the Romanian gymnast with the washboard abs, is, as the caption reads, five years old.

Thanks (I think) to Ed Wiest for alerting me to this.

Message to sports parents: "You do not know what you're talking about"

I'm posting two opinion pieces, one pulled from the Denver Post, another from a lively weekly podcast produced by students at the Park School in Baltimore.

Here's what these two commentaries have in common. In both, the authors make the case that sports for kids aren't what they could be, and for that they fault the adults. In both, tellingly, the commentators also are teenagers.

Thanks to Ed Wiest for the tip on the Denver Post article, and Ben Hyman for the lead on the Park School podcast

On the podcast, choose "Season Five," then "Episode 85 - The Park Culture." The commentary begins at 16:36. So, cue up the audio feed to that point. It takes a few seconds, but is well worth the effort.

As concussions mount, a better hockey helmet

I'm linking to a short take in BusinessWeek (second item) on the new M11 hockey helmet. The story is that this helmet protects against head injuries far better than the helmets almost everybody is wearing, NHL to biddy leagues.

Head injuries in hockey are getting closer attention these days. As I write in the BW article, some studies indicate that 10 to 20 per cent of teen hockey players suffer a concussion each season. If that is so, many - most? - teen players are affected before they hang up their skates after high school. And that says nothing about other head blows, ones that, while serious, do not cause concussions. Chilling stuff.

Mark Messier, the NHL Hall of Famer, helped develop the new helmet with Cascade Sport. Messier is on the board of Cascade Sport. So there's no attempt here to paint this as purely a mission of mercy. Speaking with him about the so-called Messier Project, though, I was impressed that this is about more than making a buck. He hopes to get NHL players to wear the helmet - this year, eight are. And in time, to have millions of kids following the lead of their hockey heroes.

My first question for Messier, who played 25 seasons in the NHL, was: How many concussions did you have in your career? He said he couldn't remember, and we had a laugh - a nervous laugh - about that.

Until It Hurts on Weplay.com

Over the next few weeks, Weplay.com will be running adapted excerpts from Until It Hurts. First up, a short piece on what kids observe - and what they'd like to change - about the adults who show up to coach their teams and root them on.

Facebook, Twitter, Little League Baseball

As of this morning, Little League's new Facebook fan page has 3,170 members. On Twitter, "LittleLeague" had 611 followers.

Is this a useful networking tool for the kids, the parents - or neither? I'll check back in a month or so to gauge how quickly the community is growing.

October 8, 2009

Dear Little League Baseball and Softball Volunteers and Fans:

Little League International has entered the world of "social media" with the creation of Twitter and Facebook pages.

A wide range of information is currently available on-line, and we encourage everyone to follow Little League's "Tweets" through Twitter, and stay current with happenings throughout the Little League program through Facebook.

Soon, Little League will have Facebook pages and Twitter posts dedicated to specific aspects of the Little League program, including Little League Softball, Little League's Teenage Divisions, Challenger Division and the Little League Urban Initiative.

Sincerely,

Little League International

P.O. Box 3485
539 US Route 15 Hwy
Williamsport, PA 17701-0485

Eli and Peyton Manning on TV, in their pajamas

Have you ever seen a TV commercial/PSA starring a Manning that didn't make you laugh out loud? This one rates extra points for a family-friendly message.

What pro athletes can teach us about youth sports

In the 1980s, I was a reporter for a newspaper in Baltimore assigned to cover the Baltimore Orioles. For eight months each year, I traveled with the team around the country, writing about what I witnessed at the ballpark and occasionally outside the ballpark. This is one of those outside-the-ballpark stories that has stuck with me.

Each season, the Orioles visited New York twice for series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The players, manager, coaches - and us writers - stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Midtown. Some of the traveling party commuted to Yankee Stadium by chartered bus. Occasionally, I hopped on.

As we got close to Yankee Stadium, we got a view of a bunch of athletic fields. Always - in my memory, at least - they were crowded with kids, playing pick-up sports, running, jumping, batting, kicking. Mostly, having fun.

I remember something unexpected. As we approached the fields, heads turned. Conversations ended. Players suddenly (and shockingly, for me) were very interested spectators. I'm not sure what they were thinking. To me it felt like longing. Maybe even envy. (Ironic because the kids on those fields would have been feeling exactly the same things about the big-leaguers.)

What I took from this scene is pretty simple. Pro athletes, more than most of us, understand that sports can provide some of the most carefree moments in a child's life. They also understand that there's no rush about turning sports into a job. I haven't met too many professional athletes who thought travel teams for eight-year-olds was a brilliant idea.

For the past year, I've been keeping a tally of those who have been quoted about keeping sports fun for kids (and managing the ambitions of the coaches and parents). Here’s my list (including one mom): Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon (golf,), Mike Richter, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky (hockey), Joe Dumars and Phil Jackson (basketball), Debbie Phelps, mother of Michael (swimming), Tommy John and Jim Poole (baseball).

If you know of others, fill me in.

In Kentucky, how many girls play prep baseball?

The National Federation of State High School Associations is out with its annual headcount of prep athletes.

The latest figures, for the 2008-2009 school year:

-More kids played high school sports than ever, 7,536,753.

-Girls participation also set a record, up by 56,825.

-Swimming and diving added the most participants, 29,967. Next were outdoor track and field, 19,396 and cross country which picked up 18,193. Lacrosse also continues to grow,up 9,579 players.

-Most popular sports (by participants): Basketball for boys, track and field for girls.

I love the detail in this report. To wit: In the state of Arkansas, 20 girls participated in weightlifting. In Kentucky, two played on boys baseball teams.

New life for yesterday's youth sports trophies

Here's an idea whose time has definitely come: recyclable sports trophies.