I’ve been thinking about the Sidney Crosby situation lately and I discovered that I have something in common with the best hockey player in the world.
I don’t share his youthful good looks or his superior athletic ability but just like Sidney, I once received a brain-rattling blow to the head. To this day I still don’t know what hit me. Unlike Sidney, I don’t have the benefit of instant replay.
It was back in high school at a Community Bowl football game. I wasn’t much of a football player but I had what it takes to make the team. In this case size did matter. I was happy because I could get closer to the cheerleaders, my ulterior motive.
I vaguely remember the bus ride to the Fort William Stadium. Some time later I got hit. The events of the next hour or so are gone forever.
At some point during that game I remember regaining consciousness with the help of some very strong ammonia smelling salts. I was in full football uniform, sitting on the sidelines just barely aware of my surroundings.
Somebody asked me a couple questions. I was able to recall my name and eventually, after I looked around for a while, I figured out where I was.
I must have made a miraculous recovery because a few minutes later Coach saw fit to send me back in to the game. In the huddle a play was called but I had no idea what it meant or what I was supposed to do.
I remember being totally dazed and confused. I had forgotten how to play football. Somebody must have noticed my condition because I was taken off the field for the rest of the game. I have no idea who won or what the score was.
After the game a friend took me to the hospital to get checked out. I don’t really remember what the doctor said either. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. Except for my mother, but that’s another story.
I’m glad I don’t know what hit me. I cringe every time I see the replay of that brutal head shot that sidelined Sidney. Seeing him get hit a second time was horrible and unnecessary. He crumbled like a china doll. Now we are all wondering if he’ll ever put the pieces back together again.
Canadians need to have a long, hard look at their relationship to the game of hockey. We refer to it as our national sport, dating back to Gordie Howe playing shinny on a frozen pond. But that was a simpler time.
Professional hockey and the NHL have turned the game into a brutal form of entertainment. The rock ’em, sock ’em mentality is scrambling young brains and ending promising careers.
It is also setting a bad example for weekend warriors who feel they have to take a shot to get a shot at the big time.
Canadian heads and the brains they contain are at risk. Professional athletes are the high profile casualties but the rest of us, from cyclists to four-wheelers, are bashing our heads around and injuring our brains too.
Whether it’s a hit on the head in a high school game or a concussion in a car crash, the results can be devastating. In Mr. Crsoby’s case it may cost him the game he loves. For the rest of us it could easily end life as we know it.
I was lucky. As far as I know I have totally recovered from my traumatic football related brain injury. Some say that after all these years I am still a little dazed and confused about things, but that is a completely unrelated matter.
Many Canadian fans are anxious for the best player in hockey to get back on the ice but I think that is beside the point.
Sidney Crosby’s complete recovery should be the hope of all hockey fans regardless of whether or not he ever plays again.
This man has nothing more to prove and he owes nothing to the game or to the NHL. He still has a lot to offer all Canadians both on and off the ice.
And if his regrettable injury makes us change our risky behaviour, so much the better.
If you really want to know when Sidney will be back on the ice, there is only one person who can truthfully answer that question. Ask Trina, his mom.
I don’t share his youthful good looks or his superior athletic ability but just like Sidney, I once received a brain-rattling blow to the head. To this day I still don’t know what hit me. Unlike Sidney, I don’t have the benefit of instant replay.
It was back in high school at a Community Bowl football game. I wasn’t much of a football player but I had what it takes to make the team. In this case size did matter. I was happy because I could get closer to the cheerleaders, my ulterior motive.
I vaguely remember the bus ride to the Fort William Stadium. Some time later I got hit. The events of the next hour or so are gone forever.
At some point during that game I remember regaining consciousness with the help of some very strong ammonia smelling salts. I was in full football uniform, sitting on the sidelines just barely aware of my surroundings.
Somebody asked me a couple questions. I was able to recall my name and eventually, after I looked around for a while, I figured out where I was.
I must have made a miraculous recovery because a few minutes later Coach saw fit to send me back in to the game. In the huddle a play was called but I had no idea what it meant or what I was supposed to do.
I remember being totally dazed and confused. I had forgotten how to play football. Somebody must have noticed my condition because I was taken off the field for the rest of the game. I have no idea who won or what the score was.
After the game a friend took me to the hospital to get checked out. I don’t really remember what the doctor said either. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. Except for my mother, but that’s another story.
I’m glad I don’t know what hit me. I cringe every time I see the replay of that brutal head shot that sidelined Sidney. Seeing him get hit a second time was horrible and unnecessary. He crumbled like a china doll. Now we are all wondering if he’ll ever put the pieces back together again.
Canadians need to have a long, hard look at their relationship to the game of hockey. We refer to it as our national sport, dating back to Gordie Howe playing shinny on a frozen pond. But that was a simpler time.
Professional hockey and the NHL have turned the game into a brutal form of entertainment. The rock ’em, sock ’em mentality is scrambling young brains and ending promising careers.
It is also setting a bad example for weekend warriors who feel they have to take a shot to get a shot at the big time.
Canadian heads and the brains they contain are at risk. Professional athletes are the high profile casualties but the rest of us, from cyclists to four-wheelers, are bashing our heads around and injuring our brains too.
Whether it’s a hit on the head in a high school game or a concussion in a car crash, the results can be devastating. In Mr. Crsoby’s case it may cost him the game he loves. For the rest of us it could easily end life as we know it.
I was lucky. As far as I know I have totally recovered from my traumatic football related brain injury. Some say that after all these years I am still a little dazed and confused about things, but that is a completely unrelated matter.
Many Canadian fans are anxious for the best player in hockey to get back on the ice but I think that is beside the point.
Sidney Crosby’s complete recovery should be the hope of all hockey fans regardless of whether or not he ever plays again.
This man has nothing more to prove and he owes nothing to the game or to the NHL. He still has a lot to offer all Canadians both on and off the ice.
And if his regrettable injury makes us change our risky behaviour, so much the better.
If you really want to know when Sidney will be back on the ice, there is only one person who can truthfully answer that question. Ask Trina, his mom.
