Denial can be Deadly

I spent a lot of time in the Army landing and crashing on my head after jumping from a perfectly acceptable aircraft. They actually teach you how to crash gracefully. It is called a PLF, or Parachute Landing Fall. More realistically it is a FAH, or Feet-Ass-Head fall, where you may hit the ground on your feet, crash onto your ass, and then smash your head directly into the concrete-thick dirt of the landing zone. The point is, I made a short career of putting my head through trauma. But at least I got paid an extra 150 bucks a month to do so.

Even as a child, I endured concussions. I am willing to bet most of us have. I earned two concussions on back-to-back days while playing basketball, all due to my hustle chasing after loose balls or attempting to prevent players from scoring. I got one crashing into a fence making an awesome catch in Center Field while playing baseball. I got crushed more than a few times playing backyard football. We just called it getting knocked out. Now, however, as the above video demonstrates, and due to our newfound knowledge from the NFL, they are calling this head trauma Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE. And it’s bad shit. It makes me wonder what kind of trauma I ultimately endured in the military and as a kid. And now, as I have embarked on a Pre-Mid life crisis career in adult hockey leagues, I wonder what kind of damage awaits. In my practices I have already fallen to the ice with great authority and slammed my head onto it. The helmets are there for a reason, and luckily mine provided my head with great protection and mitigated any lingering effects. While it looked bad, I didn’t even have a headache afterwards. However, not everyone is so lucky, as the accompanying video attests.

Why do I bring this up? Everyone is now becoming fully aware of the dangers of CTE and concussions. Hasn’t the NFL begun to alter their play due to these dangers? Hasn’t MLB worked to fix their helmets to better protect hitters? Aren’t the youth leagues adapting to take into account the potential harmful impact of high-contact sports? Well, yes to all these. Yet there are still people out there willing to put you or your children at risk by denying the obvious links between playing high-contact sports and CTE. I speak of the National Hockey League, as detailed in the very thorough examination by HBO in the video. Why would they do this? Well, money, obviously. When the NFL settled a Class Action lawsuit against it, they ultimately agreed to pay nearly $1 Billion in damages to retired players (NFL Settlement Upheld). That is a lot of money, even for one of the most profitable and recognizable leagues in the world.

The NHL is not nearly as profitable as the NFL. In 2016, the NFL generated $13 Billion in revenue, while the National Hockey League generated merely $3.7 Billion (League Revenues). That is a large disparity, and shows why a league such as the NHL is unwilling to acknowledge the links between CTE and its highly violent sport. Now, I love the NHL as most of you know. I love playing hockey. But it is disappointing to see the league so adamantly reject the well-documented links that exist between its sport and CTE. It not only stands to hurt its players in the long run, but also its potential players.

The United States is a fickle beast when it comes to hockey. Canada thrives off their national past-time, but we Americans have yet to truly embrace it, which is odd because of its deep connection to beer. And Americans love beer, so why not hockey? Odd, I know. But lately a crop of exciting young players has been popping up, including Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and Seth Jones. If you don’t know these guys, look ’em up. They are exciting and phenomenally talented. And they come from places like Arizona and Texas, non-traditional locales that are seeing a rise in youth hockey interest.

However, as the game becomes more popular, just like that it can disappear. While youth hockey in America has seen steady participation increases almost every year since 1990 (USA Hockey), youth football has seen drastic drops in the numbers of young participants (Youth Football Declines). What is the difference between these two? I mean, they both are violent, high-pace, contact sports. The difference, it would seem, is that one sport has openly recognized the impact of CTE and the other has not.

So, Frontline Dad, what are you all about with this? Well, the bottom line is it affects all of us profoundly. We trust that sports leagues are looking out for ours and our kids’ best interests and safety. We make decisions about what sports our kids play based on what we see as being the best for their development, how much fun they are having, and how safe they are. If professional leagues like the NHL are hiding behind the evidence, or blatantly denying the evidence shows probable links, then it goes down the line to how serious people will take these claims. If the NHL says there is no cause for concern, then parents may say that that is good enough for them and allow their kids to play a sport without all the facts being presented. How can we make the best decision possible if we are being lied to?

Another aspect that, as both a parent and a player gives me cause for concern is the equipment. I wear a damn good helmet. The question then becomes: Could it be better? The video shows that the NHL would not even donate $1 million dollars per team towards the science of CTE, which can then be used to help develop better products to prevent CTE. So while my helmet is good, without the capacity to conduct extensive research, I don’t know if I truly have the best I possibly could have. If I can’t be sure that what I have is the best, how can I decide to put my child in something similar? We always want the best for our kids: the safest car seat, the best stroller, the best bottles, the cleanest foods. Why would I expect less with the equipment my kid puts on to protect themselves while playing the game they love and are suppose to be doing for fun?

Now, to be fair, there are other reasons why sports like football are seeing declines. Rising costs to play the games, more travel, just overall lack of national interest are all to blame for drop rates. However, sports like hockey cost just as much, if not significantly more to play, require longer, oftentimes earlier hours to play, and lots of travel from state to state. Yet they continue to see an uptick in interest. Let’s face it, there would be severe damage to this interest if the NHL comes out and admits its sport causes irreperable life-lasting harm.

We live in a modern society where we often take everything for granted. We take for granted that when our kids play sports, because we are so technologically evolved, they are playing with the best shit the earth has ever produced. I just want to remind everyone that that isn’t always the case and that there is still a long ways to go when it comes to sports, safety, and our kids. Knowledge is power! Or is it fundamental? Or maybe it’s just fundamentally powerful. Cheers!