Slapshot

It wasn’t too long ago that players in the National Hockey League and university leagues across North America were skating freely without any kind of cranial protection. In fact, up until twelve years ago, many players still opted to have the wind in their hair until both leagues made it mandatory to wear a helmet.

It seems almost ridiculous to think back of a university league when such big, burly men who were ignorant enough to not worry of the damage they could cause their brains when participating in such a high-contact sport. In a game where people cheer when a player is crushed into the glass, upended by a stick or felled by a hard right hook in a heated fight, protecting your head seems to be a given.

And yet, not much has changed from the dangerous era of 1970’s and 80’s hockey.

Many medical studies and awareness campaigns arose in light of the recent death of Ontario hockey player Don Sanderson. Sanderson died of traumatic head injuries sustained when he was involved in a fight during the game, lost his balance, and hit his head on the ice. Had his helmet stayed on, Sanderson might still be alive.

Despite the obvious dangers of engaging in a high contact sport such as football or hockey, another injury resulting from the vicious style of play is a more silent epidemic, but can have the same devastating effects: concussions.

The Mayo Clinic defines concussions as a traumatic injury that occurs when the brain forcefully hits the inside of the cranium wall, usually as a result of a violent or forceful blow. The Clinic divides concussions into three separate categories, based on severity. In a grade 1 concussion, the athlete does not lose consciousness but will experience dizziness or nausea. The symptoms usually disappear after 15 minutes, but the long term repurcussions of the concussion are still prominent. A grade 2 concussion is classified when an athlete is still dazed and nauseated from 15-minutes to an hour after the initial hit. This concussion can cause symptoms (nausea, vomiting, amnesia) that last for two weeks or longer. Grade 3 concussions cause an athlete to lose consciousness for a significant period of time. These concussions are the most serious, as they can cause serious changes in behaviour and sleep patterns, often rendering the person extremely aggressive and agitated. Symptoms of a grade 3 concussion can last for up to six months, and often athletes sustaining this kind of concussion also suffer from post-concussion syndrome, causing concussion symptoms to be recurring for their entire lives.

For one certain hockey player, these recurring symptoms are a real threat.

(all photos courtesy of The Concordian Archives)

A University of Montreal study warns players that suffering even just one concussion can cause difficulties in cognitive function and motor skills, thirty years later. Not much research was done before on the long term effects of concussions, but now the players of the helmet-less era are beginning to age, and the long-term side effects of the injury are causing concern.

With the aging of varsity football and hockey players, the emergence of specific mental/physical health problems are being linked to head injuries sustained, most times, more than thirty years ago.

Brain, a medical journal focusing on neurology, studied 19 former athletes (now in their 50s and 60s) who had suffered at least one or two concussions during their athletic careers thirty years ago, and compared them to 21 former athletes who had never been concussed.

The research showed that the athletes who had sustained concussions had poorer memory, shorter attention spans, and reduced motor skills. This study becomes even more relevant when the same researchers studied 19 current athletes who had recently suffered a concussion, and results showed that the athletes had the same motor competence and memory as athletes who were never concussed.

Jon Gellar is a therapist at Concordia University, and has treated many star athletes at Concordia. He has seen first hand how a concussion can affect an athlete.

“Immediately following a concussion, an athlete may lose consciousness. If he doesn’t, he’ll definitely experience what we call the ‘birdies’—you know, like the little birds in cartoons that fly around our head,” Gellar explained, “The athlete can be dazed and hazy.”

“We shine a flashlight into their eyes to detect if their pupils are dilating or not—it’s a basic function of the nervous system, to make he pupil smaller when a bright light is shone in it. Usually, the athletes’ pupils will stay the same if he has a concussion, because the blow to the head interrupted the normal functions of his nervous system. It’s also why he usually has no idea what day or year it is.”

Anywhere from an hour to four hours after the concussion is sustained, Gellar explained, the true symptoms will begin to kick in: nausea, vomiting, intense dizziness.

Dr. Alain Ptito is an assistant professor in the department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University, in Montreal.

“The problem with concussions is that we know the immediate symptoms,” he said, “But any time your brain suffers that kind of hit, you have to believe that the repercussions won’t be short term.”

“Unfortunately, it’s something we’re only figuring out now,” he said.

Dr. Ptito said that a grade 3 concussion, categorized by a loss of consciousness on the part of the athlete, is the most severe.

“Your brain has been smacked so hard that it temporarily shuts down,” he said, “How can that not have long term effects on your overall health?”

Thought they may be the most severe, “make no mistake,” Dr. Ptito warns, “A concussion is the brain hitting the inside of the cranial wall due to an excessive outside force. No matter the grade or degree, it’s going to affect you.”

(image courtesy of Google search)

It would seem, then, that short-term symptoms of concussions can turn into long-term health issues, thirty years down the line. While current athletes who had suffered concussions were equal with non-concussed athletes in terms of motor skills and memory, in the long term, the concussed athletes slid down a slippery slope of mental issues and physical setbacks.

In a recent interview granted to The Hockey News, former NHL tough guy Keith Primeau weighed in on the severity of concussions.

Primeau, a 15-year NHL veteran who was forced to retire due to recurring post-consussion syndrome symptoms, knows how much the head injuries can change your life.

“I contracted the flu this week, and everything went right to my head. And the (concussion) symptoms start to come back; the headaches and pressure were extreme, but you also got that sense your wires were crossed, and your thought process was interrupted,” he told thehockeynews.com

By his own admission, it took Primeau awhile to realize that symptoms that he suffers from now are related to head injuries that he sustained more than 15 years ago. Severe depression and suicide attempts, for example, was something that he didn’t connect to post concussion syndrome until a University of North Carolina study examined the after-effects of concussions on 3,600 former NFL players. The research concluded that, aside from disintegrating mental and physical health, concussions also led to bouts of depression and suicide attempts.

“Depression was a tremendous part of it for me, but I had a really strong support group, including my wife Lisa,” he said. “And I give her a lot of credit for putting up with me. I wouldn’t paint my picture as all doom-and-gloom or extremely severe, but I know I had some outbursts that were out of character, and on reflection, were a result of concussions.”

Keith Primeau, courtesy of Google search

Concussions are a serious part of professional impact sports, yet the injury seems to be one that is more silenced. More and more star players in university hockey are being encouraged to “heal faster” and continue to play games despite suffering the serious head injury. The repercussions of their actions and injuries now will affect them for the rest of their life—but it may already be too late.

It wasn’t too long ago that players in the National Hockey League and university leagues across North America were skating freely without any kind of cranial protection. In fact, up until twelve years ago, many players still opted to have the wind in their hair until both leagues made it mandatory to wear a helmet.

It seems almost ridiculous to think back of a university league when such big, burly men who were ignorant enough to not worry of the damage they could cause their brains when participating in such a high-contact sport. In a game where people cheer when a player is crushed into the glass, upended by a stick or felled by a hard right hook in a heated fight, protecting your head seems to be a given.

And yet, not much has changed from the dangerous era of 1970’s and 80’s hockey.

Many medical studies and awareness campaigns arose in light of the recent death of Ontario hockey player Don Sanderson. Sanderson died of traumatic head injuries sustained when he was involved in a fight during the game, lost his balance, and hit his head on the ice. Had his helmet stayed on, Sanderson might still be alive.

Despite the obvious dangers of engaging in a high contact sport such as football or hockey, another injury resulting from the vicious style of play is a more silent epidemic, but can have the same devastating effects: concussions.

The Mayo Clinic defines concussions as a traumatic injury that occurs when the brain forcefully hits the inside of the cranium wall, usually as a result of a violent or forceful blow. The Clinic divides concussions into three separate categories, based on severity. In a grade 1 concussion, the athlete does not lose consciousness but will experience dizziness or nausea. The symptoms usually disappear after 15 minutes, but the long term repurcussions of the concussion are still prominent. A grade 2 concussion is classified when an athlete is still dazed and nauseated from 15-minutes to an hour after the initial hit. This concussion can cause symptoms (nausea, vomiting, amnesia) that last for two weeks or longer. Grade 3 concussions cause an athlete to lose consciousness for a significant period of time. These concussions are the most serious, as they can cause serious changes in behaviour and sleep patterns, often rendering the person extremely aggressive and agitated. Symptoms of a grade 3 concussion can last for up to six months, and often athletes sustaining this kind of concussion also suffer from post-concussion syndrome, causing concussion symptoms to be recurring for their entire lives.

For one certain hockey player, these recurring symptoms are a real threat.

A University of Montreal study warns players that suffering even just one concussion can cause difficulties in cognitive function and motor skills, thirty years later. Not much research was done before on the long term effects of concussions, but now the players of the helmet-less era are beginning to age, and the long-term side effects of the injury are causing concern.

With the aging of varsity football and hockey players, the emergence of specific mental/physical health problems are being linked to head injuries sustained, most times, more than thirty years ago.

Brain, a medical journal focusing on neurology, studied 19 former athletes (now in their 50s and 60s) who had suffered at least one or two concussions during their athletic careers thirty years ago, and compared them to 21 former athletes who had never been concussed.

The research showed that the athletes who had sustained concussions had poorer memory, shorter attention spans, and reduced motor skills. This study becomes even more relevant when the same researchers studied 19 current athletes who had recently suffered a concussion, and results showed that the athletes had the same motor competence and memory as athletes who were never concussed.

Jon Gellar is a therapist at Concordia University, and has treated many star athletes at Concordia. He has seen first hand how a concussion can affect an athlete. Listen as he explain what happens in the brain when an athlete sustains a concussion:

(JON AUDIO)

It would seem, then, that short-term symptoms of concussions can turn into long-term health issues, thirty years down the line. While current athletes who had suffered concussions were equal with non-concussed athletes in terms of motor skills and memory, in the long term, the concussed athletes slid down a slippery slope of mental issues and physical setbacks.

In a recent interview granted to The Hockey News, former NHL tough guy Keith Primeau weighed in on the severity of concussions.

Primeau, a 15-year NHL veteran who was forced to retire due to recurring post-consussion syndrome symptoms, knows how much the head injuries can change your life.

“I contracted the flu this week, and everything went right to my head. And the (concussion) symptoms start to come back; the headaches and pressure were extreme, but you also got that sense your wires were crossed, and your thought process was interrupted,” he told thehockeynews.com

By his own admission, it took Primeau awhile to realize that symptoms that he suffers from now are related to head injuries that he sustained more than 15 years ago. Severe depression and suicide attempts, for example, was something that he didn’t connect to post concussion syndrome until a University of North Carolina study examined the after-effects of concussions on 3,600 former NFL players. The research concluded that, aside from disintegrating mental and physical health, concussions also led to bouts of depression and suicide attempts.

“Depression was a tremendous part of it for me, but I had a really strong support group, including my wife Lisa,” he said. “And I give her a lot of credit for putting up with me. I wouldn’t paint my picture as all doom-and-gloom or extremely severe, but I know I had some outbursts that were out of character, and on reflection, were a result of concussions.”

(WRITTEN PART ABOUT INTERVIEW WITH DR. ALAIN PTITO)

(PICTURE)

(conclusion)

Concussions are a serious part of professional impact sports, yet the injury seems to be one that is more silenced. More and more star players in university hockey are being encouraged to “heal faster” and continue to play games despite suffering the serious head injury. The repercussions of their actions and injuries now will affect them for the rest of their life—but it may already be too late.

Man I hope this works…

I was not a fan of the Misty Morning Hounds soundslide. While some would argue that seeing visual pictures that coincide with the narrative was helpful, I found the entire piece to be a bit cliche. For instance–showing a man playing the bagpipes, when the sound of the bagpipes begin? The visual is not necessary because the bagpipes are such a distinct sound that your mind is visualizing it anyway–the actual picture hits you like a brick wall and disrupts the flow of the entire piece. Also, showing silverware and champagne glasses while saying “celebrations” is cheesy and cliched, and it takes away from the soundslide. Sometimes, simply alluding to something is key, rather than smacking your viewer upside the head with it.

I liked displaced to Kabul much better. This creator understood the nuances of subtlety. For instance, when speaking of displaced families–rather than show an Afghan family moving their things, we are presented with a picture of a mother and her daughter, with clothes hanging in the background. It’s subtle and not obvious, but the reader understands the point. These people may have a place to live, but they don’t have a home.

I’m undecieded on whether the monotone narrative adds to the story, or renders it lifeless. On the one hand, it is a heavy subject matter, and a peppy or even a strong voice would clash with the story. I think I like the fact that the narrator is almost apologetic in his speech, as if he knows the reader is captivated by the photos, and he’s disturbing their observations.

Brock McGillis, backup goaltender for the Concordia Stingers, speaks about his severe concussion and how it still affects his life today.

onlinejournalism1

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When I went through the first part of the course, I thought it was a little redundant and it stated the obvious. I had learned a lot about ambient and natural sound and the ways they can enhance a story when I took a Radio News class, so a lot of it for me was very repetitive.

I was really interested in the second part of it though, particularly “Asking the Right Questions” I am very used to print journalism, where I can ask a question and if the answer is incomplete, I can reference what we were talking about in square brackets. In audio stories, you dn’t have that luxury–and the interviewer has to strategically word their questions so that the subject gives full, complete answers. I did a little experiment tonight at the hockey game, in my post-game interviews with the players. I really paid attention to the way I structured my questions, and tried to verbalize them in a way that required the player to answer in full sentences. Rather than say “You scored the game winning goal, how did that feel?” I had to say “You got a great pass from ____ near the end of the third, why don’t you walk me through what happened next?” When someone is used to print journalism, grabbing usable audio clips can be a challenge.

I had also never really considered ethical dilemmas when recording audio, and I’m still not sure that I agree with the points raised. I understand that it is misleading to have traffic noise in the background that is not from LA, if your story is on traffic in LA. However, if the point of ambient or natural sound is to enhance the overall effect of the piece, then I don’t see the harm. Traffic is traffic. A park is a park, and the noises tend to be the same. I don’t see anything ethically wrong with it.