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Concussions: Are we using our heads?

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Written by Joe Kleinsasser Tuesday, 26 October 2010 16:59

Statistics can be mind-numbing. Some, though, are downright scary.

According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the annual incidence of football-related concussion in the United States is estimated at 300,000, and nearly 45,000 football-related head injuries were serious enough to be treated at U.S. hospital emergency rooms in 2009.

Researchers at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and Ohio State University reported that 15.8 percent of football players sustaining a concussion severe enough to cause loss of consciousness returned to play the same day.

Lisa Bakhos, an ER physician in Neptune, N.J., said that although awareness has increased, many parents, coaches and players still don’t...

Pros have problems, too

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Written by Joe Kleinsasser Tuesday, 12 October 2010 15:16

It’s inevitable. Kids who love sports can’t help but dream about becoming a professional athlete. Never mind that the dream is usually unrealistic. Hope springs eternal when you’re young.

I don’t think the ridiculous money paid to athletes is necessarily the primary motivation for someone 10 to 12 years old. It’s more about the fame and glory associated with playing a game before thousands of fans in the best stadiums in the world. What’s not to like about fame and fortune?

In reality, fantasy has a nasty habit of turning into reality. Of the athletes who make it to prime time on the stage of stardom, many find that stardom is nothing more than fools’ gold.

Elite athletes marry at about the same rate (73 percent) as...

Win our lose, keep your perspective

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Written by Joe Kleinsasser Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:16

Let me state up front that I’ve never been a good loser. Whether playing checkers, Ping-Pong or a game of “HORSE” on the basketball court, I played to win.

I also was a lousy loser when my favorite college or pro teams lost big games. As a kid, I can remember tears running down my face after watching my team lose a football bowl game.

On the plus side, I don’t recall throwing something and breaking the TV or losing friends over a game of Ping-Pong. Still, losing hurt… a lot.

Officiating basketball is challenging because no one is perfect, and I hate mistakes, especially mine.

As an official, I don’t experience the same emotions as players and coaches who find themselves on the winning or losing side of the scoreboard...

Logic isn’t always the end result in big-time sports

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Written by Joe Kleinsasser Tuesday, 14 September 2010 18:30

It’s clear that when the Big 12 will have only 10 schools in its conference next year and the Big 10 will have 12 teams, something doesn’t add up for these institutions of higher education. At the very least, math doesn’t appear to be their strong suit.

Perhaps the Big 12 will call itself the Big XII – II, and the Big 10 will be the Big X + II.

Here are some other thoughts and ideas that may cause you to stop and go, “Say what?”

• From a fan on The Onion Web site: “Let me get this straight—the NCAA is going to expand the basketball tournament to 96 teams before expanding the football tournament to four?”

As it turns out, the NCAA is only expanding the basketball tournament to 68 teams next year.

• Quote by...

Tabor’s Brubacher still prefers soccer

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Written by Joe Kleinsasser Tuesday, 31 August 2010 16:56

Here’s a pop quiz: What was the biggest news in sports this summer?

If your answer is the LeBron James one-hour, made-for-TV event announcing his decision to play for Miami, you’re wrong.

If you said the changing landscape in major college athletic conferences, you’re still wrong.

From a global perspective, the biggest news in sports this summer was the World Cup.

Having played college soccer at Tabor College decades ago, I have a soft spot in my heart for the sport, so I’m not unbiased. Neither is Tabor soccer coach Grant Brubacher, but I asked him for some observations about playing and coaching the sport.

His dad, Don Brubacher, wasn’t coaching soccer while Grant attended Tabor, but Grant said, “Having a father that...