Seven Days In November: Concussions 24/7

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 11/16/2012 - 15:38. | comments

It's been a very busy seven days. Pretty much, all football, all concussions, all the time.

It began with a trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in last Friday's Aspen Institute roundtable on the future of youth and high school football, and back home.

Saturday and Sunday were spent getting the trailer for the new MomsTEAM football documentary, The Smartest Team, uploaded to a new website.

On Monday morning, after sharing my thoughts on Aspen, I turned my attention to preparing for a quick trip to Austin, Texas on Wednesday, where I was the after-dinner speaker at the end of a symposium on concussions put on by Core Health Systems.

It's been a very busy seven days. Pretty much all football, all concussions, all the time. But if there is anything MomsTEAM's Founder and Publisher has learned over the past twelve years of following the advances in our knowledge of concussion, it is that an "all-of-the-above" strategy has the best chance of making the game safer.

Gretchen Rose

Texans Celebrate Thanksgiving With the 4 Fs: Family, Friends, Food, and Football!

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Tue, 11/13/2012 - 21:50. | comments

The days are getting shorter. The leaves on the trees are turning beautiful shades of burnt orange, maroon, gold and plum. The election season is finally over, too. The temperature has dropped below 80 in Texas. For me, it is the best time of the year. Time to concentrate on the 4 Fs for the remaining weeks of the year: Family, Friends, Food, and, of course, Football.

Bountiful Feast

Pecan pie topped with dollop of whipped cream

Thanksgiving is all about the 4 Fs in Texas. Our turkeys are roasted, unless you are tailgating for the holiday. That bird is deep-fried in a propane cooker on asphalt in the parking lot.

Thanksgiving will be a bit different in Texas this year. While one mom from Dallas says it will still be celebrated with family, friends, food, and football, one tradition will be missing: for the first time in nearly a century, the University of Texas Longhorns won't be playing the Texas A & M Aggies.

Brooke de Lench

Aspen Institute Football Roundtable Was Valuable, But Changed Few Minds

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 11/12/2012 - 17:32. | comments

Last Friday, I participated in a roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C. conducted by the Aspen Institute's Sports & Society program called "Playing Safety: The Future of Youth Football?" It was moderated by ESPN's Tom Farrey and, in the phrase made famous by the movie Casablanca, rounded up all the usual suspects on concussion safety and football, including MomsTEAM concussion expert emeritus Dr. Bob Cantu, USA Football Executive Director Scott Hallenbeck, and NFL Player Association President DeMaurice Smith, among other luminaries from the world of football and journalism. I was indeed honored to be asked to join those debating the future of the sport.

The Aspen Institute's discussion on the future of youth and high school football rounded up the usual suspects, both those advocating against tackle football before age 14 or abolishing the sport altogether, and those saying that the best approach is to institute reforms so that teams can play smart, not scared.

MomsTeam's de Lench Joins Aspen Institute Roundtable On Future of Youth Football

MomsTEAM Founder and Publisher, Brooke de Lench, will be participating in an Aspen Institute roundtable discussion on the future of youth and high school football in the United States on Friday, November 9, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

Gretchen Rose

When A Player Is Hurt, Every Mom Feels Their Pain

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Sun, 10/28/2012 - 20:44. | comments

The hit was clean. The defensive end came off the line quickly and got around two offensive blockers. He met the running back in the backfield and they crashed together to the turf. The fans cheering the offense fell silent. The defense had held, forcing a fourth down. Time to call, in the words of the announcer, a "$10.00 cab ride" for the offense.

The play was over, but the defensive end and the running back were still down. It was a scene no fan wants to see. Even if your child isn't the one injured, a sobering thought runs through your mind anyway: that it could have been.

The play was over, but the defensive end and the running back were still down. It was a scene no fan wants to see. Even if your child isn't the one injured, a sobering thought runs through your mind anyway: that it could be.

NFHS Response to AAP Statement on Cheerleading Injuries

In a written response to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) release of a Position Statement with guidelines to help prevent cheerleading injuries, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) stated that it agreed with many of the recommendations and pointed to its efforts over more than 20 years to minimize risk for high school cheerleaders.

Many Cheerleading Injuries Preventable, Pediatric Group Says

The increased popularity of cheerleading as a competitive, year-round sport involving complex acrobatic stunts has been accompanied by a steady increase in the number and severity of injuries, many of which could be prevented by taking simple safety precautions, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Cycling's Doping Problem: A Clean Athlete's Persepective

In the wake of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, a two-time Olympic track cyclist says she never regretted her decision not to dope because she can look back at her entire cycling career and know that everything she accomplished was clean, and be proud.

Relative Age Effect Reversal Found At Elite Level of Canadian Hockey

Much has been made of the relative age effect (RAE) - that birth month is destiny for sports achievement - but the evidence is far from conclusive. It is true that some sports team rosters across the globe have a lot of players born in the first few months of the year, but there is more to this phenomenon than originally understood.

Girls May Be No Worse Off After Sports Concussions Than Boys, Study Finds

Girls don't appear to be worse off after sports-related concussion than boys, either in terms of concussion symptoms or on neurocognitive tests measuring reaction time and visual memory, a new study finds.

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