Chronic Traumatic Encephalitis

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
02/05/2018 at 11:22 • Filed to: None

https://concussionfoundation.org/CTE-resources/what-is-CTE

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/opinion/sunday/nfl-cte-brain-damage.html

O.C. watched Netflix yesterday. NFL is doomed, though POTUS 45 will claim the credit.

DISCUSSION (10)

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
02/05/2018 at 11:55

I read that NYT article yesterday. It was tough to get through.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn
02/05/2018 at 11:59

Check out Frontline: League of Denial

diplodicus > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
02/05/2018 at 12:03

I genuinely worry that I have this and my mental health will only deteriorate as I age. When I was growing up playing hockey we idolized guys like Scott Stevens and players like him. We were not kind to each others brains. I knew nothing about concussions.

I once locker boxed a team mate and got my ass beat, the next day when I went to get up for school I couldn’t stand without puking. I stayed home, and every time I got up to go to the bathroom or get water I’d puke. But I didn’t know at the time it was because of a bad concussion. I’ve been knocked out on the ice, woken up and didn’t even know why I was in a hockey arena. I had to look down at my jersey to figure out what team I was on. Got cussed out on the bench for not skating hard enough and finished the rest of the game barely functioning.

When I was 20 I had been at a party all day, and did a keg stand. When I stood up all the blood rushed out of my head and I passed out and hit my head on a snow mobile. Woke up being carried by strangers. That was the worst concussion by far. I stopped drinking like a year after that. Went through a period where the anxiety from the concussions was so bad I’d wake up in sweats in the middle of the night barely able to breath, and then go throw up. I saw a doctor about that and tried to tell them I thought it was due to concussions but they just brushed me off and gave me anti biotics. That’s the worst part, people don’t believe you. On the outside everything appears fine, but on the inside its not. I’m a lot better these days, I really think lifting and yoga help that. There are still some bad days, but compared to how they used to be it’s nothing. I just worry that some of the damage is irreversible and will only get worse as I age.

DipodomysDeserti > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
02/05/2018 at 12:16

I think there’s too much money in the NFL for it to go away. We still have boxing and UFC where the whole point is to give the other guy brain damage.

I played organized fooseball when I was younger and the guys that are really into it don’t care about stuff like this. Too much testosterone going around. I suffered two concussions as a Freshman in high school. First one was in practice. Kid speared me in the back of the helmet which was a huge no-no as we were only in helmets and I was the quarterback. Everything went black and when I got up I couldn’t remember any of our plays for about two minutes. Coaches never even sent me to the trainer.

Second one happened in our last game of the season. I rolled out to my weak side and had to rotate and make a pass. Got hit by two linemen in my helmet and was knocked out cold. I woke up face down with the other team’s trainer pinching my toes. I was out of it the rest of the game and ended up getting in a fistfight with one of my teammates after the game for an unknown reason.

I thought about coming back but decided to focus on baseball instead. A high schooler died playing football in AZ this year and it barely made national news. He was fatally injured on the same field where I suffered my second concussion. Scary stuff.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > diplodicus
02/05/2018 at 12:38

Wow; what a story. Just reading it makes me wanna throw up.

In the 70s and 80s, seeing stars was a symbol of manhood.

Thank you for sharing that. I never liked NFL or, for that matter, much of professional sporting. There’s concussion risk in any sport, but in football, the risk is present every play.

Not that CTE is out of the bag, I refuse to participate in any way. And those affected by CTE in NFL are disproportionately men of color, but that’s another issue.

Damn; difficult story.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > DipodomysDeserti
02/05/2018 at 12:50

“Just hit em! Get out there and hit em.”

That mentality is so deeply seated and the denial is monumental. Grownups still send their youth out onto the field and families of color see NFL as the ticket over the rainbow.

Concussions can happen in any sport, but in football, concussions can happen in every play.

And as for boxing, I thought brain damage was a qualification...

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
02/05/2018 at 20:24

I was talking with my BiL and neighbor over the holidays the CTE study. The neighbor played football in highschool and college and as his son is sized for football “yeah no way am i letting him play. the number of hits, i must have some.”

I know someone who spent a few years working on helmet development. The major issue is the helmets design almost needs to be custom formed to fit everyones head. Also for best results be dispoible like racing auto or motorcycle helmets. those two reasons are cost prohibative except for the nfl and most well funded college teams. also the fundemental problem of your head hitting something can only be reduced so much

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-football-youth-decline-met-20170904-story.html

I don’t think football is going to disappear, way too much money and attention, but I think its going to be experiencing a fundemental shift in teh attitude. towards the sport that can’t be overlooked.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/opinion/what-i-saw-as-an-nfl-ball-boy.html

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
02/05/2018 at 21:50

I like to consider the game of rugby. You look at a game, a test , I think they call it, maybe the All Blacks of New Zealand. Any one of those guys would make any player in the NFL look like Barney the Purple Elephant. And those rugby players do EIGHTY MINUTES OF GAME TIME APIECE . And they don’t have the concussion problems that NFL have. Why? Because no helmets and practically zero pads. Maybe a quarter-inch of foam on their shoulders. Maybe a strip of electrical tape to hold their ears down so they don’t get torn off. Result? They don’t lead with their head. The play and the tackling are fundamentally different. Consider the guys out fishing for IEDs in Iraq. The bomb might not blow up underneath their vehicle, but even within all of that protective armor, the shock wave still makes scrambled eggs out of their brains.

I’ve never been a fan of football, but now, I’m done. Guys are dying and families are being ruined and it’s disproportionately happening to, and with, people of color.

Thanks for listening.

And if you are going to watch the haka:

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
02/05/2018 at 22:51

there was a popular science article about a sports therapist(?) who wanted to remove the face sheilds on the helmets as if you watch game footage from the 50s/60/s they keep their head out of the way.

rugby seems to be safer, but even that sport is getting attention for head trauma.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/concussion/is-rugby-or-american-football-more-dangerous/

I hear people all the “we never wore helmets in the 60s and we survived” which I think is the dumbest fucking mentatlity to have with your kids. All the time I’ll yell at my dad for not wearing his safety goggles or earplugs, it drived me nuts when they’re 10 feet away. “I have stuff to do, I don’t think about that stuff”

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
02/05/2018 at 23:37

Dale Earnhardt: “I never wore a HANS device and I never got my brain stem ripped out.”