Youth Sports

In class on Monday we had a presentation on the different disciplines in youth sports. Jerico talked about the biology discipline, in how the birth-date affected youth sports. In a Study he found it talked about how for kids that were able to get into the All-Stars teams and play better were kids that were born in the earlier part of the year from January-June. He then talked about another study that said those same kids by the time they reach high school usually aren't the best anymore, and the ones that weren't all-stars come up and pass them.  I thought this was interesting, I liked what he said that in sports a lot of success is dependent on working hard. So you may have some kids that have the natural talent, but you also have the ones that are going to work as hard as they can and still succeed.
Joe talked about the psychology aspects in youth sports. He talked about the Expectancy effect. which looks at the motivation of an individual and how they behave. It was kind of like I mentioned before those who put more time into a certain sport will do better. Joe also mentioned that those who get the extra attention were better than everyone else. He then talked about some characteristics of people who do well in certain sports. Two that stuck out to me were motivation and ambition. You usually have to have these characteristics in sports if you want to succeed.
Robert talked also talked about psychology. He talked about kids that get to involved in sports (specialize at a young age) usually don't want to do it anymore. So in the article it talked about how parents need to listen to what there kids want, and let them play a variety of sports until they want to specialize in a certain one.
Wesley talked about how kids are playing sports at a younger and younger age. This can sometimes cause chronic stress in kids and that they also shouldn't specialize until high school.
Akshondre talked about the business side of recruiting in youth sports. He told some stories of young kids who had be recruited at a young age, and by the time they got to college they were no longer in the spotlight. He talked about that recruiting has changed a lot over the past years.
I thought this group brought up some interesting ideas to think about with kids sports. I like how they talked about the different disciplines that you can find.

"This Is Your Brain on Football" Part 2

Reading more on this topic was article titled Ted Johnson's Brain on Football by Robert Sanchez. In this article Sanchez shows how a star player from the Patriots Ted Johnson went from being a top linebacker, to being addicted to pain killers and suffering memory loss. When he went to go see specialists they found PCS (post-concussion syndrome) which can lead to dementia and Alzheimer's  disease. From being hit and having several concussions, Ted Johnson would then suffer for the rest of his life. 

Another article was written by Jane Leavy titled The Woman Who Would Save Football. In this article it talks about Dr. Ann McKee who is also doing research on the effects that repeated hits in football can have on the brain. Her studies are finding the same thing that Dr. Omalu and his team found, buildup of tau proteins in the brain. She has also found early damage in the brain of  18 year old's who were playing football as well. Once again she has tried to get the word out, but has been met with harsh reviews and doubt. 

What does this mean?

Could this be the end of the NFL? Although met with criticism of the research. More and more pathologists are finding the same evidence. It is not just the huge helmet to helmet hits, its the small sub-concussions over a players career. There are even studies that are looking to see if steroids may cause CTE in combination with concussions. With more and more evidence coming to light the NFL needs to accept what is going on, and take more initiative to help curb the problem. I believe education is key. Coaches need to be educated on what the risks are. If the players are formally educated on the risks, many may choose not to play, it may not make a difference to some. It is only fair that players are educated so they can make that decision. Maybe the game will need to change, and stricter rules put into place. Overall it has become an issue that has to be addressed not swept under the rug. 

"This Is Your Brain on Football"

X-RAY image by Nick Veasay

This Is Your Brain on Football an article written by Jeanne Marie Laskas talks about a forensic pathologist, and many others who are concerned on why there are certain football players that display symptoms of aggression and memory loss, and different kinds of medical issues after being retired. The article discusses the struggle and the grueling efforts of the scientists to get the word out about CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) which is a buildup of tau proteins that you see in Alzheimer's patients. Which can result from repeated concussions. The article also focuses on the NFL organization MTBI (NFL's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee)  and there unwillingness to help and acknowledge the problem. Even though by 2009 they have come around somewhat into admitting what may be happening. There are many different disciplines that can be seen throughout this article,

• Psychology: This discipline would focus on why the behavioral changes were occurring. Why pro athletes went from being wealthy and successful and healthy, to having aggression and other issues.
• Biology/Chemistry: In this discipline they would look at the effects that concussions have on the brain. What injuries cause the brain to form tau proteins, and the chemical alterations that occur
• Business: In the article it talks about how Mike Webster was only given partially disability by the NFL. So this discipline would look at how the NFL ran there business  and what was there "qualifications" for receiving disability.
• Communication Mass/Human: This discipline could look at how media reported the findings. Human communication could look at the interactions between the scientists and the NFL.
• Politics: This discipline could look into how the NFL organization is ran, and the politics that go into running a massive company. The power they are able to hold over others.   

Why am I here?

Grandma's Favorite Cute Boys in Uniform

According to my grandmother there is only THREE things you need to know about sports

1. Sports is nothing more than cute boys in uniforms
2. Sports is nothing more than cuter boys in uniforms
3. Last but not least, you guessed it, sports is nothing more than the cutest boys in uniforms  (or vice versa if your a boy)

But really (emphasis on the butt :)), there is a lot more to sports. I am writing this blog to integrate the many different disciplines in sports--not just sports the physical game, but business, economics, medicine,  politics and more.