Nov. 21

Here is the response I formulated to this question Mr. Correa posed to me:

"Isn't there a higher instance of concussions in soccer? I think it would be interesting to find information (about misinformation) about football and its connection to brain injury.

The Lebron thing is media hype, unfortunately. But you are correct in your analysis."

There is a very high instance of concussions in soccer, but it is still second to that of football. 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-07/soccer-concussions-are-more-frequent-than-you-think

Here is actually a link that talks about how concussions in soccer are more common than people think, yet it is still not at the level of football.

Also, Hilderaldo Bellini, former Brazil Captain and World Cup Champion, who recently passed away was the first professional soccer player to have CTE. So, what I found interesting is the fact that the concussion rate in soccer is relatively high, yet only one player has shown signs of CTE (and this is still somewhat disputed, some sources are saying his death was caused by Alzheimer's disease which culminated in a cardiac arrest, I think someone out there that was reporting the story when it came out was just trying to create speculation). The way concussions in soccer are managed is much better than the way they are tackled in the NFL, but that may just be due to the nature of the game. Football players tend to neglect their health more and try to play the following week, which can be extremely difficult if a team has a Thursday night game. At least on the professional level, soccer teams tend to have an agglomerate of highly paid, well trained players. In football, we can have teams like the Raiders or the Jaguars which are primarily built on young players and rookies who haven't played at a high level. So there is less stress on soccer players to play the following week, while if someone like a Dez Bryant or Josh Gordon is to miss a week there goes the entire team's passing attack.

Also, as you probably know, Derrick Rose is now taking flak for the comments he made about his long term health. I'll talk more about this in a future blog.

I'm putting this on my blog because the question was very insightful, which forced me to respond (and since I tend to keep going on and on my response ended up being basically another blog post).

To expand on the Derrick Rose story, this is what he said that caused people to label him as "soft";

"I think a lot of people don't understand that when I sit out it's not because of this year. I'm thinking about long term. I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball." 

His teammate, Joakim Noah, came to his defense:

"We're a group that's gone through a lot," Noah said. "Just looking at [the situation] as a teammate is just frustrating because I feel like sometimes he's portrayed as something that he's not. You don't come back from the injuries that he's coming back from without an unbelievable commitment ... just watching the league and the power that [the media] have. Sometimes you guys can really portray somebody as something he's not, and to me that's a little disappointing just because I know how much he cares about this game."

So how are the Bulls doing this year? Oh, they are just 8-4 and 3rd in the Eastern Conference. People forget that team sports has the word TEAM right in front of the word sports. Rose's absence can almost be seen as a good thing, for Jimmy Butler has developed into an elite player putting up 21.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.6 apg, and 1.5 stlpg while shooting 52% from the field, an incredible leap from career averages. Media portrayal can be awful, but at least awareness of athlete's health is at an all time high. But there comes a point where awareness isn't enough to change established guidelines. And that time is now.