January 29, 2015

Great news. I have confirmed with my judges a time slot for my presentation: April 6th and 11:45. I have sent this information forward to Mr. Correa.

Back to my research:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/nfl-sees-a-drop-in-concussions-but-problems-linger/

"Through the first 13 weeks of the season, a total of 96* concussions have been disclosed on team injury reports, down from 115 at the same point last season and 128 in 2012. At the current pace, teams are on track to report at least 122 concussions, a drop of nearly 20 percent from a year ago."

For once, good news is appearing. Concussion rates are actually down at the most competitive football level, something to be very happy about.

Dr. Cardenas, one of the doctors who sits on the head of the NFL's Neck and Spine committee, stated:

“In large part [drop in concussion rates] because of some of the intervention targeting of another athlete with the head is illegal,” Cardenas said. “The number of contact practices during the season has been reduced.”

Cardenas's quote is evidence that the widespread, stringent regulation placed in 2010 to make the game safer has been doing its job. I believe that even more can be done to reduce the concussion rate, the basis of my thesis project.

Cardenas has also commented on the player's pulling themselves out of games more than ever before:

“I’m really witnessing a culture shift where the athletes are taking better care of themselves"

Some problems are still lingering however:

"But despite the progress, the league continues to struggle with instances of players remaining on the field after a concussion. The NFL’s concussion protocol requires teams to sideline any player suspected of having a concussion, keeping them off the field for the rest of the game. According to the protocol, players must then pass a series of medical tests before they can return to play."

I've already talked about Jahleel Addae and how he returned to a game after suffering a concussion early on in the first quarter. One thing I have yet to talk about is concussion baseline testing. At the beginning of the year, players are made to take a baseline test to measure, if they ever have a concussion, there cognitive abilities. However, one huge issue with this is that many players a purposely doing poorly on there baseline tests that way they could pass concussion protocol easier. 

Another alarming and lingering problem is that the full story about concussing are almost never told. One-third of all concussions are left out of the injury report. When roughly one-third of head injuries are left off the list, there can be no check on who the missing names are, how quickly they’re returning to play, or whether the injury marks a repeat concussion for the player.

Here is the reasoning why this occurs: "Much of the gap can be explained by the way injuries are publicly reported. For example, teams don’t release injury reports until Week 1 of the regular season, meaning most concussions from training camp are left off the list. Likewise, it’s unclear how many concussions go unreported when an injured player’s team has a bye week and the player recovers before his next game. In that case, the player would not go on the injury report.Teams also stop releasing injury reports after their final game of the year. That means there is no public record of any injuries from the final regular-season game for the 20 teams that don’t make the playoffs. The same is true for playoff teams as they’re eliminated from postseason play"

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_27243298/nfl-concussion-protocol-hit-players-safety

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/concussion-watch/what-weve-learned-from-two-years-of-tracking-nfl-concussions/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/concussion-watch/#players_2014

http://kjzz.org/content/31693/white-house-concussion-summit-hits-home-arizona

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996114003325

http://hub.jhu.edu/2015/01/26/nfl-players-concussion-research

January 27, 2015

I emailed my two judges, Dr. Rossetti and Dr. Cook, the final presentation schedule.

I'm looking at recent news in my field to understand the direction the concussions crisis is headed. I finally found clarification with the NFL's concussions lawsuit.

 In August 2013, the NFL and players reached a $765 million settlement in all lawsuits over allegations that the NFL did not warn ex-players of the dangers of concussions despite prior knowledge of the harm that could come from head injuries. Players could choose to opt-in or opt-out of the settlement by Oct. 14, 2014.

So the settlement was reached in August of 2013 and the monetary value was constantly tinkered with up until maybe July of 2014 when $765 million was the set number. Players than had the option of opting in or out of the settlement. Opting in would mean receiving a fixed amount of money from the guidelines in the settlement. Some families have decided to opt out on the basis that their injuries deserve more compensation (individual lawsuits).

This is a quote I found very interesting and alarming by Houston Texan's owner Bob McNair:

“It was about protecting the brand," McNair told GQ. "Do we want the brand attacked on this for the next ten years? Or do we want to go ahead and take the high road? In effect, we don't think most of these concussions referenced even occurred in the NFL, but we're not going to complain about it."

"Take the high road"?! How is giving money to the thousands of NFL players who have suffered from brain damage "taking the high road"? He is completely right about how the settlement was all about "protecting the brand." Roger Goodell and the NFL will do everything in its power to protect the game of football in its current form.

I watched a video by SI titled "Have concussions stalled football's popularity at the youth level?"

http://www.si.com/more-sports/video/2015/01/20/concussions-stalling-football-popularity

I'll list some key facts from the video below:

1.  The head of the Texas Youth Football association said they had a 35% increase in youth football enrollment 
2. Participation nationwide, however, participation is down\ (one Texas league was gone)
3. Mike Ditka, NFL legend, would not let his son play football
4. Discussion now on how young is to young to play tackle football

I watched this AWFUL video about this one youth league called "Friday Night Tykes".

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/friday-night-tykes-coach-injured-767445

In the video, these youth players play with aggression and anger. The running back for one of the teams was tackled hard and went down to the ground in what to me looked like a concussion. The coaching staff literally said to the injured player "You alright" "Get up" "Don't quit on my now". So instead of caring about the player's safety, the coaches cared about the game. The opposing team's coach told his players to "keep sticking it to him" in reference to the injured player, that way they could render him a complete non-factor. This is just disgusting, and I will take this information into account when I write up my proposed changed to youth football legislation. Plain awful.


Next class I'll be looking into these articles:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/concussion-watch/#players_2014

http://hub.jhu.edu/2015/01/26/nfl-players-concussion-research

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996114003325

http://kjzz.org/content/94028/nfl-concussions-down-20-percent-2014-season

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_27243298/nfl-concussion-protocol-hit-players-safety

January 23, 2015

Lot's of housekeeping took place today, Mr. Correa talked until 11:55 today discussing important matters about thesis, graduation, prom, etc.


I was planning on talking about the articles I posted last class on this blog, but I need to focus on moving on with my project instead of just critiquing articles. Instead of talking about the problem, I need to now be focusing on the ways I can fix the problem.


I have my two judges so I'm going to send them the final presentation schedules and I will get that to Mr. Correa as soon as possible.


Right now, I want to focus on my final presentation's layout that way I know what remaining research I must accomplish to fill in the holes in my project.


Equipment and Technology - need to talk about implementation

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9875758/nfl-end-official-helmet-deal-riddell-2013-14-season

One big step in my direction is the fact that the NFL has no single "official" helmet sponsor. This was in due part to the ongoing concussion settlement:

"While the NFL reached a $765 million settlement with former players on its concussion litigation, thousands of former players are still suing Riddell, claiming the helmet manufacturer, among other things, overemphasized how much the helmet could prevent brain injury."

I want to look into the cost of implementing MIPS technology and helmets into the game and also technology that can record the amount of force a player receives from a tackle.

Rules and Regulation - need to implement Seahawk tackling


Start my draft for changes in the rulebook concerning spear tackling, and helmet to helmet collisions, etc.


Legislation - need to reform legislation, probably focus on Texas (reason being our state) and Mississippi (last state to pass legislation)


Next class I will get back into the swing of things and start posting my research.

Judges Update

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/16/what-male-athletes-can-learn-from-women-about-concussions/

http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2015/01/20/3613223/was-russell-wilson-evaluated-for-a-concussion-during-the-nfc-championship/

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/01/19/russell-wilson-possible-concussion-goes-untested-in-the-seahawks-packers-nfc-championship-game/

^links to articles to be discussed in the near future

Very good news, I now have 2 judges.


Dr. Cullum forwarded me to Dr. Heidi Rossetti who agreed to help me on my project.


Background on Dr. Rossetti: Dr. Rossetti obtained her undergraduate degree in Clinical Psychology at UT Dallas in 2003 with highest honors and earned her Master of Science degree at UT Southwestern in Rehabilitation Counseling Psychology.  She went on to obtain her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at UT Southwestern where she served as Chief Resident. Dr. Rossetti completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Neuropsychology at the University of Virginia from 2010 to 2012 where she served as Chief Fellow. She joined the UT Southwestern Faculty in 2012 where her departmental activities include neuropsychological/cognitive evaluation of persons with known or suspected neurological disorders. 

Dr. Rossetti's clinical expertise is in the area of neuropsychological assessment, with particular interest in working with individuals who have dementia, movement disorders, sports concussion, and brain injury.  Dr. Rossetti's research focuses on the relationship between vascular risk factors and development of mild cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as the early detection of mild cognitive impairment via neuropsychological screening measures.   

Dr. Chapman forwarded me to Dr. Lori Cook who agreed to help me on my project.

Background on Dr. Cook: Dr. Cook, a certified speech-language pathologist since 2003, specializes in conducting research and clinical cognitive-linguistic evaluations as well as interventions with children with neurologic communication disorders. Currently, Dr. Cook oversees the pediatric brain injury research programs at the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas, including coordination of two studies involving specialized evaluation and cognitive intervention for children and adolescents with acquired brain injury.

Dr. Cook has also served as site research coordinator for a National Institutes of Health-funded study investigating the long-term recovery of higher-level language skills as well as executive function abilities (e.g., self-regulation, planning, problem-solving) after brain injury, contributing to the development of new assessment and intervention tools. Additionally, she has been involved in studies examining working memory function and social cognition abilities during functional brain imaging (fMRI).

Overall, her research is focused on understanding the rehabilitative effects of long-term follow-up care, with the hope of developing a successful format for identifying, monitoring, and maximizing the potential of children with acquired brain injuries in order to help them be successful in their home, school, and community environments.

Friday Thesis

I spent the entire class period searching for my thesis judges.

Here is a list of the people I contacted and a description about them:

Dr. Munro Cullum: Dr. Cullum is a Clinical Neuropsychologist who specializes in the assessment of cognitive disorders. He is board-certified in Clinical Neuropsychology (ABPP/ABCN) and directs the Neuropsychology Program at UT Southwestern. Dr. Cullum also serves as the Chief of the Division of Psychology and Clinical Core Leader in the UTSW Alzheimer's Disease Center.  He is a past-president of the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology and the National Academy of Neuropsychology and is actively involved in research, teaching, and clinical practice in neuropsychology. His research includes investigations into cognitive dysfunction in aging and dementia, neuropsychiatric syndromes, traumatic brain injury and sports concussion. His lab is also involved in new cognitive test development and in telemedicine applications of neuropsychology.

Mickey Spagnola: a former sportswriter for the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald, he serves as the feature writer for DallasCowboys.com, tracking the daily activities of the Dallas Cowboys. Mickey writes articles and blogs for the site but also hosts "Talkin' Cowboys", one of two daily radio shows broadcast exclusively on DallasCowboys.com. However, during the offseason, "Talkin' Cowboys" usually airs only once a week.

Dr. Sandra Chapman: Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, Founder and Chief Director of the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas and author of Make Your Brain Smarter, is committed to maximizing cognitive potential across the entire lifespan. As a cognitive neuroscientist with more than 40 funded research grants and more than 200 publications, Dr. Chapman's scientific study elucidates and applies novel approaches to advance creative and critical thinking, strengthen healthy brain development, and incite innovation throughout life.


Dr. Jacob Resch: Dr. Jacob Resch is originally from Spirit Lake, IA. Dr. Resch completed his undergraduate degrees and Athletic Training and Health Promotions at South Dakota State University before traveling to study and work in London, England. After returning to the United States, Jacob completed his MS in Exercise and Sport Science at South Dakota State while working clinically for Orthopedic Institute in Sioux Falls, SD. Jacob then pursued his Ph.D. in Exercise Science at the University of Georgia investigating current and novel measures of sport concussion and became increasingly involved with the global efforts to expand the profession of athletic training. Following the completion of his doctorate, Jacob obtained an assistant professor position at the University of Texas at Arlington for four years where he taught within the Athletic Training Education Program and conducted research addressing sport concussion in middle school, high school, and collegiate athletes. In the fall of 2014 Jacob and his wife Celestial and son Maxwell moved to Charlottesville where he now serves as faculty of the University of Virginia Department of Kinesiology in the Fall of 2014 where he teaches in the Graduate Athletic Training Program and continues to investigate current and novel measures of concussion as part of the Brain Injury and Sport Concussion Institute. Jacob also serves as an active member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association International Committee and the World Federation of Athletic Training and Therapy.

Thesis Presentations Day 3

Today was the last day of thesis presentations.

I am thinking about possible ideas for my final presentation. My wish is to present to judges, possibly one NFL player (I'm thinking Cole Beasley, that's a reasonable reach) and one concussions advocate or possibly someone who deals with concussions in the NFL, like someone who works within the NFL. Awareness and letting people know about my topic is a crucial component of what I am trying to accomplish with my thesis project.

Thesis Presentation Day 2

I presented my midterm presentation today.

I will try to focus on securing judges and finalizing a final product to present in April. 

Sunday's Packers/Cowboys game gave me confidence that people aren't opposed to rule change. Just as people are screaming to take out the "Calvin Johnson Rule", soon mothers will be screaming to take out all rules that promote unnecessary, unsafe play. 

Thesis Presentation Day 1

Today was the first day of thesis presentations. 

I am excited to present next class on my topic. 

I'll take this time to wish my Denver Broncos good luck against the Colts this Sunday. Unite in Orange. Go Broncos. 

Midterm Presentation and Judges

Over the break I completed my midterm presentation. I am now in the process of reviewing it and going over it to make my presentation sound well rehearsed and professional. I also need to make sure it falls within the 5-10 minute time frame. In my presentation, I focus more in depth about the 3 subtopics I have been studying (Equipment/Technology, Rules and Regulation, and Legislation) and what I have learned up until the halfway point in the course.


I reviewed the judges information posted on Edomo once again and I am in the process of obtaining judges for my thesis presentation. I emailed Dr. Bellard from the Texas Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Group. He specializes in concussion management and is the assistant team physician for the Dallas Mavericks. Even though it is a long shot, I will try to contact Dr. Robert Cantu, a prominent figure in the fight for concussions safety in the NFL. I will spend time out of every class period from now on emailing and contacting professionals in my field in order to obtain a judge because of the fact that the professionals in my field are usually extremely busy individuals.