Last May, Boogaard’s brothers discovered his body in his Minneapolis apartment. He was 28, and the cause of death was an accidental drug overdose. We are all responsible for our own actions, but I’d argue that Boogaard’s particular role in hockey is what ultimately led to his demise.

The New York Times basically made the same case in a three-part, Pulitzer-Prize worthy profile of Boogaard, “Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer,” that ran in December.  It’s a shocking, horrifying story about what it means to be an enforcer in the National Hockey League, and what it did to Boogaard’s brain.

The series is especially important because while there’s been a lot of attention paid to the long-term impact of concussions on pro football players, the effect on hockey players has only come into the spotlight recently. Why?

After Boogaard’s death, two other pro hockey enforcers, young guys in their prime, committed suicide. As they say in the newspaper business, three’s a trend. People believed the deaths were no coincidence, and were sad proof of the devastating impact that fighting and concussions have on enforcers. 

The first part of The Times series, “A Boy Learns to Brawl,” describes how Boogaard saw hockey as his calling ever since he was a kid in rural Saskatchewan, Canada. His skills playing the game were not particulary pro-worthy, but his fighting ability was.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/sports/hockey/derek-boogaard-a-boy-learns-to-brawl.html

That installment takes up the entire first page of The Times sports section, illustrated with just a small photo of Boogaard as a 2-year-old.

Part Two of the series, “Blood on the Ice,” chronicles why other players feared 6-foot-8 Boogaard so much. His fist should have been classified as a lethal weapon, like a boxer’s. Just ask Todd Fedoruk about that. He described for The Times how one punch from Boogaard shattered the bones in his face. Doctors had in insert metal plates and mesh on the right side of his head.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/sports/hockey/derek-boogaard-blood-on-the-ice.html

“The thought of Boogaard’s right fist kept rival enforcers awake at night,” wrote John Branch, the author of the series. 

I’m still astounded by the role that enforcers have in hockey. As The Times pointed out, hockey leagues in other nations don’t permit such fighting. The justification is just absurd, even when the newspaper explains the logic.

“The best way to protect top players from violent onslaughters, teams have long believed, is the threat of more violence, like having a missile in a silo,” according to The Times.

These fights take a toll on enforcers, including Boogaard. They sustain concussions, but try to hide those injuries. They don’t want to ruin their careers by being perceived as prone to head injuries. According to The Times, Boogaard “likely had dozens of concussions before his death in May.”

Like most enforcers, Boogaard’s hands were totally mangled. His father said that when Boogaard fought, his knuckles would be pushed up to his wrists, and had to be “manipulated” back in place, according to The Times. His right hand was covered in scar tissue.

On top of all this, Boogaard began talking prescription pain killers for a back injury. He became addicted, and wound up in rehab. He later underwent surgery on his nose, and was prescribed Percodet. Boogaard was such a huge man, he needed to take eight to 10 of the pills for them to have an effect, The Times reported. He wound up in rehab again.

The photo on Part 2 of the series depicts Boogaard with a bloody nose.

But that’s nothing compared to the photo in Part 3, “A Brain ‘Going Bad.’” It’s a picture of Boogaard’s bright pink brain. His family donated that organ to the Bedford V.A. Medical Center in Massachusetts, for study.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/sports/hockey/derek-boogaard-a-brain-going-bad.html

Doctors determined that Boogaard had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease whose symptoms are similar to Alzheimer’s, according to The Times. CTE has been linked to repeated concussions, and has been found in the brains of 20 deceased National Football League players and boxers.

But most of those boxers and football players were older, as were three other hockey players whose brains had been tested and found to have CTE. Boogaard was a young guy.

In a conference call to Boogaard’s family last October, scientists said they “were shocked to see so much damage in someone so young. It appeared to be spreading through his brain. Had Derek Boogaard lived, they said, his condition likely would have worsened into middle-age dementia,” The Times reported.

In detail, that third installment of the series details the personality changes that Boogaard’s family noticed in him, the events leading to his death, and exactly what damage scientists found in his brain. 

This series from The Times is a must-read for those interested in sports, concussions and long-term brain injury. It is wonderfully written and researched, an explanation of a tragedy.

But perhaps this quote from the story, from one of the heads of the Center for the Study of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University, sums it all up in terms of athletes: “They are trading money for brain cells.”        

The league, according to The New York Times, has anted up several million dollars to produce the TV spot and a companion website, nfl.com/evolution. It looks like it is an attempt to rehabilitate the NFL’s image.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/sports/football/nfl-to-address-head-injuries-in-commercial.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=sports

The NFL has 120 seconds of very, very valuable commercial avails on NBC during the big game, which is pitting the New York Giants against the New England Patriots.  The Times reported that 30 seconds of ad time during the game is selling for an average $3.5 million. But the NFL  will still devote half of its ad time, 60 second, to its safety spot.

A cynic might question the NFL’s timing and motives.

The league is now facing a dozen lawsuits from ex-players who allege that the NFL hid, or ignored, evidence that repeated concussions can cause permanent brain damage. In fact, The Times quoted a lawyer who is representing some of those players. He believes the TV spot will paint an unrealistic, rosy picture about how the NFL has been addressing player safety for years. 

The ad was directed by a talented TV actor/director, Peter Berg, who was the force behind the high-school football drama “Friday Night Lights,” The Times reported. It will run at the end of the third quarter of the game, and will depict the sports “evolution,” in terms of gear and rules.

The commercial with apparently end with a comment by Ravens player Ray Lewis, who The Times reported will say, “Here’s to making the next century safer and more exciting. Forever forward. Forever football.”

In another interesting tidbit, The Times said that the players’ union and the NFL are talking about devoting much of the $100 million they have for medical research, as part of their contract, to the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health. That money would go toward research on concussions.

The commercial will probably be well produced and memorable, but it won’t make a batch of lawsuits disappear.   

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/us-panel-mulls-whether-to-merge-nfl-player-concussion-lawsuits-against-the-football-league/2012/01/26/gIQAxawGSQ_story.html

There were numerous press reports, including one by the Associated Press, on the hearing that took place before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Miami. 

At that proceeding, attorneys for the NFL and the suing ex-players argued that the cases should be consolidated for pretrial matters before Judge Anita Brody of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  She is located in Philadelphia, where the first players lawsuits over concussions were filed.      

The panel in Miami reserved judgment on consolidating the suits.

At least 300 players, and roughly that equivalent in terms of wives and family members, have charged that the NFL for years knew, and downplayed, the fact that repeated concussions can cause long-term damage to the brain. In retirement, many of these players are getting early-onset dementia, memory loss, depression and degenerative brain disease. 

Among those who are suing are former star players such as Lem Barney, Otis Anderson and Marvin Jones. But there was only one ex-player in court in Miami last week: Rich Miano, who played for the Jets, Eagles and Falcons.

He was quite eloquent in his comments to AP. Talking about concussions when he was playing, back in the day, Miano said they were referred to as “getting a stinger” or ”getting your bell rung.”

He told AP, “It was just, ‘Get back out there.’”

The NFL, like the player plaintiffs’ attorneys, wants the suits put together. But Beth Wilkinson, the league’s lawyer, wants them consolidated so that she can get them dismissed en masse.

She argued Thursday that the retired players’ grievances shouldn’t be litigated, that the allegations raised by the players should be be resolved under the NFL-player collective bargaining agreement. Needless to say, the players feel differently. So do I.

Several of the suits have named the vendor that supplies helmets to the NFL, Riddell, as a defendent, as well. According to The Miami Herald, Riddell’s attorney wants the lawsuits that cite Riddell handled separately from the one that don’t name the helmet company. 

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/26/2610282/nfl-ex-jocks-spar-in-miami-courtroom.html

This battle, of the NFL versus its former warriors, may end up rivaling the Super Bowl in terms of drama. And it could be a long one.

So, quite frankly, I was saddened but not surprised to hear today that Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, is stepping down from office. Giffords announced that next week she will leave Congress to concentrate on her recovery.  

The Arizona Republic reported Sunday that Giffords announced her resignation in a video on YouTube. She will be attending President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday, and then leave office, according to The Republic.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/01/22/20120122gabrielle-giffords-stepping-down-congress.html

Giffords’ speech has been dramatically affected by her brain injury, which was the work of a mad gunman who slaughtered a half dozen people outside a Tuscon supermarket, wounding Giffords in that bloodbath. 

But despite her difficulty speaking as the result of her injuries, Giffords got her message across in her video.    

 ”I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona, I will step down this week,” she said.

She also thanked her constituents for their prayers and support.

There will now have to be a special election to replace Giffords in her 8th Congressional District.

President Obama released a statement on Giffords’ resignation Sunday.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/22/statement-president-resignation-congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords

“Gabby Giffords embodies the very best of what public service should be.  She’s universally admired for qualities that transcend party or ideology – a dedication to fairness, a willingness to listen to different ideas, and a tireless commitment to the work of perfecting our union.  That’s why the people of Arizona chose Gabby – to speak and fight and stand up for them.  That’s what brought her to a supermarket in Tucson last year – so she could carry their hopes and concerns to Washington. And we know it is with the best interests of her constituents in mind that Gabby has made the tough decision to step down from Congress.

Over the last year, Gabby and her husband Mark have taught us the true meaning of hope in the face of despair, determination in the face of incredible odds, and now – even after she’s come so far – Gabby shows us what it means to be selfless as well.

Gabby’s cheerful presence will be missed in Washington.  But she will remain an inspiration to all whose lives she touched – myself included.  And I’m confident that we haven’t seen the last of this extraordinary American.”

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, also issued a statement in response to the news that his friend and colleague Giffords had decided to resign from office.

“My heart is a little heavy after hearing of Congresswoman Giffords’ intentions to leave Congress. But it is also filled with the spirit of hope and optimism that she has given to everyone she has ever worked with and served. Congresswoman Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, have taught us all tremendous lessons in courage in the face of tragedy. They showed tremendous resolve in the midst of great challenges.

Even in the months that followed that horrible day in Tucson, Congresswoman Giffords sought and found opportunities to serve the people of the United States. She worked especially hard in pushing for federal support for every American who sustains a traumatic brain injury.

 I, like so many members of Congress, will never forget the day Congresswoman Giffords returned to the House to vote in support of averting a government default and shutdown.  It is my prayer that Congresswoman Giffords receives the blessings due to her for having given so much to others. I hope that she continues her remarkable progress in her recovery and that she and Mark have many, many fulfilling years together. She will always be a special person to me and a true friend.”

I, too, wish Giffords all the best in her journey of  healing.  

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57362087/more-players-join-nfl-concussion-suits-file-in-pa/

The latest lawsuit filed in Philadelphia was brought by ex-Philadelphia Eagles players Ron Solt, Joe Panos, Rich Miano, four other players and their spouses, according to AP. 

The wire service quoted part of Wednesday’s lawsuit: ”Rather than warn players that they risked permanent brain injury if they returned to play too soon after sustaining a concussion, the NFL actively deceived players, by misrepresenting to them that concussions did not present serious, life-altering risks.”

More than 100 former players filed a similar lawsuit in Philadelphia earlier this month, and the very first complaint of this kind was brought against the National Football League in Philly last year, AP reported.

So far at least eight suits, claiming that the NFL ignored or kept secret evidence tying concussions to permanent brain injuries, have been filed in New Jersey, New York, Florida and Georgia, according to AP.

The league is seeking to consolidate the lawsuits in Philadelphia, where the very first case filed last year has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Anita Brody, AP reported.  

The NFL denies the allegations in the lawsuits, and claims the litigation should be thrown out because the claims are prohibited under collective bargaining agreements.      

One of the plaintiffs in the suits is former Minnestota Viking Brent Boyd, whose lawyers, according to AP, claim he is the only living player diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE. It is a degenerative brain disease that has been detected in tests on brain tissue from deceased football and pro hockey players.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/story/2012-01-19/freestyle-skier-sarah-burke-death/52680120/1

Burke, a Canadian, had her ultimately fatal accident on the same halfpipe where champion snowboarder Kevin Pearce hit his head in a crash. Pearce’s accident happened Dec. 31, 2009, and he sustained life-changing traumatic brain injury.

So did Burke. But she died from her’s. When she fell Jan. 10 at the end of her run, she severed her vertebral artery, and that caused bad bleeding on her brain, according to AP. Burke then went into cardiac arrest and was given CPR right at the scene. She was then hospitalized.

Burke’s publicist issued a statement that said the skier died of “irreversible damage to her brain due to lack of  oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest,” AP reported.

The statement also said, “The family expresses their heartfelt gratitude for the international outpouring of support they have received from all the people Sarah touched.”

The young athlete’s organs will be donated to those who need them.

Burke was a big advocate for so-called “superpipe” skiing, and had convinced the Olympics to add the sport to its program. It is set to debut in the 2014 Games, but Burke obviously won’t be there to compete.”   

Extreme sports and the halfpipe, which is 22 feet high, go hand in hand. And it seems like TBI is part of that equation now, too.    

As The New York Times pointed out Thursday, roughly two years ago champion snowboarder Kevin Pearce sustained TBI in an accident in Park City. And on Tuesday, Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke fell and hit her head a 22-foot halfpipe in Park City,  the same place where Pearce had his accident, according to The Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/sports/canadian-freestyle-skier-sarah-burke-sustains-head-injury-in-halfpipe-fall.html?scp=1&sq=sarah%20burke&st=cse

Burke fell during a landing, where she apparently “bounced” from her feet to her head, sustaining serious injuries, according to Reuters.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/01/12/sports/sports-us-skier-burke-injury.html?_r=1&ref=sports

After the accident 29-year-old Burke was transported by air ambulance to University of  Utah hospital in Salt Lake City. The skier, considered a shoo-in to win an Olympic Gold medal when the freestyle half-pipe premieres at the 2014 Games, had surgery to “repair a tear in her vertebral artery that resuled in an intracranial hemorrhage,” according to Reuters. She is in critical condition.

The head of neurology at the hospital, Dr. William Couldwell, released a written statement.

“With injuries of this type, we need to observe  the course of her brain function before making any definitive pronouncements about Sarah’s prognosis for recovery,” he said.

Things have not worked out so well for Pearce, according to The Times, since his Dec. 31, 2009 accident. He was in a coma, and then in hospitals for four months. He is still in rehab for his balance and memory.

Last month Pearce returned to his snowboard for a ride, the first time he’s tried that since his accident.

But according to The Times, at the ripe old age of 24 now, Pearce “has no plans to compete again.”    

Truer words have never been spoken.

In this case, the quote is from Cynthia Boyer, senior clinical director for Bancroft NeuroHealth in Haddonfield, N.J. Her remark comes from a Page One story that The Star-Ledger of Newark published earlier this month on a pilot rehab program for veterans who have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI). 

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/for_nj_vets_with_traumatic_bra.html

The article is about Bancroft NeuroHealth, which is one of 21 nationally accredited agencies that was awarded a federal contract this summer from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to participate in a pilot program. 

The $23.5 million Assisted Living-Traumatic Brain Injury pilot program, according to The Ledger,  is trying to assist veterans adjust to life after their TBI, and to become self-sufficient again, to whatever extent they can.

Vietnam veteran Ronald Sharpe is profiled in the story. He survived combat as a Marine, only to return to the United States and years later get into a horrific car accident. Sharpe was in a coma for a few months, and when he came out of it he was blind “and the parts of his brain that enabled him to speak clearly, walk effortlessly and retain short-term memory were irreparably damaged,” according to The Ledger.

But under Bancroft’s rehab program, Sharpe got a job, was able to walk again and learned Braille. He lives in a group home now, and gets his rehab from Bancroft’s Cherry Hill facility.

Pilot programs like the one Bancroft is participating in are crucial in these times, when TBI has been described “the signature wound” of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sharpe’s rehab includes classes on managing his finances; cooking classes; and speech therapy. The Ledger also reported that Sharpe lives in a home with three other people who have TBI, and he is doing well.

It would be great if this pilot program is deemed a success, and can made permanent to help vets with TBI. So far, so good.

In a sad footnote regarding Sharpe, The Ledger reported that he recently was diagnosed with prostate cancer. But he is still in good spirits. I wish him well.  

John Markoff wrote a first-person story for The New York Times last week about the memory loss he suffered after sustaining a concussion, and other injuries, after an accident on his bike. Markoff wrote that he broke his nose, had scrapes and stitches on his face, had a deep cut on his knee and was knocked unconscious in his July 3 crash.

But Markoff, who had been riding alone, had a 20-minute memory gap. He could not remember the accident or what caused it.

In The Times, Markoff said he watched the Tour de France when he was recovering. American entrant Chris Horner had sustained a concussion, but still finished. Then, according to Markeoff, Horner “turned to his coach and asked, ‘I crashed? I finished?’”

Markoff said he could relate. He was determined to find out why he crashed.

He wound up doing that, as other cyclists apparently have, by using data from his GPS device. He has a Garmin model that not only tracks location and speed but also a rider’s heart rate and pedaling rate.

Markoff uploaded that data and learned that at the time of his accident his speed in eight minutes had gone from 30 mph to 10 mph to zero, according to his account in The Times. He also saw the exact location of his crash.

So Markoff went back to the wooded area where he had his accident. He saw a slim long pothole that easily could have caused his accident, and flashes of what happened that day finally came back to him.

Markoff isn’t the only one who has used a GPS device to figure out exactly what happened in an accident. His account quotes a lawyer who believes that witnesses  who can testify about accidents based on GPS readings could become a new category of expert witnesses in court.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/science/06accident.html?ref=science

http://news.yahoo.com/stage-collapse-kills-4-ahead-sugarland-concert-075121218.html?ugccmtnav=v1%2Fcomments%2Fcontext%2F3d580865-af0c-30dd-9530-a28ddd5eb232%2Fcomments%3Fcount%3D20%26sortBy%3DhighestRated%26isNext%3Dtrue%26offset%3D80%26pageNumber%3D4

Many questions about the tragedy are rushing in to authorities of the State Fair. Was there adequate notice of the impending storm? Was the notice received and acted on? Was the stage structure adequately constructed? Was this horrible event preventable?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/indiana-stage-collapse-was-it-preventable/2011/08/15/gIQAvXa9GJ_blog.html

The result of the impending investigations for answers to these and other questions will shed light into the fatal event of Saturday at the Indiana State Fair. It will also provide a guide to future outdoor concert organizers regarding accurate specific to locale weather alerts, early and accurate dissemination of those warnings and structure standards for temporary use structures. We believe that the tragedy could have been avoided with proper weather information and warning to the concert-goers and adherence to stricter standards for temporary structures. Senseless deaths and traumatic brain injuries could have been avoided with better communication from the Fair officials.