ABC: Fearing Memory Loss, Ben Utecht Writes Letter to Family

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afurry91 said:
So you're saying that the odds that your kid will become injured in a car accident are greater than him experiencing multiple concussions in football? Where do I take that bet?

Your extremist counter arguments are neither funny, nor coherent. My guess is you use that argument for everything related to how you parent your kids, and I'm sure your kids will grow up to be wonderful contributors to society.

Better let your 14 year old stay out till 2am, because we wouldn't want to "bubble wrap" our kids.
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Both have consequences and both are serious. Extremist, please. I appeciate your perspective on parenting.
 

Mvgopher said:
Both have consequences and both are serious. Extremist, please. I appeciate your perspective on parenting.
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On the contrary, thank you for yours. I'm glad I now know the definition of "bubble wrapping."
 

afurry91 said:
So you're saying that the odds that your kid will become injured in a car accident are greater than him experiencing multiple concussions in football? Where do I take that bet?

Your extremist counter arguments are neither funny, nor coherent. My guess is you use that argument for everything related to how you parent your kids, and I'm sure your kids will grow up to be wonderful contributors to society.

Better let your 14 year old stay out till 2am, because we wouldn't want to "bubble wrap" our kids.
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https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1114.pdf
 




Considering the extremely high number of reported concussions (interestingly enough women's hockey has far and away the highest rate) there appears to be a very small number of players with long-term problems likely attributable to their head injuries.

It's going to be difficult to acquire decent epidemiological data because the symptoms of PCD can be pretty general. This is doubly so because the lawyers have sniffed a gold mine and anyone with declining cognition, depression, headaches, etc is going to be convinced it was their concussion 20 years earlier. $ $

I'm not denying the problem exists, but anecdotally it seems like a lot of these guys were pretty reckless because that was the culture at the time. It will be interesting to see how the concussion rates decline with the new rules and awareness.
 


Ole said:
No doubt on the equipment, there's more that can be done there.
I'm simply not going to ring the alarm bells like some.
Head injuries can happen in any sport, many happen in sports you wouldn't expect like girls soccer.
If my son wants to play football he can, there's more to gain than lose IMO. I'm not going to bubble wrap him because the possibility exists he could get hurt. That goes for plenty of things not just sports.

As for the science, the prevalence of Alzheimer's in the boomer generation, the brain injuries that came home from our soldiers in the Middle East wars, and the awakening of our major sports to this subject will expedite brain research to new heights in the near future, it's not a hand wave away, it's lots of people interested in solving the problem who 20 years ago didn't give a thought to the subject.
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I don't want to sound dismissive, but my guess is the research is going to say "to prevent brain injuries, don't get hit in the head too often."
 

50PoundHead said:
I don't want to sound dismissive, but my guess is the research is going to say "to prevent brain injuries, don't get hit in the head too often."
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And yet they happen, no, most of the research will probably be mapping brain function on the scale of the human genome project. After researchers have a better map, they can develop and target treatments. This could even expand to depression, mental illness, degenerative diseases, and possibly even behavior, or even improving function.
The brain is poorly understood right now, as research expands, it's certainly possible a serious concussion could be as easily treated as a knee injury. We're pretty far off from that reality though right now.
 



Chip Scoggins: Utecht writes to daughters for the day concussions take his memory

Utecht’s football career gave him a large platform and enough money to enjoy a comfortable life. It also left him with brain trauma and an uncertain future.

“To really think about a time where I may wake up someday and not recognize the person that I’ve been lying next to for the last 30 years, yeah, that’s scary,” he said. “I think every person would fear something like that.”

Utecht can’t undo all the damage to his brain, so he’s focused on rehabilitation and medical research and spreading his message about the importance of neurological awareness. The impact he makes in this realm could far surpass anything he accomplished on a football field.

“If this becomes my mission, I’m prepared,” he said.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/264978281.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#yLLxjm4WC6eGXX3o.97

Go Gophers!!
 

I apologize if this has already been posted, it's been going around, but I just saw this. I didn't get through this song without tearing up. This is so sad, and so amazing that he's such a spokesperson and is making his mark on this awareness/cause.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gOX-kSJ7PI4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 


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