PA Senate Bill 200

Today I became aware of a recently passed Pennsylvania Senate Bill that will affect all high school athletic departments across the state. This is more commonly referred to as the Safety in Youth Sports Act, and deals with the managing of concussions and brain injuries. 

In a nutshell, the bill states that any athlete who is determined to exhibit symptoms or signs of a concussion or brain injury by an official, coach from their team, trainer, licensed physician, licensed physical therapist, or other school official must be removed from participation at the time of shown symptoms. The athlete cannot return to play until he/she has seen either a licensed physician or licensed neurologist (unlike in the link I gave, the official, passed bill has scratched that an athletic trainer can clear a player) and be cleared to play in writing. 

Every school year, any coach, volunteer, or other member of the athletic staff must be trained by the free, online website by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in concussion management. 

Any coach found in violation of this will have the following penalties:

1. first offense results in suspension from coaching for the remainder of the season

2. second offense results in suspension from coaching for the remainder of the current season and the following season

3. third offense results in permanent suspension from coaching any athletic activity

This will beocme in effect on July 1, 2011. 

Duke v OSU

Tuesday night's college basketball game left number four ranked Duke trailing behind second ranked OSU 85-63. I am neither a fan of Duke or OSU, but I did expect Duke to give more of an effort against Ohio State. To start out, Mason Plumlee did nothing against Sullinger down low. He was in a losing battle, and couldn't muscle his way to rebounds or shots. The main reason that I thought Duke lost the game was the matchup in the post. Neither Plumlee brother could defeat the strong Sullinger.

Disappointing Sunday Night Game

Last night's game proved to be a disappointment for all of Steeler Nation.

Unfortunately I wasn't at home to watch the first half of the game, but with a halftime score of 16-6, I could pretty much tell how the first half had gone.

When Ben threw the touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, I saw some energy in both our offense and defense as Harrison dominated Joe Flacco, but with seconds left to go in the game the Ravens turned it around and scored a touchdown of their own. Very disappointing loss for Pittsburgh and Steeler Nation as Baltimore sweeps the match-up.

WVU's Formal Invitation

To follow up Wednesday's blog, WVU was formally invited today to join the Big 12 conference.

The Big East will now be losing three strong basketball programs and one consistently strong football program in Syracuse, Pitt, and WVU. While WVU president James P. Clements is excited about the move to the Big 12, Big East Commissioner John Marinatto is not as hopeful about the future of his conference.

The Big East is anticipating UConn to join the ACC as well in the near future, but because the Big 12 has decided to stick with only 10 teams, Louisville will not be given an invitation.

The Big East has extended invitiations to Boise State, Air Force, Navy, BYU, Central Florida, Houston, and SMU. However, how is the Big East going to hold up in future years with all of their strong basketball programs leaving?

By 2012 when the 27 month notification period is over can the Big East hope to hold up their reputation as a strong conference?

More Conference Changes

After the stir that both Pitt and Syracuse caused with them transferring to the ACC, WVU has announced its intent to leave the Big East as well and join the Big 12.

Supposedly, WVU will be replacing Missouri who is joining the SEC, although WVU's acceptance isn't contingent on Missouri leaving. However, WVU joining the Big 12 is not confirmed at this moment.

While nothing is definite at this moment, things will be changing in the world of college sports in the next couple years as school switch conferences.

Big East Basketball

In a coaches' poll in the Big East, Syracuse and UConn tied for first place among voting. UConn has three starters returning to the team this year including sophomore guard Jeremy Lamb and junior forward Alex Oriakhi, along with preseason rookie of the year Andre Drummond. Syracuse returns junion Scoop Jardine who led the conference in assists last season.
Pittsburgh only got one first place vote, and have senior guard Ashton Gibbs returning to the team this year. While Pittsburgh and Syracuse are leaving for the ACC, conference commissioner John Marinatto, stated on October 18th that the conference intends to hold both schools to the league's 27-month notification rule which would mean keeping them in the league for the next two years.

Lebron James Stirs Media

On Tuesday, NBA star Lebron James tweeted to ESPN's John Clayton: "@ClaytonESPN When is the deadline for a team to sign a free agent?" Whether or not James was serious about this question and is really considering trying to join the NFL, he stirred the media and fans. The Yahoo! Sports article also further stated that James had dressed in full pads at a high school football practice last week. Is Lebron serious about stepping onto the field during the NBA lockout? Personally, I don't think that he will jeopardize his chances of playing in the NBA or risk injuring himself.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/LeBron-causes-stir-on-Twitter-after-asking-about?urn=nfl-wp9321

Crosby's Press Conference

All eyes and ears were on Sidney Crosby during a press conference with his doctors about his head injuries. When asked by a reporter if he had played his last game, his only response was, "I wouldn't bet on that." An article that I found continued to go in depth about head injuries not only in hockey, but in football as well. There is a lot still to be learned about head injuries, and commissioners of both the NHL and NFL need to address the growing issues. Ken Dryden's article continues to question what should be done about head injuries in sports, and what precautions or changes should we make to the leagues in order to be safer for the players. What changes should be done in order to have a safer environment for the players against head injuries?

For the complete article: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7036426/time-nhl-get-head-smart

What Lies Ahead?

It's been a busy week for me at SRU with classes and such, and I almost completely forgot about this blog. I walked into my apartment and the Steelers were down at halftime to the Colts. It's now the start of the 4th quarter, and we are down 10-13. It seems that this Pittsburgh team is so up and down at the start of this season. What is going to become of the Steelers the rest of the season after the rough start so far? How far can they go and how much work needs to be done?

Looking Like a Team Again

Steelers really stepped it up today after last week's pathetic loss to the Ravens. They needed a big comeback, and Big Ben led the team with a 73.3% completion and threw for 298 yards and a touchdown. After having seven turnovers last week, Pittsburgh kept Seattle scoreless and the Seahawks didn't take an offensive snap on Steeler's side of the field til the fourth quarter. Hopefully Pittsburgh can keep playing with this passion as Mike Tomlin and his team head forward to week 3 where they will be battling an 0-2 Indianapolis Colts team that will still be missing Peyton Manning.

Cleveland Shown to Lose Fans

As I was searching the internet today doing homework for other classes, I came across a link that led me to an article about the twelve major league teams that are losing fans. We all know that teams gain and lose fans during the season because of a true sports fan's worst enemy, bandwagoners. Being a Pittsburgh fan, I found it quite comical that on this list the Cleveland Indians lost the most fans from 2001-2010. Their decrease in attendance was 56.08 percent!

To see the other teams and the article go to the website below.
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ys-247wallstreet-pro_teams_losing_fans_091511 

Peyton's Updated Injury Status

During halftime of tonight's NFL season kickoff game between the Packers and the Saints, NBC reported that Manning had another surgery on his neck today and would be out for 2-3 months. If he will be sitting out 2-3 months of games, should he just sit out the whole season and fully recover since the neck is one of the most vital parts of the body? Can the team survive and make the playoffs without him for 2-3 months or for the whole season? Peyton has proved to be the leader making over 200 career starts with the Cowboys, what will become of the team this coming season?

To Pity or not to Pity?

Hello everyone! As I was browsing the internet today, I was just on Yahoo! checking my mail when I saw in the major news of today that an NFL star was crying on TV. This caught my attention, wondering what an NFL star could possibly be crying over. During VH1's showing of The T.O. Show, Terrell Owens was seen crying over financial issues. Below, is a link to the video shown on VH1.

http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/685163/more-problems-then-a-knee.jhtml#id=1669680


The Yahoo! writer said in response to the video, "I'm not a financial expert or a TV producer, but shouldn't VH1 be giving you a little bit of money for doing that television show? You're not crying on television for free, are you? If you're going to be exploited, make sure there's at least a check coming."


Do you feel bad for one of football's biggest stars?