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| Wednesday, July 16 |
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| Sounding Off: When nature isn't beautiful By Jeff Lemberg SchoolSports.com | |||
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Kris Tyacke loved playing football. Throwing a tight and accurate spiral down the field was a rush like no other for the 17-year-old quarterback at Beaverton High in Oregon. Jeremy Bryant couldn't get enough of the game. The junior at St. Clair County High in Alabama loved to run, loved to hit, loved to compete. Today, Tyacke can't even stand -- never mind throw a ball -- as he is paralyzed from the shoulders down after the fourth cervical vertebra in his neck was broken in a game on Sept. 22. Believe it not, he's in much better shape than Bryant, who died that same night after attempting to make a tackle on a Springville High player. According to St. Clair County coroner Dennis Russell, Bryant incurred no head, neck or spinal injuries. In Russell's initial autopsy report, the teen died of a heart condition that went undetected in his preseason physical examination. So, what do we do now? Personally, I can wait another week and write yet another story about a high school kid who was killed or paralyzed while playing football. I can write about the next Mark Earley, a senior at Blackfoot High in Idaho, who died after leaving the field unable to speak or keep consciousness during a Sept. 17 game. I can write about the next Craig Lobrano, a 1999 All-State selection from Varina High in Virginia who died on Sept. 5 due to complications from heat stroke, which he incurred while practicing with his football team. I can write about the next Carlos Ebert-Santos, of Summit High in Colorado, who was paralyzed on Sept. 22 after suffering the same injury Kris Tyacke did that very same day. Hey, it's no skin off my back. I'm doing just fine. I sit in a nice, cushy seat most of the day, and I make a decent living. I'm getting married next June to a woman I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with and with whom I'm thrilled to start a family. Yup, let's just keep tossing those coins every Friday night. Let's pump up as many teenage boys as possible, line them up against each other and see what happens. When the season is over, we can then take a "serious" look at the numbers, put on a truly solemn face and shake our heads. That is, until August rolls around. "We've had deaths in high school football since 1931," says Dr. Frederick O. Mueller of the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injuries, which tracks how many high school and college athletes die and/or are severely injured while playing sports each year. "I don't know if the catastrophic injuries will ever completely go away, due to the nature of the game." Wait a minute. "The nature of the game" causes "catastrophic injuries"? A game causes catastrophic injuries? Do all fall sports? According to Dr. Mueller's report, the answer is no. For a four-year period, from 1995-1998, not a single cross country runner died while competing or practicing. For the same four-year period, only one soccer player died. No field hockey players died, and no water polo players died. In that same four-year period, 21 high school kids died playing football. Forty-four football players simply sustained "catastrophic" injuries, like Kris Tyacke's. Those interested in checking out Mueller's statistical compilation for other high school sports -- only outdoor track had more than four deaths over the past four years, thanks in large part to the pole vault -- go to www.unc.edu/depts/nccs. It's fascinating and rather shocking information, to the point that you almost forget that the numbers represent the children of still-grieving parents. You see, I'll write about whatever happens. If more kids die playing football ... I'll write about it. If more kids become paralyzed from a football-related injury ... I'll write about it. I'll write until somebody gives a damn and realizes there's a huge problem with high school football, which, according to Mueller, is a game that causes catastrophic injuries. I'll write until so many football coaches are sued that job vacancies go unfilled out of fear of future litigation. I'll write until someone wins a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the National Federation of State High School Associations, which unquestionably would force major change. I'm simply waiting for someone to give a damn, and I have time to wait. I have a cushy seat, a beautiful fiancée and dreams of starting a family. Sadly, Jeremy Bryant, Craig Lobrano and others like them can't say the same.
Material from SchoolSports.com.Visit their web site at www.schoolsports.com | |
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