sports // 20

Twelfth man but no San Fran

» 49er’s fans all but shut out of Seattle

Courtnie Martin
Sports Reporter

 

eattle’s CenturyLink field is
believed to be perhaps the
most difficult stadium to visit
in the NFL due to the mind-
numbing din that the infamous
12th man can produce. Furthering
the difficulty of playing there,
the Seahawks had some strategic
ticket sales for their playoff game
with the San Francisco 4gers:

 

on January 13, tickets went on
sale for the NFC Championship
Game, but were only available
to those with a billing address in
Washington, Oregon, Montana,
Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, and two
Canadian provinces.

It’s no wonder the Seahawks
are ensuring as much of the
stadium is filled with their
faithful; according to Guinness
Book of World Records, Seattle
surpassed the previous record
held by the Kansas City Chiefs
with a 137.6 decibel reading for

: loudest crowd noise—energy

: levels that are on par witha

: magnitude 2 earthquake. By

: beating the New Orleans Saints

: 23-15 the previous week, Seattle

: earned the right to host the

: NFC Championship against San

: Francisco. With the two teams

: splitting the season series 1-1, the

: question remains—will regulating
: ticket purchasers have an impact

: on the result of the Championship
: title?

San Fran fans were in an

: uproar for the most recent debate
: on ticket purchases for the big

; game, and a constitutional

: attorney said Seattle has gone

: about ticket sales in a curious

: fashion with regard to certain

: legal aspects. In an interview

: with CBS Sacramento, lawyer

: Jeffrey Kravitz said, “Only the

: federal government can regulate
; commerce between the states.’

He continued: “There’s

: norationale to say, ‘Well, tax

: revenue supported the stadium,

: so therefore only people from the
: state of Washington can go to

: the game’ They blew it by saying

: people in godforsaken Canada

? can buy tickets to the game, but
: Americans cannot buy tickets to
: the game.”

Kravitz finished by

: commenting on the possible

: discriminatory nature of the

: shutout, saying, “They’re clearly

: discriminating against people

: from other states. But in reality,

: they’re going to be punished next
: Sunday [January 19]

”

Is it fair to question why

: Canadians—with arguably weaker
: ties to the American league as
: compared to Californians—were

With the two teams splitting the season series 1-1, the
question remains—will regulating ticket purchasers
have an impact on the result of the Championship title?

; able to purchase tickets? My guess
: is the tickets were shut out in

: order to prevent the ‘Niners fans

: from packing out their field for

: the Championship game. Then

: again, who would ever admit that?
: The Denver Broncos have followed
: suit for the Bronco-Patriots

: AFC Championship by limiting

: buyers to those around the Rocky
: Mountain states. Many would

: agree that what Seattle did was

: not fair, but after all, why wouldn't
: you want to keep an advantage
against the opposing team?

anne eee

Seattle Seahawks fans // By Otto Greule Jr.

theotherpress.ca

ae

 

Concussions are not an ‘epidemic 1n professional sports

» Labeling head injuries as an issue on the basis they are reported more often is a problem in itself

Mike St. Jean,
Contributor
(The Argus)

THUNDER BAY (CUP) On April

8, 1952, Montreal Canadiens
legend Maurice “Rocket”
Richard scored a goal that has
become a part of Stanley Cup
playoff folklore.

With the game tied 1-1 late

in the third period, and the
Canadiens facing elimination
at the hands of the Boston

Bruins, Richard took a neutral-

zone pass from teammate

Butch Bouchard into the Bruins

end and put it home to give
Montreal the lead.

Bruin’s Bill Quackenbush kneed
Richard in the head, leaving
him sprawled spread-eagle on
the ice.

It would take the help of the

team’s doctor to get the Rocket
back to the dressing room, but
even a bloodied face and a pair
of black eyes couldn't keep a
man who could barely stand up
minutes earlier from returning
to the game. The picture of him
shaking hands after the match
with Bruin’s enforcer, “Sugar”
Jim Henry, has become one of
the most iconic photographs in
hockey history.

After the game, Richard
collapsed into his seat in the

While that would have left
the goal as a memorable one on
its own, the event was far more
legendary due to the fact the
Rocket’s game seemed all but
over earlier in the period.

Richard, the Canadiens
biggest scoring threat, was
knocked to his knees by Boston
defenceman Leo Labine.
Seeing a chance to eliminate
their rival’s clutch scorer, the

dressing room and began
sobbing uncontrollably. In
interviews years after the
historic goal, the Rocket admits
he has little memory of the
game and its aftermath.

Many fans point to this
incident as an example of
playoff heroics, an example of
an athlete who committed the
utmost sacrifice for the better of

his team.

In retrospect, however, it
seems highly likely that Richard
suffered a concussion, and this
story, while undoubtedly heroic,
can serve as an example of
how poorly head injuries were
treated in the past.

The narrative of this
legendary goal, and even the
more recent “heroic” lamp-
lighting play Paul Kariya made
in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals
after being flattened by Scott
Stevens, should remind us
that concussions are not a new
aspect of professional sports.

The media’s recent focus on
concussions has been biased,
for lack of a better word. The
general term used to describe
head injuries as of late has
been “epidemic,” which implies
concussions have come out of
nowhere to sweep the sports
world by storm.

Nothing could be further
from the truth. Head injuries
have long been a part of
professional sports; the only

thing that’s changed is the rate
at which they are detected and
reported and the ways that they
are treated.

In recent years, the brains
of several NHL players who have
passed away have been donated
for studies looking into the link
between hits to the head and
brain deterioration.

While the word “epidemic”
implies concussions are a
relatively new problem in the
NHL, studies of the brains of
Rick Martin (who played in the
NHL from 1971-1982) and Reg
Fleming (who's pro career lasted
from 1956-1978) have shown
that both players suffered from
degenerative brain diseases
likely caused from repetitive hits
to the head.

If head injuries are the
new found problem they are
presented as, how is it that
these two players, both of whom
hung up the skates more than
a quarter of a century ago, were
found to have been suffering
from the very issue that has

been continually attacked as
hockey’s plague of the new
millennium?

We've heard stories of
old-time players being on the
receiving end of a big hit and
being hard-pressed to make it
back to the bench, only to be
given a dose of sniffing salts
and being sent back on the
ice moments later. It was a
practice that was encouraged,
as athletes lived under a “code”
in which their personal health
was secondary to the goal of the
team.

This mentality has changed,
and players have finally begun
seeking treatment for head
injuries instead of groggily
taking to the ice night after
night.

If Sidney Crosby played in
the 1950s, he likely would have
been on the ice during his battle
with post-concussion syndrome.
By no means am I questioning
the legitimacy of his injury,
that’s just how things worked
back then.