<H1>You have a good head on your shoulders. Why not keep it?</h1>

We had dinner with a couple of old friends last night. I will call them Dwt. and his wife, Cdt. Cdt's father was a professional football player a few decades ago, as an offensive lineman with the defunct All America Football Conference's Los Angeles Dons and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers having refused an offer from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He became famous in Canada and I considered him a friend. He was a true southern gentleman (Texas) with a quiet demeanor and a quick wit. So it was with sadness that I learned of his death in 2011. He died with dementia which his daughter attributes to football. Twelve years as a pro, putting his body and brain on the line for the game.

The problem became public again when 24 year old rookie linebacker, Chris Borland, left a highly paid gig with the San Francisco 49ers. He had 2 concussions up to then and he was aware of football players suffering from degenerative brain problems and he didn't want that future.

"I just thought to myself, 'What am I doing? Is this how I'm going to live my adult life, banging my head, especially with what I've learned and knew about the dangers?'"

I wondered if banging your head might lead to parkinson's but I only found a small study that couldn't confidently find a connection between parkinson's and head injury. It did find a positive correlation between head bangs and ALS and Alzheimers. Having had a few bad head knocks my self in boxing, football and hockey, I think if there is a connection with the other degenerative diseases, why not parkinson's?

I am not alone in my opinion. Former Blackhawks player, Steve Ludzik was diagnosed at age 39 when he was the coach of Tampa Bay (hockey). He believes there is a connection:

“You sit in a dressing room and the guys, if you have a good team, you’re a brother,” Ludzik said. “It’s not good enough to say, ‘I’m hurt.’ You get hurt some nights and you just play. That’s the mentality that you grow up with throughout your career. You’re pressured. But it’s just part of the code.” Ludzik, 54, suffers from Parkinson’s. He attributed the disease to the many head injuries he suffered in his playing days and believes he’s not the only one that’s suffering post-retirement. “I think you’re going to see Parkinson’s disease and neurological damage to a lot of players,” he said. It comes out later in life. Mine came out early.”

Of course, that is just one other proponent but I am certain we are not alone. Chris Borland made a sensible decision about football, an inherently violent sport. After watching the hockey playoff race, I believe hockey is too violent and the league should bring in more comprehensive rules or harsher penalties for violating current rules. If they don't..........

Statistically, no connection has been discovered between head injury and parkinson's but as somebody once said, statistics is the art of producing unreliable facts from reliable information.

Hockey---->High sticking, slashing, tripping, spearing, charging, hooking, fighting, interference, roughing - that's hockey. The rest is just figure skating."