密歇根新闻广播 足球变得越来越安全

 

Americans have become obsessed¹ with concussions², and with good reason. But for medical professionals, it's a double-edged sword: people are interested, but they also have more misinformation.

For example, concussions last only a week or two, while smaller, more frequent hits can result in chronic⁴ traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE – but the two are often lumped together.

I learned about all kinds of brain injuries when I coauthored a book with ESPN's John Saunders. One day he stood up, blacked out, and hit his head on a tile floor, which gave him a serious brain injury, and all that goes with it. He had a splitting headache for nine months, he spent six weeks in a hospital re-learning how to walk, regaining⁵ the most basic skills, and restoring something called "impulse control."

In one test, John had to stick ten pegs⁶ into ten holes. If you were working slowly and carefully, you'd need about 20 seconds. It took Saunders six minutes. His IQ had dropped from a 154 to 102.

In another test, Saunders was supposed to push a button whenever he saw the letter ‘A' pop up on the screen. He was mildly insulted by the silliness of this exercise, until he started the test, and realized he could not stop himself from pushing the button whenever any letter appeared, even though he knew he was not supposed to.

This lack of "impulse control" can create serious problems in the real world, where victims often end up making horrible decisions. The governors that regulate such behavior are gone. They don't have any brakes. It can even lead to suicide, which doctors believe is often an impulsive⁷ decision.

John recovered, regaining what he'd lost, and even the headache went away. But not everyone is so lucky.

The damage concussions, CTE, and closed head injuries can do hasn't changed, but our focus on them has, especially after two former NFL players committed suicide by shooting themselves in the chest to preserve their brains for study. In both cases, scientists discovered severe CTE.

As tragic⁸ as that is, it doesn't mean a kid playing football today is doomed⁹ to a similar fate. For starters, the current generation of former players in their 50s and 60s will likely be the most damaged, because they played through two-a-day practices, often on astroturf fields, when we called concussions "getting your bell rung," and laughed them off.

That's the generation we see aging now, so it's hard to believe things will be better for the next one. But they will be, because most of those poor conditions have been removed, and they've added better equipment, better rules, and better medical care to make everyone safer. They can make it safer still by eliminating hitting for grade school players, limiting it for high school, college, and pro³ players, and monitoring players more closely.

One of the best monitors out there is Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, an international expert on sports neurology. He notes that NFL players as a group do not die sooner than others, but actually live longer, and the risk of concussions in football is not much greater than it is in soccer.

But the question is not only whether football is safe enough to play. It's whether parents think it's safe. Because even if football becomes safer than checkers, if parents don't believe it, they won't let their kids play. And once a critical mass of kids decide to play something else, those who want to play won't be able to find any teams.

Football has two problems: the risk of brain injury, and the perception of that risk. The sport is finally doing a very good job on the first problem – and a horrible job on the second.

John U. Bacon is the author of eight books on sports and business. His current book, Playing Hurt: My Journey from Despair to Hope, coauthored with John Saunders, is his fifth New York Times bestseller.

1 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

2 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

3 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

6 pegs   

n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• She hung up the shirt with two (clothes) pegs. 她用两只衣夹挂上衬衫。 来自辞典例句
• The vice-presidents were all square pegs in round holes. 各位副总裁也都安排得不得其所。 来自辞典例句

7 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

8 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

9 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。