Bone for your jar
Registered User
They know that fighting leads to concussions, but they're only now starting to learn -along with the rest of us- what a concussion is exactly (what the nature of the injury is and, for example, the fact that you don't need to get knocked out to suffer a concussion), and what damage it can cause long-term.
Bone for your jar
Registered User
What exactly do you consider significant?
Those stats tell us that 8% of all concussions are caused by fights. 8% is a significant percentage, if we're talking about preventable risks. By way of comparison, consider that 3% of traffic crashes each year are caused by texting (according to National Safety Council estimates), and this has been considered significant enough by legislatures to trigger texting bans in 39 states.
Another thing those stats tell us is that the risk of concussion in a fight is 9 times greater than in any given hit (1.29% per fight vs. 0.14% per hit).
More than 7 total concussions on the entire year from 544 fights? Why don't we look at acts that result in concussions more than 1.2% of the time?
Eliminate hitting and contact and you'll cut out nearly all concussions. At what point do you stop and admit that there has to be a certain level of risk?
Instead of punishing the result of dangerous plays, why don't we punish plays with a high likelihood of concussion and injury just as severely whether the victim is hurt or not? Would elimination of those plays not be more productive?
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Bone for your jar
Registered User
Good questions, really, and I think I'm now too sleepy to properly respond. It's tough because we could get rid of most concussions by banning hitting, but then we'd be getting rid of the sport of hockey as we know it. With fighting it's a little better: the sport itself would remain mostly the same, between the whistles, (just as the absence of fighting in football doesn't preclude the sport from being brutally violent), but I'll be the first to admit that the spectacle as a whole would be quite different. To be honest, I would miss it. My problem right now is that I no longer enjoy the spectacle of fighting in the way I used to. Or let's put it this way: I'm of two minds about it. I enjoy it, but I also feel sick thinking about the memory loss, the slurred speech, the impulse control issues, the headaches, the thought of these guys turning into living zombies in front of their loved ones in their post-NHL days. It's not even a "guilty pleasure" any more, because the "guilt" is reducing the "pleasure" to a shadow of its former self.
Anyhow, I don't think I addressed any of your points properly, sorry. Methinks it's bedtime.
But this isn't really happening, not to the extent the anti fighting crowd would have you believe, and certainly not with the new concussion protocols. 10 years ago, Thornton wouldn't have missed a shift. 5 years ago, he wouldn't have missed the next game. And 2 years ago he wouldn't miss Wednesday's game.
And I disagree on the effect on the game that the elimination of fighting would have, that is evident enough in the NCAA. There's an argument to be made that it would give free reign to dirty players, that there's an element of accountability that would be missing, and that even the instigator rule has harmed the game to an extent.
There's no pleasure to be had when a guy gets hurt, whether it's your guy or the other guy. But that's rare enough, and Thornton seems to be OK. It will never be completely safe, and if the odds are only 1% that you'll get a concussion in a fight, that's not a particularly high risk.
I think I'm coming off as more hostile than I want to, but oh well.
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SerenityRick
Registered User
If NHL enforcers don't want concussions then they should re-think their job and not fight.
Furthermore, if NHL players don't want concussions they should also re-think their job.
Personal responsibility. Not enough people have that nowadays. The calls for bans on things need to flat out stop. We're raising a nation of *******. Give them the proper information on the subject and if they don't want to play hockey or football or whatever, then THEY can make that choice.
I don't know.. seems pretty easy to me.
Furthermore, if NHL players don't want concussions they should also re-think their job.
Personal responsibility. Not enough people have that nowadays. The calls for bans on things need to flat out stop. We're raising a nation of *******. Give them the proper information on the subject and if they don't want to play hockey or football or whatever, then THEY can make that choice.
I don't know.. seems pretty easy to me.
BlackNgold 84
Known Kellyist
This x5000000.. These guys know what could possibly happen. Thornton has had that role for what?10-15 years?. Can we as a society stop trying to ban everything? people enjoy the fights and the combatants know the side effects.
Morris Wanchuk
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