Leading off today: Credit Joe Kraus of the
Niagara Gazette with solid reporting and storytelling this week on the use of Guardian Caps by some Western New York football teams, particularly by addressing a legitimate concern that probably hadn't occured to many of us.
Guardian Caps are the padded shells that attach to the exterior of helmets and absorb some of the blow from direct contact to the head. As such, they're a particularly useful safety option for linemen and linebackers, who typically are engaged in contact on almsot every play.
According to the story, Class C Newfane has 30 Guardian Caps available for practices and games, with players having the option to use or discard them in the latter. Wilson Central received an order of 25 Guardian Caps last week.
Understandably, the coaches appreciate having another safety measure available, but Wilson's Bill Atlas raised an important point: The Guardian Cap is not a license for a player to use his head as a battering ram.
"What I don't want them to do is now feel invincible, to now be using their head," Atlas said. "That's not the way we teach to hit in football at any time. So that was really my only concern. And then we know we have to make sure we instruct them on that."
NYSSWA rankings kick off today
The New York State Sportswriters Association released the season's first set of
boys soccer rankings this morning.
We'll continue ramping up the fall season at noon on Wednesday with the release of the first set of football rankings.
Industry news
Eugene is making a nice career move. He's off to the Des Moines Register, where he'll be covering Iowa State football, basketball, and wrestling beginning next month.
From the Dept. of Random Thoughts
