football’s gladiator culture," Schwarz wrote, "allows them to play on and sometimes be hurt much worse — sometimes fatally."
Though athletic trainers report about 5 percent of high school players sustain concussions each season, widespread surveys of players strongly suggest the number is perhaps 900 percent higher. That's not a typo.
Schwarz reported that anonymous surveys that ask specifically about concussions have reported rates of 15 percent among high school players each season; when the word "concussion" is replaced with a description of symptoms, close to 50 percent of players say they had one.
My only quibble with the piece is its fixation on football. Other collision sports such as soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse aren't even mentioned but certainly should be.
Improvements at SUNY Albany: The University of Albany wants mostly public funding for a $60 million, multipurpose stadium that would seat 10,000 to 15,000 fans.
The Times Union reports school officials submitted a plan to the State University of New York system but the SUNY board of trustees has yet to consider the request. Gov. Eliot Spitzer would then decide whether to fund the project in an upcoming annual budget.
The university upgraded its sports program to Division I in 1999, but its current football field is barely comparable to a number of Division III facilities across New York. A new facility would be a plus for Section 2 athletics as well, with a number of high school football, soccer and lacrosse games likely to be played there. That would include some state tournament games now held primarily in Kingston.
Extra points: Manhasset St. Mary's basketball point guard Scott Machado, a mid-level Division I prospect, will play for St. Benedict's in New Jersey this season. ScoutNYpreps.com reports Machado's family has moved to North Carolina, but he'll stay with friends or relatives. . . . In Western New York news, Ed Hoak, a 10-year assistant, is the new head basketball coach at St. Francis. . . . A high school football game in Scottsdale, Ariz., was called off over the weekend because thieves stole copper wires feeding power to the stadium lights. The lights at Anthem Boulder Creek's stadium wouldn't come on at game time Friday, leading to a 90-minute delay while officials determined that the problem was missing wiring.
