When we saw this we couldn't help but speculate that there may be some sad information yet to come out, and this situation is very parallel to that of deceased former NFL player, Dave Duerson. Boogaard had been suffering from recent concussions and shoulder injury that limited his play, and we are also hearing he may have been participating in the league's substance abuse program. We do not know if Boogaard left some advance request for this, or if a relative made the request on their own motivation, but it is a very scary trend developing across contact sports. And not just the top level, or adult leagues-this is important for youth and teens as well.If you are a Caps fan, you may have noticed that their top defenseman, Mike Green, took at least three pucks-to-the-head between February and when he finally got 'pinged out' when the Caps got bounced by the Lightning. One of the pucks that hit Green in the TB series destroyed his helmet-completely knocked out the screws and bolts. What is the fear of everyone in these contact sports is the effects of multiple, severe concussions/head trauma that eventually results in permanent deterioration of brain functioning. Sort of like a trauma-induced dementia {refer to Cassius Clay-his momma called him Clay so we call him Clay!}. In Duerson's case, it resulted in severe depression which led to his suicide.
If you play, have played or have kids that play sports such a football, hockey, lacrosse, even baseball {pitchers are throwing so much harder these days if you take one in the melon}, pay attention to this growing trend. The NFL has already started a specific program where the athlete must sit out at least one game, and pass a 'concussion test' before they are allowed to play again. Think about Derek Boogaard's head. As an enforcer {see just some of his fights in the link we provided}, he was not just taking deflected pucks, but multiple, multiple rights and lefts to the head pretty much every other day. It is not worth destroying a life too early to be a star. It is just too derivative of being a doomed gladiator. BTW-the photo at top is Boogaard's 70th {on-ice}, and final, fight in December of last year. When we first saw it, we thought he had put his own glove atop his head, but if you look closely you can see his helmet is still on and the cameraman just snapped the shot as the gloves came off and still hadn't hit the ice yet.
http://aliveinthechesapeake.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-tork-rangers-enforcer-derek.html {Our recent article regarding his death-with fight clip compilation}
http://aliveinthechesapeake.blogspot.com/2011/02/dave-duerson-laid-to-rest-today-what.html {Our also rather recent article regarding Duerson's death}
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWvDao-MpOk {His momma' called him Clay...I gonna' call him Clay!!}