Link Between Head Injuries and Lou Gehrig's Disease

It seems obvious that head injuries would do all sorts of nasty things to the body, but here's more proof of that.

I hope professional sports will start to take this issue seriously.

How Many Bad Calls?

Nate Silver sets us straight on how we should expect referees to perform.

World Cup Soccer: Paraguay 0 Spain 1

The only good thing about this game is that this is the score I predicted in Fantasy. One of the strangest games ever, with numerous poor and inconsistent decisions. The referee should have been the "man of the match" because his erratic performance eclipsed everyone else.

Still, Villa's goal, scored off both posts, was superb.

World Cup Soccer: Germany 4 Argentina 0

My Argentine friend tells me that this game showed that Maradona is a player, not a coach. I think that this stage of the finals showed that Europe has the money to spend on their national teams, and that the money tells.

Germany is a superb team. Although I'll be rooting for Spain and then Holland, I expect Germany to win this World Cup.

One note of caution -- although Argentina did not score on Germany's goalie, he did not impress.

World Cup Soccer: Holland 2 Brazil 1

Finally, a game whose result I accept. A brilliant game puts Holland through to the final, where they are likely to face Germany but might face Spain. This is the game that got Dunga fired -- but taking the joy out of Brazilian soccer is a far greater crime than an "early" exit from the World Cup.

World Cup Soccer: Uruguay-Ghana Penalties

The game was played by the rules, and Uruguay's performance got them through to the next round, but with Suarez on a red card, and after playing the extra 30 minutes, Uruguay appear even more likely to lose their next game.

World Cup Soccer: Germany 4 England 1

England were clearly missing Rio Ferdinand. Also, as a fan of Liverpool, I can say that Crouch, Heskey, and David James have no place on England's national team.

That said, the Germans played a superb game -- a game that should have been tied 2-2 but for yet another terrible refereeing decision made possible by corrupt FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Love the game, boycott FIFA. Blatter must go.

World Cup Soccer: Argentina 3 Mexico 1

Mexican press rightly angry about the first and most important goal, which was clearly offsides, but Argentina played an excellent game.

World Cup Soccer: USA 1 Ghana 2

Heartbreaking -- but Ghana were the better team. The USA has a great goalie in Howard and a top striker in Donovan, but we need to complete the team. Fielhaber was excellent. Would have liked to have seen Buddle -- especially once it became clear that the younger Ghanaian team were running circles around the US.

World Cup Soccer: Uruguay 2 South Korea 1

South Korea played nervous and timid at times, and the first goal was due to atrocious defending, but Uruguay have a very strong team with two astonishingly talented goal scorers up front. With Suarez' 2 goals in this one, Uruguay is the only team with 2 different players to score 2 or more in different games. (Portugal did score 7 goals in one game but also played two 0-0 ties in the first round.)

The awful condition of the pitch was really the star of the game, but a slippery ball could have led to more goals.

World Cup Soccer Statistics: Goals by League in Group Stage

So far, the leagues whose players have scored the most goals in the World Cup -- as of the end of the group stage -- are:

Spain: 20
England: 14
Italy: 9
Germany: 8
Netherlands: 6

All multi-goal scorers are from Spain except for Slovakia's Vittek, who plays in Turkey.

The players who play in Spain and have scored more than one goal in a game are Higuain (Argentina / Real Madrid), Forlan (Uruguay / Athletico Madrid), Fabiano (Brazil / Sevilla), Tiago (Portugal / Athletico Madrid), and of course David Villa (Spain / Valencia). The Spanish league clearly has more than two teams in it -- and while one Real player is on this list, none from Barca are on it -- yet.

This shows that Britain and Spain derive their strength from having a real contest and from importing high quality players.

The Italian national team, unusually, featured players who all play in their home country. The only other teams that also feature players in their home league are Germany, England, and Spain. Going only by this goal count, I think things look good for England and Spain.

World Cup Soccer: Spain 2 Chile 1

A surprising game that could have gone either way. Torres is not up to his tournament winning form and should be rested next match. I hope they do so. David Villa can handle the load.

In the Honduras vs. Defensive Switzerland game, Honduras had a few chances and could have won but go out with pride, eliminating a European team that beat Spain, and proving that they deserved to be at the World Cup (many thought Costa Rica a better team).

World Cup Soccer: Brazil 0 Portugal 0

I would say that this was a cynical draw -- except for the 8 yellow cards that the two teams accumulated. Those yellow cards could hurt them later.

Cote D'Ivoire went out in style, but should have tried to get more goals. The entire tournament would have been different had Drogba not broken his arm just a few weeks ago.

World Cup Soccer: JPN 3 DEN 1

I expected this game to be won by Danish-style total football with midfield domination, lots of goals, and every player playing a full 90 minute marathon of movement and it was -- but it was the Japanese playing total football. Paraguay, watch out! Ref was bad, slightly below the very low refereeing standards set at this world cup, but not the worst.

In the other match, Holland cruised to a win against a good Cameroon side who scored only from the penalty box.

World Cup Soccer: NZ 0 PAR 0 (SLV 3 ITA 2)

I had been hoping for NZ to score 1 goal in a wide open match, but that did not happen.

Meanwhile, the Italians showed that they never deserved the last World Cup (they should have been eliminated by Australia).

The 2006 World Cup was rigged in Italy's favor but results in this World Cup show that the top 3 European leagues are ENG, GER, and, at the top, SPAIN. FRA, ITA, and Holland are in the second tier. I will update these stats when the opening round is complete.

World Cup Soccer: Australia 2 Serbia 1

Australia have now been cheated out of 2 World Cups, with 2 red cards in 3 games in South Africa and 11 yellow cards in 4 in Germany 2006. They were eliminated by a penalty kick in Germany in 2006 and effectively by the red cards and a penalty kick in 2010.

World Cup Soccer Red Card: USA 1 Algeria 0

Donovan's game winner in the 91st minute was one of the best in the history of US soccer, but this game shows yet again that FIFA must install instant replay and position an extra official behind each goal. The USA should have won by 2.

World Cup Soccer: Nigeria 2 South Korea 2

The Africans came into the match with a poor understanding of the referee, but both teams played a good, clean, and entertaining game.

World Cup Soccer: South Africa 2 France 1

South Africa needed to win by four goals to advance, but at least salvaged their pride. The same cannot be said for France.

World Cup Soccer: Spain 2 Honduras 0

Perhaps Torres should still be recovering from his knee injury. Great chances but no goals for him. Great play by Spain.

World Cup Soccer: Portugal 7 N Korea 0

Great game for Portugal. North Korea will play hard in their final game, which is against CIV, who will try to score 7 goals against them.

A quick word about corner kicks

When taking corner kicks, especially with a soccer ball that is difficult for Caltech to understand, place one player on the far side, just in case the ball travels too far.

So far, I've only seen Japan do this.

World Cup Soccer Red Card: CIV 1 BRA (3)

If Brazil continues to be treated as favorably in the rest of the competition as it was today, it will surely win the World Cup. This reminds me of 4 years ago, when the Italian football association needed -- and got -- a world cup win in order to avoid an investigation of league corruption.

Makes you wonder what Brazil has to hide.

Drogba did have a moment of brilliance.

Brazil had a goal scored by a player who touched it twice with his hands. The Univision commentator said, "if Maradona's goal was scored by the hand of God, then this one, with two handballs, featured both of God's hands."

Kaka got thrown off with a red card only after the Brazilians taught the CIV players how to dive in order to get the referee's attention. If the ref had yellow carded a Brazilian early in the match for diving, the game would have been different -- but CIV might have won, and FIFA cannot allow that.

World Cup Yellow Card: ITA 1 NZ 1

Melissa: "It's their Miracle on Ice" Semi-pros beat the heavily favored pros.

"This is pathetic. The theatrics are really sad."

Italy tried to cheat in order to win this game and their cheating only managed avoiding a loss.

World Cup Soccer: Denmark 2 Cameroon 1

One of the cleanest and most beautiful games played so far. These teams and their fans are world class in terms of sportsmanship and politeness and civilization.

World Cup Soccer Red Card: Australia 1 Ghana 1

Just as in 2006, Australia is felled by a blatant miscall and a penalty awarded. In 2006, Australia was eliminated by a penalty kick unfairly awarded to an Italian professional bellyflopper.

World Cup Soccer: Holland 1 Japan 0

A very good match, one of the few so far, and one that might have seen many more goals except that both goalies were very good.

World Cup Soccer: England 0 Algeria 0

England have to score another goal and to play better as a team -- but at least they're not France...

World Cup Soccer Referee: Slovenia 2 USA 2

In a World Cup filled with poor refereeing decisions, this was the worst. Great play by team USA opposed by a referee from Mali who hated them. Referees do sometimes hate team USA.

World Cup Soccer: Germany 0 Serbia 1

The boring team won again, but Germany should have been more aggressive. The only bright side is that the result means everyone in the group could still advance.

The Italian Strategy

In a computer game, the Italians would have the following abilities:

1) Acting. Any opposing foul turned into a yellow card. Any opposing yellow card turned into a red card.

2) Entitlement. Preferential treatment by refs in every game.

3) Catenaccio. Number of goals scored by each team are divided by 2 and rounded down.

World Cup Soccer: Argentina 4 South Korea 1

Both teams played a beautiful game. It could be argued that South Korea were punished for making it interesting by attacking instead of playing the whole game on defense. I hope that these are the two teams that qualify from this group.

I also think that Messi needs a rest and should not play in the next game.

World Cup Soccer Red Card: Greece 2 Nigeria 1

This game shows that soccer needs instant replay in order to get rid of the acting. Vassilis Torosidis should be suspended. The only good thing is that Greece is unlikely to advance as they play Argentina next (who may go easy on them) and South Korea should beat a demoralized Nigerian team. I had picked Nigeria as the African team most likely to win this world cup.

World Cup Soccer: France 0 Mexico 2

Mexico played a beautiful game and won. I'm glad the agressive team won one (unlike SPA vs SUI).

World Cup Soccer: South Africa 0 Uruguay 3

South Africa could still qualify by beating France in their next match, which I hope they do, as long as Mexico beats Uruguay.

World Cup Soccer: Spain 0 Switzerland 1

Spain is one of the most entertaining teams to watch. I hope they win the cup and that they score many goals the next time they play so well. I hate the boring defensive soccer that is too often rewarded.

Goals by nation that the player plays in professionally

Spain: 7
Eng: 6
Ger: 4
Fra, Mex: 3
Italy, Turkey, Greece: 2
Japan, South Africa, Russia, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal (and North Korea): 1

Sure, everyone's tracking which national team scores how many goals. This shows which leagues have the best players.

World Cup Soccer: Brazil 2 North Korea 1

Brazil gets punished for playing 60 boring minutes. They have to hope that North Korea ties one of the other two opponents (I hope North Korea punishes Portugal for playing boring soccer. Brazil v. CIV on Sunday on ABC. I'm looking forward to it.

World Cup Soccer: Cote D'Ivoire 0 Portugal 0

A boring and disappointing game.

BTW, CIV recognizes only its name in French, not its name in English. The
Spanish is Costa de Marfil.

World Cup Soccer: New Zealand 1 Slovakia 1

The highlight of the day and upset of the tournament so far, New Zealand scored a goal for the first time ever and showed that Oceania has a place in the World Cup.

Why Nate Silver's World Cup model is doing so badly

Quick thoughts, but Nate Silver's world cup statistical model is doing badly for several reasons.

1) Soccer is not baseball. It does not have repeated activities that are easy to measure statstically.

2) The World Cup delivers little data. Teams perform differently in the finals than in qualification. Those such as the USA that face poor quality opposition get ranked too high. Others get ranked too low.

3) The Africa factor. The African teams are underfunded compared to, for example, Japan, and therefore naturally perform less well than better funded teams. England's coach makes $9 million per year. The US coach makes $500,000. African coaches make less, and also may have a shorter tenure.

4) A low scoring game can have unpredictable results -- especially in games decided by a red card or penalty kick (or even a free kick).

World Cup Soccer: Great Websites for US Viewers

The ESPN / ABC TV schedule is here (I have it in EST).

This excellent diagram (h/t Glenn Strachan) provides several ways to slice and dice world cup data.

The official site of the world cup finals is here, and the qualifiers are here. Both are large sites with a lot of data, but you have to dig to find it.

Italy 1 Paraguay 1

Italy played the usual boring catenaccio. Paraguay, the number 2 team out of South America, played a far more timid game than I expected, but this bullet to the head is the likely reason.

Italy substituted their superstar goalie out of the game. I wonder how it will effect his confidence. The press was told he had a hamstring injury, but I suspect vicious Italian pique ("I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian soccer").

World Cup: Japan 1 Cameroon 0

Sometimes, African teams choke on the world stage. This was sad to watch, but the Japanese played very well.

World Cup: Netherlands 2 Denmark 0

A strange game. No total football was played by either team. I hope these teams play harder in the future. I had expected a 4-3 win for Holland.

World Cup: Serbia 0 Ghana 1

Serbia played better than I expected them to and Ghana played worse. This game was decided by a penalty kick and a red card. I hope both teams do better in subsequent games.

World Cup: Germany 4 Australia 0

Australia is much worse without Kewell, who is very much like Michael Owen, but I expected more from them. They were brilliant in the last world cup and lost only to Italian cheating.

Germany played a perfect game, but one astute commentator noted that Argentina had a perfect game in the first round in the last world cup and did not win it. Germany's next game is very important and will show whether that perfection lasted only one game.

World Cup: England 1 USA 1

England scored both goals; USA happy with the result. But I expected more from both teams. Sloppy play from everyone but Gerrard, and Gerrard was playing solo too much. The English need better teamwork, and the Americans need better individual performances. Howard is a superstar. I hope he moves to Liverpool FC.

World Cup: Argentina 1 Nigeria 0

I felt bad for Nigeria, a team that has played beautiful soccer in previous world cups. I also expected more from Argentina.

World Cup: France 0 Uruguay 0

As expected, the Euros played boring and defensive soccer. Uruguay, one of the lower ranked South American countries, has potential but little confidence.

World Cup: South Africa 1 Mexico 1

This was a fun game with two good goals and a good lesson on the offsides rule. I think the offsides rule should be changed to "one player other than the goalie between the ball and the net".

The Return of the Defensive D

It's not the end of the goalie era.

Instead, it's the return of defense. Mike Green is out. Chris Pronger is in. Zdeno Chara is in.

Next year, expect playoff hopefuls to look for a Scott Stevens (not an Ilya Kovalchuk).

Craig Rivet and their fellow defensive defensemen deserve more praise than they have received. Eaton in PIT deserves praise too.

I expect the value of the truly forceful D man to rise at the end of the year.

Congrats to Yahoo for Calling Out the Blind Refs

Kudos for this blog post.

Joe Pavelski for Conn Smythe

Pavelski tonight scored the first goal and the GWG in a 4-3 victory over the Red Wings.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore?gid=2010042918

Pavelski's doing very, very well, standing out on a team with Heatley and Thornton

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore?gid=2010042918

He has playoff goals 6 and 7 tonight.

First Lawsuit Against a League For Head Trauma

Keep an eye on this one:

California’s workers’ compensation system provides a unique, and relatively unknown, haven for retired professional athletes among the 50 states, allowing hundreds of long-retired veterans each year to file claims for injuries sustained decades before. Players need not have played for California teams or be residents of the state; they had to participate in just one game in the state to be eligible to receive lifetime medical care for their injuries from the teams and their insurance carriers.

About 700 former N.F.L. players are pursuing cases in California, according to state records, with most of them in line to receive routine lump-sum settlements of about $100,000 to $200,000. This virtual assembly line has until now focused on orthopedic injuries, with torn shoulders and ravaged knees obvious casualties of the players’ former workplace.

But Dr. Perfetto’s contention that Mr. Wenzel’s dementia relates to his football employment represents a significant shift, several lawyers involved in the California system said. They estimated the case’s potential value at more than $1 million if it reaches its conclusion, probably in two or three years.

I Believe the Capitals Will Win At Least One Round

But in addition to the concerns voiced by Umberger, I would add that they actually play too rough and will take too many injuries or suspensions in early rounds.

This is doubly true if they meet Philadelphia early on. I think anyone _could_ beat Philadelphia in round 1, but the physical cost might be so high that they would lose in the next round to any opponent.

Will TV Cash Bring NHL To Russian Olympics?

NHL Commissioner Bettman is making foolish promises to NHL owners about future TV deals. Problem is, he has no credibility.

Bettman now says that the Olympics will bring in more fans, but last month he said he wasn't sure the NHL would let its players go to Russia in 2014.

Bettman needs to do what's good for the sport:

1) Implement a real head shot rule and start calling the Intent to Injure 5 minute major.

2) Implement a short season in 2014 in order to make the Olympics possible and in order to not break players' health. A 60 game season would work.

3) Cut the season anyway to 72 games or less. With 4 groups of 8 teams and no cross conference play, you get 7 x 6 + 8 x 4 = 74 games at most. With cross conference play, you get 7 x 4 + 8 x 2 + 16 x 1 = 60 games.

League Will Be Responsible If It Ignores the Players

The NHL Players Association wants a very stict rule about headshots.

The NHL (Bettman) disagrees. He won't act until a player dies or until Crosby has his career-ending consussion.

Now Suspend Him

The fine print says that Ovechkin doesn't get an automatic suspension, but the NHL is going to be serious about enforcing the rules on star players not named Pronger (see flowchart, h/t Max), then Ovechkin had to be suspended, or we'll see more of this.

One difference about this boarding game misconduct -- it wasn't against a Buffalo player. In the past, Ovechkin boarded Briere and Kaleta, both while they played for the Sabres.

Fans Will Demand the NHL Support The Olympics

The biggest problem with not participating in the Russian Olympics in 2014, as Bettman and Burke hope to, is that the NHL may never be able to return to the Olympics.

Of course, Bettman is intent on running the sport into the ground and bankrupting the league in the name of the short-term demands of owners and general managers, but anyone who cares about the long term future of the sport would set aside time for participation.

All the league has to do is run a shorter year, perhaps 4 division games + 2 conference games + 1 cross-conference game = 20 + 20 + 15 games = 55 games instead of 81 games.

Perhaps Bettman is upset that the Olympics are upstaging him -- they will have higher TV rankings than any hockey game he's associated with this year.

Suspend OKT from the Olympics permanently

This dirty headshot by Flyers defenseman Ole Kristian Tollefson should draw a ban from the next Olympics, in my opnion.

Crappy Olympics Broadcasts

The quality of the broadcast feed from the Olympics is shocking. There are stutters and lossed data. It's as bad or even worse than what we'd get if we were watching it over the internet.

I cannot understand why the olympics and the NHL would let this happen. If this continues during the Czech - Russia and USA - Canada games on Sunday, maybe some of the professional commentators will be forced to mention it.


Also, I think there should be a mercy rule. When one team is 10 goals ahead, the game is over. Let's institute it in the NHL too.

Gorges Hit By Slapshot, But Still Lucky

Montreal Defenceman Josh Gorges was hit by a slapshot but luckily was able to walk off the ice with assistance.

Can we do anything to prevent this?

Swedish Referee Dies During Game

A 62 year old referee in Sweden died while refereeing a game for 18 year old when he was hit on the back of the head by a puck.

I hope that North American referees are protected.

Selanne Returned Too Soon

This is one of the most unpleasant hockey videos I've ever seen.

He suffered a broken jaw on January 13. He returned to the ice on February 1.

That's wrong -- even for a player who is about to retire.

Sports medicine is bad.

Will the NHL Crack Down on Cornier?

When an 18 year old player goes into convulsions and the Premier of Quebec complains about it, maybe the NHL will do something.

NFL Concussion Story Just Won't Die

Kudos to the NY Times for keeping on the story. John Conyers recently questioned the NFL's concussion expert on the subject.

The NHL should get ready for this. The NHL needs to take concussions seriously.


For example, Phaneuf should have been suspended for the hit on Kopitar even though Kopitar was not hurt.

NHL Must Do Better on Concussions

The NFL has been making news by finally admitting it has a concussion problem. Now new research will shine the same spotlight on the NHL.

The New York Times today reported that researchers found that the corpse of fistfighter Reggie Fleming died in part from a neurogenetive disease caused by head trauma.

The news comes as nifty Congressman John Conyers held another hearing on head injuries in football.

In both sports, the ones who pay the nastiest price are the under-21 youth. Both leagues must act now out of common decency -- and to avoid overwhelming liability in the future.

Bring Back the Ties

I commented on this blog here.

I agree with Puck Daddy that the shootout is a cynical sideshow:

Comedy aside, the key phrase: "entertainment option." Which is what the shootout is, of course: A sideshow rather than an equitable and effective way to determine the winner of a professional team game. Hence the outrage.

Homophobia Has No Place in Hockey

Cheers to Brian Burke's son Brendan for stepping out of the closet.

Part of what I like in hockey is the diversity of nationalities represented. I am also upset when I hear that some people are discouraged from talking their native language.

Did NFL Concussion Experts Quit or Were They Fired?

The New York Times has a carefully written article that says that controversial head injury experts quit after extensive criticism of their lack of concern about head injuries.

The article says that Dr. Ira Casson and Dr. David Viano were members of the committee since 1994 and co-chairmen since 2007. The firing or quitting was announced on Tuesday and earlier, on Sunday, the NFL said it will work with the NFL Players' Association (NFLPA) to identify independent neurologists to say whether or not players are fit to play.

I am glad that the NFL is taking the first steps in addressing sport medicine, where doctors are encouraged to get players back on the field at the expense of their long term health.

I hope that the NHL will follow their example -- but first the NHL Players' Association (NHLPLA) will have to clean itself up.

FIFA Should Ban France's Gallas For World Cup Cheat

The Frenchman put the put in the back of the net by using his hand, winning the game for France over Ireland in a very controversial game.

FIFA should respond by letting the result stand but banning Galas from World Cup 2010.

Shrink the league!

THN's Ryan Kennedy makes a very good case.

I would add this -- go to 78 games:

Two groups of 7 teams in each conference

6 teams x 6 games = 36

7 teams x 4 games = 28

14 teams x 1 game (cross conference) = 14 games

Total: 78 games.

Phoenix and one other team would go (Isles?).

Young Defencemen on the Rise

Great article here.

I would highlight Yandle and Myers as players who will excel.

Another Head Shot, Another Test for the NHL

This time it was Andrew Ladd, ejected three minutes into the game for a head shot on D'Agostini. Ladd should be suspended -- but Richards should be too.

NHL Fails the Mike Richards Test

Mike Richards clearly intended to injure David Booth (17 second video) and although he got 5 minutes for intent to injure and thrown out of the game, he was not suspended for that act.

Today, RotoWire.com commentator Janet Eagleson (available on Yahoo).

She wrote, "there’s a huge difference between a good, hard check in the heat of the action and a headshot when the opponent’s guard is down."

She's write, and the NHL needs to do something about it.

Does the NFL Think the Concussion Problem Will Go Away?

The NY Times is not dropping the story.

The NHL should be proactive on this issue and not wait until it gets shamed into action.

NFL Still In Denial About Concussion Problem

Great story today in The NY Times.

The Quiet Defencemen

Which D is best for you depends on the fantasy system you're playing, but it's clear that some D are excellent but ignored. The ESPN rankings are useful for anyone playing ESPN's system, but more useful are the projections over at CBS.

Wideman, Keith, Edler, Visnovsky, Enstrom, Bogosian, and Martin all deserve a look, if they're available in your league.

That's especially true if you have a roster spot open due to injury (Gonchar) or due to a player not working well with his coach (Roszival).

I'm betting on Marc Andre Bergeron to do well in MON. I drop Carlo Colaiacovo for him -- and the STL D is also a good bet.

Note that +/- is a key stat, so try to pick D who play for winning teams -- the strong exceptions being Jovanovski and Streit.

That was a Clear slew foot

Cleary should be suspended for his attack on Kopitar

Watch NHL Center Ice

Free preview continues through next weekend! Ends Oct. 24.

A Secret Top 100 List at Yahoo.com?

No argument with who's number 1 but the ranking of the rest of the players (Chelios is #80, you'll never believe who's number 2) is quite surprising.

Any info on this?

Most of the other numbers don't make sense, but this one does.

Data Shows Head Injuries Harm NFL Players

The data is in, according to The New York Times, which reported today on a of the health of NFL players found that among those aged 30 to 49, the incidence of "dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other memory-related disease" is 19 times the national average, at 1.9 percent. Among those over 60, the rate was over 6 percent.

The study, conducted by University of Michigan Institute of Social Research covered 1,063 retired players in 2008. It should be taken seriously, especially by those running programs in high schools and colleges where kids often play through injuries and pay a permanent cost for it.

The Times article concludes:

"The league insisted that it was doing so only because the disease “affects many elderly people” well beyond N.F.L. players. And a pamphlet that the league gives every player about concussion risks states, 'Research is currently under way to determine if there are any long-term effects of concussion in N.F.L. athletes.'

'It's time to edit that brochure,' said Kevin Mawae of the Tennessee Titans, the president of the N.F.L. Players Association. 'Now it's in their words and not just other people's.'"

Notes About Lines

How ever good a player is, they won't have much of an impact unless they get more than 10 minutes a night or their name is Radulov.

Since Radulov's in Russia, I strongly recommend this excellent article from NHL.com about line combinations.

In ATLANTA, it's all about who gets to play with Kovalchuk, the guy who once scored six in a youth all star game. Right now, that looks like Antropov plus somebody else.

In BOSTON, it's about who gets to play with Savard, who put up a somewhat quiet 88 points in 82 games last year. Right now, the only person with a guaranteed spot on that line in Lucic.

Okposo's Concussion

The CBS Fantasy Hockey website has a great player news feature that today has disturbing information: Okposo was concussed by Dion Phaneuf during a game in Calgary yesterday.

I think this should take Okposo off your draft list -- and I hope that Okposo gets time to rest and heal.

I especially hope that Okposo doesn't play in the next Islanders game.

The NHL needs to take concussions seriously.

Brassard is for real

Derick Brassard was doing better than a point per game for the Columbus Blue Jackets when he got into a fight and sustained a shoulder injury that ended his season.

With a new contract worth $12.8 million over 4 years, Brassard's coach has to put him in a position to score. Expect much from him this year.

Canucks Sign Schneider and Acquire Ehrhoff -- Will Luongo Be Even Better?

The Vancouver Canucks signed Mattheu Schneider and acquired Ehrhoff and Lukowich from the San Jose Sharks.

This increases the value of Boyle and Blake back in San Jose and also increases the value of Canucks goalie Luongo. The effect of the addition of the defensemen on Canucks youth powerhouse Bieksa.

Opinion: Offer Theo Fleury a Two-Way Contract

The news says that Theo Fleury, now 41 and sober after the intervention of the NHL and AA, wants to play again, but managers seem unlikely to want to sign him.

Here's my recommendation: offer him a contract that could send him to the minor leagues. Ask him if he's coming back for the millions or for the hockey. I think he wants to play hockey.

If that seems unfair for a hero who overcame much including a sliced artery at age 13, then offer him a three-way contract that also pays him to coach.

The only problem with the latter idea is that the NHLPA might not allow it. Does anyone know if such a contract is allowed under the CBA?

Suspend Walker

The NHL must stand up to a sucker punch to the eye that fractured an orbital bone.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Sunday-s-Three-Stars-Chara-Zetterberg-shine-in;_ylt=Ah83akGvM3gldxh6T3SsA0d_ppJ4?urn=nhl,162445

Let's ban head shots

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3965246

Please

Now

Never too soon

A Three Conference Proposal

Brian Costello at THN wants to expand the playoffs to 20 teams so that Crosby can be there. As much as I like Sidney the Kidney, I think that the Penguins must not make the playoffs if they don't win enough games.

However, I do think that a three conference system would work well.

Here are my three conferences (feel free to suggest others): Northeast, West, and South. Each has 10 teams:

South

Carolina, Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Dallas -- definte

Possible: St. Louis, Columbus, Phoenix, and Washington

Northeast

Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Boston, NY, NYI, NJ

West

Detroit, Chicago, Colorado, Minnesota, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles


Playoff system:

Two possibilities: each conference winner ranked 1 2 3, followed by the remaining teams from any conference to 16.

Top 2, 3, or 4 teams in each conference make the playoffs. As long as there are matchups within a conference then teams match up within conference.

Examples:

If in round one, the three conferences provide 4 4 and 8 teams, round 2 they provide 2 2 and 4 teams in round three they provide 1 1 and 2 teams, and then the conference final is the winner of the deepest conference vs. the winner of the other playoff series.


In gets more complex if the three conferences provide 5 5 and 6 teams. The fifth ranked teams of two conferences play each other. In round 2, the conferences provide 3 2 and 3 teams. Again, the third ranked teams from two conferences play each other. In round 3, the conferences provide 2 1 and 1 teams, so then we're back at the situation above?).


Note that you could argue that giving the last placed team an opponent who is another last placed team benefits those last place teams. So you might, instead, pit the middle teams against each other. In the case of two conferences providing 5 teams each, each conference's third ranked team would play off against each other. In the case of two conferences with 3 teams each, the second ranked teams would play off against each other.

Change the number of games played in a season

This may be a counterintuitive playoff system but the three conferences provide a clean path to either 76 games or 84 games.

I would advocate 76 games: each team plays 4 games against the 9 other teams in conference, and 2 games against each of the other 20 teams.

You could get to 84 games this way: Each conference does break down neatly into two divisions, however, so you could have each team play 6 games against the four teams in its division, 4 games against each of the four teams in the same conference but a different division, and 2 games against each of the other 20 teams.

Miller!

Miller's injury opens up the lead goalie spot for Lalime -- temporarily. But pundits are already thinking trade.

The Sporting News' Slover says the Sabres should look to New Jersey, but really the team is looking for someone to take an underperforming forward, Afinogenov, in exchange for a good goalie. The pundits say Edmonton and the Rangers have poor managers, so the Sabres could try to get Valiquette or Roloson.

Roloson is an interesting prospect because he played in Buffalo before.

But would Edmonton take Afinogenov for him? Maybe if there were the added insurance of a conditional draft pick. Then there's the question of whether the Sabres want to do a deal with the team that tried to poach Vanek.

If the Sabres are smart, they'll offer little and go with Lalime.

I think Miller will be back for the playoffs, but not before.

Iginla's points

Iginla has 59 points in less than 55 points. Here's the odd part: he has been pointless in 20 of those 55 games.

He's well worth playing in fantasy hockey, but because of the erratic scoring, he might actually be available for trade.

Two College Hockey Players Deserve Jail Time, Get 1 Year Suspensions

The video is tough to watch. The consequences are severe but not severe enough.

I hope that the NHL cracks down on intent to injure, but at the moment, the worst stuff is happening in the minors and below. Early this year, Don Sanderson died after a fight. Just a few weeks later, Garrett Klotz, age 20, left the ice on a stretcher, having had a seizure after a fight.

NHL owners should be ashamed about head shots, but they aren't. Bloggers keep calling for change, but there is none. There should be a debate, but there is none.

This blog is called Crosby's Concussion because there will no change until a marquee player dies. Plenty have left the game early from concussions (Lindros, LaFontaine). The NHL has made it clear that nothing short of death will bring change, and thereby is guaranteeing that a player will die.

College hockey players take the NHL as their model. The two Michigan State players deliberately assaulted a player, Steve Kampfer, who had already been assaulted by a member of his own college's football team (possibly for flirting with that player's girlfriend). The football player, Mike Milano, has been charged with a felony. Kampfer suffered a skull fracture and a broken vertebra but was back playing hockey that same year.

Freshman forward Andrew Conboy and sophomore forward Corey Tropp of Michigan State should face the same.

An Important Week

Especially in HTH leagues, this next week is very important. Taking a look at the schedule ahead, I'd say avoid any CHI players your league-mates have dropped because the Hawks' road trip is quite impressive, lasting several weeks, going through the toughest teams in the West that are outside the Central league.

Top of the list is Atlanta, with a nifty schedule this week. If Little, White, and Kovalchuk are not available, take a look at Bogosian (recent stats) and Peverley. Peverley has been on the top line while Little was hurt and might get demoted.

Blake is still one week away from returning, so look at other SJ defencemen who may be available. Ehrhoff has not done well of late, and Murray seems to be the one to take. Of course, if Boyle is available (he shouldn't be) take him first.

Filatov out

Quick note to say I dropped Filatov.

Other note: CHI's upcoming schedule is terrible.

Filatov!

With all those goals, I've joined the Filatov rush. If you missed it, Peca should be available in your league.

Quick game notes, Jan. 7 2009

Only one game done so far: NYR vs. Montreal.

I guess sometimes one line is hot. Tonight it was Robert Lang's. Montreal has depth and could lose forwards without losing a step. The other big news is that Montreal's two D finally produced to potential: Markov 1 G 1 A and Hamrlik 3 A.

Quick game notes, Jan. 6 2009

Defense!

Wisnewski -- 1 assist.

Coburn -- 8 shots on goal.

Zidlicky -- GWG.

Campbell -- +3


Other notes:

PIT is very streaky, but doing well tonight.

FLA vs TOR -- FLA dominates. That Weiss-Booth line is getting good.

CHI 5 goals and counting.

Nabokov losing vs. CAL, but he loses big a few times each year, and CAL is a strong opponent.

It's time for helmet rules

Hockey player death prompts helmet talk

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3807147

A minor league player has died from injuries after hitting his head on the ice during a fight. I assume that he was unconscious when he fell and was unable to break his own fall. I've seen that happen in the NHL.

The NHL has to act but I'm not confident because the NHL isn't really concerned with blows to the head.