Time is now to eliminate head shots in hockey
Hockey Betting Lines
03/10/2010 -
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A concussion is serious, and the NHL may
finally be waking up to the fact. Anyone who has had a serious knock will tell
you that the effects can be scary. While the league has spent years dancing
around the subject of hits to the head, it is an issue that has become more
pressing than ever.
It makes you wonder if the suits in the front office have been suffering from
the same confusion and blurry vision as the players who seem to be dropping
like flies around the league.
Hockey's alleged top brains will be concluding a three-day summit Wednesday,
where the topic of shoulder hits to the head is being discussed. As it stands,
the shoulder blow is still a legal part of the game, meaning that no penalty
can be assessed for the goon-like offense.
"The managers in their heart of hearts feel something's wrong here, but it's
not against the rules. That's what we're trying to attack," said Colin
Campbell, the NHL's principle disciplinarian.
Last Sunday, Boston Bruins all-star Marc Savard became the latest victim of an
unsuspecting shoulder to the head by the Pittsburgh Penguins' Matt Cooke.
Seeing him motionless on the ice was a troubling scene, but a scene that has
been repeating itself like a bad Hollywood script.
Savard will likely be forced by team doctors to miss multiple weeks of action,
as the medical community has made it clear they won't treat these injuries like
a joke.
Young Florida Panthers sniper David Booth missed three-quarters of this season
with medically diagnosed post-concussion syndrome, and was only allowed to play
after rigorous baseline testing.
Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron can attest first-hand to the after-
effects of a brain injury. A grade-three concussion almost stripped the young
star of his career in October of 2007 as he ended up missing the better part of
the season.
"I couldn't do anything. The light was bothering me, the noise was bothering
me. Everything was," Bergeron said in reference to the concussion. "It was
giving me headaches, making me dizzy."
"I was pretty much trying to go through the day, trying to sleep and rest and
feel better."
Luckily Bergeron was able to get back on track after a long and difficult
recovery. He was even fortunate enough to win Olympic gold with Team Canada in
Vancouver.
But, not all players are so lucky.
It's no surprise that around the sport these hits are called "career-enders",
just ask Eric Lindros.
Termed the "Next One" in the 90's, Lindros was supposed to be the second coming
of Wayne Gretzky. A true superstar during his short NHL career, he would miss
significant time due to concussions and eventually retire thanks to the elbow
of bruiser Scott Stevens.
What did the powers that be tell us then? They said it was part of the game.
They said it takes toughness to be a hockey player, like Eddie Shore and Bobby
Clarke.
Sorry gentlemen, but the game is light years ahead of where it was back then.
It's faster, more violent, and the players are stronger.
Players must be forced to respect the head and the only way to do that is to
asses a penalty for the infraction. There should be, at minimum, a five-minute
major and an ejection from the game for the dangerous blow. The same punishment
has been effective in reducing hits from behind, and hits to the head are no
less an epidemic.
It is embarrassing that the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), Canada's premier
junior hockey organization, has already figured out a way to deter these dirty
hits while the NHL has stood pat.
In doling out a season-long suspension in January to high-profile player
Patrice Cormier for his blindside hit of a fellow player, the CHL sent a strong
message that these types of plays would not be tolerated. Captain of the
Canadian world junior team and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League standout,
Cormier was not allowed to escape the rule of law due to his star status. The
same hard-nosed approach must be taken in the NHL.
"Clearly the blind side of an unsuspecting player is what we're talking about,"
said Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk. He also added that he thought stiffer
suspensions could be used more frequently in extreme cases.
Unfortunately, any rule change proposed at the summit needs approval by the
competition committee, which includes players, and the league's board of
governors. Hopefully, the recommendations that are made don't fall on deaf
ears.
It would be regrettable if another career was put in jeopardy before action was
taken.
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
Football Betting
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
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