The other day I was browsing ESPN.com’s homepage, trying to cut through all the columns and other junk to read about the D-Backs’ winning streak, when there on the right side of the page was a story about Sidney Crosby.
Yeah, remember him? The Penguins’ captain and leading scorer, and hero during Pittsburg’s 2009 Stanley Cup win?
The casual fan might need a refresher, however, because Crosby missed the last five months of the season due to concussion symptoms.
Sports enthusiasts are used to concussions. They happen, particularly in hockey and football, and the player sits out for a couple weeks, then passes his fitness test and comes back.
Occasionally an older player suffers his fifth or sixth concussion and is forced to retire. And in rare cases, a younger player is forced to quit as well.
Anyway, the story on Crosby said the forward is still suffering from headaches, despite the fact that he first felt the symptoms back on Jan. 5.
That’s nine months ago. Something is not right.
Concussions are dangerous, and care must be taken when dealing with them, but when has there been a back-and-forth case like Crosby’s? One week the team states that he’s on his way to recovery and the organization is excited for his return.
Even now, ESPN.com reported that all was fine until Crosby’s workouts reached 90 percent. Then the headaches came back, and now the Penguins are saying he’ll probably miss the start of the season.
The question is, how bad is Crosby injured? None of the reports coming out seem to detail exactly what is wrong.
But there are also deeper questions here. This particular concussion saga has been so prominent because Crosby is prominent. I’m willing to bet there have been countless times that less popular and even minor league players have gone through the same drawn-out process, and not a word was said outside the team.
Even worse, it’s highly likely that this has happened to players who had a legitimate shot at coming back but weren’t franchise players like Crosby is.
As a closing note, this whole saga has scared me. We live in a time where scientists can map the human genome, clone sheep, study planets from billions of miles away and make individual atoms collide.
And yet doctors have no idea what’s wrong with Crosby’s brain.
I would never call Crosby out on this. He’s taking precautions because the doctors are telling him to and because he knows its right.
It’s partly thanks to Crosby that younger players are wearing half-shields during games now.
And you know he wants to come back — he’s tried five or six times since the injury. It’s the sport he loves, and has loved ever since he shot pucks into his mom’s dryer when he was two.
But he might have to call it quits. This isn’t going away, and we know better than to let someone destroy himself or herself physically when it can be avoided.
Give it another year, Sidney. And if things aren’t better by then, you might have to think about moving on.
Reach the columnist at egrasser@asu.edu
