Concussions In Soccer Are Serious Business, But Are They Being Treated Right?

Shameless self-promotion, but I'm curious what everyone thinks.

A.J. DeLaGarza suffered some kind of head injury against the Sounders on July 4th. The diagnosis varies depending on who you talk to, with the Galaxy calling it a contusion. He played on Wednesday night at Starfire and it bothered me. I explain why in the piece linked above.

11 months ago Brian Floyd 7 comments 1 recs |

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Great article

Thanks for this. Concussions are serious business and folks like you and Taylor Twellman are absolutely right to be bringing attention to this.

Was it DeLaGarza who committed the turnover in the back that led directly to Montero’s goal? The LA backline, and DeLaGarza in particular, seemed just a little off the entire match. At the time I chalked it up to Starfire, small pitch, ECS awesomeness, Sounder awesomeness, etc…. I really hope that’s what it truly was.

by JesseMT on Jul 14, 2011 3:46 PM PDT reply actions

It was DeLaGarza that committed the odd turnover leading to Montero's goal.

CougCenter

by Brian Floyd on Jul 14, 2011 3:48 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks for commenting on this Brian

I know most know this, I’m just pointing it out: a contusion is a bruise, a concussion is bruising of the brain. This isn’t just a problem with Arena, this is a problem with whoever massaged the language to get him cleared. Let’s hope the Galaxy sit DeLaGarza out a little longer this time.

by James Bray on Jul 14, 2011 3:58 PM PDT reply actions

That was the weird thing of this all

They called it a facial contusion. So the boot caused a bruise on his face and it was left at theat. It doesn’t add up.

CougCenter

by Brian Floyd on Jul 14, 2011 4:04 PM PDT up reply actions

DeLaGarza didn't look like his usual sharp self

I didn’t think much of it until later when I was reading the SAH game comments. He shouldn’t have been playing, IMHO.

by Dizzo on Jul 14, 2011 4:09 PM PDT up reply actions

They still aren’t close to doing what they need to. I’m pretty hopeful though that Twellman will continue being extremely outspoken about it and will use his status within the league to make headway, no pun intended. I’ve had 2 concussions myself, neither to the point of memory loss but both were frightening experiences that make me all the more serious about the issue with professional athletes. The largest problem will always be convincing the players to stop trying to go back into games. There are a ton of incentive issues as well, namely that teams have a high incentive to play star players, concussed or not, and that there will be pressure from all sides to get a player back on the field. All said, the sooner the league gets tough on the rules the better.

Boo! Tomorrow AM. I want all things now!

by Perrinbar on Jul 15, 2011 8:16 AM PDT reply actions