AN OVERTIME WIN FOR THE RANGERS

Henrik Lundqvist

The New York Rangers took on the Washington Capitals in Washington’s Verizon Center, their own personal house of horrors for the post-season. The series tied at one game apiece, the Rangers looked to put an end to the snide of the Capitals and win a game. It took them into overtime to do so, but they prevailed 2-1 in the end.

Marian Gaborik

This is a team that is ranked as the second best in the NFL, and they needed their best to do it and continue a great season. The problem with the Verizon Center is that the Blue shirts don’t score, having given up 16 goals while scoring only 8! That is not support for a goalie. Henrik Lundqvist is 2-5 in playoff career games in DC, and so the victory was big in many ways, allowing the Rangers to take a: 2 games to 1 lead and heading back to NY and the home fans at the Garden, thanks to Marian Gaborik.

JARED WEAVER TOSSES A NO HITTER

In the perfect baseball score, the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Minnesota Twins 9-0, behind the no-hit effort of Jared Weaver, the second so far this season in less than 2 weeks!

Phil Humber of the Chicago White Sox and another former New York Mets pitcher threw a perfect game at Seattle on April 21.

This was the Angels second no-hitter in the last year – Ervin Santana threw one on  July 27 in Cleveland. This was the 10th for the Angels franchise, including four by Nolan Ryan. To add to the perfect score, he struck out 9 Twins!

His next scheduled outing is against the Twins: do we hear echoes of Johnny Vandermeer?

IS THE NFL DOING ENOUGH TO PREVENT INJURIES?

It seems that whenever a football player or former football player dies, the question comes up: Is the NFL doing enough to protect the players? With the recent death of Junior Seau the question is once again on the table.

Then there is the scandal involving the New Orleans (These ain’t no) Saints and the investigation and fines that have been meted out from all that. The team conspired to deliberately harm and injure the opposition by taking out key players from the game. This is criminal and should be pursued under the law.

Junior Seau

But the question remains: Is the NFL doing enough to prevent injuries? I see they are protecting the quarterback and doing rule changes every year, but this only addresses part of the problem. The injuries sustained these days are far more intensive and crippling than in any time in the past. The players are bigger and stronger and in some cases faster, Injuries these players inflict have a long-term effect on the recipients. Concussions are more common than ever before, spinal injuries have become an issue, and in later years a lot of former players are suffering from their careers! It is a lot like boxing and Mohammed Ali and the effects of his career on his him. How many former players are suffering from Alzheimer or Parkinson or dementia from the injuries suffered long ago?

So what kind of injuries are we talking about? Head injuries of course, and the specifics are important! Starting quarterbacks in the National Football League like Troy Aikman and Steve Young are the targets in particular. Post-concussion visits with neurologists are too many and too many unanswered questions abide. How many head injuries are too many? What is the long-term effects on the injured players? How long should a player sit out after suffering a head injury of any kind? These are the questions that desperately need answers for the game to survive in its present state.

That’s all I wrote, folks!