I’ve been on long hiatuses from writing before, but coming back from this one feels a bit strange. Lots of stuff happened, but I couldn’t decide how, or if I wanted to write about any of it. My decision not to write was probably based more on lethargy than I want to admit, but it was also based on my desire to take a break. A real break. A do-nothing break. I apologize in advance for the sequencing and general disorder of this post because I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to say. Right now, I’d place bets on ‘nothing’, but there’s a chance, however small, that I’ll pen (or type as the case may be) the most eloquent and poignant piece of literature in the English language. That would actually be a better bet, because the odds of that happening are astronomical, so betting even a penney would net you more money than you could spend in 5 lifetimes. But I digress…

Actually digressing seems to be the way this post is going to go. This country, or more to the point, TSN, is losing its mind about the return of the NHL. In September, the main story in Canadian sports was that there could be a strike and the NHL won’t start on time. October to December, the lead story was that there was no NHL. ‘Fans are disgusted. The NHL is going to lose them.’ ‘Fans will boycott games.’ Not if TSN has a say in it they won’t! (FYI non-Canadian readers; TSN has a huge say in it, in Canada). I’ll watch a game here and there, but I’ll be more interested in seeing the way injuries – concussions obviously the main injury I’m interested in – are treated, specifically if media glosses over injuries, or if teams are less forthcoming with information about them. I wonder if teams already losing fans and revenue from such a late start, will be hesitant to have star players sit out too long. The league has a vested interest in this as well. Prove me wrong kids. Prove me wrong!

I’ll also want to write about the NFL eventually. My favourite team, the San Francisco 49ers, are looking good! Really good! That has nothing to do with what I’m going to write. I just wanted to mention it. On to brain injuries in the NFL. Concussions weren’t such prominent topics in the NFL until one week in 2010 saw a slew of concussions on Sunday, leading to severe penalties and fines for reckless hits to the head. There have been numerous lawsuits from retired players claiming the NFL either didn’t do enough to prevent brain injury. In May 2012, only two years after retirement,  Junior Seau, a former star linebacker, shot himself in the heart and, after studying his brain, scientists found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), likely resulting from the countless hits to the head he received during his long NFL career. There was a lot of talk about this when it came out, and once the Super Bowl is over there will probably be more. Tedy Bruschi gives excellent insight into how this sort of information affects him. Remember though, Bruschi is retired and although it’s unintentional, there’s a good chance that there’s also subconscious rationalization going on there.

So, that’s some of the stuff I may write about, but obviously not all. I don’t know when, how, or even if, I’ll write about it, but for right now, I just had to write something, no matter how short or aimless the post may turn out to be.