SportsLetter

SL Interview: Dr. Robert Cantu speaks out about concussions in youth sports

Dr. Robert Cantu is one of the world's foremost authorities on concussions and brain trauma in sports, with a lengthy resume.  He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, where he pitched on the baseball team, and then his medical degree at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco.  Currently, he is the chief of neurosurgery as well as the director of the Service of Sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass.  He is the co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University, which is investigating the link between concussions and progressive brain disease.  He consults with numerous NFL, NHL, and NBA teams.

Along with journalist Mark Hyman, Dr. Cantu has authored a new book titled "Concussions and Our Kids: America's Leading Expert on How to Protect Young Athletes and Keep Sports Safe" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).  The book defines what a concussion is, examines the causes and symptoms of concussions among youth athletes, explains why complete cognitive and physical rest is the best therapy for post-concussion syndrome, and provides easy-to-follow guidelines for parents and coaches to use in protecting their youth athletes.

Part polemic and part prescription, the book discusses the dangers in contact and non-contact youth sports, including soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, basketball, baseball and softball, tennis, skateboarding and cheerleading.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the authors identify football at the youth level as "the greatest challenge by far.  Children are among the most vulnerable to injury because they have weak necks and immature musculature, and their brains are still developing.  And youth football by far accounts for the largest number of players -- almost three million from ages six to fourteen, according to USA Football." 

SportsLetter recently spoke with Dr. Cantu over the phone from his office.

--David Davis

Not even Courteney Cox will be welcome

The cougar will not be the mascot of a new high school in Draper, Utah, because school board members "expressed concerns over the appropriateness of using a mascot title that, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, can be used as a slang word for 'a middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man.'"

Future students of the new school -- to be opened in 2013 -- had the opportunity to select the school's colors and mascot.  After the votes were tallied the navy, silver and white school colors chosen by students were kept, but the Canyons School District replaced Cougar with Charger.

From KFOR.com:

With 23 percent of the votes, future students had selected the Cougar as the school's mascot, but Canyons School District said that board members expressed concern over the use of Cougar because it's used as a derogatory term for some women.

They also said that the Cougar is also a mascot for three other Utah schools, plus Brigham Young University, whose school colors are also blue and white. Corner Canyon High School is the first in Utah to use the Charger as its mascot.

According to Fox Sports:

Instead the board members chose a war horse as the school mascot noting the alliteration of Corner Canyon Chargers. It was also an image of strength that could unify the community, the board noted.

There has been no comment, as yet, from the ASPCA or those with excessive credit card debt.

The 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games

The 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck kicked off today (or tonight for those in Austria) with a "fun-filled start ... thanks to the youthful energy of the participants and fresh approach of the Youth Olympic Games format," according to the official site.

From the site:

From 3 to 22 January 2012 Innsbruck and Seefeld will play host to the 1stWinter Youth Olympic Games, which will see 1,058 athletes aged 14 to 18 from over 70 nations compete in 63 sporting competitions and, together with youngsters from the local region, take part in a one-of-a-kind Culture & Education Programme. The idea behind this mixture of sport and culture is to support young people in their personal and sporting development and to raise their interest in the Olympic Values.

According to WYOG 2012's Facebook page there will be no live coverage on television but Fox in Australia has put together a nice highlights schedule.

And, finally, no international sports competition is complete without a mascot.  Meet Yoggl, an alpine chamois who "lives in the steep and rocky moutains which tower above the Olympic venues of Innsbruck, Seefeld and Kühtai:"

The chamois represents the way of life and the landscape of the Games’host region, while his colourful pixel outfit merges traditional style with modern elements. Yoggl’s sporty appearance reflects the athletic aspect of the event, and his youthful character will spark the enthusiasm of young people from all over the world for the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games as well as the Olympic Values of Excellence, Respect and Friendship.

However, above all Yoggl is a lucky charm for the young athletes taking part in the Games and a vivid example of the Innsbruck 2012 motto: ‘Be part of it!’

 

 

 

 

2011 Pan American Games Mascots

Meet the mascots of the XVI Pan American Games, which will come to a conclusion in Guadalajara, Mexico, this weekend.

According to Terra.com:

Leo, Huichi and Gavo are the Pan-American Games Guadalajara 2011 mascots ... Each of the mascots represents the true identity of the Mexican culture.

Leo is playful and at the same time competitive reminds us of the seal of the city of Guadalajara.

Gavo, with its shape and colors represents the Agave plant, from which Tequila is distilled, and its origins are mainly Mexican.

Last but not least there is Huichi. A pink fawn inspired by the sacred images from the small town of Huichol in the State of Jalisco, looks to showcase the typical beliefs of the Mexican people.

Started in 1955, some 42 nations from Central America, North America, South America and the Caribbean currently compete in the Pan American Games, an event "second in size only to the Olympic Games in terms of the number of sports and amount of competing athletes" according to the United States Olympic Committee.

Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games Mascots

The new Olympic mascots are here! The new Olympic mascots are here!

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games mascots were unveiled this weekend.

Meet the gang:

 

According to the Sochi 2014 website:

The Hare, Polar Bear and Leopard have been chosen as the official Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games mascots following the results of a public vote during the live television show "Talismaniya Sochi 2014 - The Final” on Channel One. The Ray of Light and the Snowflake will be the Paralympic Winter Games mascots in 2014.

And, as usual, there were critics.  From the Los Angeles Times and AP:

But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev questioned whether the outcome actually reflected the will of the people, saying Monday there was “dissonance” between those results and earlier unofficial Internet voting.

Artis Viktor Chizhov told Ekho Moskvy radio that the polar bear is basically a rip-off of his creation, Misha the bear, the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympics -- “the eyes, nose, mouth, smile … I don't like it when they steal, a creator feels this very sharply.”

Sergei Mironov, leader of the Just Russia party, said the polar bear looks too much like the emblem of United Russia, the country's dominant party, led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

And politician Vladimir Zhrinovsky feels all three mascots are an insult to Russia. The leopard is “a bloodthirsty animal, it doesn't evoke any happiness. The bear is a most stupid animal. And the rabbit is a coward, it's always running,” he said, as  quoted by the news agency Interfax.

Ole Miss mascots

The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) needs its students, faculty, alumni and season ticketholders to vote for a new mascot for the University.

The search for a new mascot began seven years ago when complaints began rolling in that Colonel Rebel, the old Ole Miss mascot, was "anachronistic" and offensive.  Fast forward to 2010, and the Ole Miss Mascot Selection Committee has whittled down the choices to three finalists.

And while some of you may not be allowed to vote, there's no reason for you not to have an opinion.  For more information on the background behind these candidates, visit the Ole Miss Mascot Selection Committee website.

 
 
 

Rufus v. Brutus

Ok, ok.  You saw it on the sports highlights; you read about it the Sunday papers.  Once again, here are Rufus and Brutus in action:

CBS Sports reports that Brandon Hanning, the young man in the Rufus costume, had it in for Brutus from the moment he donned Rufus' furry little head.

"It was actually my whole plan to tackle Brutus when I tried out to be mascot," said Brandon Hanning, formerly known as Ohio University's Rufus Bobcat. "I tried out about a year ago, and the whole reason I tried out was so I could come up here to Ohio State and tackle Brutus."

Last Monday Ohio University banned the 19-year-old Hanning "from further affiliation with the school's athletics department."  That shouldn't be too hard for Hanning; he's not even a student at Ohio University anymore.  He now attends nearby Hocking College.

Alas, the two-year technical school in Nelsonville, Ohio, has no official athletics organizations. No teams, no mascot.

London 2012 Mascots

Billy Payne must be thrilled. 

As head of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Payne ultimately was responsible for what was arguably one of the strangest mascots in Olympic history:  Whatizit, or Izzy.

  

Izzy may have met his match.

Meet Wenlock, newly unveiled mascot of the 2012 London Olympic Games, and his friend Mandeville, mascot of the 2012 London Paralympic Games

 

 
 
  

Vancouver 2010

The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games from Vancouver will take place this evening, kicking off two weeks of skating, sledding and schussing.  SportsLetter knows what you're thinking right about now:  the heck with Lindsey Vonn’s ankle, where are the mascots?!

We’re here to serve; and perhaps a reader can help by answering a question that has been baffling us:  is Mukmuk an official mascot, or an Olympic mascot tourist?

Enjoy!

Mascot

Chip

Way back in March 2008 SportsLetter reported on the surprising loss of Michigan State’s Sparty to Tennessee’s Smokey at the 2008 Universal Cheerleading Association National Championships.

Well, with the January excitement of the BCS Bowl Games, the Australian Open and the beginning of college basketball’s regular season, SportsLetter just plumb forgot to report the results of the 2009 contest.  Consider that oversight rectified.

The 2009 Universal Cheerleading Association/Universal Dance Association College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships were held in January at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports Complex (soon to be the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex).  In the Division 1A Mascot competition, former champs Sparty and Smokey placed 4th and 5th respectively.  Second and third place went to Aubie (Auburn) and Goldy Golpher (Minnesota).  And, your 2009 mascot champion, from the University of Colorado: Chip!

YoUDee, from the University of Delaware, took the Open Mascot competition. 

Finally, SportsLetter wasn’t there to judge, but … really, Sparty?  What’s up with the Captain America underpants?

 

The 2010 College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship will be held on January 15 - 18, 2010.  SportsLetter won’t let you down. 

Well, probably not.

But, if your cheerleading competition Jones can’t wait, maybe a trip to Bremen, Germany is in your near future.  The International Federation of Cheerleading’s 5th Cheerleading World Championships will be held in that historic German city November 28th and 29th. 

According to IFC President Setsuo Nakamura: “IFC and the local organizing committees expect upwards of 20 countries from all corners of the globe to participate and create a unique opportunity for cultural exchange and further cement the reputation of cheerleading as a serious global sport.”

Rah!