Boxing: One Blow from a Permanent KO

In several crucial ways, boxing is the most dangerous sport (although some argue against it being a sport). Guys are swinging with heavy gloves, at incredible velocities, making contact with critical body parts constantly. Broken ribs and other bones to serious facial damage are all common. It is obvious to see that brain damage and concussions are hardly a rarity. What is interesting to look at is just how close these boxers come to causing a permanent KO.


The Force:
The boxers punch is powerful, fast and padded. Anyone including myself who has felt a punch to the body or face knows that it is painful to say the least. Boxers are able to throw punches as fast as 30 feet per second or more and can land 20 plus punches in a matter of seconds. When looking at the factors of momentum, force, impulse and kinetic energy it is easy to see how much power these punches can muster up. This can be explained without needing to know all these terms. You combine these aspects in calculating force (mass times acceleration) and the blow can be some 1000 pounds of punching force. To put into perspective for you, this force could crush through doors, some walls and planks of wood. It shouldn't be hard to see from this that one of these punches directly hitting the face could easily break multiple bones, dislodge the brain and cause such an internal "shaking" of the brain the boxer would be dead. The question is why is the boxer not dead?


Just Enough:
The reason that boxers are not dying all over the place is because the results mentioned above are skewed. In other words they are missing a crucial point. These calculations are found from impact on a still sturdy object. A boxer NEVER gets hit cleanly and fully from one of these blows. The average boxer can see a punch coming and react to it in less than a couple tenths of a second. The reaction is similar to time to blink an eye. The boxer moves so little that people cannot really see it. The centimeters of movement the boxer makes between seeing the punch and it making contact saves their lives. This movement decreases the force an incredible amount. Obviously, the more movement the less force. Even in knockout blows, there is simply a very large force and a very small movement of the defending boxer. There is some however and although the knockout and damages can be bad, it prevented his permanent KO. Another crucial step to help reduce these punches forces is adding a slimy substance to the boxers face and body. When a punch connects, this material allows the punch to slide off somewhat and reduce the force dramatically. In the end it comes down to constant head blows that become more of a threat than a single blow. Many do not understand just how close a boxer is (less than 5 centimeters) from never opening his eyes again.



http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sports+science+boxing&sm=3
    

Hockey: Fighting It's Good for the Game

Hockey is a sport all on its own in many ways. It is a sport I would have loved to play if given the chance. It is such a minor sport in my hometown that not only did I not have an opportunity, but I didn't even have a chance to practice the most important part of hockey, SKATING. The reason why I would have loved to try hockey is the same reason it is being discussed in this article. It is a physical, rough and tough game. From smashing guys into the walls to being allowed to fight, this sport has its word cut out for it.

SMASH, CRASH and BLAST
If you ever watch a hockey game, plenty of contact occurs. They are covered all over in large, heavy padding to protect from all the different dangers. The most common contact that occurs is players smashing into each other against the wall when going for the puck. It is very common and a legal part of the game. This provides huge entertainment along with making the sport more elite to participate in. The other part of the game that many fans love.... the fights.

Fighting: Rules for it
It goes without question that a fight or two will occur at some point in a game. How does this happen without anyone stopping it? The rules allow that if two players get into a conflict where no other players interfere and the two involved players stay on their feet that it can be continued until settled. Many possible reasons remain as to why these rules are like this. For one, because of the padding and difficulty of fighting while standing on ice makes the punches generally much weaker. In general it is believed that these rules allow for fights without escalations or any extremely dangerous situations for the players.

Controversy
There are many who argue that fighting should not be allowed for several reasons. The dangers are too high, the violence is unnecessary for the game and it shows poor sportsmanship and player conduct. These are all reasons that fighting in hockey is continually looked at and questioned whether it should remain. The question in the end is will the game change if fighting was removed?

Why Fighting is Good:
Fighting is not just an act to gain fans and revenue for the sake of maximizing profits. Fighting has been around in hockey since the beginning. It allows for players to protect others. The biggest reason, in my opinion, that fighting is necessary is because of protecting the players. The best players in the league also pose the biggest threat to other teams. These players could be taken out in games constantly so the opposing team would increase their chances to win. Why does this not happen? Because the teammates of that star player protect him. The other team knows that in trying to take a shot on the star would invoke a spree of fights by every other player on the team against him. Since fighting is allowed, they would not hesitate to start one with him and needless to say he would be getting his you know what kicked for the entire game. This rule protects players more than people realize. Being an enemy to a team can be quite dangerous for himself and is always something players have to consider before taking a shot on someone.

Guest Post, By Spenser Field

In Gronk We Trust, Just Not His Forearm

As a born and bred Patriots fan, when it comes to injuries, the first thing that pops into my head is the majestic creature that is Rob Gronkowski. Playing the position of tight end, Rob has found himself on various injury reports within the past year. Everyone seems to be aware of his multiple forearm surgeries, but in June he added back surgery to his list of operations and injuries that could keep him from playing as well as we all know he can. Most recently, he has added hamstring to his list of injuries.

For all the ladies of New England, this meant that we would not be seeing our go-to eye candy on the field. To start the NFL season, Gronkowski missed six games, and to everyone’s surprise, the injury keeping him from the field wasn’t related to his June 18^th back surgery. The herniated disk surgery recovery would have wrapped up around Week 1. Clearly something more was keeping him out of the lineup.

Unfortunately, Gronkowski’s left forearm is the main issue in his play at this point. There has been some discussion that Gronk’s camp is concerned that the ongoing injury is a result of how Patriots team doctor, Thomas Gill, handled the initial surgery. The initial break happened almost a year ago, on Nov. 18, when the Patriots played the Colts. Instead of letting the bone heal naturally, Gronk and Gill made a joint decision to “speed” up the process by implanting a device in the forearm. Really worked out for you guys, huh???

Because of an infection that had developed after Gronk had rebroken the bone in January, his forearm has been operated on four times in the last ten months. Now, I don’t have a Ph.D, and I am no professional, but since Gronk’s last operation happened about five months ago, I WOULD THINK that it would have healed by now…but here I stand…having only watched Gronk play three times. It is hard to watch Gronk play at this point without flinching every time he hits the ground. With the amount of injuries Gronk has under his belt growing, it is hard to watch him without sending up a little prayer that he gets up and doesn’t start limping.

            Thankfully, Gronk has been playing recently, and Patriots fans hope that he stays strong. The Patriots have a bye week this week before returning to the field to take on the Panthers in Week 11. Me? I hope to see plenty of completions from Brady to Gronk, but seeing him on the field is good enough for me.

Baseball: More than Meets the Eye

When I am talking about contact sports few would consider baseball to be included. In general I would agree. Although the sport goes through its fair share of injuries, primarily non-contact, there are a couple of places where contact occurs. Sliding into a base and taking a player's leg out, runner trying to smash through the catcher at home so he drops the ball, are both instances that happen frequently, but they are not why I am writing this post

.
Eye On the Ball:

The point of baseball that provides the most danger is the baseball.Those who are most susceptible to its fury are batters and..... pitchers. That is right, I said pitchers. Many would assume catchers or even runners on the base, but the frequency and danger to runners are fairly low, nothing more than some nasty bruises. Even catchers, who take the most hits, are so well protected that only occasional instances occur where any real damage is done. The batter is an obvious choice. They are up at the plate on average some 3 times a game and take an average of 5 pitches each time, each being anywhere from 70-100 mph. Multiply this times the number of games in a season and you have a whole lot of chances for something to go wrong. Hope they have quick reflexes. The pitcher is the one that may come as a surprise. People know they are in contact with the ball more than anyone on the field, but they are ones delivering it. The issue is when the ball is coming back at them.

Protecting the Money Maker:

The batter is obviously protected well with a keen eye to dodge at least enough to allow the ball to hit a less severe spot of the body. He also has a hard shell helmet with significant soft padding inside to soften any blow to the head. Add this with some pads around the body to commonly hit spots and, for the most part, serious injuries are avoided. The pitcher is a whole other story. He has no real padding or protection and any used may throw off his pitch. What happens when the ball is hit? The force that it returns to the field with off of a hard swung bat is much greater than anything the pitcher delivers. Sure the probability seems small for the pitcher to get hit considering all the space around him and the exact area the batter must hit the ball at to put it in that direction, but with as many balls as a pitcher throws these odds aren't so unlikely anymore.


From time of contact on the bat, to the time it takes the ball to reach the pitcher, compared to the pitchers time to not only see the ball, but move out of its path is less than 2 SECONDS. In other words, he better be lightning quick. Often now we are seeing pitcher's take brutal blows to the back, legs and other parts. They break bones and cause many other injuries. These are nothing compared to what can also happen. That ball making contact with the pitchers face or head is deadly any time. It only takes one, making it one of the most severe hits in ANY SPORT. This blow can cause concussions, fractures in the head/neck area and worse. The pitcher has only so long to realize it.

Keeping the Pitcher on his Mound: 


What protects the head? Helmets. A pitcher cannot wear a helmet though without completely throwing off his game. The issue, how to protect without changing. What is on the head? Cap. This is what they have to work with and that is what they have changed. Currently companies are making baseball caps with a strong fiber lining that is flexible, yet strong. While a blow to the head would still be dangerous, this padding could provide some serious deterring of force to the head. Currently pitchers are beginning to experiment with the hats. Although they notice the change (mainly because it is tighter on the head) it does not seem to be too significant. Further studies are needed, but it looks like a minor yet crucial change that may be occurring.

Follow up post: Hockey: Fighting, it's Good for the Game
Boxing: How is this still around?!