One thing about life in general that makes me chuckle is the odd ways that people can injure themselves - including porfessional athletes.

I recall Alan Trammell, when he was playing for the Tigers, blew out a knee when he tripped and fell off a porch on Halloween - I think he was dressed as Frankenstein’s monster and the shoes tripped him up.  Sammy Sosa missed several games when he pulled a back muscle sneezing.  A pitcher I read about missed a few starts because he sliced a finger open on his pitching hand when he was opening a pop-top can.  Another baseball player sliced up his hand because he had a nightmare about spiders when he was napping on his couch, and while he was trying to smash them in his sleep he put his hand through a glass-top coffee table.

Unless these young men are wrapped in bubble wrap and put away in a padded room with no sharp objects or pointed edges, and only taken out for special occasions, they will sometimes get hurt - as will any young people of a comparable age.  Sometimes I think it’s amazing that any children survive to adulthood at all.

I do think it would be an excellent idea for the league or the players’ association to offer guidance on safety classes for players to take before they do something like take up shooting or buy a bike - or even a high-powered car, as I know they have different handling characteristics than run-of-the-mill transportation.

If a driving course involved operating fast cars at high speeds to get an idea how they respond in curves or skids under controlled conditions, I doubt any of the players would object - that sounds like fun.  Just see they are as informed and prepared as possible, then trust their judgement.  That’s probably the best you can do.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/01/08 at 10:37 AM ET

Automobile accidents are the single biggest killer of healthy people in developed countries.

There are 8.8 deaths per million driving hours for motorcyclists.  The rate is 0.47 for cars.  Driving a motorcycle is 18 times deadlier than driving a car on a per hour basis.

It’s easy to overlook how deadly these things are when there are more headlines about bollocks like West Nile virus and terrorists.

When it comes to which things to ban in contracts, no one is going to agree.  What if a player took up base jumping?  What if one decided to moonlight in a MMA circuit?  Choosing to bike without a helmet?

There is a long list of dangerous things we’re not allowed to do.  Wherever you draw the line, it’s going to be arbitrary.  Arbitrary does not mean ‘wrong.’ Speed limits are arbitrary but there is no great debate about them.

Posted by Jeff J from Fredericton on 06/01/08 at 10:58 AM ET

Education is certainly a different issue and you’re absolutely right—it can only be helpful to offer guidance to players. 

Your examples of bizarre accidents reminds me of another one. About a year ago, Brent Sopel managed to injure his back by bending over to pick up a cracker.

Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 06/01/08 at 10:59 AM ET

Unless these young men are wrapped in bubble wrap and put away in a padded room with no sharp objects or pointed edges

Nah, this wouldn’t work either.  Sooner or later somebody would suffocate.

I don’t mean to make light of tragic, tragic situation.  The death of someone so young just shouldn’t happen.  Ever.  But it does.  As humans so often we try and we try to look rationally at the irrational—to explain the inexplicable.  A family just lost their child… I can’t understand that.  I guess I can only pray for them.

Posted by BobTheZee on 06/01/08 at 11:30 AM ET

The difference between the Heatley accident and the Bourdon accident is that Bourdon was doing nothing illegal and he still got killed. He lost control in a strong gust of wind. It was not like he was speeding. Even if he didn’t lose control, he has absolutely no protection by riding a motorcycle.

In the Heatley case, he was speeding, and neither he or Snyder were wearing seatbelts. That has nothing to do with having a fast car or not, it was just careless. You can have a normal car like an Accord or a Camry and drive at three times the speed limit, or you can have a Ferrari or Porsche and drive at the speed limit… it doesn’t really matter what car you are driving, because in an accident you probably have the same protection and you can be careful or careless whether or not its an expensive car.

Posted by bcrt on 06/01/08 at 12:55 PM ET

What if Chris Chelios got eaten by a shark?

)

Posted by w2j2 on 06/01/08 at 01:44 PM ET