Golf analysts have gotten on board the Make Sports Safer (and maybe sell a bunch of specialized safety equipment in the process) Train. The most common golf injuries reported to the emergency rooms across the country are from the ball or the club actually impacting the face or head. This finding led to a study by Janda reported in Golf Digest magazine in which an automobile crash dummy took a vacation at the golf course. Using a golf ball machine to propel the ball Matt Judon Ravens Jersey , the dummy was hit in the head, chest and arm. Then computer equipment recorded the impact data from the dummy's load cells to determine the extent of injuries. Janda found that most of the simulated injuries could be serious or fatal unless treated properly and quickly. That crash dummy was probably thinking "Duh! if you get hit with a ball or a club in the head, it's going to hurt! Who's the dummy here?"




Hearing that people are dying on the golf course from head injuries conjures up a picture of golf balls flying wildly about, and frustrated golfers who vent their emotions by flinging their clubs Michael Pierce Ravens Jersey , possibly stiking unsuspecting passersby! This is so far from the truth as to be ludicrous. The fact is that the people whose deaths have been reported as golf related as children, not adults, and there are very few of them.




Here are some numbers compiled by pediatric neurosurgeons at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta between 1996 and 2002. A review of 2,546 patients under age 19 revealed 64 sports-related injuries Austin Howard Ravens Jersey , 15 of which were golf-related. Seven of the golf injuries were caused by golf cart accidents, seven by golf clubs and one by a golf ball, A report by Dr. Scott Y. Rahimi, neurosurgery resident and lead author on the study published in the March issue of Journal of Neurosurgery states that Seventeen bicycle-related head injuries during that period barely beat out golf as the major cause of sports-related head injuries in these children.




Wow Ryan Jensen Ravens Jersey , reading that any parent believe that golf is a dangerous sport, and children should be wearing helmets. After all, bicyclists are required to wear helmets. Horseback riders are required to wear helmets, and according to this study James Hurst Ravens Jersey , horseback riding isn't one of the top two causes of head injuries to children. Why not golf? Well,other than that it is hard to imagine a hard helmet in place of one of those plaid berets. The golf fashion police would simply not allow it.




All kidding aside, take a look at these numbers. These doctors reviewed 2,546 patients over a 7 year period. Only 15 of the injuries were golf related. Now look at the causes of the injuries. Seven of the golf injuries were caused by golf cart accidents Brandon Carr Ravens Jersey , seven by golf clubs and one by a golf ball. The seven golf cart accidents are actually automotive and not directly related to the sport of golf. Considering only the 8 instances of injury by club or ball: only 1 in every 318 people is injured on a golf course by a club or a ball, and the study reported 1 child died. That's 1 in every 2546 people.




On the other hand, consider lightening fatalities and injuries. The government statisticians tell us that based on the NOAA publication Storm Datathat over the last 36 years, there have been an average of 90 lightening deaths and 300 injuries from lightning in the US annually. In 2002 there were There were 97 Tony Jefferson Ravens Jersey ,900 accidental deaths in the US. Lighting is the most stable of all the weather related accident statistics, so assuming 90 deaths by
lightning in 2002, that is 1 in every 1087 people. Comparing the potential for death by lightning ro death by golf related injury, you have twice as much chance as dying from lightning than from an injury on the golf course.




The bottom line is that golf is a safe sport. Researchers who are trying to dip into the grant money available for safety studies and reporting that golf-related injuries constitute a common type of sports injury are not doing anyone any favors. We can only hope that some misguided government bureaucrat doesn't read one of these reports and decide that golf is the next area in which the government needs to guarantee our safety by making us all wear helmets on the golf course.



The NBA is an ever changing league. While there are some legendary teams and franchises that have put their stamp on the sport Danny Woodhead Ravens Jersey , there are up and coming teams that seem to be making a name for themselves. One of these optimistic teams is that of the Atlanta Hawks. The Atlantic Hawks are a professional men's basketball team located in Atlanta, Georgia. They play in the Southeast Division against other top teams that are found in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association.

The Hawks have been around for quite some time and have really molded throughout the years. They first entered the National Basketball league as the Buffalo Bisons in 1946, but were moved to the city of Moline, Illinois only 13 games into their first season. In Illinois they were renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks after the famous Illinois Black Hawk war. The Blackhawks were actually a part of the first 17 teams to join the NBA. Fast forward six years to 1951 Nico Siragusa Ravens Jersey , and the team was moved again to Milwaukee. In 1955 they were moved again, this time to the city of St. Louis Missouri.

In 1958, the Hawks won their first NBA championship against the Boston Celtics with the help of their star player Bob Pettit.

He ended up scoring 50 points in game 6 to close out the series. Two years later, the Hawks would again make it to the Finals but would fall short of another championship. The following year they would add Lenny Wilkens to their roster Tim Williams Ravens Jersey , go back the finals, but lose to the Celtics again.

After those glory years of the Hawks, they would end up being sold to a real estate developer in Atlanta n.