Thursday, February 28, 2008

Where was the medical staff?

I was getting ready for a business meeting and happened to catch the highlights and lowlights of the Georgia Tech / Duke hoops game. ESPN showed Matt Causey busting the back of his noggin, which resulted in a concussion. It then showed him both on the bench and in the game, with his eyes literally rolling in the back of his head.......... and still playing.



So here's my question...... how was he allowed back on the floor, and did anyone else see him acting strange......... or missing his eyeballs? We all know Causey is a competitor and one of those guys that will say he's fine after his arm got ripped off. However, my untrained knowledge and intuition says he was risking serious permanent brain damage. Maybe he was courageous and tough...... or maybe he was just knocked loopy.

Where was the medical staff? What is GT's official position on what happened? No blood no foul?

Just curious....

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UPDATE
Since my original post, AJC posted a story with quotes from Hewitt here. Here are the take-aways that Coach Hewitt wants you to believe:

  • Causey was cleared by Tech trainer Richard Stewart.
  • Stewart claimed Causey never lost consciousness and his symptons resolved themselves pretty quickly
  • Stewart held Causey out for a portion of the 2nd half until he was sure the symptoms were gone.
  • He did NOT have a grade 2 concusion, but a grade 1 concussion, which was less severe.
  • Matt Causey wants you to believe that his weird eye movements were not an involuntary result of his concussion, but a voluntary motion trying to get his focus back. (Either way, it sounds like he was trying to overcome symptoms still impacting his vision).
  • Hewitt says had he seen Causey's eye rolling in the back of his head, he would have benched him regardless of what the medical staff said.

I will say this much. That video of Causey is likely to be used for years and years in the future on shows debating the merits of sports injuries and letting kids play. Causey may just leave a basketball legacy at Tech after all.