Hard knocks

Today's Globe has a story on Chris Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler, who has written a book on the long-term affects of concussions. Widespread in all contact sports, concussions used to be routinely dismissed as "getting your bell rung," but as a doctor once told me, "Concussions are brain injuries."

As far as I know, I've never had a concussion, but I did write a story on the subject in the fall of 2005, when I was a sportswriter in Maine. It was probably the best story I wrote in my two years covering high school sports in suburban Portland, and it was chosen as the top sports story in its category by the Maine Press Association.

I spoke with doctors, trainers, coaches, nurses, athletic directors, principals and athletes who'd had concussions, and I learned how serious the injuries are and how they sometimes affect the recipient for months. It seemed, however, that most of the coaches, trainers and ADs were up to speed on concussions and treated them appropriately. Pro sports is a different story, and I doubt such macho environments will ever address the issue properly.