Head Injury

The NHL gave Brendan Shanahan a hammer. And though the new czar of discipline is swinging it more forcefully than anyone expected, the league insists the hammer won't be replaced with a feather. Shanahan, head of the league's new player safety department, has aggressively carried out the NHL's overdue directive to punish players who hit opponents in the head. Predictably, he has faced a backlash, maybe because his decisiveness and clarity are startling after Colin Campbell's meek, muddled rulings.

A 2-year-old boy lost his foot and a 4-year-old girl suffered major head injuries when their allegedly intoxicated mother overturned the sport utility vehicle she was driving near Lancaster early Sunday. Four other children suffered mild to moderate injuries in the 6:15 a.m. accident, the California Highway Patrol reported. Stanesha Nicole Allen, 31, of Lake Los Angeles was driving a 2002 Toyota Sequoia when she drifted off Avenue I, a two-lane paved road, and lost control of the car, according to CHP Sgt. Denise Joslin.

Rates of abusive head trauma in children under age 5 rose during the last recession, suggesting that economic woes may have led parents to lash out against their kids, researchers reported Monday in the journal Pediatrics. The data also suggest that physicians today may want to be extra vigilant for signs of child abuse as economic conditions remain in the doldrums, the team wrote. The notion that economic hardship leads to increases in child abuse is not new -- scientific research and anecdotal reports have long shown a relationship.  For example, the Los Angeles Times reported during the recession in 1994 about increases in child abuse and neglect in Los Angeles County.  In recent years, the co-authors noted in the Pediatrics study, articles in the popular press including this one and this one have again stoked concerns that abuse was on the rise as the economy worsened.

Left wing Paul Kariya, the Ducks' first-ever draft pick in 1993 and first homegrown star, announced his retirement Wednesday because his many concussions leave him vulnerable to further brain injury. Kariya, 36, scored 50 goals and 108 points for the Ducks in 1995-96 and 101 points in 1998-99. A dynamic skater with great skill, he left for Colorado after the team's seven-game loss to New Jersey in the 2003 Stanley Cup finals but never won the championship. He finishes with 402 goals and 989 points in 989 games.

Head injuries may be linked with subsequent violent behavior in young people, a study finds. The study, published the June issue of the journal Pediatrics , followed 850 ninth-graders from four schools who were at risk for dropping out of high school. They had grade-point averages of 3.0 or below at the end of eighth grade and were not emotionally or developmentally impaired. Researchers conducted yearly interviews with the participants, and in addition to asking about head injuries and violent behavior, test subjects were also asked about other issues such as substance abuse, nonviolent delinquent behavior and sexual activity.

Ron Salcer, a longtime hockey agent based in Manhattan Beach, spent most of last week talking business with New York Rangers forward Derek Boogaard. When they met to celebrate Boogaard's final night in Southern California, Salcer brought his family. "We had a great dinner. My daughter said how good he looked, how happy he was," Salcer said. "We said goodbye Wednesday night, he traveled Thursday and on Friday I got the phone call from his brother. " The call brought unfathomable news.

Freestyle motocross racer Jeff 'Ox' Kargola of San Clemente died Friday from injuries sustained during a punishing, 1,300-mile adventure ride through Mexico's Baja Peninsula, according to event sponsors. Kargola was 27. Kargola crashed during the second day of the Desert Assassins' 2011 Rip to the Tip desert motocross event -- an eight-day contest among 30 dirt-bike racers who cross mountains, beaches and desert between the border city of Mexicali and Cabo San Lucas. "Jeff was attended to by medical personnel on site and was transported via helicopter to the San Felipe hospital where he passed away due to his injuries," read an event statement.

As concussion-stricken Sidney Crosby took his first strides on the ice in Pittsburgh in more than two months, NHL general managers on Monday took tentative strides toward minimizing and treating head injuries ? a hot topic since Boston's Zdeno Chara wasn't suspended for a hit that left Montreal's Max Pacioretty with a concussion and fractured vertebra. Commissioner Gary Bettman opened the three-day session in Boca Raton, Fla., by introducing a five-point plan highlighted by a new protocol for head injuries.

There is much more than can be said about the death of Dave Duerson. And so we will. It was only last week that the former NFL star put a gun to his heart and pulled the trigger. Oh, well. Death at an early age to a former pro football player has become a Page 10 item in the roundup of sports tidbits. Even suicide. As Roy S. Johnson wrote Wednesday on ESPN.com, "Sadly, the initial word of Duerson's suicide was not wholly surprising. The list of NFLers who have taken their own lives for various reasons is not a short one. " The how and why of Duerson's case sets it apart.

As we ponder floating bonds and working construction cranes in our quest to bring the NFL to Los Angeles, we might also ponder the story of Dave Duerson. He is the former Chicago Bears safety, most notably with the 1985 Super Bowl champs, and a businessman who grew a food company into a multimillion-dollar success. He had 11 years in the NFL and was selected to four Pro Bowls. In other words, Duerson was more than just another guy. Thursday, Duerson shot himself to death in his home in Florida.