Buck Pierce has an owie.
Again.
This time it's his head that hurts. Last time it was his left foot. Before that, it was a leg.
I think.
I mean, it's hard to keep an accurate tally because the list of Pierce's injuries is longer than a Winnipeg winter. He's on the limp more often than a pirate with a peg leg. When he's helped off the field now, it's dog-bites-man stuff. He's been there and done that so often they're apt to name a wing at the Health Sciences Centre in his honour.
Seriously, it's only news if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' quarterback is still standing after 60 minutes of football.
This latest injury, however, carries a strong whiff of worry because alarms go off anytime you mention Buck Pierce and concussion in the same sentence.
Pierce won't say how often he has been concussed. The total is believed to be somewhere between three and 100. The exact number doesn't really matter, though, because once you fall into the multiple-concussion category, you're playing on borrowed time.
Trust me, I know.
I've had many concussions. I stopped counting at seven or eight. Even the slightest knock on my noggin puts my equilibrium out of whack for a week, if not longer.
I once suffered a concussion in a public washroom (true story). It's one of the reasons I no longer engage in activity that is more physical than hoisting a pint of beer. If there remains an unscrambled part of my brain, I'd just as soon keep it that way, if you don't mind.
So I can relate to Pierce's ordeal. I know all about the headaches, the ringing in the ears, the dizziness, the fog, the blurred vision, the dark room, the lapses in memory, the moodiness, the cumulative damage.
In short, I've spent considerable time in La La Land and it isn't my idea of a swell time.
Having said all that, I won't be joining the braying chorus of armchair doctors who are counselling Pierce to walk away from the football field and never return.
I swear, they must be handing out medical degrees like candy at Halloween in Canada, because ever since Pierce was laid low by a very nasty, helmet-to-chin hit by Brandon Isaac of the Toronto Argonauts, everyone from Matt "Git 'er Done" Duniganto sports scribes to season-ticket subscribers apparently know what's best for Buck.
The prevailing sentiment is that he should shut it down. Now. Permanently.
Here are some samples:
LEFKO ON CFL: WHY BUCK PIERCE SHOULD RETIRE
Matt Dunigan tells Bombers' Buck Pierce to think about career
Blue Bombers should refuse to play Buck for his own good
Buck Pierce, please stop playing football
Well excuse me, but shouldn't it be Buck Pierce's decision to either abort or extend his Canadian Football League career? If and when the Winnipeg Football Club's medics green light him to move in behind centre, and if his family and closest friends are on board with him playing again, isn't it his call to make?
Who are sports scribes and TV talking heads to tell Buck Pierce what he should do with his life?
Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press, for example, looks very much like a man who doesn't miss many meals. But I don't hear Buck Pierce telling him that he's one cheese nip and a large order of fries away from his heart screaming in protest. He isn't telling Lawless to quit his job, either.
Dunigan, meanwhile, is a reason there's a mute button on your remote.
He sounds like Larry the Cable Guy's long-lost brother in his analyst role on TSN'sCFL coverage. But I don't hear Pierce telling him to quit his job until he learns to speak a language that people north of the Mason-Dixon line understand.
He isn't telling scribes Perry Lefko or Ian Busby to quit their jobs, either.
So, if Pierce wants to earn a paycheque by playing quarterback again, it's his business, not theirs.
It can, of course, be suggested that Pierce, given the cluttered state of his mind after the Isaac assault, isn't thinking clearly. That he's in denial. And it could be that he really does need someone to save him from himself.
But for a sports writer to deliver a sermon on health and welfare? Well, that's quite comical, actually. Have you seen the size and shape of some of those guys? And their eating habits? What next? They're going to give us fashion advice?
Look, professional football is an at-risk proposition. Pierce knows that.
They all know it.
That's why their careers are so short, some more so than others. It's also why it's so hard for them to leave. They thrive on the rush of the battle and they need to squeeze every ounce of adrenalin out of their system before they grudgingly step away.
For now, we know Bombers' medics have ruled Pierce ineligible for Monday when the Bombers are in Montreal to play the Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium. Beyond that, we simply do not know.
At some point, though, Pierce will be cleared to play again. It's then up to him to make the call. Not anyone else.
And we should respect his decision, either way.
Buck Pierce has an owie.
Again.
This time it's his head that hurts. Last time it was his left foot. Before that, it was a leg.
I think.
I mean, it's hard to keep an accurate tally because the list of Pierce's injuries is longer than a Winnipeg winter. He's on the limp more often than a pirate with a peg leg. When he's helped off the field now, it's dog-bites-man stuff. He's been there and done that so often they're apt to name a wing at the Health Sciences Centre in his honour.
Seriously, it's only news if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' quarterback is still standing after 60 minutes of football.
This latest injury, however, carries a strong whiff of worry because alarms go off anytime you mention Buck Pierce and concussion in the same sentence.
Pierce won't say how often he has been concussed. The total is believed to be somewhere between three and 100. The exact number doesn't really matter, though, because once you fall into the multiple-concussion category, you're playing on borrowed time.
Trust me, I know.
I've had many concussions. I stopped counting at seven or eight. Even the slightest knock on my noggin puts my equilibrium out of whack for a week, if not longer.
I once suffered a concussion in a public washroom (true story). It's one of the reasons I no longer engage in activity that is more physical than hoisting a pint of beer. If there remains an unscrambled part of my brain, I'd just as soon keep it that way, if you don't mind.
So I can relate to Pierce's ordeal. I know all about the headaches, the ringing in the ears, the dizziness, the fog, the blurred vision, the dark room, the lapses in memory, the moodiness, the cumulative damage.
In short, I've spent considerable time in La La Land and it isn't my idea of a swell time.
Having said all that, I won't be joining the braying chorus of armchair doctors who are counselling Pierce to walk away from the football field and never return.
I swear, they must be handing out medical degrees like candy at Halloween in Canada, because ever since Pierce was laid low by a very nasty, helmet-to-chin hit by Brandon Isaac of the Toronto Argonauts, everyone from Matt "Git 'er Done" Duniganto sports scribes to season-ticket subscribers apparently know what's best for Buck.
The prevailing sentiment is that he should shut it down. Now. Permanently.
Here are some samples:
LEFKO ON CFL: WHY BUCK PIERCE SHOULD RETIRE
Matt Dunigan tells Bombers' Buck Pierce to think about career
Blue Bombers should refuse to play Buck for his own good
Buck Pierce, please stop playing football
Well excuse me, but shouldn't it be Buck Pierce's decision to either abort or extend his Canadian Football League career? If and when the Winnipeg Football Club's medics green light him to move in behind centre, and if his family and closest friends are on board with him playing again, isn't it his call to make?
Who are sports scribes and TV talking heads to tell Buck Pierce what he should do with his life?
Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press, for example, looks very much like a man who doesn't miss many meals. But I don't hear Buck Pierce telling him that he's one cheese nip and a large order of fries away from his heart screaming in protest. He isn't telling Lawless to quit his job, either.
Dunigan, meanwhile, is a reason there's a mute button on your remote.
He sounds like Larry the Cable Guy's long-lost brother in his analyst role on TSN'sCFL coverage. But I don't hear Pierce telling him to quit his job until he learns to speak a language that people north of the Mason-Dixon line understand.
He isn't telling scribes Perry Lefko or Ian Busby to quit their jobs, either.
So, if Pierce wants to earn a paycheque by playing quarterback again, it's his business, not theirs.
It can, of course, be suggested that Pierce, given the cluttered state of his mind after the Isaac assault, isn't thinking clearly. That he's in denial. And it could be that he really does need someone to save him from himself.
But for a sports writer to deliver a sermon on health and welfare? Well, that's quite comical, actually. Have you seen the size and shape of some of those guys? And their eating habits? What next? They're going to give us fashion advice?
Look, professional football is an at-risk proposition. Pierce knows that.
They all know it.
That's why their careers are so short, some more so than others. It's also why it's so hard for them to leave. They thrive on the rush of the battle and they need to squeeze every ounce of adrenalin out of their system before they grudgingly step away.
For now, we know Bombers' medics have ruled Pierce ineligible for Monday when the Bombers are in Montreal to play the Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium. Beyond that, we simply do not know.
At some point, though, Pierce will be cleared to play again. It's then up to him to make the call. Not anyone else.
And we should respect his decision, either way.