AEMA: DISTRICT II MEETING @ TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

THIS WEEK I VENTURED AN HOUR AND HALF SOUTH DOWN TO PHILADELPHIA FOR THE AEMA'S DISTRICT 2 ANNUAL MEETING AND VENDOR PRESENTATIONS.

THIS YEAR WE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM AND SPEAK TO REPS FROM

I.S.S. - LAUNDRY CHEMICALS, PUMPS, AND ATHLETIC FACILITIES DESIGN
KELLY'S SPORTS - GENERAL SPORTS SUPPLY
GREEN GRIDIRON - RE-DIPPING FACEMASKS
ROGERS - PRACTICE SLEDS, DUMMIES, ETC...
SCHUTT - PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
RIDDELL - PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
UNDER ARMOUR - ATHLETIC APPAREL
DUFFY'S TRI-C CLUB - TOILETRIES, LAUNDRY BINS, ETC...
VERBEEK DISTRIBUTORS - LAUNDERING PERFORMANCE SPORTSWEAR, ETC...
KAMPUS CLOTHES - SCREENING AND EMBROIDERY
MCDAVID - PROTECTIVE PADDING/APPAREL
WASHPROZ - LAUNDRY LOOPS
LIDS TEAM SPORTS - GENERAL SPORTS APPAREL AND SUPPLIES
COACH COMM - SIDELINE HEADSETS
SPORTS STAR - CHIN STRAPS
EYEBLACK.COM - EYE BLACK

ALONG WITH SEEING NEW PRODUCTS AND DISCUSSING BUSINESS WE WERE ALSO TREATED TO A PHILLIES BASEBALL GAME AND PRE-GAME 'MISSION BBQ' TAILGATE.

PRE-GAME TAILGATE FROM MISSION BBQ!

OUR SEATS AT THE PHILLIES GAME

WE ALSO GOT A TOUR OF TEMPLE'S NEW FOOTBALL FACILITY:

view of practice field

team meeting room

players lounge

practice field storage

practice field storage

weight room 1

weight room 2

weight room 3

weight room 4

training room with view of practice field

locker room hallway / equipment room window

equipment room 1

 

equipment room 2

equipment room 3

Hilariously hideous 1980 Tucson Toros uniforms making colorful comeback in June

COMC.COM

sports.yahoo.com

By David Brown | Big League Stew – Tue, May 14, 2013


One tiny accident with the laundry in the spring of 1980 took them from us. But the rainbow-rific Tucson Toros uniforms, which proudly mark the death rattle of disco fashion, are making a comeback in June. 


The San Diego Padres' minor-league affiliate at Class AAA is reviving Tucson's take on the "Tequila Sunrise" uniforms worn famously by the Houston Astros from the middle 1970s until 1986, when Houston was Tucson's parent city. The Tucson Padres will wear the old-school eyesores June 8 as part of Disco Night at Kino Stadium.

The big-league Astros' rainbow uniforms might have been blinding, but the 1980 Toros uniforms — easily identified by the sash down the front — literally were incompatible with the sense of vision. Jimmy Sexton, whose baseball card is shown, managed to overcome being dressed like a scoop of sherbet and became a big-time sports agent in later years. Still, at the time, it looks like all of the color in his face was drained into the uniform in order to feed it.

A wonderful post by Patrick Finley at the Arizona Daily Star remembers the concoction of crazy colors then-Tucson GM Jack Donovan came up with:

(COMC.com)

The jerseys were traffic-cone orange, with school-bus yellow sleeves with orange piping at the end. They had a diagonal yellow sash design (hey, it was the '80s) across the front, on which was overlaid navy "Toros" lettering with a red-orange-red stripe running beneath it.

The backs of the jerseys - to mimic an Arizona sky, Donovan said - were solid blue with a white number inspired by the Montreal Expos' font.

But then the jerseys bled in the warm wash.

"Wherever it was orange, it turned brown," Donovan said.

The red-orange-red sash stripe was turned into a cranberry mess, with the lowest diagonal piece of yellow sash resembling pea soup.

"When they bled," Donovan said, "they were God-awful."

Oh, they didn't need to bleed to be God-awful, Jack. (Pride of ownership.)
When he complained to the manufacturer, Donovan was told by a tailor there that "the different materials used for the sash and jersey shouldn't have been put together." No kidding!

These uniforms are best used in the imagination, so as not to risk burning the retinas. So, every time you picture Dock Ellis pitching a no-hitter while tripping LSD, imagine him wearing this uniform to enhance the memory.

And yet, an order for 40 new jerseys (hopefully with colors that won't run) has been placed. It's funny, though. The team had to design updated uniforms by using Google images of Toros baseball cards of the era. Nobody could seem to find an original jersey. How about that!? It's as though someone buried the laundry somewhere in the desert.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/hilariously-hideous-1980-tucson-toros-uniforms-making-colorful-204344740.html 

[EARLY] Grading College Football’s New 2013 Uniforms

lostlettermen.com

(grades were given by lostlettermen.com and do not reflect my or Moravian College's opinions.)

D: UConn


UConn wasted little time in incorporating its new athletics logo — one that was met with groans by the Huskies community upon its introduction in April — into its 2013 football uniforms. This, unfortunately, is not a good thing.

The jerseys themselves aren’t that bad at all. The subtle red trim around the numbers and the “UConn” on the chest really pops, as do the big and bold numbers. What we really can’t stand are the new helmets, on which the new UConn Husky is peering over the facemask on massive helmet stripes.

How bad are these new lids? They might be the most ridiculous ones we’ve seen since Maryland unveiled its infamous “State Pride” uniforms in its 2011 season opener.

  C-: Ole Miss


Apparently the Rebels are sporting new uniforms for the 2013 season. If we hadn’t been told, we wouldn’t have noticed at all.

The only major changes from a year ago are alterations to the jersey-pants combinations and an extension of the dual stripes running down each shoulder — which, in our opinion, is a downgrade from before.

Judging by the vacant expressions on the faces of the players modeling the new threads (QB Bo Wallace in particular), even they couldn’t get excited over the new threads.

C: Southern Miss

The Golden Eagles’ new uniforms — unveiled as part of USM’s April announcement that it would be switching from Nike to Russell Athletic as its new athletic apparel supplier — is a classic example of “What if?”

As in ... what if the new jerseys only had the yellow stripes surrounding the shoulders instead of that and the thin line (white for the black home jerseys and black for the white away jerseys) running from either armpit to the shoulder blades? It wouldn’t be a runaway hit, but it would certainly look better (i.e. much less cluttered) than it does.

We get the sense that higher-ups in Beaverton, OR, had a good laugh the first time they saw what USM will look like in Year One of its post-Swoosh era.





 

C+: Arizona

The Wildcats’ rather plain uniforms of recent memory were definitely in need of an overhaul. But in doing so, the UA brass was guilty of out-thinking itself.

While the new typography of the numbers is to be commended, the use of Arizona’s colors (cardinal red and navy blue) is not. The two-toned, rainbow-style design is too choppy and trippy for our liking. We understand that such a look will play well on TV, but it comes at the expense of any fans watching the Wildcats up close.

C+: Central Florida

We understand the Knights' desire to wear something minimalist after sporting clunkers for the last few years. But in paring down its look, Central Florida almost went too far - to the point that its new uniforms resemble something you'd see a high school team wearing.

At least UCF gets points for variety. The new threads come in white (left), gold and black. That counts for something, right?

The same day that the new jerseys were unveiled was also when Knights fans caught a first glimpse of the prototype for an alternate black-and-gold helmet the team will sport at some point in 2013 (helmet design on the left with the colors of the helmet on the right). It's an odd design, especially the prominence of the gold stripe down the middle. Not odd in a quirky way, either. Just odd.

B-: Oregon State

It wasn’t just Oregon State’s football team that changed its image. The entire athletic department underwent a rebranding — known as a “reBeav” — in a clear effort to keep up with archrival Oregon in the uniform arms race (as much as that’s possible).

Unfortunately, with that comes some classic examples of Nike overkill — the most apparent of which is the stripe pattern going down the middle of all three helmets. We’re also not a fan of the new “Beavershark” logo (along with a lot of OSU fans), and thus the white helmet featuring a decal of it is our least favorite of the three.

Now, on to the good. Both the all-orange uniforms with a chrome orange lid (sans “Beavershark” decal) and the all-black uniforms with the black matte helmet (also sans decal) really pop. So at the very least, the Beavers will look good at home games.

B: Georgia

Changes to the Bulldogs’ uniforms were, thankfully, minimal. After all, the last thing we wanted to see with one of college football’s most iconic uniforms was a full-time switch to what we saw in Georgia’s 2011 season opener against Boise State.

The biggest difference between the old and new uniforms is typography. The numbers on the jerseys are much more prominent than the previous threads, while the players’ nameplates are written in a “custom display typeface” modeled after “The Arch” on the university’s North Campus.

It’s a more modern look that simultaneously stays true to tradition.

B: Texas Tech

The heralded return of former record-breaking QB Kliff Kingsbury to Lubbock coincides with the Red Raiders choice between an Oregon-esque variety of new helmets.

In January, Tech unveiled new models of their previously-worn, normal black helmets and alternate white ones — both of which got a new red stripe running down the middle. That, apparently, was just an appetizer for a veritable buffet of other alternatives.

Our favorites among the new batch first revealed in February were the models (possibly prototypes) of the interlocking “TT” decal being replaced by one of the Masked Raider (very cool). Meanwhile, the red lid that captures the Raider from the side reminds us too much of The Neverending Story.

 B: Houston

The Cougars are doing everything they can to look the part in advance of their first season as a member of the fledgling American Athletic Conference.

After Houston’s redesigned helmets for the 2012 season fell flat (in our opinion), the Cougars went very bold with their newest batch of lids (which an athletic department official said in January were mock-ups and not finished products).

Our favorite of the three new models is a white matte look with the usual interlocking “UH” decal. It’s joined on the testing floor by a red chrome lid with the program’s new “ThunderCats”-like logo and another chrome model with a gray, steel-plate pattern and the “UH” decal. While the helmets are an overall upgrade, here's hoping the "Thundercats" look stays on the sideline.

B+: San Diego State

We weren’t too crazy about either the home or away uniforms the Aztecs wore during their pleasantly surprising 9–4 season in 2012. Looking to stay atop the Mountain West standings in 2013, SDSU took a small but significant step up in the looks department.

The skinny red stripe that ran from the armpits to the waist and the outside of the shoulders has been replaced by an old school-looking, alternating three-stripe pattern — red-white-red on the home uniforms, black-red-black on the away ones — on the shoulder blades. (The same pattern also appears on the sides of the pants.)

It evokes memories of the uniforms from the Marshall Faulk Era. This is definitely a good thing.

A-: West Virginia

The Mountaineers’ recent uniforms were very stripe-heavy. In overhauling their look, they removed that clutter in favor of something much simpler yet bolder.

West Virginia will get to choose between three different helmets, jerseys and pants this season (for a possible 27 combinations). All three lids — white, blue and yellow — come in matte, which you know by this point we always appreciate. (Side note: It’s the Mountaineers first white helmet since 1979 and first “gold” helmet since ’78.)

The jerseys themselves are a nice mixture of old and new. They are all predominantly one color save for the outer part of either shoulder, and the numbering jumps out at you a lot more than before.

 A-: North Carolina

 It’s safe to say, judging from their reaction upon getting a first glimpse, that North Carolina players love their new uniforms. And we give them high marks as well.

Overall, the Tar Heels’ new threads just look more modern — but without completely abandoning UNC’s rich heritage. The numbers are bigger and bolder (in black rather than white) and the helmets are snazzier. Yet the whole look is still centered around Carolina’s timeless interlocking “NC” logo.

For a program that enjoyed a fine first season under head coach Larry Fedora last year, these new uniforms came around at the perfect time.

 A: Baylor

 After years of being one of the Big 12’s doormats, Baylor has undergone a dramatic recent renaissance under Art Briles. In 2013, the Bears will start to look the part while hopefully continuing their improved play.

The three uniform combinations unveiled in March all work well for us. The gorgeous all-gold chrome helmet that fans went crazy over in January is paired with a simple yet elegant all-black jersey; an all-white look contains hints of gold on the shoulders; and an update to Baylor’s existing home uniforms (gold helmet and pants and green jerseys).

In addition, all three jerseys feature sharper, more modern number designs. While we are still up in the air on the pointy font, we love the bear claw on the sleeves. We could also be treated to a sharp, matte black helmet at one or more of Baylor’s home games.

A: Cal

Like Pac-12 rival Oregon State, Cal athletics underwent a program-wide rebranding this past spring. Unlike the Beavers, the Bears took a less-is-more approach to their football uniforms — much to our delight.

The numbers on the jerseys are bigger and more modern-looking than what Cal has sported in recent years. The same adjectives can be used to describe the new matte blue helmets, which features a bigger script “Cal” decal on the sides than in previous years and mercifully does away with the funky-looking helmet stripe we had grown accustomed to seeing.

Our favorite aspect of the new threads is the manner in which Cal’s updated logo is woven into it. The new Bear appears in watermark-like form on the players’ numbers (very cool) and can also be seen on the outside of the shoulders and on the pants.




http://www.lostlettermen.com/slideshow/grading-cfb-new-2013-uniforms-helmets/#1 

Nike LeBron Shoes, NFL Helmets Are New Lawsuit Targets

bloomberg.com

By Susan Decker - May 13, 2013

Nike Inc. (NKE) is designing golf clubs with data-collecting sensors to help perfect a swing. Its LeBron X+ basketball shoes can measure vertical leap.

No longer are sporting-goods makers relying just on the allure of a star athlete or a colorful design to sell athletic wear and equipment. As they build in technology to sell performance and safety advantages, they’re encountering the same sorts of legal challenges to their features as makers of smartphones and medical devices have. 

Patent-infringement lawsuits were filed this year against Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike Inc. over its FuelBand monitor, through which users download heart rates and other data to a smartphone application. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

 

 

Gadgets that combine electronics with athletic equipment are the fastest growing segment of the so-called wearable device market, which also includes Google Inc.’s Google Glasses, according to Juniper Research. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Patent-infringement lawsuits were filed this year against Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike over its FuelBand monitor, through which users download heart rates and other data to a smartphone application, and its Hyperdunk+ and LeBron X+ shoes, the latter named for the Miami Heat’s LeBron James.

The litigation promises to be expensive -- patent cases with more than $25 million at stake cost $5 million on average, according to the American Intellectual Property Law Association -- and could determine winners in the growing market.

“You have a relatively small industry, with a relatively few number of players and incredibly competitive companies,” attorney Brian Rosenthal of Mayer Brown in Washington. “Everytime there’s a technological advance, everyone wants to be number one.”

Gadgets that combine electronics with athletic equipment are the fastest growing segment of the so-called wearable device market, which also includes Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Google Glasses, according to Juniper Research, based in Hampshire, England. The market is projected to grow from about $800 million this year to $1.5 billion in 2014, said Nitin Bhas, a researcher with Juniper in London.

 

Impact-Measuring Helmets

Nike isn’t the only sporting-goods maker sued over its innovations, and the sector could be the next big patent battleground after the smartphone litigation tying up Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google Inc.’s Motorola unit, Samsung Electronics Co. and other technology companies.

SportBrain Inc., an Austin, Texas-based company that sells pedometers, sued Herzogenaurach, Germany-based Adidas and Fitbit Inc. over their activity monitors.

Easton-Bell Sports Inc.’s Riddell unit, the official maker of helmets for the National Football League, is accused of infringing a Colorado company’s patents for headgear that measures the impact of a tackle or other blow and transmits it to a wireless device.

The NFL, which is facing lawsuits from more than 4,000 former players, and Riddell are under pressure to provide more protection from repeated head blows that have been linked to a progressive brain disease that can lead to dementia and death.

 

Motion Sensors

Electronics companies including Samsung and Royal Philips NV. are also obtaining fitness patents, said David Cornwell, a lawyer with Sterne Kessler in Washington whose clients include Adidas. “I’m seeing a lot of companies that I wouldn’t expect for sports electronics,” Cornwell said.

The smartphones have applications to let a user easily measure progress and get feedback, while a computer chip known as a micro-electro mechanical system, or MEMS, tracks movement or speed more accurately through motion sensors.

Fitbug Holdings Plc (FITB) Chief Executive Officer Paul Landau recalls being “in quite a lonely space” in 2005 when his London-based company started selling its electronic devices that monitor fitness activity and track progress online.

Landau said in an interview he “was having to do all the evangelizing, that you could use devices that could upload data and you could use online tools to motivate and achieve goals.”

Companies envision a day when, for instance, one coach will be watching players on the field while another is keeping tabs on their vital signs on a tablet computer.

 

Digital Strategy

Nike is relying on its innovations to develop brand loyalty and drive sales. In the past year, it’s obtained patents on golf clubs that analyze one’s swing, and a computerized soccer ball to evaluate the strength of a kick.

Mary Remuzzi, a Nike spokeswoman, declined to comment on the patent litigation.
Among the patents Adidas AG (ADS) was awarded recently was one for “intelligent footwear systems‘‘ -- sneakers with sensors that can adjust the cushion or sole based on how the shoe is being used.

‘‘We are talking about technology that is real, not a pipe dream,’’ said former NFL player Isaiah Kacyvenski, now director of sports business at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based MC10 Inc., which is developing flexible sensors that can be put on the body to monitor heart rate or other vital signs.

 

Golf Balls

Patent litigation over sporting goods is nothing new. Tiger Woods’ switch to rubber golf balls in 2000, from the traditional elastic winding balls professionals used, helped spark one. After Woods began breaking records, all the golf companies used rubber.

A decade-long patent battle between Titleist Pro V maker Acushnet Co., now owned by a group led by Fila Korea Ltd. (081660), and Callaway Golf Co. (ELY) was only settled last year, said Rosenthal, who represented Acushnet in the fight.

‘‘It’s fair to expect that as technology plays a more important role in differentiating athletic companies, a natural part of that -- as with any other industry -- is for there to be an expansion of patent litigation,’’ said Matt Gaudet, a patent lawyer with Duane Morris in Atlanta.

For now, most of the new innovations are for the dedicated athlete or fitness buff. Nike’s top technology, called Elite+, can add $100 to the price of a LeBron James shoe that already costs $160, said Matt Powell, analyst with Boulder, Colorado-based SportsOneSource.

‘‘Our phones do far more than we ask them to do,’’ Powell said. ‘‘Why shouldn’t our shoes do more, too?’’ 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-13/nike-lebron-shoes-to-nfl-helmets-are-new-lawsuit-targets.html 

NEW GREYHOUND FOOTBALL JERSEYS!

TODAY WE RECEIVED OUR FIRST SAMPLE OF OUR NEW RUSSELL AWAY JERSEYS, FROM SCHUYLKILL VALLEY SPORTS.

COACH PUKSZYN DISPLAYING A SAMPLE OF OUR NEW WHITE JERSEYS

EACH NEW STRETCH MESH RUSSELL JERSEYS ALSO CAME WITH A FREE COMPRESSION TEE AND SHORTS ( FROM THEIR BLITZ PACKAGE) WITH WE WILL USE AS ONE OF OUR PRACTICE SETS.

tHE NAVY SIDE PANELS WILL NOT MATCH UP WITH OUR CURRENT RUSSELL WHILE PANTS THAT HAS A NAVY SIDE PANEL.  THEY WILL ALSO SEAMLESSLY MATCH OUR NEW  RUSSELL NAVY  PANTS.

(THANK GOODNESS ALL CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE OPPONENTS HAS FIELD TURF)

Report warned Riddell about helmets

Company had been told no helmet design could prevent concussions

Updated: May 1, 2013, 4:24 PM ET

By Sabrina Shankman | Special to ESPN.com

 

 

More than a decade ago, the sports equipment manufacturer Riddell was developing a highly anticipated new football helmet designed to reduce players' risk of concussions. The helmet was ambitiously called the Revolution. It would become the most widely used helmet in the NFL and earn millions in sales to players in college, high school and youth leagues.

But back in 2000 the company received a warning: A biomechanics firm hired first by the NFL and later by Riddell to test helmets and study head injuries sent the company a report showing that no football helmet, no matter how revolutionary, could prevent concussions.

 

In fact, the report stated, even a helmet that passed the industry safety standard for protection against skull fractures and other severe head injuries could leave a player with a 95 percent likelihood of receiving a concussion from a strong enough blow.

Yet the report, made public during a recent Colorado lawsuit, did not deter Riddell from marketing the helmet as protection against concussions. Riddell promoted the Revolution by saying that players who wore it were 31 percent less likely to suffer a concussion -- a figure criticized as an exaggeration by leading experts on head injuries and some members of Congress.

Riddell is being sued by thousands of former NFL players as a co-defendant in the major lawsuit against the league. The plaintiffs charge, in part, that Riddell failed to warn them that its helmet would not protect against concussions. Last month, in the Colorado case, Riddell was found liable for $3.1 million out of a total of $11.5 million that was awarded to the family of a young man who was seriously injured after a concussion in a high school football practice.

The Colorado jury cleared Riddell of a charge that its helmet had a design flaw. But it found that the company had failed to adequately warn players of the risks of concussion. Riddell said it plans to appeal the verdict.

"While disappointed in the jury's decision not to fully exonerate Riddell, we are pleased the jury determined that Riddell's helmet was not defective in any way," the company said in a statement. "We intend to appeal this verdict, and we remain steadfast in our belief that Riddell designs and manufactures the most protective football headgear for the athlete."

Frank Azar, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the Colorado case, said that the outcome could have implications for the larger suit by NFL players. "What it proves is that Riddell knew for sure in November of 2000 that they had a problem with their testing of these helmets and they didn't disclose it to anybody," he said.

Chris Withnall, who wrote the 2000 report to Riddell as the senior engineer at the Ottawa-based biomechanical firm Biokinetics, said recently, "No helmet can prevent a concussion. Full stop."

The push to create a better helmet

Concussions in sports, especially football, have become the focus of intense study and debate. But they are still not well-understood injuries. Two players with the same medical history can receive the same kind of blow and respond differently. Building equipment to minimize the dangers requires overcoming many obstacles.

AP Photo/Paul SancyaRep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., views an older NFL football helmet during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in 2010. The committee would later question NFL football commissioner Roger Goodell about the league's approach to concussions.

Concussions are often caused by a combination of what are called "linear" and "rotational" accelerations. In linear acceleration, the head is moving in a straight line when it suddenly stops, as in many car accidents. During rotational acceleration, the head is twisting or struck from one side, which can cause a shearing effect on the brain. While it is known that rotational acceleration may be more correlated with concussions, it is not known just how much will cause a concussion. Without a threshold, it's impossible to create a test that will measure the risk of concussion.

"Nobody knows how to make a helmet that prevents a concussion," Withnall said. "We know [the research is] moving in the right direction but there are still these rotational motions that we can't control."

Riddell designed the Revolution helmet with the help of Biokinetics, which was also working with the NFL's Minor Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) Committee.

The NFL formed the MTBI Committee in 1994 in response to high-profile concussions. One of the committee's goals was to improve understanding of the biomechanics of concussions, and to use that information to engineer a concussion-resistant helmet. (The committee was disbanded in the wake of pressure generated by a 2009 Congressional hearing.)

The committee and Biokinetics studied concussions in the NFL over a five-year period, and by 2000 had focused on 12 on-field collisions, nine of which had resulted in concussions.
Riddell subsequently hired Biokinetics for $500,000. Riddell has been the NFL's official helmet maker since 1989. NFL players can choose other helmet brands or models of Riddell helmets, but teams are given incentives to get the majority of their players in Riddell helmets. 

When Biokinetics and Riddell teamed up, the idea was to apply the findings of the NFL's research to its new helmet.

In November 2000, as Riddell developed the Revolution helmet, Biokinetics sent the company the report concluding that existing helmets -- and the safety tests used to regulate them -- were designed to prevent catastrophic head injuries like skull fractures, but not concussions. Modern helmets easily pass the safety tests. But, the report showed, that did not mean they could protect against concussions.

How do you measure concussion protection?

Manufacturers rely on safety tests created by the National Operating Committee for Standards on Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), an independent standard-setting body that does not conduct studies but provides grants to those who do. The group is funded with licensing fees collected from helmet companies and its board is drawn from both industry representatives and sports medicine experts and scientists.

NOCSAE rates helmets numerically on a "Severity Index." Severity Index scores reflect how well helmets absorb the energy from an impact by measuring the effects on the head and brain: the higher the score, the greater and potentially more damaging the effects. Helmets that score below 1200 pass the tests.

In the 2000 report to Riddell, Biokinetics wrote that scores well below 1200 still carried a high risk of concussion. "A concussion is almost certain to occur at [Severity Index] levels half that of the current NOCSAE standard," the report said.

AP Photo/Mark DuncanThe NFL formed a committee in 1994 in part to try to better understand the biomechanics of concussions, and to use that information to engineer a concussion-resistant helmet.

Elsewhere in the report, Biokinetics reported that a player wearing a helmet that scored 291.2 during an impact -- well within the safety threshold -- would have a 50 percent probability of suffering a concussion. A helmet that scored 558.9 during the same impact would carry a 95 percent risk of concussion.

In early 2011, an independent lab called ICS Laboratories was hired by Schutt, Riddell's primary competitor, to compare the performance of different helmets. Taking an average of the results at different test points, the lab found that Riddell's Revolution scored a Severity Index level of 444.3 at 72 degrees of angle, 448.5 at 105 degrees and 512.3 at 120 degrees, according to a report obtained by FRONTLINE and ESPN.

Compared with results for other popular helmets available at the test time, the Revolution fell in the middle of the range. Riddell declined to confirm the scores.

Mike Oliver, the executive director of NOCSAE, said the group's standard does limit linear acceleration -- one of the forces behind concussions -- but is not designed to rate protection against concussions. "That was never the intent behind the standard," he said, because there is not adequate science to create a standard for concussions prevention.

In the Colorado trial, Riddell's senior vice president for research and development, Thad Ide, testified that the NOCSAE test was utilized to guide the development of the Revolution. Riddell also incorporated results from another test, created by Biokinetics, called the Pendulum Test. The test was designed around the same time as the Revolution and was an early attempt to measure rotational acceleration.

Asked in the trial about the design influences and criteria that went into creating the Revolution, Ide responded, "Yes, all of the usage requirements and -- and more specifically the NOCSAE test requirements."

Riddell declined to make Ide or another representative available to answer questions for this article. In an emailed statement, the company said it is "proud of the Riddell Revolution helmet." The statement also said that "unique innovations" that came out of the Biokinetics work are still found in Riddell helmets, and have been used by other helmet makers.

J.C. Wingo, who was president of Riddell from 1991 to 1993 and later worked for Schutt, said in an interview that he was surprised by the Biokinetics memo. Wingo has worked in the football equipment industry for more than 25 years, and said he had never seen a report before indicating that a helmet that received a passing grade on the NOCSAE test might still carry a high risk of concussion.

"It's kind of surprising that Riddell has known this since the year 2000 and that they didn't go to NOCSAE and say we need to really look at the severity index standards," said Wingo. "I 
was really taken aback by it."

Oliver, who has been with NOCSAE since 1995, said he had not seen the Biokinetics report or any specific figures that tied passing scores with probabilities of concussion. But he wasn't surprised by those findings, since the standard deals only with catastrophic injuries, not concussions.

In the past few years, NOCSAE has been criticized for its reliance on a test that did not do more to address concussions. "We would love to come up with a standard that would directly address concussion. That's what we're looking for," Oliver said in an interview. "But to do that there has to be significant science behind it to make the change." Oliver also pointed to the more than $7 million NOCSAE has given in grants in the past decade to study the issue.

Marketing the Revolution

After its release in 2002, the Revolution quickly became popular among NFL and youth players. The Indianapolis Star wrote: "The product of years of research, Riddell's 'Revolution' is being marketed as a first-of-its-kind helmet, one designed to reduce the risk of concussions. 'We know there are more than 100,000 concussions due to football in the United States every year,' said Thad Ide, vice president of research and development for Riddell, the official helmet supplier of the NFL. 'We hope we can reduce that number.'"

After the Revolution hit the market, Riddell hired some of the premier concussion researchers in the country at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) to study the new helmet. Ide was also an author of the study.

The UPMC study looked at three high school football seasons at 17 schools in Western Pennsylvania, comparing the Revolution with standard helmets, which had previous use. 

They tracked the number of concussions based on which helmet the players were wearing, and tested recovery times from blows to the head using ImPACT -- a computerized neurocognitive test battery developed by the UPMC researchers, neuropsychologists Mark Lovell and Michael Collins and neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon.

The findings of the study, published in the February 2006 edition of Neurosurgery, became a point of controversy. According to Riddell, the study found that athletes wearing the Revolution had a 31 percent decreased risk of concussion. But the UPMC authors disputed that claim.

 

AP Photo/Mark DuncanResearch on football helmets has shown that no helmet can prevent all concussions.

Maroon, who with Lovell also sat on the NFL's MTBI Committee, said his team at UPMC took issue with the way that Riddell characterized the findings. The article had actually stated that wearing the Revolution was associated with "approximately a 31 percent decreased relative risk and 2.3 percent decreased absolute risk for sustaining a concussion in this cohort study." Absolute risk is a more accurate reflection of risk levels.

In an interview with FRONTLINE and ESPN, Maroon said that by focusing solely on the larger number, which referred to a relative decrease in risk, Riddell exaggerated any benefits. 

"There was very significant concern," Maroon said. "And our community relations public relations department notified Riddell that this data should not be use as a marketing ploy or marketing tactic from a scientific paper that was done not for those purposes."

A draft press release from Riddell, provided to FRONTLINE and ESPN by UPMC, shows that UPMC's press office attempted to edit Riddell's claims in the release. But their recommendations were not followed.

The original headline of the release said: "Research Shows Riddell Revolution Football Helmet Provides Better Protection Against Concussions." UPMC deleted that and wrote, "can't say it provides better protection …" The original release asserted that, "the Revolution football helmet provides significantly better protection against concussions." UPMC deleted that, and wrote, "We can't say this."

And where Riddell had written that athletes wearing the Revolution were 31 percent less likely to suffer a concussion, UPMC inserted the words "in terms of relative risk."
Some changes that UPMC recommended were used in the final version of the press release. 

But the changes listed above were not incorporated.

There were also other concerns that rankled critics of the study.

Dr. Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon and leader in the field of sports-related concussion research, wrote a comment published in Neurosurgery noting that the study contained a "serious, if not fatal, methodological flaw." Because the study did not include the age of the non-Riddell helmets, Cantu wrote, it was impossible to compare the two. No matter what model of helmet, he said, the older it is, the worse it performs.

Additionally, he wrote, the NFL's research that was used as the foundation for the Revolution focused on only a small percentage of the NFL's concussions, and only those of a certain type. "Although this new helmet design may be an improvement for those 3 percent of concussions," Cantu wrote, "I have no way of knowing whether it is an improvement for the other 97 percent of concussions that could not be studied."

Cantu has sat on the board of NOCSAE since 1994 and serves as its vice president. One of his final comments on the Revolution/UPMC paper echoed the points made in Biokinetics' 2000 memo to Riddell. "We currently know that no helmet tests to a severity index even double what would be needed to prevent concussion," Cantu wrote. "Therefore, I would not expect any of the current helmets to have a dramatic impact on concussion prevention."

Oliver, of NOCSAE, said he is not aware of any peer reviewed article that points to a specific Severity Index level that is more protective from concussions.

As Revolution sales climbed -- more than 2 million were sold between 2002 and 2008 -- the helmet company's claims caught the attention of Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). In January 2011, Udall sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission about what he called misleading safety claims and deceptive practices in the helmet industry. He singled out Riddell's 31 percent claim, and wrote that he was particularly concerned about the marketing of the youth Revolution helmet.

In a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Udall also pointed to NOCSAE and concerns that its standard does not directly address concussions.

"This voluntary industry standard does not specifically address preventing concussions caused by less severe blows or by rotational acceleration," Udall wrote. "The CPSC has a responsibility to ensure that football helmets meet safety standards that address concussion hazards and reflect the state of the art in helmet technology."

Currently, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science is investigating sports-related concussions in youth. Udall and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) plan to introduce a bill that would endorse recommendations regarding helmet safety that result from the investigation.

Before this year's Super Bowl, the NFL announced its support of the bill. Oliver said he has seen a draft of the bill, and he expects that NOCSAE will endorse it as well, provided it does not change drastically.

Sabrina Shankman is a reporter for PBS Frontline.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9228260/report-warned-riddell-no-helmet-prevent-concussions-nfl-helmet-maker-marketed-one-such-anyway 

This Is How Football Helmets Are Concussion Safety-Tested

GIZMODO.COM

Kyle Wagner | 5/7/13

 

In a new study published today in the Journal of Neurosurgery, a group of scientists proved, seemingly, that modern football helmets are better than old leather ones. Thanks, guys. What is more notable, however, is that this . . .  crazy device is how the data was gathered.

The tests run here, by a group of scientists associated with Virginia Tech, found that 10 modern helmets performed significantly better at reducing the force transmitted to the skull from various types of impact. The results improved concussion risk by anywhere from 45 to 96 percent, which would be more encouraging if the old helmets weren't 80 years old.

The study was undertaken, presumably, to combat the idea that helmets are totally ancillary to preventing brain injuries in football, and are only meant to protect the skull. Even though it's finally commonly accepted that chronic brain trauma is a a pervasive issue in football, how to address it still draws heated debates.

The by-now prevailing wisdom is that while better equipment will always be nice, the nature of brain trauma—momentum, not impact, crashing the brain into the inside of the skull—makes helmets secondary. On this side, though Virginia Tech claims that's not so, and helmets can prevent not just large concussions, but the smaller impacts that cause brain trauma over the years. These aren't blind claims—they use information gathered over several years that measures head acceleration and deceleration in actual games. VT has run previous studies rating all helmets currently in use, and provides the definitive and widely cited database of ratings. So there's some precedent for VT doing useful work here. 

It's also enough vested interest, though, for the Journal or Neurosurgery to run an editorial ahead of publication, pointing out that this paper, while peer reviewed, is in direct contradiction to a previously published paper. And, well, both probably can't be right, so we should all maybe go back and check our long division.

Enough of that, though. Let's get back to the important part here. What the hell is that machine? A quick Google image search returns a few other images of the Bugs Bunny punishment machines (impact drop tests), but writeups mainly focus on the sensors in the helmets (important), and not the spring-loaded-boxing-glove-like lab testing equipment (hugely important).

However! We were able to find you some giffable video from a local news/college project collaboration:  TESTING FOOTBALL HELMETS

And also, just for fun, here's what some other helmet testing looks like with some different equipment, this time from BRAINS Inc.: 

For now, though, know that modern helmets are almost definitely safer than the crap we used 100 years ago. We think. But also and more comfortingly, that they are being tested by the same equipment that punches Elmer Fudd in the head when he comes around looking for trouble. [Smithsonian]

http://gizmodo.com/holy-hell-this-is-how-football-helmets-are-concussion-494073107