Raycom Sports basketball analyst Dave Odom yesterday apologized to Louisville F Deng Adel and the school after he "upset some U of L fans by suggesting Adel had hurt feelings" from having his shot blocked in Saturday's game against Georgia Tech while Adel was face down on the floor with an apparent concussion, according to Jeff Greer of the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL. Odom in a statement acknowledged he "left the impression that I was making light of the incident and that it was not of a serious nature." Adel after being kneed in the head was "face down on the floor as play continued and was eventually helped off the court by team trainers while wearing a towel over his head" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 1/10).
SENSITIVE ISSUE: SI.com's Melissa Jacobs wrote CBS' Tracy Wolfson’s report during Sunday's Dolphins-Steelers Wild Card game that a concussion was ruled out for Dolphins QB Matt Moore following a second-quarter hit from Steelers LB Bud Dupree because Moore was "hit in the jaw was less than satisfactory." Anyone who has "suffered headaches from a clenched jaw understands that the jaw is part of the head." But "almost as egregious as a possible concussion left undiagnosed was the response" from game analyst Phil Simms. Simms during the broadcast said, “They would not let him back in the game if there was any doubt." Jacobs noted it is "not Simms’, or any media member’s, place to act as a mouthpiece for the league" on the concussion issue. There has been "too much litigation, too many drive-through concussion 'assessments.'" When Simms "blanketly decrees that we should trust the league when it comes to diagnosing concussions, that’s dangerous and dishonest" (SI.com, 1/9).
