3 Stories You Missed 04/25/25
Growing the Game
Benjamin Crump has donated $10 thousand to Tennessee State University to help them create a hockey team.
Ok, you may be wondering several things. First: who is Benjamin Crump? Second, what is Tennessee State University? Third, why should I care? Allow me to answer all those for you.
Benjamin Crump is a wrongful death attorney who is often known as, “Black America's attorney general”. He has been on cases such as Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Sonya Massey, and the Flint water crisis, and was behind the 2019 Johnson & Johnson baby powder lawsuit. Those are just some of the cases he’s known for. So, he’s a well-known figure in the legal world and, more importantly, Black America.
Tennessee State University is an HBCU. What is an HBCU? They are historically black colleges and universities. In other words, these are colleges and universities that existed before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that existed specifically to educate African Amerians. Most were created during Reconstruction.
This matters for a few reasons. The first is that TSU is aiming to become the first HBCU to have an NCAA hockey team. They have been struggling to do so and frankly, it looks like the program may be in jeopardy. About a month ago TSU told the hockey program that they would no longer be funding it. If there is to be a hockey team, it would need to be fully privately funded. Most programs need a bare minimum, of $2.5 million in funding to exist. That said, TSU hockey’s program director of operations Nick Guerriero believes they can get by with merely $1 million. So you have what could be a ground-breaking program in hockey, but is in financial trouble. Enter why Benjamin Crump’s donations are important. First off, $10 thousand is a large donation, but it also came from such an important figure for Black Americans. To have such a figure make such a donation shines a spotlight on the program and hopefully has led to a jump in fundraising. If they are able to get the funding they need, they will begin play this upcoming season.
Chris Simon Diagnosed With CTE
Former NHL player Chris Simon, who played in the league from 1992-2008, killed himself last year. He was 52. Now, he has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, better known as CTE. Specifically, he had stage 3 of 4 of CTE. According to the CTE Society, stage 3 of CTE is this:
Topping this stage is memory loss, executive dysfunction, explosivity, attention and concentration issues, depression, mood swings, visuospatial difficulties and aggression. Apathy also appears in this stage, and 75% of the Stage III individuals studied were considered cognitively impaired.
The NHL, meanwhile, continues to deny the link between head hits and other violent activities in the sport of hockey to CTE. Even everyone else, including the entire science world, the NFL, and the US Military, links hits to the head or anything violent that happens to the head, to CTE. It’s such an obvious link that the Boston University CTE Center has studied 20 players after their death. 19 of them were found to have CTE.
A study came out in December showing the link between playing hockey and CTE and some of its findings included this:
Of players who played less than 13 years, only 19% had CTE.
51% of those who played for 13 to 23 years had CTE.
Meanwhile, 95% of those who played for 23 or more years had CTE.
The NHL must recognize the links between its violent play and CTE. People are dying early deaths for no reason other than Bettman’s pride and the reactionary desire to keep hockey “old school”.
Montador's Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Sticking on the subject of former NHL players having CTE, a lawsuit over one has been pushed back. Steve Montador, who played in the NHL for 14 seasons, had at least 11 documented concussions. He died at 35 in 2015 and three months later was diagnosed with CTE. Last year, his father, Paul Montador, sued the NHL. The lawsuit claims, “The NHL, armed with vastly superior managerial, medical, legal, and other resources to gather, analyze, and understand sub-concussion, concussion and head injury data, failed to keep Steven Montador reasonably safe during his career and misled him on the permanent ramifications of brain trauma.” Meanwhile, the NHL claims in response, “During his life, Montador struggled with substance abuse, depression, anxiety, insomnia and strained/abusive personal relationships. Despite being repeatedly made aware of and informed about potential long-term risks of head injuries, including CTE, by numerous individuals as detailed above, Montador continued to play in the NHL for years.”
The trial was supposed to begin on March 27 of this year. Now, it has been pushed back to July 17.
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