I was remembering the old saying that football is a gentleman's game played by goons, and rugby is a goon's game played by gentlemen.
And then of course there's hockey. If anything, the "suck it up and keep playing" ethos is (when it comes to head injuries) a bit too extreme but ... you have to admire the toughness of hockey players. My all-time favourite story there is Rocket Richard's playoff-series-winning goal back in 8th April, 1952: checked hard to the ice he's knocked unconscious and bleeding badly from his head, but he gets stitched up and is back on the bench before the end of the third period ... in time to jump on the ice and make an end-to-end rush to score the winning goal.
Recreated in the Maurice Richard movie here:
In-depth story here: Recalling The Rocket's Greatest Goal
And of course the famous photo after ...
And then of course there's hockey. If anything, the "suck it up and keep playing" ethos is (when it comes to head injuries) a bit too extreme but ... you have to admire the toughness of hockey players. My all-time favourite story there is Rocket Richard's playoff-series-winning goal back in 8th April, 1952: checked hard to the ice he's knocked unconscious and bleeding badly from his head, but he gets stitched up and is back on the bench before the end of the third period ... in time to jump on the ice and make an end-to-end rush to score the winning goal.
Recreated in the Maurice Richard movie here:
In-depth story here: Recalling The Rocket's Greatest Goal
And of course the famous photo after ...
