Brooke de Lench's blog

Last week Arizona Cardinals wide receiver and Pro Bowl special teams player Sean Morey admitted that he covered up his concussion symptoms so he could play against the Chicago Bears the previous Sunday.

In one sense the news wasn't all that surprising. After all, N.F.L. players play hurt all the time. It's their job. It's part of the gladiator culture of the league and of the game of football.

Concussions have been in the news a lot lately.

First was the concussion suffered by "Tonight" star, Conan O'Brien, when he slipped and hit the back of his head during a fake triathlon with "Desperate Housewives" star, Teri Hatcher.

According to news reports, O'Brien "saw stars," couldn't stand and had slurred speech. After trying to continue the taping, O'Brien ended up going to the hospital.

Many of my readers have asked me where I have been this summer. "What have you been doing? We miss your blogging and articles." In fact, I decided to take a two month respite from writing to focus my attention on the administrative end of the business with the intent to start my writing again after September 1st. Next week I will write more about our  foray into the iPhone app world, and the exciting changes that are in store for MomsTeam; but something has been weighing heavily on my mind all summer and now seems the appropriate time to publish my thoughts as many young people head back to school and start a new sports year.

For three days over Memorial Day weekend, it was my honor and sincere pleasure to be the keynote speaker and a guest observer and consultant at the 2009 National Annual General Meeting of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) in Dallas, Texas. The majority of the more than 700 folks in attendance were regional commissioners-the true backbone of the AYSO. The AYSO has long been at the top of my list of best national youth sports organizations. They have the right values, mission statement and an amazing number of dedicated volunteers and staff.

Last week, I spent an interesting hour as a guest on the "Charlotte Talks" show on Charlotte's National Public Radio station. The show was titled "Youth Sports and The Law."