Helmet

Jenkintown junior Jessica Hollinshead had her appeal to play field hockey wearing a hard helmet denied by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association's Board of Control. Hollinshead had a hearing before the board Thursday and formally submitted her request. Jenkintown principal Tom Sebastian, who made the presentation on behalf of Hollinshead, was notified yesterday that the board had voted, 7-5, not to allow Hollinshead to play wearing the hard helmet. "Mr. [Brad]

It's not rock. It's not metal, or even thrash. Just call it Helmet and cover your head. Proving that music-industry hype is sometimes justified, Helmet - the hardest, heaviest-playing band of the moment - slayed a sold-out Trocadero Thursday with ultra-distorted guitars and dizzying rhythm structures. The New York City foursome played like a mini-orchestra - an avant-grunge quartet, one might say - churning out 15 songs in an hour-long sonic assault. Helmet reportedly conducts rehearsals like boot-camp drills, and its live show was surely a practice in mesmerizing precision.

Before long, the hottest accessory on the ski slopes will be a helmet. Even before the deaths of Michael Kennedy and Sonny Bono - both of whom died by skiing into trees and suffering severe head trauma - resorts were seeing more skiers in helmets. Now, those numbers are expected to skyrocket, which is just fine with Dr. Craig Perrinjaquet, who heads the medical center at the Breckenridge, Colo., ski resort. "We can fix knees. We can fix thumbs," Perrinjaquet said. "We can't fix brains.

Gary Busey, almost killed in a motorcycle accident just over two years ago, is trying to reconcile his distaste for helmets with firsthand knowledge that going bareheaded is dangerous. He's designing his own headgear. The actor, in Chattanooga last weekend to hype his first movie since the accident - My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys - said his helmet would protect riders while giving the sensation that they're not wearing anything on their heads. "I don't remember four weeks of my life," he said.

DEAR ABBY: As a law-enforcement officer, I would like to comment on your reply to "Overprotective Mom. " I agree with your solution to have the boy who wouldn't wear his bike helmet because it was "uncool" visit a facility that treats people with traumatic brain injuries. However, you missed a golden opportunity to remind parents that they are the parents, and because they are responsible for their child's safety, they are in charge! What has happened to plain old "parenting"?

A 24-year-old Pine Hill, Camden County, man was killed Monday when his dirt bike crashed while travelling at a high rate of speed, police said. James Patitucci was traveling in a unregistered and uninsured motorcycle eastbound on Hickstown Road, near Windsor Drive, about 8:20 p.m. when the crash occurred, said Gloucester Township Police. Police said that Patitucci, who also had a suspended license, collided with a vehicle driven by Judith Baran of Erial, as she attempted to turn onto Windsor Drive.

Mark Fitzpatrick was happily riding his two-wheeler with training wheels down the street with his big sister when Sgt. Larry Ruocco of the Waterford Township police pulled him over and gave him a ticket. But unlike many a grownup stopped by the police, Mark went away happy. The ticket that Ruocco gave Mark, 4, was a reward for wearing a bicycle helmet, as required by the state law that took effect July 1 for all children younger than 14. The special ticket was redeemable for a slice of pizza, soft ice cream or a round of miniature golf.

Improved helmet design has helped reduce concussions in impact sports such as football and hockey, but it might be impossible to design a helmet that completely eliminates them, according to a panel of sports science professors outlining the latest findings. Helmets "certainly help to mitigate forces that are distributed by impact to the skull and the intracranial cavity and the brain," said Kevin Guskiewicz , a professor of sports science at North Carolina and an expert on football helmets.

Oh, yeah. Eric Lindros made his Madison Square Garden debut last night. By the end of the evening, what had seemed so intriguing going in had turned into little more than a footnote. The Flyers' self-immolation in their 8-4 loss to the host Rangers took a lot of attention away from the big rookie, who scored a nice goal in the second period, before his team came apart. Lindros said his first goal in the building of the team that came within an arbitrator's decision of obtaining his rights, the team whose captain, Mark Messier, is his idol - he said it all amounted to no more than "trying to steal a couple of points on the road.

Eagles head coach Ray Rhodes applauded the NFL's $12,000 fine on the New York Giants' Keith Hamilton this week for the defensive tackle's helmet-to- helmet blow on quarterback Rodney Peete two weeks ago. "These are the type of hits they didn't want to see anymore and it was one of those type of licks," Rhodes said of the hit, which forced Peete out of the second half of the Eagles' 17-14 win over the Giants on Oct. 15. "I'm a defensive coach,...

LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. - Opening Day had all the usual signs of a good time for youth baseball and softball for the Bay Shore Athletic Association here Saturday. The weather was nice - 50s and sunny - the mayor threw out the first pitch, teams raced onto the field for the opening ceremony, "Call Me Maybe" boomed from the loudspeakers, and volunteers grilled burgers and franks. But there was something extra this year: boxes full of free helmets, gloves, hats, cleats, and other equipment donated by a Harleysville, Pa., nonprofit that is helping youth leagues affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Drew McIlhenny doesn't talk much about the combat he faced in Iraq or the loss of five fellow Marines during his unit's deployment to Al Asad in 2006 and 2007. The Port Richmond man focuses on friendships with service buddies, his young family, and a new civilian job as a sheet metal worker. Bryan Hummel, a Marine reservist who lives in Erial, Camden County, also concentrates on a sheet metal career - made possible for him and McIlhenny by a national federally funded program, Helmets to Hardhats.

DEAR ABBY: As a law-enforcement officer, I would like to comment on your reply to "Overprotective Mom. " I agree with your solution to have the boy who wouldn't wear his bike helmet because it was "uncool" visit a facility that treats people with traumatic brain injuries. However, you missed a golden opportunity to remind parents that they are the parents, and because they are responsible for their child's safety, they are in charge! What has happened to plain old "parenting"?

NFL owners passed a player safety rule Wednesday barring ballcarriers from using the crown of their helmets to make contact with a defender in the open field. Several coaches and team executives expressed concern about officiating the new rule, but commissioner Roger Goodell championed it, and it passed Wednesday as the owners meetings concluded in Phoenix. Its passage was the second significant step in protecting defensive players; on Tuesday, the league took the peel-back block out of the game.

PHOENIX - The NFL wants to put the shoulder back into football and take the helmet out. It took a significant step toward accomplishing that Wednesday when the league's owners overwhelmingly approved a rule-change proposal that will make it illegal for offensive or defensive players to initiate "forcible contact" outside the tackle box by delivering a blow with the crown of the helmet. The proposal passed by a 31-1 vote. The only club to vote against it was the Cincinnati Bengals.

HALL OF FAME quarterback Troy Aikman once said that if the NFL really wants to reduce the risk of concussions in the game, it should get rid of helmets. His semiserious rationale was that helmets are more weapon than protective device. Take them out of the game and players wouldn't be so willing to lead with their heads. The NFL isn't ready to deep six helmets quite yet, but it's doing its best to dissuade players from using them as a weapon. The latest attempt to concussion-proof pro football is a proposal by the league's competition committee that would make it illegal for both ballcarriers and tacklers to use the crown of the helmet to deliver a forcible blow outside of the tackle box. We're not talking helmet-on-helmet.

Another story in an occasional series on concussions. The CBS broadcasters for that Giants-Eagles game on Oct. 13, 1974, were intrigued by Norm Bulaich's unusual headgear. And once they caught sight of it, many in the Veterans Stadium crowd of 64,801 snickered into their Schmidt's. A thick piece of foam rubber protruded like an ugly goiter from the rear of the Eagles fullback's green helmet. "It looked weird," Bulaich recalled Thursday. Actually, that rudimentary device was a peek into the NFL's future.

The players in this photograph were incorrectly identified in Monday's Sports section. The Archbishop Carroll players celebrating with goalie Becca Brosious (in helmet) after a 1-0 win over Cardinal O'Hara on Sunday are (from left) Shelby Amspacher, Becca Zamojcin, and Michaela Connors.

A 24-year-old Pine Hill, Camden County, man was killed Monday when his dirt bike crashed while travelling at a high rate of speed, police said. James Patitucci was traveling in a unregistered and uninsured motorcycle eastbound on Hickstown Road, near Windsor Drive, about 8:20 p.m. when the crash occurred, said Gloucester Township Police. Police said that Patitucci, who also had a suspended license, collided with a vehicle driven by Judith Baran of Erial, as she attempted to turn onto Windsor Drive.

CLEVELAND - Kurt Coleman ended Sunday's 17-16, Eagles season-opening victory over the Cleveland Browns by reeling in a pass that had flown over the head of intended receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, rookie Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden firing high and wild, as he did much of the day. With a minute and 5 seconds left, Coleman dropped to the turf in celebration. One of the most scrutinized Eagles played an excellent game - he had another interception earlier, on the visitors' 1 yard line - putting an exclamation point on an extraordinary defensive effort.