UAB Study Calls for Better Tracking of Spectator Injuries
Most people do not expect to go to a baseball game or a NASCAR race and leave in an ambulance, but it happens, and a group of UAB researchers says sports officials need to keep better track of it. In a paper published recently in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Fitness, they describe spectator injuries at sporting events and call for a nationwide database.
To gather their data, researchers combed the internet looking for documented incidents around the world dating back to 2000 and found 181 spectator injuries. Sixty-two of those were fatal. Some of the accidents were unrelated to the sporting event itself. Most happened during car or motorcycle racing, like when vehicles crash through a barrier into the crowd. Dr. Amit Momaya, an orthopedic surgeon at UAB and the study’s principal investigator, says their findings likely represent the tip of the iceberg.
“I think the number that we found in our study is well, well below what actually happens,” Momaya says, “because a lot of these (incidents) are not really reported or not really publicized. It’s usually the ones that are more gruesome, the ones that are caught on camera. Those are the ones that get social media attention.”
For example, researchers found six reported cases of people injured from a foul ball at a baseball game. Momaya says that seems low. Without accurate data, it is hard to know whether efforts to protect spectators, like extending the netting behind home plate, are effective. In their paper, UAB researchers advocate for a registry to track spectator injuries. They also call for taller and sturdier barriers to protect crowds.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
