Saturday, September 08, 2007

Chris Benoit's Brain

The readers of Arabian Facebuster may have already heard, but the folks at the Sports Legacy Institute have conducted a post-mortem study on Chris Benoit's Brain. The results are... I don't know. Mollifying?

The STI has concluded that Benoit was suffering from a syndrome called CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. The layman's version ('cause that's all I can give you) is that repeated blows to the head (such as those sustained by doing flying headbutts every damn night) cause lasting damage to the brain, resulting in depression, dementia, and erratic behavior. It is the STI's position that this syndrome may have contributed to the destruction of the Benoit Family.

Can it be said, then, that Benoit's injuries made him deranged, and he was therefore not responsible for his actions? Is this another indictment of the grim backstage reality of pro wrestling, where serious injuries are ignored or trivialized? Or is this just a sign that all sports (even the "entertainment" variety) need to take better care of their athletes?

Beats me, kids. I'm very, very tired.

I'll be back with some snark tomorrow. Or the next day. Promise.

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