Koskie Will Teach Them Well...

[Hardy Blonde]

Brewers' Koskie looks to educate others after potential career-ending concussion

Brewers' Koskie looks to educate others after potential career-ending concussion
td.yspwidearticlebody By COLIN FLY, AP Sports Writer
March 10, 2007

PHOENIX (AP) -- Corey Koskie ambles into the Brewers clubhouse. Decked in khaki shorts and flip flops, he spends a few minutes chatting quietly with teammates about their spring performances.
When they head to the field, the former starting third baseman can't join them. He must return to his arduous rehabilitation program as he recovers from a concussion suffered July 5 on a highlight-reel play. He rubs his head repeatedly, as if conjuring up memories of what happened, and says he believes he'll play
again one day.

Other times, he's just happy to have three young healthy children.
"Baseball's a game. Bottom line is that you always want to live life after this because this is a base," Koskie told The Associated Press. "You want to get that back, now you want more. Now you want to play baseball. Where I'm at right now is manageable, so I know I'll be able to live my life like this."
The 33-year-old Koskie came from Toronto before last season in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brian Wolfe. He hit .261 with 12 homers and 33 RBIs in 76 games.
"It was almost like a rejuvenation," Koskie said. "They had a bunch of young guys who wanted to genuinely learn about the game, learn what it takes to be part of a winner."
Koskie had that experience once before, when he was part of a young core with a Twins team that went on to win three division titles in Minnesota. As a veteran leader in Milwaukee, he was beginning to hit his stride by midseason.
"When I talked, they would listen because I'd been through that, I'd been through the development, I'd been through a real bad team and we ended up winning," he said. "I was having a blast."
On July 5, Koskie ran for a popup in the shallow outfield. He said he knew he couldn't make the play unless he took his eyes off the ball. When he looked up, he realized it was just out of reach.
"It was way behind me, so I jumped backward and landed on my shoulder," he said. "That was the last day I played."
As the ball bounced out of his glove, Koskie fell to the ground, suffering whiplash. Shortstop Bill Hall, also tracking the ball, made the grab off Koskie for an out.
Koskie was out of the lineup for five days, complaining of being tired and a little foggy. But he felt better for two straight days and was ready to return, flying to Arizona to rejoin the team.
"I was working out, doing that stuff and all of sudden, I just started feeling it come on again," he said.
Koskie tried to push through it while being watched by the medical staff. All he needed to do was run 30 yards, do five push-ups and five sit-ups to be able to play.
He couldn't finish it without being so dizzy he could barely stand.
"I went back to the hotel, and the next morning I felt like I woke up and got hit by a truck," he said. "My head killed, light was bothering me. I was real nauseous."
Koskie said the symptoms stayed the same for the next six months. He described the fog he's lived in as watching snow fall outside his window in Anola, Manitoba.
"My life is going on in a video camera," he said. "You watch the video camera through that flat-screen viewer. That's how you're following it."
The team took him across the United States to find answers. He's visited Dr. Michael Collins at the University of Pittsburgh and the University Sports Medicine Concussion Clinic in Buffalo, and talked to others who have suffered concussions in pro sports -- including former Giants catcher Mike Matheny and Buffalo Sabres center Tim Connolly.
"It almost validates what you're feeling because it's just like everything is so subjective. Is that really what I'm feeling or am I dreaming this up? This can't be true. I can't be feeling like this," he said. "They're like, 'No, it's real."'
Koskie remains stuck in rehab, working now to increase his heart rate. He said he's nowhere close to returning to the field and that if he pushes himself too hard, he could set himself back. He said he can't worry if his final memory of playing pro baseball will be that sunny July day in Milwaukee.
"If I were to worry about that stuff, it's going to take effect," he said. "To tell you the truth, I'm confident I'll be able to play again because I am getting better."
The Brewers acquired Koskie at a discount after the Blue Jays picked up the majority of his three-year, $17 million contract. Koskie is in the final guaranteed year of his deal with the team planning to use infielders Craig Counsell and Tony Graffanino at the position, with prospect Ryan Braun not far behind.
"He's not a lost cause until the season is over. Once you get into August, you start to look at it in diminishing returns, but we're not looking that far yet," assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "Everybody's optimistic and hopeful, but we're in uncharted territory. There is no protocol for concussion rehab."
Koskie said at first he didn't want to discuss his experience and ignored talking publicly for most of the offseason. But he's opened up after calls and e-mails from parents of teenagers who have asked him how to help their children suffering from similar injuries.
"These kids that deal with it, one year of high school, that's a big point in a kid's life. All of sudden, he's got to sit in school for eight hours and he can't focus," Koskie said. "At one point, I looked at a book to read and it was a bunch of letters. I couldn't read. I had to really try to focus to read and then I got dizzy and nauseous.
"If I was going to school, I'd be done because it was a bunch of letters put together. It had no meaning to me." So Koskie confides in others suffering through his symptoms, and gives as much advice as he can. "The best people for me are people who have gone through this. A doctor may know everything about it, but until you've lived it, you don't really get it," he said. "Just like playing the game of baseball, there's textbooks on how to play the game. But book smarts and street smarts are completely different. Until you've lived it, you can't really see everything."

[brewersfan19]

concussions are scary things!!! the mind truly does work in mysterious ways.

[Hardy Blonde]

Yes, sadly it does

[brewersfan19]

Somedays I feel like I am loosing my mind!!!!

[Hardy Blonde]

And it's probably no fault of your own LoL

[brewersfan19]

after today, i wish i had no brains. i am drained and tired!

[Hardy Blonde]

Awww well today is Friday so get some rest!

[brewersfan19]

I will, just have a ton of stuff to do while watching the NCAA tourney!

[Hardy Blonde]

I'm doing really good in that. In 3 days I got a total of 5 wrong {I would say who I'm taking all the way but they play tomorrow and I don't wanna jinx it!}

[brewersfan19]

I didnt get in any pools this year. Good luck to ya!!!

[Hardy Blonde]

Well I didn't do too bad. My team did get knocked out...I took Wisconsin all the way. Sure thought they would have played better than they did..Oh well. I'm not in last place LoL

[brewersfan19]

I love the Badgers as well. I knew they wouldnt win it all this year, especially after they lost Butch. They have not been the same team since he was injuried in the last regular season game against Ohio St. They may have made more noise if he were healthy. I did expect them to make the Sweet 16 though. UNLV is not an impressive team. UW should of beaten them, but on the flip side, they really should have lost in the first round as poorly as they played. Oh well, next year.

[Hardy Blonde]

Yeah that's very true. Oh well I can still get points with North Carolina cuz that's the other team I have going all the way.

[brewersfan19]

Well good luck to ya. For your sake, I hope they make it!!

[Hardy Blonde]

Yeah me too. I'm not in last place either way.