With the Penguins trailing 2-0 in the conference finals series to the Bruins, Wednesday night’s game was a must-win. Midway through the second overtime period in what was as good of a playoff hockey game as you’re going to get, Pens defenseman Brooks Orpik went to control a puck behind the net when Bruins winger Milan Lucic launched him into the boards from behind. Here’s a look at the hit and the implications it has on the concussion debate in the NHL.

George Hill took a nasty elbow to the brain case this week, causing him to miss Game 5 and now Game 6 tonight. He’s arguably been their best player in the series, but the NBA’s new concussion policy is preventing him front playing. Would they do the same thing if Carmelo was experiencing headaches? We examine the policy and show the play where he gets popped by Tyson Chandler after the jump.

Fab Melo: OK on offense, pretty good on defense, terrible doorway awareness.

Former Cincinnati Reds utility man Ryan Freel, who believed he had at least “nine or 10″ concussions throughout his playing career, was found dead in his home on Saturday afternoon. He was 36. Details, after the jump.

How cool is Drew Brees? He’s in a contract dispute with his team, so in the interim he does a “Cash Cab” parody to raise awareness for concussion testing, in service of not only his beleaguered team or the NFL, but all football players. That cool.

In a recent interview with the New York Daily News, Jets linebacker Bart Scott was particularly adamant about his son’s future athletics career: no football. Coming from one of the more intense linebackers the NFL has seen over the last 10 years, this may seem surprising. But Scott puts the health of his child first.

Remember this vicious Metta World Peace elbow that sidelined James Harden with a concussion? They say the remedy for concussions is rest. Well, it looks like Dr. World Peace has found the cure, even if Harden refuses treatment.

College football can be an emotional game for players, and we discovered on Tuesday night during an Intelligence Squared series debate just how hard it is for some former players to separate their feelings from the facts.

The hot-button issue of the moment is head trauma in football, and it’s being given an entire week’s worth of attention from ESPN’s Outside the Lines. Today, the issue’s polarizing nature was once again on display, causing men on TV to freak the fuck out on each other.

At last evening’s showing of the new play Headstrong, presented by Ensemble Studio Theatre on Manhattan’s West 52nd street, you could sense that the audience and the actors had one man specifically on their minds: Junior Seau.