Sports

rapid in troubleColorado’s Brian Mullan is suspended for 10 games. Page 2

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VancouVer takes 1-0 leadChris Higgins, left, scores as the Canucks down Nashville in the Western Conference semifinals. Page 3

lakers advanceDefending NBA champs and Hawks into next round. Page 3

sports news at gazette.com and gazette preps.com

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ABOUT THE SERIESThe effects of concussions have been felt around the sports world, espe-cially in the past year. The Gazette examines this unique injury in a five-part series: Thursday:� Hot-button topic Today:� Rehab Saturday:� Lasting effects Sunday:� Prevention Monday:� Rules

recovery demanded center’s patience SpEcIAl REpORT: cOncUSSIOnS pART 2

Taylor Broekhuis’ methodi-cal return from a concus-

sion started innocently enough, with an elbow to the head trying to get a rebound. Air Force was in El

Paso, Texas, practic-ing on Christmas last year in preparation for a tour-nament when the Falcons’ center took the blow to the head. Air Force basketball trainer Ernie Sedelmyer im-

by FRANK SCHWAbfrank.schwab@gazette.com—

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see afa • Page 2

1st of 6 steps in air Force protocol: no activity

InSIdEA standardized assessment is given to Olympic athletes who may have a concussion. Page 2

mediately focused his atten-tion on him.

“You could tell he was a lit-tle shaken,” Sedelmyer said.

Air Force basketball was, unfortunately, quite experi-enced with concussions. Six players suffered concussions during the 2009-10 season.

Sedelmyer waited for a few moments after Broekhuis was hit to see if he could gather himself. When it took

more than a few seconds he went over to evaluate Broekhuis for concussion symptoms.

Broekhuis told Sedelmyer he was dizzy and his head hurt, so the trainer started a concussion test that Air Force has in place. It starts with simple orientation questions — asking about the month, date and time — then the player is told five words to remember. The player then has to count backward and say the months backward, and then do a balance test

With most

injuries, when you’re hurt you can rehab. With a concussion, you really can’t do anything because you don’t want to aggravate it.”taylor broekhuis —air Force center

“

Liberty got two of its best pitching perfor-mances of the season within a three-hour span.

Josh McElhinny and Tim Elsberry gave up just two runs over 14 innings as Liberty swept a double-header at Doherty 3-1 and 2-1.

The first game was a contin-uation of Tuesday’s game that was suspended by weather in the second inning with Lib-erty (5-9, 4-6 5A Metro) lead-ing 3-0.

McElhinny, who had start-ed the game two days earlier, finished what he started in

the 3-1 victory.“I trusted my defense, I have a lot of con-

fidence in them,” said McElhinny, who gave up eight hits. “Based on what we did today, there’s no limit of what we can do.”

lancers land blows from the mound in sweep

by JUSTIN SHAWpreps@gazette.com—

gazette preps baseball liberty 3-2, doherty 1-1

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see baseball • Page 5

Liberty’s Tim Elsberry pitches to Do-herty’s Dusty Kachel during the second game of a doubleheader on Thursday.

MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE

more, Page 5 •� The 4A Metro girls’ soccer crossover tournament begins. •� Lewis-Palmer girls’ tennis downs Discov-ery Canyon.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist gymnast Peter Vidmar and retired Paralympic track and field athlete Aimee Mullins were named chef de missions Thursday by the U.S. Olympic Committee to act as liaisons during the Olym-pics and Paralympics next year in London.

The 15-person USOC board tabbed Vidmar, 49, of Los Angeles, and Mullins, 34, of New York, as Team USA representatives, tasked with being leaders for the U.S. delegations if issues arise between the USOC and the London Organizing Committee, the Interna-tional Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and other Olympic entities.

They’ll travel to London for chef de mis-sion meetings in August and in January, and they’re expected to march in the Opening Ceremony — for the Olympics on July 27, 2012, and for the Paralympics on Aug. 29, 2012. Once the Games start, they’ll partici-pate in USOC sponsor functions, greet for-eign dignitaries, become voices for athletes — pretty much whatever is needed to make certain the U.S. looks good for the rest of the

two picked to help u.s. look good in 2012

by brian gomezbrian.gomez@gazette.com—

olympic sports

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see usoc • Page 6

it’s miller time nfl draft first round

Broncos take linebacker with second pick

ENGLEWOOD • The Denver Broncos will have quite a 1-2 pass-rushing punch as they try to climb back into the playoff picture after a five-year drought.

The Broncos selected Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller, the premier pass-rusher in this year’s draft, with the second overall pick Thurs-day to help fix the league’s leakiest defense.

They’ll team the Aggies’ athletic playmaker with 2009 NFL sacks king Elvis Dumervil, who missed last season with a torn chest muscle a year after leading the league with 17 sacks.

“Oh man. I know a lot

by arnie stapletonThe Associated Press—

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sEE brONcOs • PaGE 4

Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller, right, gestures alongside family after he was selected as the second overall pick by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

THe AssoCiATeD PRess

Today:� 4-8:30 p.m. (Rounds 2-3) Saturday:� 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (Rounds 4-7) Where:� Radio City Music Hall, New York TV:� ESPN2 today-Saturday, NFL Network all three days

draft coverage

about Elvis,” Miller said. “When I was in high school, it was people saying that it was because of Elvis Dumer-vil, who opened it up for smaller guys to come off the edge. I know a lot about El-vis Dumervil and I’m excited that he’s back, injury-free. I’m glad to be a teammate.”

John Elway gushed over Miller leading up to the draft, saying the dominant senior is “a guy that when you turn on the film, you don’t even have to know what number he is. ... He’s a guy that’s all over the field.”

And they’ll plan to play him all over in Denver’s de-fense and on every down if they can.

“It’s crucial in this league to be able to rush the passer and Von adds that dimen-sion to our defense,” coach John Fox said. “He’s also able to drop back into pass cov-erage. There’s no doubt his versatility is going to make us a better football team.”

thE tOP fivE

1. carolina PaNthErsCam Newton, QB, Auburn

2. denver broncosVon Miller, LB, Texas A&M

3. buffalo billsMarcell Dareus, DT, Alabama

4. ciNciNNati bengalsA.J. Green, WR, Georgia

5. arizona cardinalsPatrick Peterson, CB, LSU

Quarterbacks should worry about facing BroncosVon Miller was crying, over-

whelmed by joy, when he heard the news the Denver Broncos had selected him Thursday in the first round of the NFL draft in New York.

But it was Philip Rivers who should have been crying.

Rivers, San Diego’s obnoxious but spectacular quarterback, shredded the Broncos’ defense last season, leading the Chargers to 72 points in two victories. Rivers spent those victories standing calmly in the

pocket, unbothered by pressure.Those lazy good times are over.

Rivers soon will be bothered by a swarm of Broncos. He will be chased, and captured, by the Bron-cos new pass-rush duo of Miller and Elvis Dumervil.

This was a brilliant, and obvious, selection by the Broncos. Miller, who played at Texas A&M, is a 6-foot-3, 248-pound linebacker who is tough enough to play on the line and fast enough to com-pete in the defensive backfield.

He will instantly transform the Broncos’ defense.

And a transformation is sorely needed.

Last season, the Broncos were cursed with a collection of players who could only be loosely de-scribed as a defense.

The Broncos surrendered 95 points to the archrival Oakland Raiders in two losses.

There were a multitude of prob-—

sEE ramsEy • PaGE 4

OPiNiON

daVid ramSeydavid.ramsey@ gazette.com / 476-4895