Anonymous user
Tommy Sherman: Difference between revisions
→The Circumstances of Tommy’s Death
Line 50:
Later, Kevin says to Daria (misunderstanding her), “You're saying he got hit on the head out there on the football field, the team's home, and now it's going to be cursed or something, and we're going to lose all our games.” We know from this that Tommy suffered another head injury when he was struck by the crate. Ms. Li’s remark about “sharp-edged wooden crates” implies one of those sharp edges hit Tommy’s head with disastrous consequences. This was one brain injury too many.
How big would a crate have to be to ship a single high-school football goalpost? (Jane said only one was purchased due to budget cuts.) Well, how big is a goalpost? [http://football.about.com/cs/football101/g/gl_goalpost.htm About.com] states that a gooseneck (or “pitchfork”) goalpost consists of a “post, crossbar, and two uprights. The post that holds the uprights is 10 feet tall and placed approximately 80 feet from the sidelines. The crossbar, which is 18 feet, 6 inches in length, sits atop the post. The uprights extend 30 feet above the crossbar.” [http://www.outdoorfunstore.com/football.asp Another website] notes that uprights for college field are 20 feet long and those for high schools are 10 feet, but many high-school goalposts are sold in the larger size. (
A very large crate weighing over half a ton falls and one sharp edge hits Tommy on the head. This sounds like an [http://allabouttbi.com/open-head-injury/ open head injury] resulted, breaking Tommy’s helmetless skull and exposing (if not crushing and scattering) his brain tissue. He died on the spot, so the worst may be imagined. The accident scene must have been ghastly.
| |||