ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
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Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#2This article is about american football. Not the actual 'foot'ball.
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#3Personally, I applaud his candor and backing it up by leaving association with the sport as we know it. I have shared the change of mentality from "Oh wow!" big-hit, Bill Romanowski/Ronnie Lott type viciousness to, well, cringing. Not to shy away from MMA or Boxing or Hockey - trauma is trauma - but the change feels like something I've witnessed in my lifetime.
With a personal twist, I've never been able to play due to handicap, and now, decades later, some who did play are suffering effects similar to my injuries. It's uncanny how brutal that sport actually can be to the body - especially young, growing bodies and minds. I don't like watching rock heroes of mine dying, nor sports heroes like Junior Seau - but they can help change culture. When people won't let their kids play a sport, its days are numbered, save for some communities that will probably see it as a ticket out for a long time.
Oh, I almost forgot my idea/essay I put forward a while ago about re-engineering the equipment for the modern physics of the athleticism (speed + force):
https://thelacesout.com/how-us-football-can-improve-player-s...
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#4An investigative piece was released yesterday from the Hamilton Spectator in Ontario where McMaster University researchers studied the brains of 20 living former Canadian Football League players. It didn't turn out particularly well.
"Study shows ‘disastrous’ damage in brains of retired CFL players" http://3downnation.com/2017/08/30/study-shows-disastrous-dam...
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#5Football is America's gladiator sport. For all the fun, the money, the excitement, the money, the drama, the bombast, the cheerleaders, and even the money, we should remind ourselves that American football is a very violent sport rife with injury and long term disability, and our participation as passive spectators and consumers makes us just as responsible for the incentive structure that harms so many young men for the rest of their lives.
And yet we can't stop. Football is practically an addiction in this country, and I don't think there is one serious proposal that could reduce the size and scope of injuries and brain trauma in particular, and allows the game to continue in its current familiar form. So we tuck the problem under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist until moments of faux anguish pierce our veil of doped-up depravity.
Sorry if this post comes across as depressing and masochistic. After all, I am a Bills fan.
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#6What about the sponsorship of daredevil sports like free climbing, wing suits, etc., by consumer companies like GoPro and Redbull.
I feel that we are supporting these companies with our purchases, and then they in turn create social media spectacles by giving these people an incentive to do dangerous stunts. Recently a wingsuit daredevil died while livestreaming on Facebook, watched by his young daughter and wife. It was a horrific event. Of course, his broken body was festooned with the banners of various energy drinks and other bullshit.
What a wonderful time we live in. Are we not all entertained?
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#7Personally, I applaud his candor and backing it up by leaving association with the sport as we know it. I have shared the change of mentality from "Oh wow!" big-hit, Bill Romanowski/Ronnie Lott type viciousness to, well, cringing. Not to shy away from MMA or Boxing or Hockey - trauma is trauma - but the change feels like something I've witnessed in my lifetime. With a personal twist, I've never been able to play due…
I'm about in the same position. As a middle aged guy, the past 10 years I have watched more and more nfl football, and I'm becoming increasingly leary. I hate seeing a big hit. Take that part out and I can continue to watch. But it's hard to see how they can take the hitting out, it's such a part of the game.
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#8What about the sponsorship of daredevil sports like free climbing, wing suits, etc., by consumer companies like GoPro and Redbull. I feel that we are supporting these companies with our purchases, and then they in turn create social media spectacles by giving these people an incentive to do dangerous stunts. Recently a wingsuit daredevil died while livestreaming on Facebook, watched by his young daughter and wife. It…
I think one difference is that we don't have free climbing and wing suit programs in middle schools. It's one thing if you are an adult and are being paid to participate, it's another when you are a kid and playing is your ticket to a college education.
I'm in Texas so my view on football is warped, but the intensity that kids play football with is nuts.
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#9Football is America's gladiator sport. For all the fun, the money, the excitement, the money, the drama, the bombast, the cheerleaders, and even the money, we should remind ourselves that American football is a very violent sport rife with injury and long term disability, and our participation as passive spectators and consumers makes us just as responsible for the incentive structure that harms so many young men for…
Is violent sport an inherent part of a country's psychic makeup? Mexico has wrestling? What about Bermuda?
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#10What about the sponsorship of daredevil sports like free climbing, wing suits, etc., by consumer companies like GoPro and Redbull. I feel that we are supporting these companies with our purchases, and then they in turn create social media spectacles by giving these people an incentive to do dangerous stunts. Recently a wingsuit daredevil died while livestreaming on Facebook, watched by his young daughter and wife. It…
I don't think that's a fair comparison. I love motorcycling, and the Isle of Man TT is probably the craziest spectacle I watch every year. And every year, at least one person dies in the race.
A lot of the mechanics and race shops that build bikes for that race talk about whether or not they're doing a good thing.
And as dangerous and awful as the above is, I wouldn't change the TT for anything. But I also wouldn't watch it, if it was a commercialized race with large corporate backing.
I guess what I'm trying to get at, is there's a difference between letting people take dangerous risks in pursuit of something they love and giving them the means to do so, and exploiting people and pushing them to continue taking dangerous risks for spectacle and profit.
Its a fine line to tread, but while typing this, I think I'm realizing that its easily discernible. In the first category, if there is a safer way of doing something, without neutering the fundamental nature of the activity, the community will embrace it. Just look at the armor improvements of motorcycling over the years. Or the quality of wingsuits and rescue equipment.
In the second category though, other considerations start to take effect, like overall viewership numbers and team profits.