Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hockey has the advantage that the sport could we reworked into something less violent. Hockey could survive a change to the rules that would reduce blows to the head. Football is such an intrinsically contact sport that I don't think a safer game would even be recognizable. Actually, that might be worse... If hockey turns out to have as bad a concussion problem, the leadership of the sport is likely even more culpabl…
>Hockey has the advantage that the sport could we reworked into something less violent. Hockey could survive a change to the rules that would reduce blows to the head. Could it? I wonder how many people would continue to watch hockey if fights weren't essentially sanctioned as a part of the game. I imagine only the diehards as it's not the most entertaining sport in the world...
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
#232I grew up in Pittsburgh watching Steelers football. My dad died a couple years ago and it helps me feel close to him. He played football in college at a D1 program, but luckily didn't incur any brain trauma and was incredibly sharp until his last moments.
With that, I just can't stomach the damage this sport does to its players, all while the NFL continues to try to sweep the issue under the rug. I think I should stop watching and implicitly supporting this sport until something is done.
And sure, players are probably aware of the damage they can do to themselves; however, humans are bad at evaluating long term risks. I'd bet that many players either consciously determine that 'it won't happen to them,' or they ignore the risks in search of a big salary.
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#233Good for him. I stopped following football after watching League of Denial on PBS. If I'm at the bar or something and it happens to be on, I might passively watch it, but I haven't sought it out since. I just can't support the NFL. I do feel torn though because I love hockey. I know they're dealing with similar controversies. My justification, however flimsy it might be is that I don't like the fighting (I might be i…
>I just can't support the NFL. I'm not sure what the NFL does that's wrong. Their players get significant fame, are consenting adults, and get pay checks that many would trade even more of their health for. It is the college level, and especially the high school level, that I see the major problems at. When you have kids, or even people who aren't paid, risking their health it crosses a significant line. If college p…
Beyond the suppressing information part, I think it's still reasonable to decline to watch.
Everyone is a consenting adult, I'm not saying "letting people tackle each other" is criminal or unethical. (Though as you say, mandatory football in gym class would be a different story.) The only thing here that ought to be legally actionable is knowingly hiding risks.
But we're talking about a spectator sport. I think a lot of people would feel sort of queasy if they saw a "good hit" and thought "wow, that guy just got a bit of brain damage". It's pretty reasonable to say "I want to see people perform challenging athletics, I don't want to see them destroy their minds". So the NFL might 'deserve' to fail because of this no matter how open and transparent they are.
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#234I honestly don't understand how football is still legal. I know it's popular but how can you see the evidence we've found and think people should still be allowed to play?
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Ban players for PEDs .... Suspensions are not enough, because even if a player stops doing them, he may have made himself unnaturally big, strong and fast. This is really insightful. I don't know much about HGH but I know steroid use is something that a guy can do for a while, gain muscle and size, and stop, and yes, some of that size will go away, but there's a base that will never go away. That's a fact a lot of…
The problem is that you'll still be paid before getting banned. This is the problem cycling and other PED rampant sports face. You can take away the medals but you can't take away their money and you can't take away the fact that they've enjoyed their fame while it lasted
Sure, but you can probably make the sport a bit safer. In cycling or tennis, the lasting effect of PED use (after stopping) is being more competitive. In football, the lasting effect is being more dangerous to other players on the field. That's a huge distinction.
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#236An 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...
I didn't see anywhere if these were just randomly selected players or players who volunteered because they thought something was wrong. I know there was another study where they found a shockingly high percentage of the people studied had issues. However, in that study it was all volunteers who suspected something was wrong. Well that doesn't mean that high of a percentage of players actually have issues just the one…
I'm sure you could find that if you found the study rather than an article about it (though I'm not sure if there is a scientific journal paper attached to this or where or how it will be published). The article says they compared to "healthy control subjects of similar ages". Presumably, what they are controlling the for is the occupation of being a football player, since that is the entire point of the study. Also this part
"Noseworthy was asked if there’s any chance the players’ results aren’t connected to football.
“No, this is football,” he said. “That’s the common denominator.”"
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Hockey has the advantage that the sport could we reworked into something less violent. Hockey could survive a change to the rules that would reduce blows to the head. Could it? I wonder how many people would continue to watch hockey if fights weren't essentially sanctioned as a part of the game. I imagine only the diehards as it's not the most entertaining sport in the world...
https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/hockey-fights-are-going-a...
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#238I, too, experienced this. But following football in the South is a quasi-religion and you can get ostracized for being a non-believer.
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#239I'm in my second year of not watching/supporting the NFL for just this reason. Add the that the treatment of Colin Kaepernick and I'm not sure I'll look back. I'd be lying if I said I won't watch the super bowl, but my days of watching endless hours and going to games are likely over unless and until they make the players take off that ridiculous armor.
Same here, fall now has so much more time for activities!
Re: ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting watching that video of rugby hits, noticing the legs. Perhaps it's just selection, but I'm wondering if it is rules requiring tackling above the waist, but it seems like every hit on that vid caused no leg injury; no knees got bend backwards, or jammed sideways, and they seemed to invariably fall with bent knees (which is protective as the leg can rotate with the force rather than tear ligaments). The han…
Those are not very typical tackles. Tackling by controlling legs is common but not flashy high impact events and tend to allow the player to pass the ball mid-tackle. Legs generally seemed to sort themselves out in the normal case. Main risks I experienced as a tackler would be getting a boot to the face or shoulder impact. Main risk as a tacklee is what you land on - head, shoulders but you usually have quite a bit…
very informative - thx!