The Death of Football

[5-Star Finger]

Thanks Coach. :)

Okay, okay MAGA fella. There's context and criticism and Nazis and stuff about girls in plays and it is all fair game until someone goes and uses a GIF calling attention to problems. I've seen the light Back Alley - I'm a believer now (conservative Christian) and Jews are okay to make fun of. I heard some people had the audacity to set up a league to defend them. Imagine that.

How'd I do?

 

[gator1946]

Good God, the nanny society train just keeps on rolling.

If you asshats think that football is truly this bad, in that it’s destroying lives, etc, then what does loving every minute of it say about you? Quit watching it and supporting it.

Dearest fearless leader. The question was will football exist in 20 years.

1. My answer is yes it will exist in 20 years..Onto my other thoughts
2. I like football. I also like boxing. I will continue to watch both. I guarantee you boxers aren't looking out for their health when they are willing to go lights out face down on the canvas.
3. Efforts to protect from concussion have gone about as far as they can go short of flag football, or the development of some miracle equipment. Flag football ain't gonna happen because fans will stop watching.
4. If I had my way, linemen would average 240 lbs 6' 4". Football would be a better game minus the sumo wrestlers who are pushing a pile two extra yards. Ankle breaking running backs who took it through the middle would be more fun to watch than the pile pushers we have today in the NFL. Running backs would again become the highly valued commodity that they once were.That ain't gonna happen either.
5. I guess some of these NFL fat assess play for the love of the game but I'm guessing more of them play for the love of their 5m per year contracts. If that's their choice so be it. They'll be sorry they made that choice after I'm dead and gone.

All of the above trickles down to college football. I wish it didn't but that's reality.

And finally what do I really like on defense? A bone crushing, slobber knocking, breath expelling hit, with our opponent wobbling off the field. But sadly there will be less of those.

Fact is football isn't the healthiest sport to take up. But, shame on me, I'll keep watching.

 

[GatorTom85]

There isn't nearly enough research done on this to draw any surefire conclusions. Need a hell of a lot bigger sample size than that.

I'm going to encourage my 4 year old grandson to play and knock the block off of other kids.

In 50 years we'll all be walking around in bubble wrap, that is if the government hasn't banned walking by then.

True, though it really isn't a huge leap in logic to think that constant head collisions will likely have detrimental impacts to young folks whose brains are still forming. It is not a total given, however, because there also may be some offsetting impacts based on that very same ongoing development similar to what happens with bone breaks which tend to heal quicker and better during the time when bone structures are still actively growing.

Also, like with most medical trends, it is not likely to impact everyone the same way. Having a severely autistic son has taught me, among many other things, that when it comes to the brain there are many more variables than the medical community really comprehends. The discovery of CTE itself is a telling example of this.

If I had a kid at an age where I had to decide about this, I would probably have no real desire at this point for my kid to play football due to the potential risks especially if they were interested and capable of playing a less collision related sport (which, btw, does NOT include hockey!). For me there just is too much unknown and too much likelihood that the negative trends of these collisions are real that it doesn't make the sport attractive enough to accept the risks. On the other hand, however, it should be pointed out that football is also one of the few sports where there are still lower cost alternatives to cultivate participation. With so many youth sports now becoming encompassed within the elite travelling league culture, the cost of participation has become prohibitive for many low income families and that trend is now even extending into what used to be considered middle class! Real Sports on HBO just had a story on this recently. In those cases football may end up being the only outlet to team sports that is available to some kids which changes the risk/reward profile considerably.

Ultimately, like with most things, there are no easy answers nor are there any clear indicators of what is totally right or what is totally wrong. These questions are also increasingly impacted, like everything else, by the income levels of those making these decisions because of the severe limitations imposed as income levels shrink. Unfortunately, there just aren't many easy answers anymore when it comes to kids and sports.

 

[ChiefGator]

Actually its just a question of statistics. The longer ANY conversation goes on the chance of ANYTHING being mentioned approaches 1. Our chatbox pretty much proves that daily.

I agree but publishing such increases the chances, and if say the number of posts required is say in the millions, that is different that a lot less. Does the chat box ever talk about say string theory? Charm as used in physics? I bet neither would ever come up in a discussion of sports, except perhaps by me on purpose.

 

[oxrageous]

I have never once claimed that a large number of concussions doesn't have long-term impacts. It may, it may not - as of now it's inconclusive, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it does.

My point is that it's completely irrelevant to me if it does or not. My point is that it's a 100% voluntary activity at every level. If people choose to take the risks, that is their choice. Quit trying to protect people from themselves and let them make their own decisions. Quit trying to make an unsafe game safe.

 

[Back Alley Gator]

I agree but publishing such increases the chances, and if say the number of posts required is say in the millions, that is different that a lot less. Does the chat box ever talk about say string theory? Charm as used in physics? I bet neither would ever come up in a discussion of sports, except perhaps by me on purpose.

There is now. See? We're both right. :)

 

[GatorTom85]

Good God, the nanny society train just keeps on rolling.

If you asshats think that football is truly this bad, in that it’s destroying lives, etc, then what does loving every minute of it say about you? Quit watching it and supporting it.

The reality is that I love football and I am glad some folks are playing it (especially those wearing our favorite Orange and Blue) even though it probably isn't a very good idea. Does that make me a hypocrite? Probably, but that doesn't really change anything. The issue is that there is an entire generation of folks coming along that may not care about football enough to generate the $$ necessary to justify this overall equation. That's when this will start to really start to change because there will be much less opportunity for this kind of hypocrisy to sustain itself when there is no longer enough money involved to make the risks worthwhile for either side.

 

[Pablos Tunnel]

Good God, the nanny society train just keeps on rolling.

If you asshats think that football is truly this bad, in that it’s destroying lives, etc, then what does loving every minute of it say about you? Quit watching it and supporting it.

That is not the point Ox. I bet most on here played. The lawyers, insurance companies and the soft me too generation will may kill it off.