I'll give full disclosure first: I haven't quit watching NFL games, but I have cut WAY back. I'm getting real close to quitting. And whereas an important 49ers game used to be a can't-miss for me...........I really don't mind at all if I miss it.
From the San Jose Mercury News, 10-5-14:
"One any given Sunday, 30 percent of the players we're watching will wind up with serious cognitive problems", Almond said. "So, will it be (Colin) Kaepernick? (Michael) Crabtree? Charles Woodson? The violence we see on the field now is what affects these guys' brains down the road.
"So at what point are fans going to realize that they just can't consume extraordinary acts of heroism but also awful violence without recognizing that it has a cost?"
From same Mercury News article:
Robert Thompson, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University and a fan of Steve Almond's writing:
"We're talking about an audience of 110 million people who watch the Super Bowl" Thompson said. "The NFL has audience to spare. It's true that we're beginning to look at football's effect on the human body in 2014 the same way the effects of cigarettes were discussed back in 1955.
"But for now, whoever tries to take football away from America is probably going to get a concussion faster than the people actually playing it because the game is so ingrained in the culture."
[Edited on 10/9/2014 by robslob]
they should wear big bubble wrap helmets.
huge ones.
the size of Volkswagen beetles.
add a little humor to the game. 
I might not still be around to see it, but football is on the road to eradication. The Nudge theory is in effect as shown by this article, designed toward shaming/guilting people into not watching.
It might start slow and subtle, but the eradication train is on the tracks. Once Liberals get ahold of a cause, there's no letting go.
I played football as a youngster and it didn't hurt me.
I played football as a youngster and it didn't hurt me.
I might not still be around to see it, but football is on the road to eradication. The Nudge theory is in effect as shown by this article, designed toward shaming/guilting people into not watching.
It might start slow and subtle, but the eradication train is on the tracks. Once Liberals get ahold of a cause, there's no letting go.
What the hell does this have to do with Liberals? Really? 😛
I might not still be around to see it, but football is on the road to eradication. The Nudge theory is in effect as shown by this article, designed toward shaming/guilting people into not watching.
It might start slow and subtle, but the eradication train is on the tracks. Once Liberals get ahold of a cause, there's no letting go.
What the hell does this have to do with Liberals? Really? 😛
You can bank on it.
Once Liberals get ahold of a cause, there's no letting go.
Pathetic.
I might not still be around to see it, but football is on the road to eradication. The Nudge theory is in effect as shown by this article, designed toward shaming/guilting people into not watching.
It might start slow and subtle, but the eradication train is on the tracks. Once Liberals get ahold of a cause, there's no letting go.
What the hell does this have to do with Liberals? Really? 😛
You can bank on it.
The only thing I can bank on is to you to turn every topic you post in to a political debate.
As a conservative, you are OK with the permanent brain damage that many former pro football players suffer from. You don't see the need to help reduce these injuries. Now your response will be "I didn't say that". But the implication is clear.
I might not still be around to see it, but football is on the road to eradication. The Nudge theory is in effect as shown by this article, designed toward shaming/guilting people into not watching.
It might start slow and subtle, but the eradication train is on the tracks. Once Liberals get ahold of a cause, there's no letting go.
There is nothing in this post that I can agree with. You sound like the doomdayers who said the same thing about baseball in the 90s (and on the flip side the eternal optimists who have been saying since the 80s that soccer is about to take over as the #1 sport in America). This is essentially nothing more than another excuse to take a swipe at your favorite target, those evil liberals.
As a conservative, you are OK with the permanent brain damage that many former pro football players suffer from. You don't see the need to help reduce these injuries. Now your response will be "I didn't say that". But the implication is clear.
But I didn't. Nothing even remotely close. OK with people getting brain damage? Please...
Whatever you smoke before you come on here, please send me some.
As a conservative, you are OK with the permanent brain damage that many former pro football players suffer from. You don't see the need to help reduce these injuries. Now your response will be "I didn't say that". But the implication is clear.
But I didn't. Nothing even remotely close. OK with people getting brain damage? Please...
Whatever you smoke before you come on here, please send me some.
You took a non-political discussion and politicized it. You said that liberals would try to eradicate the game. Where is your evidence of this? In your mind? You draw a lot of conclusions about people but don't like conclusions drawn based on what you say. Again, you want it both ways.
I might not still be around to see it, but football is on the road to eradication. The Nudge theory is in effect as shown by this article, designed toward shaming/guilting people into not watching.
It might start slow and subtle, but the eradication train is on the tracks. Once Liberals get ahold of a cause, there's no letting go.
There is nothing in this post that I can agree with. You sound like the doomdayers who said the same thing about baseball in the 90s (and on the flip side the eternal optimists who have been saying since the 80s that soccer is about to take over as the #1 sport in America).
You sure about that? What do you think about efforts all over the country moving to ban high school football? I have yet to hear about banning baseball. The last thing a Progressive would ever ban is soccer!
With the globe teetering on the brink of extinction because of carbon, concerns over the game of football seem a little misplaced.
With the globe teetering on the brink of extinction because of carbon, concerns over the game of football seem a little misplaced.
Most people are capable of handling multiple issues at the same time. It's a complex world out there. Besides, I thought you didn't believe all that global warming stuff.
As a conservative, you are OK with the permanent brain damage that many former pro football players suffer from. You don't see the need to help reduce these injuries. Now your response will be "I didn't say that". But the implication is clear.
But I didn't. Nothing even remotely close. OK with people getting brain damage? Please...
Whatever you smoke before you come on here, please send me some.
You took a non-political discussion and politicized it. You said that liberals would try to eradicate the game. Where is your evidence of this?
What it's based on is OBSERVATION and, based on that, it's not much of a stretch. It's in perfect keeping with the Progressive notion that they are wiser than everyone else and must save people from themselves. If you doubt me, look at history and who's tried to ban football before. The Progressives tried this back in 1890!
As a conservative, you are OK with the permanent brain damage that many former pro football players suffer from. You don't see the need to help reduce these injuries. Now your response will be "I didn't say that". But the implication is clear.
But I didn't. Nothing even remotely close. OK with people getting brain damage? Please...
Whatever you smoke before you come on here, please send me some.
You took a non-political discussion and politicized it. You said that liberals would try to eradicate the game. Where is your evidence of this?
What it's based on is OBSERVATION and, based on that, it's not much of a stretch. It's in perfect keeping with the Progressive notion that they are wiser than everyone else and must save people from themselves. If you doubt me, look at history and who's tried to ban football before. The Progressives tried this back in 1890!
Well, hell, it's been a long fight since 1890. I doubt any of them are alive now but the spirit lives on. Actually, who were those Progressives? The article you obviously only read the headline of gave no names, said nothing about how far they got or much else.
Football was a far different game back then with little or no protective equipment. The rules were somewhat different as well. Comparing that game with todays game doesn't work. Back then, the game ws more like rugby.
But once again, this isn't political today, but keep trying.
If football were ever to be displaced from the top, the main reason would be parents who don't want their sons to play it for fear their kid will turn their brain to jelly.
For the most part, our best athletes play professional football and basketball, because that's what a majority of kids played for a while. Before that, a lot more kids played baseball, a sport still important but not quite what it once was. The growing attention paid to soccer in the USA over the last few years can be tied directly to the demographic that watches it...people that played soccer as kids that are now adults/consumers.
These kids of changes just kind of happen, rather slowly, IMO, but they do happen. Within the last 100 years the most popular sports in America included boxing and horse racing.
If I were the NFL, I'd be dropping a lot more R&D cash on the helmets. Technology can play a huge role here. They've adjusted the rules quite a bit to the point where the next change might just include not being able to touch the QB at all. Crazy to ponder, huh? What other changes could they make? Can only tackle below the chest? Below the waist? More severe penalties for the head shot kill shot hits?
This is, of course, predicated on the NFL deciding that "We have to do something." Their settlement of the concussion lawsuit was a huge admittance on their part. That and the Junior Seau suicide seem to have been the tipping point. However, they can also stop here. There could be a more firm embrace of the sentiment that football players know the risks and are willing to take them for money and glory. There certainly is that. No one is forced to play the game.
In that case, though, those of us that admire the graceful violence on the weekend might just have to accept that football players are more like our gladiators than we'd like to admit.
Actually, who were those Progressives?
Well, there was this guy named Teddy Roosevelt who founded the Progressive Party in 1912. Before that, as a Republican, he was the President of the United States. In 1906 he threatened to abolish football after no less than 18 people died playing it. He was a key figure in actually preserving the game, forming a committee that made some rule changes, in particular banning the flying wedge. They also came up with the neutral zone and ten yards for a first down instead of five. That progressive before the guy was a progressive in the context of being a progressive six years prior to becoming a progressive in the early 1900s and his meddling sure did a lot of damage to the sport, huh?
Blackhawk: Excellent post, excellent perspective. Yeah, there certainly is that angle: "No one forces them to play." That's pretty much the way I've always justified being a football fan.
Actually, who were those Progressives?
Well, there was this guy named Teddy Roosevelt who founded the Progressive Party in 1912. Before that, as a Republican, he was the President of the United States. In 1906 he threatened to abolish football after no less than 18 people died playing it. He was a key figure in actually preserving the game, forming a committee that made some rule changes, in particular banning the flying wedge. They also came up with the neutral zone and ten yards for a first down instead of five. That progressive before the guy was a progressive in the context of being a progressive six years prior to becoming a progressive in the early 1900s and his meddling sure did a lot of damage to the sport, huh?
Man, this Roosevelt guys sounds impressive, if not a little radical. Maybe he should have his face carved into the side of a mountain. 
"The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that
he shall be able and willing to pull his weight - that he shall not be
a mere passenger." Theodore Roosevelt
[Edited on 10/10/2014 by gondicar]
If football were ever to be displaced from the top, the main reason would be parents who don't want their sons to play it for fear their kid will turn their brain to jelly.
For the most part, our best athletes play professional football and basketball, because that's what a majority of kids played for a while. Before that, a lot more kids played baseball, a sport still important but not quite what it once was. The growing attention paid to soccer in the USA over the last few years can be tied directly to the demographic that watches it...people that played soccer as kids that are now adults/consumers.
These kids of changes just kind of happen, rather slowly, IMO, but they do happen. Within the last 100 years the most popular sports in America included boxing and horse racing.
If I were the NFL, I'd be dropping a lot more R&D cash on the helmets. Technology can play a huge role here. They've adjusted the rules quite a bit to the point where the next change might just include not being able to touch the QB at all. Crazy to ponder, huh? What other changes could they make? Can only tackle below the chest? Below the waist? More severe penalties for the head shot kill shot hits?
This is, of course, predicated on the NFL deciding that "We have to do something." Their settlement of the concussion lawsuit was a huge admittance on their part. That and the Junior Seau suicide seem to have been the tipping point. However, they can also stop here. There could be a more firm embrace of the sentiment that football players know the risks and are willing to take them for money and glory. There certainly is that. No one is forced to play the game.
In that case, though, those of us that admire the graceful violence on the weekend might just have to accept that football players are more like our gladiators than we'd like to admit.
If I were a 3 sport star as a teenager I would concentrate on baseball. The best money and greatest likelihood of making it lies in baseball. Basketball just has too few jobs and Football the risk of career ending injury just too great.
