A couple interesting pieces (GQ, NBC) recently came out updating the profound brain damage that has perpetually plagued football players.
(Peeing the carpet? So be it.)
But while the science continues to advance, the conclusion remains the same: football messes up your head, and the people running the NFL and NCAA will never seriously acknowledge that.
There’s nothing amusing about the findings on the subject, but I do get a chuckle out of fellow football fans and media clumsily trying to escape the fact that they somehow don’t endorse football players getting brain damage.
If the players recognize the risks associated with the game, then why should anyone feel guilty in supporting their endeavor? There’s risk in everything we do. Obviously, that risk is compounded exponentially on a NFL football field, but if the players know that, why do football observers feel compelled to express counterfeit concern over player injuries?
The NFL and NCAA will always ignore the medical findings, because head distress is inherent to a sport that generates billions in revenue for those organizations.
Obviously we’d like to prevent brain damage in football, but it’s clear that without eliminating what makes the sport so popular, it can’t be done. So my fellow football fan, stop observing Opposite Day with your disingenuous blather. Supporting football is supporting players exploding their headholes, live with it or go sign up for Kansas City Wizards season seats and leave me to my mini-bottle stash on the 50-yard-line.
3:21 pm on September 26th, 2009
Actually, soccer messes with your brain too. I remember my dad telling me that in medical school they did an autopsy on an old ex soccer player and his brain had hundreds of small lesions, similar to those boxers have, because of heading the ball.
Again, this is a stupid, easy way to generate controversy. Everybody knows football is not good for your body, like cigarettes. So pretty much playing or not is entirely on your person.
3:53 pm on September 26th, 2009
I agree completely. (How odd.) For me, football is the ultimate sport. The players are at the peak of human physical performance and the sport tests them against each other. There’s a reason they only play once a week. It’s that challenging. I appreciate the steps they have taken to protect the players without limiting their ability. But the ultimate athletic test will of course always include the risk of physical injury. I’m OK with that to and so are the players.