Seriously!?!? You haven't stopped driving a car have you? You haven't stopped gong to public places with all the nut job shootings have you?!?!?
Okay, I apologize for thread implying I want to ban football. I have been around it as a player and coach since I was 5 years old and would never take any of those moments away from my life, as they have defined me as a man. I am only provoking a thought as to how football will change going forward, and how we as football coaches should consider changes.
What??? Do you really believe this???
I apologize for implying that I want to ban football, as I have been around it as a player and am currently coaching it. I only wonder if we will see changes.
And yet the game went on..
I sort of see how you were trying to relate this to this current topic, but I'm sorry we need to stop trying to regulate "stupid". That's like printing "this is not a toy" on plastic packaging. Why we cater to stupidity is beyond me. In those cases I say let Darwinism run it's course. Sorry for going off topic a bit but this one has always bugged me. But I guess in the world of lawsuits companies are forced to try and educate the stupid.
Knowing your background, I know you didn't mean banning football, but just something to chew on.
Some people really don't seem to grasp how much more dangerous football has become solely because of the increased athleticism of players. The improved nutrition and training (and maybe some hgh) has helped players reach inhuman levels of athleticism, power and speed. The momentum of 250 lbs guys running 4.5 40's means more dangerous collisions than in years past.
Sir Isaac Newton figured it out over 350 years ago. F=mA
I happened to catch a replay of Michigan's Rose Bowl '98. One of their player's pants didnt cover their knees and they got charged a Timeout. If you watch the game today, their pants are worn like sliding shorts, there are no knee pads on skill players, and helmets come off too easily. I'm not sure if this solves anything, but enforcing a stricter uniform couldnt hurt.
I generally agree with this. Over the last 20 years players have gotten bigger/faster/stronger while padding (and by extension, weight added from padding) has gotten lighter and less bulky to improve speed. Helmet technology has improved but you regularly see players not wearing mouthguards during active play.
We concede things for the greater good of the product. We have speed limits as high as 80 MPH because people want to get places, we KNOW that an 80 MPH speed limit causes more deaths, that's no disputatble. But at the higher levels, we are ok with this because it's an incovenience in our lives to drive 55 on the highway.
This may be the best line of the day. Odds of the incident yesterday. We've seen thousands upon thousands of contact plays like yesterday, even worse than yesterday with no incident. We need to quickly understand this is a one off and part of football. IT'S PART OF FOOTBALL.
That's the thing, the type of hit was very routine and not of malicious nature. It's the freak occurrence of the hit timing up with the right moment in the player's heart rhythm to spur cardiac disruption and arrest.
Actually, fans cheer wildly when a vicious hit is laid down on someone. That's why it seems hypocritical the way a lot of people are reacting.
That and everyone praying and calling for prayer when many have turned away from the church. So sad.
Like this umpire had on:
Good comments, the "style" of football is what makes it popular for people to watch. I don't know how you're ever going to take collisions out of the game. They are trying with the targeting rules, blindside hits and others, and we see how that goes.
Truth. It is not the severity of the impact, it is the precision of the location and the split-second timing. Just a freak occurrence and we hope it takes a long, long time before it happens again in the NFL. It mostly impacts younger boys (not a lot of chest muscle and tissue protecting the heart) and mostly young baseball pitchers, lacrosse goalies and hockey players. As the father of a pitcher and lacrosse goalie, my wife was well versed in this injury.
I'm going to be a little more transparent than usual. I had a kid who wanted to play football at an early age but we felt it was too dangerous because of his lack of fear and throw caution to the wind personality. So finally his 8th grade year we said ok. Watched preseason with great concern until he cracked his femor at the growth plate and was done for the year. 9th grade year we again said no. Then allowed him to play from there on out. Multiple concussions, broken fingers among other things.