It Begins: Is the game too dangerous for our kids?

[RugbyMuffin]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...y/06/29/kids.concussions/index.html?eref=sihp


In my opinion, the facts should be laid out to the best of everyone's knowlesdge, and you should be allowed to make your own choice about whether you want, or to allow your kids to play football, or any sport.

I could go on, but that is for P&R boards.

 

[Duckjake]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...y/06/29/kids.concussions/index.html?eref=sihp


In my opinion, the facts should be laid out to the best of everyone's knowlesdge, and you should be allowed to make your own choice about whether you want, or to allow your kids to play football, or any sport.

I could go on, but that is for P&R boards.

I think it is stupid for anyone other than the top 10-20% of football talent to play the sport. Why beat yourself up just to sit on the bench or get cut after your sophomore year in high school. Find another sport that is easier on the body.

Like Rugby for instance.

 

[Buckybird]

Like Rugby for instance.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

I think it is stupid for anyone other than the top 10-20% of football talent to play the sport.

Fair enough opinion. My only gripe is that the other 90-80% be allowed to choose whether they want to try and play. I feel if it is something they want to do, they should be alllowed to do it.

Why beat yourself up just to sit on the bench or get cut after your sophomore year in high school. Find another sport that is easier on the body.

Again. Very fair. All sports carry a risk, but there is no doubt football/rugby are more dangerous to ones body.

Like Rugby for instance.

LOL. Yes, well,, I would be lying if I didn't say there were days I didn't question what in the hell I was doing beating the ever loving crap out of my body, for no money.

Yet, I would not trade it for the world. I know the risks of playing rugby, a contact sport, while less voilent than football, is can screw your body up.

BUT, most importantly and keeping with this topic. It is my choice on whether or not to step out on that field, and it should stay my, or anyone's choice.

Yet, as a perfect example I don't play any more. My body cannot take the punnishment, and I leave the sport with one bad shoulder, that is not even that bad (yet at least). Knowing the risks, against the reward, it just didn't make sense anymore.

Yet, again I would be lying if on a beautiful spring or fall day, I don't think about going back out there. But, it has been 2 years and those days are few and far in between.

Just as long as we leave the choice in the hands of the individual when it comes to sport, then I am OK. Football, rugby, and heck even hockey are really fun, and good for the mind and soul, IMO. Some just can't get into basketball or baseball. Different strokes, etc., etc.

 

[Captain Matt]

I suffered 2 concussions in high school. No coach nor teacher recognized the symptoms (even though I'd experienced a loss of consciousness). On both occasions I was apparently "awake" and somewhat responsive, but I have over 2 hours of memory loss on both incidences..... I "came to" at home, was disoriented, scared, and very confused for days afterward. In hindsight my parents should have demanded answers and/or had me quit sports. But I did not even go to the hostpital on either occasion. They called the family doctor and got some ideas on how to observe my recovery.

I'm not condemning high school sports, but parents MUST, MUST, MUST be educated on this matter. Some parents won't listen, others won't care, but I believe very strongly that we have to educate our society on the potential reprocussions of head trauma.

If my kids choose to play they will have the very best in personal protection - i.e. new, properly fitted protective gear. And if the coach lines kids up for the "hitting drill" where much bigger, stronger upper classmen get to use the younger kids as tackling dummies - then that coach MUST go. 20-30 years ago (when I was a kid) we could turn the other cheek, because ignorance was bliss. Now that there is medical evidence suggesting that there are risks we need to go out of our way to protect our kids.... And, I suppose, this should be carried over to college and professional players.

 

[Duckjake]

Fair enough opinion. My only gripe is that the other 90-80% be allowed to choose whether they want to try and play. I feel if it is something they want to do, they should be allowed to do it.

I agree with this. And kids definitely should play in Middle School.

But it is still stupid to keep playing when you obviously don't have the talent to be at least 2nd team. Of course a lot of my thinking comes from being involved with a Middle School/High School no cut program that has 100 kids out for both 8th and 9th grade football. About 70 kids practice every day and get in maybe 4 plays all season.

Doesn't mean you can't, just that track or baseball or tennis or golf would be smarter choices long term.

Starting to see a lot of the kids who used to be bench warmers in football taking up Lacrosse around our area. Don't know much about injury types in that sport.

 

[JeffGollin]

It depends on the circumstances.

For example, my adult son has never completely forgiven me for discouraging him from going out for Varsity FB as a TE. I did so because (a) he wasn't physically all that big and, more importantly, (b) had a history of fractures - including nose, arm and skull-fracture.

Which begs the question - If he were bigger and less brittle, would it be OK for him to play? Sure. Why not? So long as the team was well-coached, had a good training\medical staff and had its collective heads screwed-on straight (i.e. football, while competitive, is supposed to be fun; and not a smaller version of the NFL and not more important than life itself).

My concerns - Overbearing parents; Coaches who think they have to be like Vince Lombardi; HS football as farm teams for the pros. Wrong priorities - like putting football ahead of academics, "winning at any cost" etc. Physical mismatches.

Football is a beautiful sport that can help teach life's values - like learning how to be a good teammate, hard-work, preparation, tenacity etc.

It can also be an ugly sport for kids when smaller weaker kids get steamrolled by the bigger, stronger kids (or the program becomes way too overbearing). From Freshman football on up, there's not much you can do about it, but at the Peewee level, there should definitely be age/weight-restrictions and more stress on strategy/technique/fun than physical dominance.

Finally, you won't eliminate faulty or dangerous techniques at the Pee Wee level unless you also eliminate them in the pros. (You'll find it difficult to get Pee Wee players to stop leading with their heads instead of their shoulders, if they see their favorite NFL players leading with their heads). Therefore, if you want something stopped at the PeeWee level, you have to penalize it at the NFL level.

My point - let those who are physically able to compete at the highest level, beat each other up to their hearts content (within the parameters of sound safety/medical standards). But, at lower levels, make things safe enough so that any kid who wants to will be able to enjoy being part of a beautiful sport.

 

[john h]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...y/06/29/kids.concussions/index.html?eref=sihp


In my opinion, the facts should be laid out to the best of everyone's knowlesdge, and you should be allowed to make your own choice about whether you want, or to allow your kids to play football, or any sport.

I could go on, but that is for P&R boards.

No one can question that sports such as football, soccer, etc can result in serious consequences. One can also argue that living in a bubble can have serious consequences. As a teen I had three very serious accidents while driving a motorcycle. On one I broadsided an automobile at night doing around 75 mph. I never even touched my brakes as the auto suddenly turned in front of me. We did not wear helmets in those days. I flew across the roof landing on the paved highway. My cycle remained behind as i came to a stop about 40 yards down the road. I should be dead but I walked away with minor bruises and scratches. The auto actually had some serious damage and my cycle was totally destroyed. At the time I was racing with two of my friends. This was followed by two more accidents one of which I jumped off a burning cycle which then ran into a wall and exploded. Not long after my last accident I joined the Air Force and became a pilot where it was fashionable to live on the edge. I had no male children but if I had I would have encouraged them to play sports but not ride a motorcycle. Balancing the dangers against the benefits in playing sports I come down on the side of the benefits. There are dangers lurking out there in all forms of activities and non activities. I have read that there exist a risk taker gene. I know my life style has been that of a risk taker and I would never have permitted my children to ride or own a motor cycle. One of my friends died in a cycle accident two blocks from his home. He was going slow and tipped over. Unfortunately his head slide into the curb. I was going 75 and hit an immovable object and walked away. Another of my friends crashed and was brain dead. Sports injuries are often insidious in that you may need joints replaced when you are 50. Can you imagine Michael Jordan playing chess for a living? Many of us can live our sports dreams through television or going to games. I was still playing basketball and softball into my 60's. I have payed a price with broken bones and a very bad back but I think I would do it all over again. We can only protect our children up to a point.

 

[BirdMan21]

I played football in HS (4 broken ribs, 3 dislocated fingers from hitting helmets (QB), and 1 knee surgery that ended my career playing football....wouldn't have gone far being short and white either). But I moved over to golf, turned pro and have had 3 knee surgeries, 2 broken vertebrae, sprained wrist, and 3 stingers. Regardless of the sport when you play it competitively you are gonna be risking injury. My surgeon is the AZ Cards surgeon, and at 26 I have already been told I am getting a knee replacement when I turn 50, so hopefully Ill be the first successful Senior PGA Tour player with 1 fake knee.

But I wouldn't trade any of those years playing football for anything.

 

[Duckjake]

I played football in HS (4 broken ribs, 3 dislocated fingers from hitting helmets (QB), and 1 knee surgery that ended my career playing football....wouldn't have gone far being short and white either). But I moved over to golf, turned pro and have had 3 knee surgeries, 2 broken vertebrae, sprained wrist, and 3 stingers. Regardless of the sport when you play it competitively you are gonna be risking injury. My surgeon is the AZ Cards surgeon, and at 26 I have already been told I am getting a knee replacement when I turn 50, so hopefully Ill be the first successful Senior PGA Tour player with 1 fake knee.

But I wouldn't trade any of those years playing football for anything.

Big difference between actually playing and being a practice dummy. Nothing wrong with hanging on in football but it isn't real smart.

The golf gods know whats up by the way. I've played golf for 30 years and never had anything worse than a blister. But I'm not very good. You on the other hand are real good so get punished by the golf gremlins.

You know, the ones that cause your driver to suddenly go haywire just as you figure out how to nail your irons.

 

[BirdMan21]

Big difference between actually playing and being a practice dummy. Nothing wrong with hanging on in football but it isn't real smart.

The golf gods know whats up by the way. I've played golf for 30 years and never had anything worse than a blister. But I'm not very good. You on the other hand are real good so get punished by the golf gremlins.

You know, the ones that cause your driver to suddenly go haywire just as you figure out how to nail your irons.

I wish the worst I had was a blister. I could post photos of my hands after a week of putting in 80+ hours on the course (not counting playing), a blister would be nice. But you are right, even though I have lost time to knee surgeries I have been somewhat lucky. I have a very close friend who has been in a car accident twice within 3 days of the final stage of Q-school, and neither time the PGA granted him a medical exemption.

But next year, ASFN skybox on 16 at the Phoenix Open and everyone who is nice to me will get to go...just remember you only get 10 drinks for free then you have to pay, so start trading drinks with people.

 

[Duckjake]

I wish the worst I had was a blister. I could post photos of my hands after a week of putting in 80+ hours on the course (not counting playing), a blister would be nice. But you are right, even though I have lost time to knee surgeries I have been somewhat lucky. I have a very close friend who has been in a car accident twice within 3 days of the final stage of Q-school, and neither time the PGA granted him a medical exemption.

But next year, ASFN skybox on 16 at the Phoenix Open and everyone who is nice to me will get to go...just remember you only get 10 drinks for free then you have to pay, so start trading drinks with people.

Man the PGA tour is tough. Where else could you generate $500,000 in revenue and get "fired".

 

[ajcardfan]

What's been going on in football, especially the last twenty years, is really a long-term human experiment. Not only are severe brain injuries coming to light, but the way we are pushing these kids to get so big so fast is bound to have some tough medical consequences down the road.

We already know NFL players have much shorter life spans than the national average. I predict it's going to get worse before it gets better.

 

[Duckjake]

What's been going on in football, especially the last twenty years, is really a long-term human experiment. Not only are severe brain injuries coming to light, but the way we are pushing these kids to get so big so fast is bound to have some tough medical consequences down the road.

We already know NFL players have much shorter life spans than the national average. I predict it's going to get worse before it gets better.

That's really what is accelerating things. Kids are getting bigger and faster. Meanwhile the field remains the same size it was when Texas won a National Championship with a 190lb Center. Now Lutui weighs twice that.

 

[john h]

Big difference between actually playing and being a practice dummy. Nothing wrong with hanging on in football but it isn't real smart.

The golf gods know whats up by the way. I've played golf for 30 years and never had anything worse than a blister. But I'm not very good. You on the other hand are real good so get punished by the golf gremlins.

You know, the ones that cause your driver to suddenly go haywire just as you figure out how to nail your irons.

Some of the big time golfers do suffer back, knee, and hip injuries early on in life. Of course you and I do not swing with the torque of a Tiger Woods. My most serious injury playing golf is tripping while looking for my ball in the woods.

True story: My helicopter unit had its alert facility on the flight line very near a golf hole on the base which had a lake. We would on occasion hover over the lake and use a ball retriever and recover hundreds of balls. Practicing a rescue.

 

[john h]

What's been going on in football, especially the last twenty years, is really a long-term human experiment. Not only are severe brain injuries coming to light, but the way we are pushing these kids to get so big so fast is bound to have some tough medical consequences down the road.

We already know NFL players have much shorter life spans than the national average. I predict it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Sort of like motorcycle riders do no live as long as car drivers.

 

[john h]

That's really what is accelerating things. Kids are getting bigger and faster. Meanwhile the field remains the same size it was when Texas won a National Championship with a 190lb Center. Now Lutui weighs twice that.

I am thinking the Cards had one of the first 300 lb + players in the 40's.

 

[JeffGollin]

The following is kind of OT (but it really isn't).

We, as a culture, have been known to do some really dumb things that the majority of us considered common and "normal." Past examples:

1. Cigarettes - An intrinsic (& not inexpensive) part of most peoples' daily lifestyles.

2. Overeating - In my family, eating a lot was considered a good thing - a second; third or even a fourth portion of pie was not uncommon.

But so too, unfortunately, was lung cancer and shortened lives due to clogged arteries.

Fortunately, we have the ability to learn, change or ways and move on. (I'm convinced life-style changes relating to smoking, nutrition and lifestyle have gotten us to a point where people in their early sixties function like people in their mid-forties did just a few decades ago).

In organized football, progress has been spotty, but there have been positive changes - remember when Gene Stallings had a revelation about making water more readily available during practice?

The tragedy is when teams and coaches keep doing what they're doing at the expense of their players health and well-being instead of making it a priority to learn and keep current about policies and procedures that minimize present and future negative impacts on players lives - from post-concussion complications to arthritic knees to premature cardio problems.

The key to all this to to at least accept the possibility that: what may seem perfectly normal today may actually be causing harm and that established policies be questioned and updated on a constant basis.

 

[Gaddabout]

There was a study about 15 years ago that showed conclusive proof that kids who play soccer growing up have highly increased odds of suffering lasting brain damage. It's related to all the balls to the head.

Yet soccer moms still gleefully take their kids to soccer practice while fearing their children will get hurt playing football.

 

[JeffGollin]

Yet soccer moms still gleefully take their kids to soccer practice while fearing their children will get hurt playing football.

True story - I'm in the waiting room at Bayshore Hospital waiting for my son to have his nose X-Rayed and re-set (A "header" incident - don't ask).

Next to me is a (somewhat rotund and hairy) Football Mom.

"How come you're here?" she asks.

"My son broke his nose."

"How'd he break it?"

"Playing soccer."

(Woman explodes in hysterical laughter).

"You soccer guys! At least in football, we got face masks!"

 

[dreamcastrocks]

If we regulated everything we did as children, saying that it is too dangerous, we will force children inside to watch tv and play video games. They'll play video games of the things we used to do as kids, until they become morbidly obese and we beg for our children to go back outside and do the activities we tried to stop them from doing in the first place.

Ugh.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

We regulated everything we did as children, saying that it is too dangerous, we have forced children inside to watch tv and play video games. They play video games of the things we used to do as kids, and have become morbidly obese and now we beg for our children to go back outside and do the activities we tried to stop them from doing in the first place.

FTFY.

That has already happened, and is happening now.

The worst is that kids like to skateboard and roller blade these days and we sick the cops on them for good measure.

 

[Duckjake]

FTFY.

That has already happened, and is happening now.

The worst is that kids like to skateboard and roller blade these days and we sick the cops on them for good measure.

Agree 99%

 

[dreamcastrocks]

FTFY.

That has already happened, and is happening now.

The worst is that kids like to skateboard and roller blade these days and we sick the cops on them for good measure.

It definitely has started to happen.