The NYT War on Football Continues

[LongTimeListener]

I guess there are worse things to be known for here than being overzealous about avoiding brain damage in young children.

 

[Boom_70]

I guess there are worse things to be known for here than being overzealous about avoiding brain damage in young children.

Don't take this the wrong way but I tend to think of you more in the category of contributing to raising a nation of pussies if I may borrow your term.

 

[Roscablo]

Assuming this is an attempt to actually discuss the issue instead of Boom just trolling, I refer to the Grantland piece of a few months ago on the doctor who examines the brains when they are donated by deceased athletes. She said the ages of 5-14 are crucial for the physical development of the brain and keeping it safe. In that light I think we're headed toward a ban on tackle football before high school. Kids can still play flag or seven-on-seven, then add line play and the physical part when they are older.

My parents (mostly my mom) didn't let me play until high school. I never really fought it and don't think I missed much or was really that behind. Actually started right away on JV and by the time I got to varsity was a regular contributor for a consistent top 10 team in the largest classification. I also never was an athletic power so starting later really wasn't an issue there. I loved the heck out of high school football and don't think playing later hurt me at all. I never got seriously hurt either. My mom still didn't like to watch the games.

Still, with all the advances in safety you'd think some younger tackle football with the right coaching can be a good thing. Teaching proper tackling and hitting from the start has to be a good thing. Unfortunately I don't know how many good coaches who know what they are doing at that level there are, especially since many are just volunteers. That Halmark quote kind of proves that.

 

[YGBFKM]

Wouldn't repeatedly hitting some sort of ball with your head also contribute to brain injuries?

 

[Armchair_QB]

Wouldn't repeatedly hitting some sort of ball with your head also contribute to brain injuries?

Why yes, it would.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/girls-soccer-not-hockey-second-most-concussions-dr-184921171.html

We need to outlaw girls' soccer.

 

[Boom_70]

The Times anti football article of the day. This one about a retired doctor in Dover NH who is now on local school board and calling for a vote to disband football at Dover HS.

One interesting note from the story:

"The football program at Dover — the team is known as the Green Wave — is big in the community. But so too are soccer, lacrosse and ice hockey — all sports in which players are vulnerable to concussions and other head injuries. Wotton said that 8 of the 68 students who played varsity, junior varsity or freshman football last season sustained concussions. But there were also five concussions in girls' basketball, nine in boys' lacrosse and four in cheerleading, he said"

No call to cancel the girls basketball program though.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/sports/football/a-towns-passion-for-football-a-retired-doctors-concern.html?hp&_r=0

 

[Bob Cook]

One thing not in the Times story -- before this season the Dover coach, even though his program has had a lot of success over the years, had to go around begging kids to try out merely so he could have enough players to field a team. The injury (and blowout) risk heightens significantly if you've got fewer kids than the other team has.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

For the guys who played in the days before the risks of concussion and the damage they can cause was known, I have sympathy. They didn't realize the extent of the damage they were inflicting.

But anymore, you'd have to be an idiot to not be aware of the dangers of sports that involve the head as an in-play limb. It's kind of like smoking or skydiving - they're dangerous, but you know they're dangerous and if you choose to do them anyway, whatever the results will be are yours to deal with. In the case of kids playing football, it's up to the parents to be parents and decide what is best for their kids.

 

[Armchair_QB]

For the guys who played in the days before the risks of concussion and the damage they can cause was known, I have sympathy. They didn't realize the extent of the damage they were inflicting.

But anymore, you'd have to be an idiot to not be aware of the dangers of sports that involve the head as an in-play limb. It's kind of like smoking or skydiving - they're dangerous, but you know they're dangerous and if you choose to do them anyway, whatever the results will be are yours to deal with. In the case of kids playing football, it's up to the parents to be parents and decide what is best for their kids.

It's also up to the parents to know the risks of letting their kids get involved soccer, lacrosse, hockey or cheerleading.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Diabetes in ex-linemen is way underrated as far as risks are concerned.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I love football as much as anyone, but that story was about pee wee football.

In my opinion, kids that young have no reason to be in pads hitting each other, especially when the adults running the zoo are typically not smart enough, or knowledgeable enough about teaching the kids to block and tackle in a SAFE way, to be in charge.

There are plenty of non-contact things you can do to give kids the fundamentals of the game and keep them active. The basics of running, throwing, catching, kicking. Let them spend that age getting those things down. Flag football, for example, makes a ton of sense, if you want it to be competitive. And it is every bit as fun for a kid.

When a kid gets older and his body develops, and he has the desire to play, then you can have a discussion about whether contact makes sense for the kid. But there is no reason to risk kids that young getting injured.

 

[Azrael]

The rates for concussion are much lower in those other sports.

www.momsteam.com/health-safety/concussion-rates-high-school-sports

It's also likely that football under reports concussion, while the other sports over report it.