On Sports.... Football's risks
Whether it's the NFL or NCAA football, there are more and more questions being raised on the safety of the players involved in the sport.
Check out:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/
and then
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/16/us-football-players-brains-idUSBREA3F1VB20140416
and even more stunning:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10821995/russell-allen-former-member-jacksonville-jaguars-suffered-stroke
&
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2037874-former-jaguars-lb-russell-allen-discusses-playing-through-stroke-in-nfl-game
&
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/jaguars-linebacker-russell-allen-said-he-is-retiring-after-suffering-on-field-stroke-172422209.html
So here's a question, if we find that the sport of football is causing permanent brain damage, what's the next step?
Are we, as a society, willing to give it up? I'm a fan of the sport and I enjoy it. BUT- it's not worth it if it is causing this damage. We cannot, as a society, turn a blind eye to these risks. We need to be aggressive. We need to be looking for more and more answers with bigger and more exhaustive studies, both of active and retired players from all levels ( little league, high school, college and professional).
It's disturbing on a number of fronts that a player can suffer a stroke from a normal, everyday play. It's disturbing that players don't seem to have adequate time to recover between seasons. It's amazing with what's been found so far that this isn't gaining more traction in the national media. It's seems to be getting swept under the rug. It's reported, and then forgotten.
I hope we don't look back at this time with regret later. I hope we are proactive in protecting these players, whether it be reducing number of plays allowed, number of games in a season, better (or less) equipment, player size restrictions, or whatever it takes, even up to to banning the sport. Fans' enjoyment of a sport, as well as the NFL's great money making machine, are not more important than the players' health. What if it's a sibling, child, or grandchild playing? We need to remember and consider it from that perspective when these discussions come up.