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The Case Against Football

JuiceCrewAllStar

JuiceCrewAllStar

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http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2014/08/against_football_author_steve_almond.php?page=all

This article - by an author with a book out by the same name - does a pretty good job of laying out all the problems surrounding of the Football Industrial Complex: long-term health of its players, the misogyny, the homophobia, the violence, the racial disparities, the labor issues. Also does a good job of looking at the different media mechanisms employed to keep the spotlight away from these issues.

It's getting harder and harder to justify the consumption of football in its current form based on the player health issue alone. You can call it the pussification of America if you'd like, but when you look at the consummate badasses of the previous decades who can barely walk or speak - or live - and continue to pump thousands of dollars and hours into a league that is using all legal (and illegal) means available to keep information out of the hands of the general public and those who play the game. The cognitive dissonance required to consume football is getting almost too much.
 
Frankly this is not what I want to consider on the eve of the 1st game of a new season or era.
 
The current generation of football players are far more educated as to the health risks. They also have far higher compensation during their playing years, even adjusted for inflation. Risk/reward. I have no sympathy for the guys in there now. The guys 30-40 years ago? Yeah, they got a bum deal.
 
mebanedeac said:
Frankly this is not what I want to consider on the eve of the 1st game of a new season or era.
Click to expand...

I'm reminded of the John Oliver bit about FIFA that aired before the World Cup. It's a vile system rife with problems.

Stomaching the cognitive dissonance is more palatable if you've got fantasy football and NFL Redzone to mitigate the bullshit.
 
I made an oblique reference to this in the practice fields thread (oblique because the practice fields will be used for more than just football) but really I think the sport is at its peak right now, as more parents get concerned about long-term adverse health issues, the more you'll see them pushing their kids into less harmful sports. in 25 years I don't think football will look anything like it does now.

And it's not pussification, it's self-preservation and cost-benefit. My kid is in middle school and already jokes about the risks of football. He'll say things like - "The score is 14 to 7, the home team has seven more concussions." Do you think he's going to push my grandkids to play? I'm thinking not.
 
Brangus said:
The current generation of football players are far more educated as to the health risks. They also have far higher compensation during their playing years, even adjusted for inflation. Risk/reward. I have no sympathy for the guys in there now. The guys 30-40 years ago? Yeah, they got a bum deal.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the NFL is doing everything in its power to keep it on the low for as long as possible. You think kids in rural Florida know about the long-term risks of playing nose guard?
 
mebanedeac said:
Frankly this is not what I want to consider on the eve of the 1st game of a new season or era.
Click to expand...

So you're seventy years old and you haven't dealt with any of it yet? When were you planning to start?
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
Yeah, but the NFL is doing everything in its power to keep it on the low for as long as possible. You think kids in rural Florida know about the long-term risks of playing nose guard?
Click to expand...

Maybe not to a clinical level. But the overall education regarding injuries and their impact is definitely better than it used to be. The FHSAA does a good job regarding equipment standards and I know UF is utilizing the new impact helmets, not sure about the other Fla schools. I played high school football (quick, picture Al Bundy) in rural Florida in the 90's and we had to sit through a video and a lecture on concussions, palsy etc., followed by a talk from the team doctor. It wasn't much but then it was a half-literate town of 7,000 so cheers to them.
 
mebanedeac said:
Frankly this is not what I want to consider on the eve of the 1st game of a new season or era.
Click to expand...

head-in-the-sand.jpg
 
I feel like there is zero chance that if we have a grandson in the future he'll get to wear full pads unless he plays in college.

Maybe HS football will last 2 more generations, but I doubt it.

And I cannot tell you how devastating this is to me and how bad it is for the young men of our country that the team building aspect of football will no longer exist. I know LAX and soccer are team sports but there's nothing like the bond of a football team.
 
Go said:
I feel like there is zero chance that if we have a grandson in the future he'll get to wear full pads unless he plays in college.

Maybe HS football will last 2 more generations, but I doubt it.

And I cannot tell you how devastating this is to me and how bad it is for the young men of our country that the team building aspect of football will no longer exist. I know LAX and soccer are team sports but there's nothing like the bond of a football team.
Click to expand...

Barf.
 
Go said:
And I cannot tell you how devastating this is to me and how bad it is for the young men of our country that the team building aspect of football will no longer exist. I know LAX and soccer are team sports but there's nothing like the bond of a football team.
Click to expand...

At least us soccer players can remember the bond that we had past the age of 40?
 
Go said:
I feel like there is zero chance that if we have a grandson in the future he'll get to wear full pads unless he plays in college.

Maybe HS football will last 2 more generations, but I doubt it.

And I cannot tell you how devastating this is to me and how bad it is for the young men of our country that the team building aspect of football will no longer exist. I know LAX and soccer are team sports but there's nothing like the bond of a football team.
Click to expand...

well, there's orchestra.
 
Well, I am older.
In the and late '80s and early '90s there was a lot of comment and newspaper columns that football would be dead in about 10 years, IIRC. The thought was all would be playing the new (here) expanding better game of soccer due to the injuries, costs, etc. and football would die out. Instead, football got much bigger since then.
So, 25 years later we are re-cycling back to that line of thinking. What will happen this time?
 
It will take a long, long time to unwind the money machine. People will demand football and pay for it. Corporations will keep it viable. So as long as there is the promise of a shiny pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, young men will keep going after it.
 
People have been predicting the death of football for 25 years, but it keeps getting more and more popular. The NFL is trying to impact youth football (ie the Heads Up program) and make it safer, but I think the rumors of football's demise have been greatly exaggerated.
 
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