This^^^. Football won't really decline until there is a class action lawsuit against a University or a school district. Once it gets too expensive for the feeder system, it will go and go quickly.
Bob Costas: College Football could collapse like house of cards if people begin connecting the dots
- Thread starter Franisdaman
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Do you think these kids know what CTE is and it's apparent correlation to repeated sub-concussive blows to the head?
Their parents are supposed to be their advocates, if their parents are forcing them to play that is on the parents, not the sport.Do you think these kids know what CTE is and it's apparent correlation to repeated sub-concussive blows to the head?
I am talking HS and up.
Parents are idiots too. Unfortunately. It's not a matter of parents "forcing" kids to play. It's the matter of parents allowing their children to participate in a very dangerous activity.
If your 10 year old son came to you and said he wanted to jump off the bridge, into the water above the dam and you let him...I wouldn't say "you forced him to". I'd say you were an idiot for letting him do it.
Parents are supposed to make smart decisions for their children because their children are not smart enough to understand the long lasting effects of those decisions. When their child has a bad idea, the parent is supposed to shut it down.
The killing of the golden goose will also lead to the end of women's sports in this country. Which sport do you think it is that pays for all the women sports scholarships?
Americans are not going to come out in droves and broadcasters pay billions in rights fees for collegiate soccer. College football is irreplaceable as a revenue producer for athletic departments. I suppose more money could go into basketball, but I think there are limits there. College hockey is revenue positive, but nothing close to the level of football.
I think the game changes before it is killed. I can see it reverting back to a 1930's style of play with leather helmets and becoming more rugby like. Leading with your head, whether on offense or defense, will be a penalty, and stupid since you only have a leather helmet to protect you. Shoulder pads will also have soft caps rather than being hard plastic, more like hockey shoulder pads.
Americans are not going to come out in droves and broadcasters pay billions in rights fees for collegiate soccer. College football is irreplaceable as a revenue producer for athletic departments. I suppose more money could go into basketball, but I think there are limits there. College hockey is revenue positive, but nothing close to the level of football.
I think the game changes before it is killed. I can see it reverting back to a 1930's style of play with leather helmets and becoming more rugby like. Leading with your head, whether on offense or defense, will be a penalty, and stupid since you only have a leather helmet to protect you. Shoulder pads will also have soft caps rather than being hard plastic, more like hockey shoulder pads.
I don't expect it to kill college sports but it will certainly kill these conferences and the travel/recruiting expenses associated with playing the conference slate. You'll see more regional conferences within a limited footprint. 4 hr bus ride to games, etc. No planes. No 100 million dollar facilities upgrades. No luxury boxes. No mandatory donations for seating, etc.
Men's basketball is already dying due to the filthy cheating and scumbag coaches. No over sight. Men's basketball won't carry the financial burden unless something is done at the Congressional level, to clean it up.
Do you let your kids ride in a car? More kids are killed and injured in a car than in all sports combined.
Futbol has more concussions than football.
All 3 of my sons "chose" to play football. Out of all 3 (2 were DBs\WRs and 1 was OL\DL), only 1 had concussions and they were from track (kid hit the hurdle next to him, fell into him and my son took a header into the next hurdle) and a car wreck - not football.
I see the trend here, and it is probably why so many kids out there are obese and play Xbox all night while eating Doritos and drinking Mt. Dew. You have to weight the risk\reward as a parent yes, but the child when old enough can also make the decision.
Car ride is not the same as playing football. Continuous moderate hits over a long period of time, that leads to brain damage...does not equal the risk of riding in a car that MIGHT get into an accident SOME Day......MAYBE. That's an ignorant comparison.
I'm not saying parents should should try and protect their children from every danger imaginable, That's not possible. I'm not even saying that parents shouldn't let their kids play football. I think it's a really bad idea to let them play tackle football before high school. My FR plays football. My JR plays basketball and he got a concussion from it. I was really tempted to shut his basketball career down over that. But, the risks of concussion playing basketball are much smaller than a contact sport. If my FR gets a concussion playing football, he's done. I'm gonna make that decision for him.
Car wrecks happen and you are more susceptible the more you ride in car (just like playing football increases the chance of contact). Heck, youth flag football was more dangerous than youth tackle when I was coaching.
A kid can get a concussion wrecking the trike or bike or jumping off a trampoline. Playing nerf guns in the basement as they dive over the couch and pile into the table.
Not sure football will ever go away entirely..
This from John Hopkins University tells me that unless you are going to bubble wrap your children, they are going to get hurt.
General Info and head injuries:
This from John Hopkins University tells me that unless you are going to bubble wrap your children, they are going to get hurt.
General Info and head injuries:
- More than 3.5 million children ages 14 and younger get hurt annually playing sports or participating in recreational activities.
- Although death from a sports injury is rare, the leading cause of death from a sports-related injury is a brain injury.
- Sports and recreational activities contribute to approximately 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children.
- Almost 50 percent of head injuries sustained in sports or recreational activities occur during bicycling, skateboarding, or skating incident.
- Basketball. More than 170,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for basketball-related injuries.
- Baseball and softball. Nearly 110,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for baseball-related injuries. Baseball also has the highest fatality rate among sports for children ages 5 to 14, with three to four children dying from baseball injuries each year.
- Bicycling. More than 200,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries.
- Football. Almost 215,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for football-related injuries.
- Ice hockey. More than 20,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for ice hockey-related injuries.
- In-line and roller skating. More than 47,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for in-line skating-related injuries.
- Skateboarding. More than 66,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for skateboarding-related injuries.
- Sledding or toboggan. More than 16,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for sledding-related injuries.
- Snow skiing or snowboarding. More than 25,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for snow boarding and snow skiing-related injuries.
- Soccer. About 88,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for soccer-related injuries.
- Trampolines. About 65,000 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for trampoline-related injuries.
It's not close to the same risk.
less than 20 high school football players die, per year. There are probably 100 activities that cause more deaths, each year. Same is probably true for head traumas. But many of those activities that cause head traumas are probably day to day activities that one needs to do for an average, every day life. It's NOT the same thing.
I'm not going to go into more debate on the risks of driving vs playing football. Knock yourself out, if you want to go down that rabbit hole.
It goes without saying that life, sports and recreation carry some inherent risks. The risks vary by activity.
A good friend of mine had his kid in motor cross since he was 5 yrs old. Always wanted me to get my oldest son involved in it too. The answer was always Hell no! Why? Because I never met an adult that rode motor cross as a kid, that hadn't broken half the bones in his body! His son was involved in a horrible accident that nearly crippled him and stunted the growth in one of his arms, at the age of 11. Months and months of pain, anguish and surgeries. The risk for injury riding a motor cross bike is far higher and more likely to result in an ER trip, than any of the sports you listed. That risk was too high for me to accept, with my sons. The risks of football might be too high as well but I'll take that slowly. If a head injury occurs, I'll shut it down.
It should be easy for you to show the math. Tell us how many kids ride in cars - per day, per year - in the U.S. And how many child injuries result. give us a %.
Do the same for football. How many kids play organized football - per day, per year - in the U.S. And how many get injured. Give us a %. Then we can do a risk analysis and see how close your examples are.
Participation numbers for high school players are declining. It probably is hyperbole to say the game will go away in 20 years, but it wouldn't surprise me. The thing that would/kill it are lawsuits. If school districts are sued successfully for brain injuries related to football, at that point they become uninsurable and a flood of other lawsuits would follow, making it financially impossible for school districts to have football teams.
I do think the attention paid to safety today is good, when I go to local high school games or watch college games on TV guys aren't just run back out there with a head injury. They are taken off the field.
All speculation on my part of course.
Perception is reality in today's society. Whether there is or isn't proof CTE is linked to football, perception for the masses is that it is. Whether football is more or less safe than other sports, perception of the masses is saying it is less safe. There are many informed posters on here, on both sides of the argument but what it comes down to is the perception of the masses whether informed or not, and unfortunately I too see football on a downward trajectory because of the perception. My boss is a grandfather of 7-8 boys, some in high school and some just getting to the age of pewee football. He has told me the local pop warner league called his son to see if his kids were coming out this year due to low turnout. My town now dedicates fields to LaCrosse, which was non existent 6-7 years ago. These are real life tangible examples that I fear football could be on the decline. I hope changes can be made.
Lacrosse may be more dangerous than football. Here's a little info gleaned from the Internet.
"Lacrosse is the fastest-growing high school sport in the nation. In the last few years, varsity lacrosse teams have increased 200 percent nationwide. As its popularity has grown, so has its injured lists. This collision sport is responsible for injuries in ankles, upper legs, and knees. An estimated one in every 10 injuries sustained during lacrosse games and practices is classified a concussion — the sport’s most common above-the-waist injury. Most worrisome, however, is the rising rate of commotio cordis in teenage male lacrosse players, in which a nonpenetrating blow to the chest from a shot causes ventricular fibrillation, which can result in death despite an otherwise healthy heart."
Who in their right mind would give a group of teenage boys metal sticks and tell them to go play and not think it was going to be dangerous.
Hard to predict, I believe as in most dangerous activities, technology will improve safety. Going from leather helmets to what they have now shows that as time passes the game adapts and changes.
I'm surprised at the one in 10 estimate for lacrosse injuries being concussions. I've watched a lot of lacrosse and seen a lot of injuries, and only twice have I seen an injury that appeared to be a possible concussion. Both times it was when another player drove an already down player's head into the ground, which is not legal. Lacrosse is a very rough sport though. Still, it does not involve a car crash level brain impact every play of every game and practice like football does.
todays players are betting bigger, back when leather helmet were being worn the avg sized OL/DL was around 220 lbs, and the skill players in the 165-185 lb range. today OL way over 300 lbs and the DL are fast approaching 300+ lbs. LB weigh over 215 lbs up to 245 lbs.
it is comparing apples to oranges by trying to use the past to compare it to the now.
it is comparing apples to oranges by trying to use the past to compare it to the now.
Which we don't have to worry about because how many here played youth football?
He wants to be popular at cocktail parties in his ivory tower enclaves. He thinks he's an intellectual.
No shit. I'm illustrating that technology and safety has moved forward, just like auto racing and other sports. Football will be no different, they will adapt.
When I think of Costas I think of a guy that desperately wants to be part of the news media. But he found it very easy to get into sports media. This allowed him to get a paycheck. Then as the better jobs and promotions came along he got comfortable. But the older he has gotten there almost seems to be a bit of regret with some of his comments. You just wonder if he wishes he went the news media route.
Kinda like they did this year?
That's the future of soccer in America. Right into the f***ing toilet.
That's my point, the perception of LaCrosse being dangerous isn't the same as the perception of football though it may be even more dangerous. If a movie was made about concussions related to LaCrosse and/or the number of news articles hitting the mainstream audience detailing the dangers of LaCrosse the perception would be similar to football but right now it's not. The lacrosse info you shared is accurate but it required you to research, it's not in the mainstream perception like football currently is. Fair or unfair. What football needs to so is find technology to make the game safter and if found, then they need to PR the crap out of it to change its perception.
If I had sons now of middle or high school age I would not Ok them to play football.
More parents are making that choice and increasing evidence supporting the long term risks of repeated head trauma will only increase the move away from football.
More parents are making that choice and increasing evidence supporting the long term risks of repeated head trauma will only increase the move away from football.
I can understand not letting little kids play tackle football, there's no benefit to it as they don't understand the game and how to play and their coaches are terrible. But if you're kids are high school age you seriously wouldn't let them play? Why?
Regarding CTE, I believe some are just more prone to it than others based on some other factor(s). If not, what about the thousands and thousands if not millions who have played yet showed no symptoms of it. Until they can research it on live patients and do a long term study on those with and without symptoms then we won’t know.
I have CTE. I'm torn about the head contact and targeting is a start. Honestly I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Protection for the players should be a concern but I can't see football being hurt much. Many of these players dedicate entire lives and lifestyles to football.
Also Bosa's hit would have given me a concussion even if it didn't look particularly devastating.
