Community Chat

[Deb1010yetagain]

Has all the recent news of concussions and resulting brain disease (CTE - chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in football players affected your enjoyment of the game?  It has mine.  Especially after finding out that 27 year old player had an advanced case of CTE that resulted in his death.

How do you think the increased awareness of CTE will impact football in the long run?  (if at all).

[Desertdi]

Then there's soccer, ice hockey..........tennis, golf injuries, etc.   

And regular injuries from "just working"...........like carpal tunnel from typing or texting.........hearing problems  from using a headset............

I won't even go into the occupational injuries from construction or factory work............

[Nataliesgramma]

Yes...because we have a family member who is a starting lineman in the NFL....

[Goldengate8361]

I hate (yes, hate is a strong word and intentionally used) everything about football. It has no redeeming qualities---except for the revenue that cities derive from all of the football patrons spending money in their city. I think the world would be better off without football.

[qualitygal]

My thoughts go to the kid's in school. Still developing. Scary and horrible.

[ValuSkr]

It certainly has affected my enjoyment of the game.  I pay no attention to the college game, and have only a passing interest in the pros.

[AngusandBuddhasMom]

It is not just Football but they garner all the attention. It is also field hockey and soccer and the list goes on.

 My dd had to give up playing Field Hockey her Senior year of College after her third concussion resulted in her getting complications in the back of her brain. She had swelling in her blood vessels because of the trauma from the impact.

She is better now but still suffers memory loss and bad headaches. She had played the sport since she was a kid. Travel teams, Jr Olympics with no injury. That didn't happen until College when you start to face players who may not be the same caliber or trained by good coaches who know how to play themselves. Sloppy and cheap play is how kids are getting injured. 

[millieshops]

@DesertdiI agree all of life comes with risks and now that medical science has extended our lives far beyond where the average person lived, say 100 years ago, we're seeing just how fragile we are.

Maybe if we all could live another 100 years, we'd see medical science eliminate all the risks, but my imagination doesn't extend anywhere that far as to possibilities.  So, in the meantime, I think we need to know our risks and then we can choose to avoid some, but never all.

I think football may be in a class of its own because the concussions affect far more players than we knew and more seriously than we knew.  When I was part of the spectators shouting encouragement at my high school games, we worried about broken bones and sprained ankles, not dementia setting in in thirty years because of Friday night under the lights.

Justr yesterday in the Palm Beach Post, a local football coach was quoted as saying he has decided he will not allow his 10-year-old son to play tackle football.  Too much danger to his developing brain.  But, he didn't say he'd quit coaching -obviously, lots of parents don't feel the same as he does

[SahmIam]

Nope. I have sons who play rugby. I have one son who plays rugby and football. Spring means track.

I rode horses (competitively and the head and neck injuries in THIS sport are rarely discussed even with Christopher Reeves case), played basketball and ran track. I know at least one person in each sport that I played who is dealing with a long term injury (as am I). Unless you're going to ban ALL sports, injuries are part of the package.

Last, coaches in ALL fields push and look the other way when it comes to injuries. I can't tell you the number of times I played basketball or ran in a meet where ice was on before, during and after the game; same with my teammates. Or buddies who were gymnasts and competed with sprains. Is it right? No. But football isn't the only sport where this goes on. I'm glad it's being brought out so that players (and their parents) have more power to say "NO" to a coach when they push a player to perform.

Just my 2 cents.

[Buck-i-Nana]

Nope, still love the sport.

All sports carry risks.  Are you going to put an end to all of them?  Last summer, a little league pitcher was hit in the chest by a slammed ball - it killed him.  People enjoy what they do and are willing to take the risks.  Nobody is forced to play football, they choose to play and I cannot imagine telling people they cannot play the sport they love anymore!

Life carries risks.  You either deal with them, or hibernate.