Players slowly killing themselves

[pizmo]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/spo...119235029.html

[Muley69]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Doug Brown is a very good writer.

At times, I am saddened that so many people (including me) get intense satisfaction watching grown mountains of muscle throw themselves at full speed at other similarly built men... The consequences seem almost inevitable.

[pizmo]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Kind of like Rome and Gladiators. I must admit the numbers shock me.

[Rids]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

I would like to see one of our big research schools in Canada take this on and come up with the Canadian results. I think with the kids starting later on average that it might show some different numbers although not necessarily drastically different. I'm also wondering what the numbers would look like with hockey too.

[Jtuck09]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

You'd have high numbers in either sport I would imagine Rids. The amount of hits kids take as they play both sports as they get older and bigger get more intense.

I suffered a rather bad concussion in high school when I played football and didn't go back because I was worried after that. I've never experienced that before and being that I stand all of 5'6, I didn't think my body and mind could stand much more of a beating. I don't suffer any affects from it anymore but I did have a lot of them for over a year before they started to subside.

[boydo]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

It wasn't until a few years ago that I'd heard of post-concussion syndrome...they sure didn't have a fancy name for a headache that wouldn't go away back when I played ball... Then it was take some percocet and shut up or get benched! So what if bright light hurt? There were a few night games that helped with that...and the cooler air numbed everything anyways right?
Seems like you hear more about QB's getting their bell rung and having to hang it up than any other position too. For obvious reasons, but you can't tell me that the guys on the line aren't getting thier melons smacked around any less, most likely because they know that it's easier to replace them than a qb so they keep injuries quiet. Which is also a scary thought. Sort of like the bit from "The Program"..."Are you injured or are you hurt? If you're hurt, you can play...if you're injured you can't". Which gets put into your head right from an early age. How many here have played any level of sport where you knew if you said your hand hurt you wouldn't get to play, only to find out that your thumb was broken for almost a year? Or got hit so hard that it felt like your eyeballs popped loose as well as the football? I'll be quite a few...and there's only a select few that played pro here.
Now that studies like this are coming out, you have to wonder what the next step is...I mean, how long will it be before MRI's are part of the player medicals? There's also the fact that everyone's body reacts differently to injury. I mean, some guys get their bell rung once and they're done. Some others get concussed 5 times or more and the only thing they notice is their sense of smell gets screwed up. (which is a blessing and a curse at times...but that's another thread)

[stamphater]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Terrifying stuff.

Average life expectancy is 55 years old? That is shocking. I hope the leagues are taking care of these guys when they hit these ages.

[GeeBrr]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Doug Brown is a very good writer.

At times, I am saddened that so many people (including me) get intense satisfaction watching grown mountains of muscle throw themselves at full speed at other similarly built men... The consequences seem almost inevitable.

I was actually going to post on just how far Doug has come as a writer, he really has a career ahead of him in it after football if he wants, I think.

It is interesting to get his perspective on this kind of issue as well.

[moontoscott]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Football is a violent sport and we sometimes lose sight of this.

Violence in the stadium has been with mankind for thousands of years and it will remain so. No amount of rule changes will really alter the reason that people go to football games.

[pizmo]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Football is a violent sport and we sometimes lose sight of this.

Violence in the stadium has been with mankind for thousands of years and it will remain so. No amount of rule changes will really alter the reason that people go to football games.

Or car races or ultimate fighting or boxing or............

[56Parkies]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

David Boone, York Hentschel, Bill Stevenson..

We've had enough evidence in our own team to show what repeated blows can do to the mind, not to mention the body.

[moontoscott]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Or car races or ultimate fighting or boxing or............

No arguments here.

As a species, we are hard wired for aggression and it needs to find an outlet somewhere.

Historically, a lot of this aggression played out on the battle field because up until the last generation most young men did some kind of military service and many saw the front lines of war. By the time you were 25 your need for violence had been satisfied.

For those who didn't go to war there was another outlet. The Romans understood the need for this and thus they had 2 major polcies to control the mob--bread and circuses. At the coliseum (completed in 80 A.D.) they executed criminals and watched gory battles and at half time they passed out free bread to the masses.

When the crowd emerged from the coliseum the prostitutes lined up on the roadways outside the stadium to satisfy any remaining aggression.

Today, the outlets aren't the same. I believe that this is the reason that so many of our young men want to fight and quarrel with people in public places. It satisfies a basic need to stake your position as the silverback gorilla.

Times change but the species remains the same.

[stamphater]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Today, the outlets aren't the same. I believe that this is the reason that so many of our young men want to fight and quarrel with people in public places. It satisfies a basic need to stake your position as the silverback gorilla.

Times change but the species remains the same.

Most 'young men' I see picking fights are usually ****-face drunk or under some kind of substance. I think there are likely more outlets than ever for releasing aggression. Gyms, Sports, violent movies/games. Still an interesting viewpoint you bring up.

[PDO]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Figured it was worth bumping that the "55" number was pulled out of thin air by an insurance salesman.

And really, it's not that surprising, because this didn't pass the sniff test at all.

[Esk Reporter]

Re: Players slowly killing themselves

Check out what Dave Naylor has to say as well...

http://tsn.ca/columnists/dave_naylor/?id=361109

After the closer examination of the 'life expectancy' issue, the credibility of the rest of the article comes into question...