The brain is a terrible thing to waste
For those of you who think sports writers are more cheerleaders than journalists, you may want to head to UMass tonight (6:00 to 8:00 PM) to check out "League of Denial: A Conversation with the Authors" at the Campus Center Auditorium put on by The McCormack Department of Sport Management and the digitally savvy UMass Journo Department.
A compelling case of journalism done right. Shining a light on the dark side of an untouchable American icon of entertainment, professional football. And the collateral, sometimes deadly, damage done to the athletes who make it their profession.
At least the Romans were honest about the outcomes of the Gladiatorial games.
Of course if you are a BIG football fan, a spoiler alert: you may never again look at the game quite so comfortably, or allow your kids to take it up.
Campus Center Auditorium 7:00 PM
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru
11 comments:
The same thing can and should be said about college athletics -- and it is worse in that it operates under the presumption of academia.
It also is why the evil of a UMass (or even ARHS) will never be covered by the local media -- they are too scared of being denied access to the sports teams, and know that will destroy them....
And if you can't make that, Frontline did an amazing expose on the League of Denial and the concussion crisis that plagues the NFL, one they are trying very hard to cover up. Watch the episodes here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/
PS if you are letting your kids play contact football you are jeopardizing their futures - plain and simple.
Thanks. I meant to put that in the main body of the article.
For the life of me, I don't know why any parent would allow their child to play football, at any level.
Almost imperceptibly, football has peaked as an American sport.
Anybody remember boxing?
They should ban equestrian sports, soccer, baseball, swimming. Too many dangers! Maybe we should funnel money to Umass engineering dept to make bubbles to provide protection from the world. Have more kids in the area had serious trauma from sports or drinking?
I support football, especially youth football. Youth football is a game of team work and strategy. I feel the youth programs in the area have high levels of player safety. All coaches are USA Football tackle certified. Every team also has a player safety coach and each game has a EMT. I also can attest to 0 concussions or bone breaks in one area program last year. The kids are not training year round and pumping iron as the pros do. Attack one sport and the rest will soon follow. Why is concussion awareness about football, it should focus on all sports.
Why is the focus always on the negatives of everything all the time? Yeah, football has risks, but so does baseball, soccer, field hockey, horseback riding and the list goes on. Heck, driving your car is a risk too...but you don't see people abstaining from that do you? Football (and sports in general) have more positives than negatives. It teaches them about teamwork, trust, integrity, has a positive impact on health and self esteem. Let kids be kids and enjoy themselves. As long as coaches are properly trained and safety is stressed (in ANY sport), why try to ruin it for everyone?
The NFL has a great deal of safety too. ANd coaches can be trained in all sorts of certifications. Safety is not the issue. The issue is hitting a human brain causing long-term damage. Even Joe Namath has come out and said he has irreversible brain damage from football as have a hundred other players. Even with today's most modern helmets NFL players are getting serious concussions. There are no ifs, ends or buts about it, football is dangerous for kids. There are plenty of sports that teach teamwork that do not jeopardize a child's brain and body. Studies now show even a few hits to a child's brain cause long-term damage that shows up later in life.
There is another point of view on this. I suggest you check out Daniel Flynn's recent book "In Defense of Football". His webiste is www.flynnfiles.com.
Rugby is far safer, and more of the world plays it.
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