Yes, to the extent there’s a real drop-off in NFL viewership over the past few years(and not just the past couple of weeks), I think the biggest culprit is cord cutting.
Counterpoint:
[I’m</a> a brain scientist and I let my son play football](I'm a brain scientist and I let my son play football - Yahoo Sports)
And counterpoints to him:
Look, spend time with anyone who has had multiple head injuries and you quickly realize that they’re different than they were before they had the injuries. Maybe we can quibble about just how different they are, but there’s no disputing that there are changes for most people.
I spend enough time around health professionals to know that they’re human too and that they don’t always use logic and evidence in their own lives. Look at how many doctors are overweight and smoke, for example.
The counterpoints in the article seemed kind of weak. A BU dean gave the academic equivalent of no comment on the article. They said the Vanderbilt study wasn’t consistent with some previous studies, but the important question is why? What was the methodological flaw in the Vanderbilt study? I wonder if this is going to be like nutrition research where it seems like if you wait awhile, some new study will come out that contradicts the last study you read.
^Speaking of Big Tobacco, Thank You For Smoking is a great movie.
They play football in Canada. There are NFL games in London, Mexico, Japan every year.
The list to get season tickets in Green Bay, Denver, NE, Texas are years long. I don’t see the NFL going away soon.
Sometimes the obvious is just that…the obvious. And what seems simple really is simple.
Taking a young and not fully developed body and slamming it against another object with force - over and over again - will have negative consequences.
You’re not supposed to put a horse under saddle until it’s at least 3 years old. Your not supposed to walk large breed dogs on hard surfaces until their bones, muscle and tendons have fully matured. My dog trainer will not allow puppies under a certain age (breed dependent) to join hour long pack walks because their bodies can not yet handle that type of activity.
Somehow in the name of sports (and it’s not only football) - we allow and encourage our kids with immature bodies to undergo activities which can predictably have life long negative effects.
And then tell them they aren’t allowed a beer until they are 21.
Once upon a time boxing was really, really popular. Now not so much. So I have hope. But it’s so ingrained into the culture of our schools (especially high school and college) I don’t think it will disappear nearly as quickly as boxing has.
I don’t think that boxing’s drop in popularity has anything to do perceived health risk. Horse racing seems to be much less popular now as well, and no one cares about the health of the horses.
Girl’s soccer has concussion rates similar to, or higher, than football (depending on where you look). Yet I don’t see any hand-wringing in the media about that. In terms of absolute numbers, bicycling accounts for far more head injuries than football.
At least in football there is now an intense awareness, and a lot of activity going on around equipment, technique, and testing, to make it safer. I don’t really see this kind of activity in other sports.
Even so-called “non-contact” sports such as women’s lacrosse have high concussion rates.
The logical conclusion is to ban virtually all sports. Is this where we want to go?
“Horse racing seems to be much less popular now as well, and no one cares about the health of the horses.”
Many people certainly do. Same for dog racing which has dropped off even more.
“In terms of absolute numbers, bicycling accounts for far more head injuries than football.”
Because many more ride bikes of course.
Links to supporting studies might be helpful.
In terms of absolute numbers, falling and getting a head injury while getting in and out of the tub exceed both of the above. * ;))
More people take baths than play football or partake in cycling combined.
Exactly my own visual. And I felt even more that way after I heard Trump speaking on Sunday. Not only did he complain about players taking a knee, but he complained that the sport is losing its appeal because it’s not rough enough - they’re not allowed to hit hard enough any more! He sees the football players as being like Gladiators, on the field to entertain us, with no regard for their own safety. Then there’s the reality that many of ancient gladiators were slaves, and the majority of modern football players -particularly those taking a knee - are descended from slaves.
I’m glad to see the NFL is taking this seriously - and that pediatricians are now offering baseline testing so parents can track the impact of head injuries. I hope those that cheered at the President’s words follow through on his suggestion, and boycott the NFL - they deserve a fan base that actually cares about the players. I bet most of them would be more than willing to earn less in exchange for playing a safer game. All the money in the world isn’t worth much if you’re not cognizant or healthy enough to enjoy it.
While both bicycling and falls in bathtubs may result in more reported head injuries than football or other sports (since they tend to be obvious falls with diagnosed concussions), a big concern with contact sports is the brain damage that results from long-term, repeated contact that might not result in a diagnosed concussion. We did not allow our kids to play football until high school and fortunately one son had no interest and the other had settled into soccer by that time. Looking back, high school probably was still too young. On the other hand, DS2 has been playing soccer since he was 5 and continues now as a D2 college player. I know of 2 mild concussions he has suffered over the years and I can’t imagine what repeatedly heading the ball must do to a brain. I know that while now he and his teammates take concussions more seriously, the kids on his club team prior to college would try to cover up any suspected concussions so that they would not lose playing time. Their biggest concern was that while they were sitting out, another player might come in and take their position. I am sure that happens in a lot of sports where players are trying to get exposure for college recruitment. I think any sport that results in repeated head contact needs to be monitored more closely. There was a short period of time where I saw some soccer players using foam head guards to help protect them during heading and collisions, but I haven’t seen any players around us use them for a long time. I don’t know if they were even effective, but for whatever reason I don’t see any head protection used in soccer. With a grandson now showing interest in soccer, DD1 is having 2nd thoughts about letting him start so young.
I always find how hypocritical we are about animals interesting. If you are cute and cuddly, can do work for us or entertain us, you are good. Taste good cooked on an open fire and you are in trouble. And its very much a cultural matter.
Like the popularity of football, the popularity of most things is a complicated thing. Big factor for horse and dog racing is the existence of other forms of gambling. Though no doubt other factors play a role as well. But in those situations, you have a tendency to point to that which aligns with your views or which serves an agenda.
If only more people would wear their bathroom helmets… B-)
Studies showing what? Concussion rates?
Here’s an incidence rate table from wikipedia, the study is in the footnote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concussions_in_sport#Incidence
This study was done on college athletics, so the rates may not be the same for youth sports.
This company has a somewhat different table, but they don’t cite any sources:
http://www.headcasecompany.com/concussion_info/stats_on_concussions_sports
Here’s another, which looks like it came from a study, but no journal cite:
https://www.medstarsportsmedicine.org/research/which-youth-sports-cause-the-most-concussions/#q={}
What’s interesting about this study is that they found a 4x increase in the number of concussions from 1997-2007. Better detection and reporting? Gotta be.
“I don’t think that boxing’s drop in popularity has anything to do perceived health risk. Horse racing seems to be much less popular now as well, and no one cares about the health of the horses.”
The whole animal analogy is moot anyway and actually disturbing. We’re talking humans here, right?
Thanks for the links. The info is pretty telling. For all the talk of soccer, football concussions are a multiple of soccer. Notice, it is regardless of time played. I sure would bet that a talented soccer player spends more minutes in the game than a talented football player.
"Concussion Rates per Sport
The below numbers indicate the amount of sports concussions taking place per 100,000 athletic exposures. An athletic exposure is defined as one athlete participating in one organized high school athletic practice or competition, regardless of the amount of time played.
Football: 64 -76.8
Boys’ ice hockey: 54
Girl’s soccer: 33
Boys’ lacrosse: 40 - 46.6
Girls’ lacrosse: 31 - 35
Boys’ soccer: 19 - 19.2
Boys’ wrestling: 22 - 23.9
Girls’ basketball: 18.6 - 21
Girls’ softball: 16 - 16.3
Boys’ basketball: 16 - 21.2
Girls’ field hockey: 22 - 24.9
Cheerleading: 11.5 to 14
Girls’ volleyball: 6 - 8.6
Boys’ baseball: Between 4.6 - 5
Girls’ gymnastics: 7"
Are you freaking kidding me? There are whole organizations dedicated to ending horse and dog racing. Not to mention other barbaric “sports” like bullfighting.
Maybe no one you know cares, but don’t generalize.
This is 10 years old now so I’d bet numbers have risen, but as of 2008, nearly 40% of Americans believed dog & horse racing should be banned: http://news.gallup.com/poll/107293/PostDerby-Tragedy-38-Support-Banning-Animal-Racing.aspx?g_source=position3&g_medium=related&g_campaign=tiles
I’m guessing a hundred years or so from now there will be many things we do and allow as a society that will seem completely barbaric.