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OT: The Coming Crisis in the Sport of Football

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  • Catsrock
    Senior Member
    • Oct 2014
    • 5560

    #16
    I've spent a lot of time thinking about what is to become of football. Thankfully neither of my sons have wanted to play organized football yet. I know I would have a hard time letting them play if they decide they want to. Even those who escape season or career ending injuries seem to pay the price down the road and not just those who make it to the collegiate or pro level.

    At the same time football is apparently America's most popular spectator sport by a wide margin. I love it myself. Hard to imagine it going away altogether but it will have to become safer for parents to continue to let their kids play and for players to continue to take the risk. May well start to see more professionals retire in their prime. Get paid and get out. Probably a smart approach rather than sticking around trying to break records.

    In short--I love football as long as its someone else or someone else's sons playing.

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    • Catsrock
      Senior Member
      • Oct 2014
      • 5560

      #17
      Originally posted by johnkyblue
      I completely see soccer taking the place of football over time.
      Maybe. Certainly is the world's most popular sport. However as far as head trauma and concussions its not very good on the brain either. You don't get the violent jarring blows as much but studies are certainly showing that repeated "headers" add up over time in their effect on the brain. Gotta have something to play though. Not everyone needs a gut like mine. I'm not suggesting its nearly as dangerous as American football either.

      Comment

      • Spiritof96
        Senior Member
        • Oct 2014
        • 13503

        #18
        Originally posted by johnkyblue
        I completely see soccer taking the place of football over time.
        I seriously doubt it.

        Baseball already fills the American niche for a slow paced sport where scoring only happens once in a while. I have been hearing for most of my life about how soccer was "catching on" in the US.

        Football is at an all time high in spectator popularity and while youth numbers are down, they aren't that down. Football will remain at the top of the food chain for at least another 20 years.
        Originally posted by John Stuart Mill
        ​He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that... He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them...he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
        Originally posted by Robert “Hoot” Gibson
        No matter how bad things may seem, you can always make them worse.
        RIP: Charlie Munger​

        Comment

        • Blue Heaven
          Senior Member
          • Oct 2014
          • 6283

          #19
          I see an Upward NFL type thing coming. There is no hitting. There is no tackling because you pull flags. There is no score because everyone is a winner! There will be trophy presentations after every game. There is no Super Bowl because every team is SUPER! There is no Pro Bowl, because hey, they are ALL pros and Jackie Battle is no different than Adrian Peterson. Can't you feel the love? I can't.
          Isaiah 5:20

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          • Joneslab
            Senior Member
            • Oct 2014
            • 39604

            #20
            I like soccer a lot. It reminds me of baseball in terms of its tempo and the way you're held in suspense, a lot of times with no pay-off at all on the scoreboard.

            Not sure if it will ever be super popular in this country, though. Very nuanced sport.

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            • Blue Heaven
              Senior Member
              • Oct 2014
              • 6283

              #21
              Originally posted by Will Lavender

              Not sure if it will ever be super popular in this country, though.
              It never will. Bank on it.
              Isaiah 5:20

              Comment

              • Joneslab
                Senior Member
                • Oct 2014
                • 39604

                #22
                It's surprisingly popular in Louisville.

                I went to a Louisville FC game a month or so ago and they had 8500 there. I was pretty surprised.

                Soccer is difficult as a TV sport because the way it's played doesn't give much time for commercials. Whatever is popular in America is going to have to be pushed by corporations, notably ESPN. ESPN isn't going to get behind soccer (unless there's just an explosion of popularity) in part because the advertising possibilities are not as great.

                Football is manna for a whole lot of things. Gambling, alcohol, food, self-promotion...because of all the stoppages it's easy to manipulate the game for television. Much harder with soccer.

                Comment

                • Spiritof96
                  Senior Member
                  • Oct 2014
                  • 13503

                  #23
                  Originally posted by Blue Heaven
                  It never will. Bank on it.
                  It's like watching men running around on a field kicking a ball....

                  I mean, I like high level soccer and don't mind drinking a euro beer and spending a few hours watching a live champions league game; but there is far too much almost something happening.

                  If they did away with the injury faking and the off-sides rule it would greatly improve the game.

                  Then there is this: http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...125/2/410.full

                  At the youth level:

                  Soccer has a higher injury rate than many contact/collision sports such as field hockey, rugby, basketball, and football, although in 1 community study of 7- to 13 year-old players, football did have a higher percentage of serious injuries and higher frequency of injury per team per season.
                  Originally posted by John Stuart Mill
                  ​He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that... He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them...he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
                  Originally posted by Robert “Hoot” Gibson
                  No matter how bad things may seem, you can always make them worse.
                  RIP: Charlie Munger​

                  Comment

                  • Joneslab
                    Senior Member
                    • Oct 2014
                    • 39604

                    #24
                    Originally posted by Spiritof96

                    It's like watching men running around on a field kicking a ball....
                    All these sports are men running around doing something with a ball.

                    Sports are all ridiculous on their surface. They can teach some life lessons, but there really isn't much depth to games.

                    I personally think boxing is a tremendous sport aesthetically. I can't watch MMA. Really they're the same thing, but I hate MMA because it seems to've stripped so much of the national spotlight away from the sport of boxing.

                    And yet I say this more about what I watched when I was growing up. Used to love boxing on HBO. The fact that it's veritably dead is sad to me.

                    Ditto tennis. I personally don't understand the draw of golf and--at least to me--tennis is a much more pleasing game.

                    But these are all subjective things. We each have our own likes/dislikes. Usually has to do with what we played as a kid.

                    Comment

                    • Lighthouse
                      Gone But Never Forgotten
                      • Oct 2014
                      • 35962

                      #25
                      I doubt we will ever see football played without pads and helmets. I played in an adult flag football league where several HS and College players played, and believe me there were still violent hits. I remember one guy had 2 of his teeth sticking out through his jaw.
                      John 3:3

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                      • Spiritof96
                        Senior Member
                        • Oct 2014
                        • 13503

                        #26
                        Originally posted by Will Lavender

                        All these sports are men running around doing something with a ball.

                        Sports are all ridiculous on their surface. They can teach some life lessons, but there really isn't much depth to games.

                        I personally think boxing is a tremendous sport aesthetically. I can't watch MMA. Really they're the same thing, but I hate MMA because it seems to've stripped so much of the national spotlight away from the sport of boxing.

                        And yet I say this more about what I watched when I was growing up. Used to love boxing on HBO. The fact that it's veritably dead is sad to me.

                        Ditto tennis. I personally don't understand the draw of golf and--at least to me--tennis is a much more pleasing game.

                        But these are all subjective things. We each have our own likes/dislikes. Usually has to do with what we played as a kid.
                        You missed my point...

                        Soccer is normal looking dudes running around and kicking a ball back and forth with lots of ALMOST action. American's like athletic freaks and definitive action, a hit, a completed pass, a dunk, a score.

                        Originally posted by John Stuart Mill
                        ​He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that... He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them...he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
                        Originally posted by Robert “Hoot” Gibson
                        No matter how bad things may seem, you can always make them worse.
                        RIP: Charlie Munger​

                        Comment

                        • gerntz
                          Senior Member
                          • Oct 2014
                          • 646

                          #27
                          Originally posted by johnkyblue
                          I completely see soccer taking the place of football over time.
                          Been boning up on real football vs. our tackle ball for 15+ years. Been to pro games in England & Spain.

                          Comment

                          • gerntz
                            Senior Member
                            • Oct 2014
                            • 646

                            #28
                            Originally posted by Spiritof96
                            Soccer is normal looking dudes running around and kicking a ball back and forth with lots of ALMOST action.
                            Pro soccer players are athletic freaks, just not huge ones. I don't know what almost action is, but it's a lot more than 45 minutes of huddle in a US football game.

                            Comment

                            • Blue Heaven
                              Senior Member
                              • Oct 2014
                              • 6283

                              #29
                              Originally posted by gerntz
                              Pro soccer players are athletic freaks, just not huge ones. I don't know what almost action is, but it's a lot more than 45 minutes of huddle in a US football game.
                              Really? To me, soccer is cross country with a ball. SOOOO BORING. As boring as baseball to me. Of course I respect your opinion on the matter. How boring would it be if we were all alike?
                              Isaiah 5:20

                              Comment

                              • Ukatfan
                                Senior Member
                                • Oct 2014
                                • 141

                                #30
                                Kids are bigger and faster, Time to ditch the artificial turf and go back to playing on grass.

                                Comment

                                 

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                                OT: The Coming Crisis in the Sport of Football

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