OT: Chris Borland ESPN Article
We are heading back into football season and getting excited all over again but it also means heading back into cheering on 18-22 year olds who are hiding injuries to keep playing. This Chris Borland article is incredible and he does a good job of talking about a lot of the issues I have with football. The major thing about that stood out to me was that he doesn't believe you can make football safe. He isn't trying to stop people from playing but this whole idea that if you tackle "the right way" everything is ok is wrong. Personally I'm not sure how many seasons I can continue dissacociate myself from my beliefs and keep watching football but being a fan is such a big part of my life it is hard to walk away from.
Anyways I just think it is an important conversation we need to keep having. So I wanted to post what I thought was a really good article.
August 20th, 2015 at 5:52 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 7:35 PM ^
That's what I did.
What I am NOT doing--and what you and your fellow hypocrite are engaging in--is mindless "soul searching" over football inherent brutality. That it took articles and a lawsuit to get you two to comprehend this says more about your blinkered intellects than anything else.
The fact is that both of you are on a board largely dedicated to a football team. You and your homie's comments smack of the worst kind of smug hypocrisy. If both of you were sincere you'd stop following Michigan football and quit this board.
August 20th, 2015 at 7:42 PM ^
So you are calling for total tribalism on a forum that is supposed to be an expression of ideas. That's healthy.
And you have a lot of nerve calling the paths of others "mindless" in a thread where you openly wondered why people weren't calling attention to the dangers of music because of Amy Whinehouse.
Of course you don't want to do soul-searching. Delusional beings generally don't.
August 20th, 2015 at 7:48 PM ^
makes it post worthy? What epiphany was shared that isn't already out there. As Quatro said, you're just realizing this is a violent sport?
And, no, I don't need some ass in my ear talking about the ills of drinking and alchol while I'm enjoying an IPA at Ashley's. The Alcholoics Anonymous meeting is more appropriate. So, you can pretend as if you are some deeply reflective intellectual willing to address head-on topics others simply don't have the internal fortitude, like you, to do but at the end of the day we just want to drink our beer. So shut the fuck up
August 20th, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^
but right on.
August 20th, 2015 at 7:41 PM ^
you just don't know how long you can support this sport then proceed to call people stupid. Since, I am already a perona non grata... Shut the fuck up. You're the one that's stupid and a major pussy. Go do your zumba or finger paint or work on your butterfly conservatory but just stop this bullshit candy ass crusade
August 20th, 2015 at 4:27 PM ^
get the most press but there are plenty of other debilitating injuries in sports. Deaths in football games were very common in the early 1900s. While football players do still die this is largely heart and heat related, not due to brain trauma. If you feel that strongly about the violence and physical damage to football players then stop watching, reading about, or writing about this sport.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:52 PM ^
We should put Surgeon General warnings on helmets.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 7:19 PM ^
I had no idea water polo had a violent history.
August 20th, 2015 at 9:53 PM ^
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August 20th, 2015 at 5:44 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 5:47 PM ^
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August 20th, 2015 at 7:06 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 7:33 PM ^
given the daily onslaught by the left on the most foundational of amendments.
August 20th, 2015 at 11:11 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 7:32 PM ^
Good gravy, do your fragile psyche a favor and refrain from watching the gladiatoresque barbarsim each weekend. Can't stress how much of a complete pussy you are and it's people like your candy ass that'll cause this game to get stripped down to fag football...Whoops, forgot the l ...flag
August 20th, 2015 at 11:07 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 7:56 PM ^
The pussification of American men continues to blow my mind. Are we seriously this concerned about injuries that MIGHT happen to people who CHOOSE to play a given sport? For crying out loud just grow a pair. What is the alternative, no voluntary activities are allowed in the United States if they pose a health risk? Why can't we just accept that life isn't perfect, that sports are not perfect, and that we enjoy some things despite, or maybe a little because of, the violence and risk involved?
This is such an incredibly slippery slope. Every single adult (yes 18 year old college athletes are adults) knows that football is a violent sport. Nobody that has played football at the high school level or above can possibly think it's a good thing to go head to head with another guy if they've done it a time or 2. We need to keep exploring reasonable ways to make the sport safer, but that needs to be the end of the discussion. Please, I beg of you, if you are a man just please act like it.
(Cue whiny pusses complaining about different definitions of manlihood, me being all man, insensitive, etc...)
August 20th, 2015 at 8:19 PM ^
I've been pushing the pussification of America for years. These are fucking grown men in the NFL who choose to play football for fucking millions, more than most will ever make. Not only that how many are from low income parts of society that may have gone a much more dangerous route if not for football. Football brings tons of good to those involved. Simply playing in college usually is not enough for long term serious head injury. Most of these are NFL studies. What exactly is to be gained from giving up watching football? You want to stop giving people the opportunity to CHOOSE to play football? How many people are worse off from playing than are better off????? No respect at all for the line of thinking from the OP. These are choices. This is not hunger games or the colliseum. We should also ban factories and coal mines too, I wonder how you'll feel without those... Because much more death is associated.
August 20th, 2015 at 8:29 PM ^
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August 20th, 2015 at 9:58 PM ^
The phrase "pussification of American men" is offensive.
Why does something you mean to be negative have to be a term that derives from a female body part?
Grow up and use language that doesn't put down women in its usage.
August 20th, 2015 at 10:08 PM ^
One is the NFL's attempts to bury and discredit the research on CTE, which is not solely or even mostly about concussions. Their real fear isn't about losing a lot of Chris Borlands, TV viewers, or ticket buyers to moral qualms, it's that moms won't let sons play Pop Warner if the current research indicating it's really kids most susceptible to CTE becomes more mainstream knowledge.
Scandal Two is the NFL's stingy attitude to long-term disability and medical care for ex-players.
I think I understand the moral qualms. I would analogize it to people who are deeply troubled by institutionalized animal cruelty in industrial farming but still eat meat. Not sure what the answer is, but at a minimum I wish the weight of public opinion would push the League to do more on #2, god knows they've got the cash. It shouldn't take class-action lawsuits to force them to write the checks. The players union has been profoundly lousy about securing better long-term care, so there are many dirty hands in the picture.
August 20th, 2015 at 10:41 PM ^
It's an interesting article because it goes to the heart of the health concerns regarding football, and I commend Borland for making the decision that is best for him. But at the same time, at some stage in your life people need to start making decisions they can live with, and if that includes partaking in sports that others enjoy watching, I'm not sure why consumers should feel particularly bad. We can go on about educational opportunities, poverty, misinformation, etc., but it's a bit insulting to the players (even at the collegiate level) to believe they aren't competing on their own accords. Hell, a lot of people go into the armed services to get a chance at a better life, to go to college and learn useful skills, and virtually all must deal with the various service requirements that potentially put them in life-and-death situations. I don't see people sermonizing about how those individuals don't understand the dangers of their decision and patronize them for making foolish choices. If you don't want to watch football because you are bothered by the health risks to the players, then by all means do so. But I'm not sure if an obvious pulling-your-collective-head-out-of-the-sand "oh yeah, those large men running into each other are probably injuring themselves in the long term" revelation should mean more than that.
August 21st, 2015 at 2:07 AM ^
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