KSmooth

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1 week 1 day ago UTL and Bo's Last Win

UTL will be hard to top.  I remember very well just screaming "TOUCHDOWN!  TOUCHDOWN!  TOUCHDOWN!" when Roy Roundtree hauled in that final pass.  And how nobody wanted to leave after the game was over.  Even Pop Evil sounded good.

Another really emotional moment was Bo's last win over OSU in 1989.  Not as exciting a game, but we all knew the man was retiring and seeing him go out a winner was bittersweet.
2 weeks 4 days ago Don't Look at Me

I went for Borussia Dortmund in the Budesliga several years ago, back when they were a mid-table team.  So what happens?  They run away with two league titles and have a shot at the German double with a win over Bayern Munich next week.  Oh well, at least we suck in the Champions League...

 
2 weeks 6 days ago There's a Whole Other Way to Reduce Force from Collisions

You can't make guys slower.  Using non-cleated shoes would mean players will slip and slide and turn the game into a farce.

You can, however, make guys smaller: institute weight limits.  That should reduce the force of a lot of the collisions.
2 weeks 6 days ago A Very Fair Question

I've wondered about the effect that steroid use has had on this as well.  Don't see how it helps...

As far as leading with the head goes, I've heard it suggested that maybe we should bring back leather helmets.  Without hard plastic shell helmets, the intimidation factor that comes from leading with the head goes down dramatically.
2 weeks 6 days ago Some Thoughts

I think this is a thread that needed to be started.  My thoughts:

1. Football is a great game and an extremely physical, even violent one.  When it is played well it can be a joy to watch, and not just for the hits.  Does anyone here ever get tired of watching Anthony Carter make that catch and run for a TD against Indiana?  How about Desmond Howard striking the Heisman pose?  Or Charles Woodson making that ridiculous one-handed interception at MSU?

2. While comparisons to boxing or even to Roman gladiatorial contests are understandable, they aren't the same.  A good football game isn't defined by injuries.  They are a risk -- a serious risk, but not a feature.  Maybe this is naive, but most fans want the players to get back up.  You don't have to be a neanderthal to enjoy the game.

3. But the game is starting to look too dangerous, and is associated not only with short-term injuries that heal but long-term brain injuries that don't and leave men crippled and even suicidal.  There's still a lot that isn't known but it may well turn out that the damage being done to players is of a frequency and severity that cannot be justified.

4. The game will likely need to be changed.  One can hope that those changes will leave the game more or less recognizable.  I for one would hate to lose things like the Michigan-OSU rivalry.  But if that is going to happen, the powers that be at all levels will need to summon a rare trait -- intellectual bravery that matches the physical bravery shown by the players.

5. Part of the changes may mean, simply, playing fewer games.  The brain damage in particular seems to be more cumulative than the product of a few especially hard hits.  The body can take a lot of damage, but it has its limits.  Fewer games means fewer hits and less damage to the brain.  Maybe we just need to accept that and shorten the season.  (I've said this before -- the NFL regular season is probably too long and they could do without exhibitions altogether.)  Eliminate off-season contact -- Losing the OSU game would be terrible, the spring game not so much.  Add a bye week or two so players have a chance to heal.

6. And maybe there will need to be more.  I don't know.  Maybe the game is by nature so rough, and the brain so vulnerable to injury, that minimizing the damage to the brain to a level that we can accept in good conscience would make the game unrecognizable.

7. Life is full of risks and tradeoffs.  Football isn't the only dangerous activity and not even the only way to damage one's brain.  I suffered a concussion once, it didn't come from  playing football.  We don't need to make football safe -- lots of worthwhile things are unsafe.  We do need to be sure that the game isn't a meat grinder.  I for one would like to watch the game and think that generally speaking the guys out there will be okay over the long haul, however much they might be hurting today.
3 weeks 2 days ago Some Ideas

I'm ready to be corrected on this, but the worst brain damage cases (maybe it's just the ones that get the most attention) are for players who had been in the NFL.

I think the NFL's model is a big part of the problem.  The season is too long -- almost twice as long as college when exhibitions are included, and the players are too big and strong.  It's been years since I could really enjoy watching the NFL -- it just seems like too much of a meat grinder.

If they were to ask me, I'd say cut the regular season back to fourteen games and eliminate exhibitions entirely.  Football is dangerous enough that it seems absurd to play a whole lot of games that don't count in the standings, and a shorter season means fewer collisions and less damage.  It's a bit of a balancing act, there's a lot of demand for the NFL's product, but I think less would be more here.  Then I'd suggest they add at least one more bye week so players get another chance to heal up during the season.

One thing that we might have to consider would be weight limits.  You can't make players slower but you can measure weight and say this guy is too big.  That might reduce the force of a lot of collisions.  I would say that the league has to really be on top of performance-enhancing drugs too, both because of the way that artificially enhanced brawn make for more forceful collisions, and because the PEDs can have really nasty side effects on players too.  The players union needs to be ready to cooperate here.

Another thing that needs to be rethought is youth football.  We've got kids playing tackle football at nine, years before the brain case is completely formed (at around age twelve) and I can't wonder if that might be contributing.

The one smart thing that the NFL has done is replace the artificial turf with real grass or more grass-like surfaces.  I suspect that a lot of damage was done by guys hitting the turf hard -- the old turf didn't have a lot of give to it.

My guess is that football can probably be saved, but we need to be mindful that football is violent, and that body and brain can only take so much punishment.
4 weeks 2 days ago BVB!

Don't care -- My guys at Borussia Dortmund just clinched the Bundesliga and they have a shot at the double with the German Cup final in May.
6 weeks 6 days ago Dumars' Success

Dumars has had one undeniable success -- his 2004 championship team.  I don't know if that justifies keeping him around indefinitely -- he's certainly made some questionable decisions since -- but his work leading up to 2004 was brilliant and he deserves credit for that at least.
6 weeks 6 days ago "Matt Millen" is a Very Apt Comparison

I think the parallel with Millen is right on the money.  Look, Isiah Thomas is clearly an intelligent man who knows a lot about basketball, but for whatever reason he just doesn't have what it takes to succeed as a coach or GM.  I would be very interested in hearing what the man would have to say about the game either from courtside or from the studio.  His reputation as a player plus his undeniable charisma would make him a natural for that kind of thing.  But I don't want him making decisions and I'd be very reluctant to even have him as a consultant.
8 weeks 2 days ago Yeah, It's a Mess

repeat post -- oops.
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