OT- WP article about decline of football
Good article in the Washington Poat about the various forces causing a decline in football players and teams. The times they are a changing. Michigan is losing teams (see map in article)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/highschools/the-leading-edge-of-a…
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:04 PM ^
I have no idea if football is dying but that map mostly just looks like a reflection of population migration trends.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:16 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:46 PM ^
Demographics, plus the fact that there are inter and intra district consolidations where schools and districts are merging resulting in bigger schools but fewer teams.
Detroit alone has lost a few high schools but the kids still attend and play for another school.
August 23rd, 2017 at 4:00 PM ^
football is dying is a huge stretch. Particiaption is down not only in High School but in youth leagues also. I think over the next decade there could be future decline, but I don't see football ever dying or not being a huge sport for many years to come in this country. I agree on what you touched on also being a factor in decrease participation, there are just a lot more activities for kids to do outside of football, then there probably was even 10 years ago.
August 23rd, 2017 at 3:01 PM ^
in the last few years in Oakland County I can name several districts that have consolidated their high school -- notably in Royal Oak, Pontiac, Bloomfield Hills, Southfield and soon Farmington. IIRC, Lapeer has lost a school as well.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:25 PM ^
FAKE NEWS
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:54 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:30 PM ^
"A white mother said her son in 4th grade complained he had nothing to put on his resume."
Uhh, probably because you're in 4th grade, kid.
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:30 PM ^
And I'll say it another 1000 times.
Football, as we currently know it, in the way it is played now cannot sustain over a long period of time. Parents are becoming much too wise to the obvious debilitating long-term effects. NFL players are retiring earlier and earlier.
Something has to change.
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:34 PM ^
It's crazy that we've had the technology to go to outer space since 1961, but still can't come up with a helment that completely eliminates the risk of concussions.
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
Physics yo..... it's a strict bastard.
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:51 PM ^
Obviously they will never reduce the risk of concussions by 100%, but saying that helmets don't significantly reduce concussions is ridiculous.
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:57 PM ^
Just have to get rid of helmets entirely. I'm not hunting a guy's head with my own.
Football is a violent sport. Helmets or not people will always get hurt.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:03 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:06 PM ^
Exactly. I'd imagine we'd also see a substantial rise in knee injuries due to players going for the lower body instead. I would hate to see football disappear as we know it, but having said that, I wouldn't have any interest in running a crossing route when there are multiple jacked up LBs waiting to decapitate me.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:51 PM ^
One of the newer helmets is flexible and absorbs the impact rather than passing it on to the head.
August 23rd, 2017 at 3:05 PM ^
Not sure where you got that nonsensical notion about rugby, but the sport absolutely has a concussion problem. This is one article from earlier this year, but there's research going back decades.
August 23rd, 2017 at 3:06 PM ^
but when I played I was told to break down into a tackling position, hit with my shoulder, and keep my head up so I could see what I was doing. Then wrap and drop the guy. My coach hated 'impact' tackles because he felt that the ball carrier would bounce off and get away too often.
I was told that hitting with my helmet or even lowering my helmet in a tackle could get me hit with a spearing penalty.
Is spearing no longer called? Is that way of tackling really dating me, or was I unique? Is it unreasonable in todays game?
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^
Hmm. Interesting read about no helmets. Still think something that limits padding (making violent contact less enticing) in conjunction with rules changes is the best way to go.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:10 PM ^
I dunno. Fatalities were not uncommon in the days before helmets. Antedotally, it sounds like the fatalaty rate was much higher without pads, but it's hard to come upon reliable statistics from 100 years ago. Regardless, no easy answer to football's injury issues.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:12 PM ^
I agree there are no easy answers. To me it seems like the best option is to shift from head injuries to body injuries (broken bones, torn ligaments, etc.). Would much rather have a functional brain at 60 than a functional knee, but if you hear some of the stories of old running backs their lives sound pretty shitty even in their 40s and 50s.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:36 PM ^
American football...http://www.history.com/news/how-teddy-roosevelt-saved-football
There are some stats in there. Basically, football had become so dangerous by the first decade of the 1900s that schools (college was the defact pro football of the time) were dropping their programs.
Teddy told various football authorities that they needed to make drastic changes or he was going to outlaw the game althogether. This is where the forward pass was "invented" along with a myriad of other changes to the most dangerous formations and plays.
Moral of the story, football can and will survive drastic changes to the fabric of the game (especially when its existance is threatened).
I believe that in 30 years, football will be a much more wide open game and will look at lot more like flag football does now. There will be much more limitations on blocking and tackling. Just my guestimate...
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:03 PM ^
But you just asked for helmets that will completely eliminate the risk of concussions. I am confused. What are you looking for exactly? Eliminate concussions or the risk of concussions? One can never "completely" eliminate either. There is always a chance, however small it is.
August 23rd, 2017 at 4:04 PM ^
Its' not the helmet but the body being slammed around which in turn makes the brain slam against the wall of the skull repeatedly causes the problem. Over time playing this game each hit over the years accumulates to cause long term damage.
Helmet design are fine they are not going to get rid of concussions. You don't need to get hit directly in the head to suffer a concussion.
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
We still haven't built a car with sufficient safety features to eliminate accidents/death/injuries either, yet I plop my fat butt behind the wheel every day and careen down the road at 80 miles per hour without as much as a second thought.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:32 PM ^
80? you wimp.
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:43 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:54 PM ^
There have been studies done on this. Football is still WAY in front of soccer in terms of concussions.
Also, my gut tells me that people smashing their heads over and over again is a little bit more risky than the ball making contact with the head.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:50 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 3:01 PM ^
Not super clear to me yet. I think the we need more data:
http://www.newsleader.com/story/sports/2015/06/25/concussions-soccer-fo…
"Recent studies show that soccer has surpassed football," said neurologist Peter A. Puzio from Augusta Health Neurology. "As soccer grows in popularity, so does the incidence of concussion. There's not a perfect a number because it all depends on the severity of each one, but there is a cumulative effect of concussions. One is bad, but it depends on the severity of the concussions..."
"...And while many quit football, some athletes moved on to other sports such as soccer, or wrestling — both of which many people believe are less dangerous. But recent studies show they are just as risky as football."
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:49 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 1:55 PM ^
Will go away.
But it will change. And it has to.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:09 PM ^
I disagree that it has to. Football is a gladiator sport. Even with the new data on CTE i would stil go back and do it over again. People take risks all the time in life.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:23 PM ^
That's why football will adapt or go extinct. Parents are not going to take risks for their kids if football players keep dying with brain damage.
My guess is that within 2-3 years, you'll see the NFL tinker with stuff in the preseason, like forcing the DL and OL to line up 1-2 yards off the line of scrimmage to prevent immediate head-on collisions or forbidding tackling above the waist or chest.
The current CBA expires in 2020 or 2021 and there's already talk of a lockout. Owners will probably be forced at that time to implement some rule changes.
August 23rd, 2017 at 4:49 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:27 PM ^
Primitive way to think about football in 2017.
Yes, people take risks. For the most part, those risks don't involve them becoming brain damaged and forgetting what they had for breakfast later in the afternoon.
August 23rd, 2017 at 4:52 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 3:40 PM ^
lol "gladiator"
You do know that in the case of gladiators someone had to die, right?
August 23rd, 2017 at 4:33 PM ^
I'm not a fan of gladitorial contests the way the Romans did them. So far as I can tell the gladiators were chattel. However, they were bloody expensive chattel. It was my understanding that it wouldn't be economically possible to have contests where they kept dying. So your gladiator might get hammered into a blood soaked mess but most contests weren't to the death.
August 23rd, 2017 at 4:41 PM ^
August 23rd, 2017 at 7:40 PM ^
You've seen too many Russell Crowe movies
August 23rd, 2017 at 4:17 PM ^
people do take risks all the time, but the more data people find out the less people are willing to take those risks or allow their children to take the risk. I played football for many years and if I had, had a son I think I would've steered him to something like golf over football knowing what I know now about the long term risks. I know my body has suffered from the years of playing the game.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
Games evolve. I'd be very sad if it went away.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:27 PM ^
....but I'm still not sold on CTE for Pop Warner/HS. How many of us have played over the years from grades 4-12?
I'm not saying we shouldn't study it. I'm not saying we shouldn't do proactive things like train proper tackling form and try to maybe improve helmets. I am saying that me and all of my friends who played tackle football for years aren't showing any long term effects. Neither did my father and all of his friends who played in the 50's. This suggests to me that we should be taking a long term large scope study to determine the risks.
The biggest sin here isn't football the game, IMHO. Its that the NFL had data i covered up to avoid bad publicity.
Football may die. And Wrestling and Soccer may go with it to the ashbin when that data is compiled. But I think people are being way too knee jerk. I wouldn't have a problem putting my son on a pop warner team. He might play on the same team as the son of his pediatrician.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:28 PM ^
Kids do not have the pure raw physical strength to deliver the type of hits and impact that they do as they enter the intense years of the sport.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:58 PM ^