rolling American football death spiral thread

lol. i dunno it's like i needed a break. also pre-xmas nba is very skippable in my experience.

then i guess you missed the warriors streak eh

nah luke walton becoming a jedi was fun but all bb played before the super bowl is preseason

luke walton is actually phil jackson's child imo

lol i'm thiiiis close to being arsed to shop that

The only football I've watched since that shit show of a Super Bowl last year has been games that just happened to be on in various drinking and eating locations that I was spending time drinking and eating in. And GIFs that popped up on Deadspin. Quitting the NFL = way easier than cigarettes or beer, no surprise there

Anyway prepare to be sad: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2016/01/19/former-nfl-receiver-antwaan-randle-el-regrets-ever-playing-football/

Randle El is not naive to the profitability of the sport or the impact it has on society, but with the concussion and life-long injury issues getting more attention than ever before, the nine-year veteran thinks the end may be near.

“Right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if football isn’t around in 20, 25 years.”

Me neither, Antwaan. I hope they can figure out how to help these guys get better. I mean stem cells and nanoscale whatsits, right? There have to be some prospects for treatment somewhere in the pipeline?

OTOH I guess if a reliable program of treatment were developed it would just become an excuse to let people keep hitting each other with the force of highway collisions

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZHkaFTWYAEYn50.jpg

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/school-said-son-suffered-a-concussion-parents-sued-to-get-him-back-on-field/2016/01/18/8a15c018-bdec-11e5-9443-7074c3645405_story.html

this story linked in the randle el one is insane.

Kerasidis explained that there are two schools of thought: (1) A child’s brain is still developing and any trauma can be especially harmful; (2) children are smaller, slower and perhaps unable to deliver as much force in their collisions as older players.

how are these mutually exclusive?

in my experience playing football from junior high through high school im pretty sure i saw dozens of concussions (and was dazed myself a number of times) but i can only remember 1 or 2 actually being diagnosed as such.

point being: even if medically diagnosed concussions arent happening regularly that doesnt mean that it's a safe sport for children (or anyone).

also: i used to play full tackle football minus any pads or helmets with buddies all the time, and it was much much safer (and less terrifying). and more fun.

in my experience playing football from junior high through high school im pretty sure i saw dozens of concussions (and was dazed myself a number of times) but i can only remember 1 or 2 actually being diagnosed as such.

― ryan, Wednesday, January 20, 2016

long-term memory loss :(

"good news guys it's not a concussion just a grade 2 rung bell"

hah, that's pretty much the way it was. concussions were kind of a laughing matter back then, people would talk about dumb things they did because they were concussed much like people talk about being drunk. when you get one though it's scary...like "wait, are we whites or blues today, why can't I remember??" scary - this was not all that long ago

As a bona fide nerd weakling the idea of laughing off a traumatic brain injury is terrifying to me.

well sure when you call it a traumatic brain injury it sounds scary

that's why the tough guys call it "getting your bell rung".

concerned citizen: um your skin is literally flayed and i can see all your muscles
football bro: oh i just got my sausage casing peeled
cc: also i am a doctor and u have lupus
fb: just gotta little jam on my face
cc: plz stop dying
fb: just getting my toe tag sized

t/s "getting your bell rung" or "getting the wind knocked out of you". i haven't played enough contact sports to know the difference.

I know the QB of my high school team got his bell rung (i.e. concussion) a few times. I remember playing a JV game as a sophmore and ole' Hank got clobbered and the dude was acting stoned to the bone on the side line not knowing where he was even at. Being that Randle El played at my college IU and Dave Duerson was from my home town and it makes me sad about football. That said, the only time I think I might have gotten a concussion playing sports as a kid was in wrestling as I got suplexed in an AAU match by a guy that ended up national champ and later a collegiate champ as a teenager. I just remember being spaced the fxck out and having a splitting headache for a couple days.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is a totally different thing really, as you basically slam to the surface and have all of the wind in your lungs expelled in a single violent hit. It's pretty scary but goes away in a minute.

ah ok

in my football career i got:

1) the wind knocked out of me (the most terrifying)
2) my "bell rung" (dazed and stars and loss of equilibrium, not sure if actual concussion lol football)
3) racked right in the balls since i brilliantly decided not to wear a cup for that game <--this is by far the worst

a good friend did have a diagnosed concussion one day, and i remember him approaching me on the sideline and basically cheerfully saying something that made no sense at all. i had to keep him from going back in the game since he thought he was fine. he came to school the next day (thursday night game) and said his parents had to wake him up once an hour, which i guess is some kind of stand procedure for concussions.

a good friend did have a diagnosed concussion one day, and i remember him approaching me on the sideline and basically cheerfully saying something that made no sense at all....

― ryan, Saturday, January 23, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPRscxQZs8E

yeah getting the wind knocked out is much less serious but a whole lot scarier while it's happening

i've had the wind knocked out of me too many times to count. i just thought that was part of being young. never had a concussion, but also never played anything but pick up football

my grandpa would never watch the nfl: "they're all just trying to hurt each other" dude had a point

concerned citizen: um your skin is literally flayed and i can see all your muscles
football bro: oh i just got my sausage casing peeled
cc: also i am a doctor and u have lupus
fb: just gotta little jam on my face
cc: plz stop dying
fb: just getting my toe tag sized

― ecclesiastes nutz (m bison), Saturday, January 23, 2016 5:01 AM (Yesterday)

lol

I was thinking earlier this year that if the Pats got to the SB again it would actually be bad for the NFL, because lol cheaters, but now they lost by a missed FG to some juicers, so really, why would anybody watch this? If the Panthers lose, I mean. Cam Newton is, unfortunately for my argument, a joy.

Oh wow I can't believe this hasn't been linked from this thread yet

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2305112-roger-goodells-a-christmas-carol

The Davis specter shrugged. "Suit yourself, shortcake. But keep in mind it's not just your soul that's at stake. Professional football itself is in jeopardy."

Goodell scoffed. "You know better than that, Al. The sport is healthier than ever, because I give fans and advertisers exactly what they want."

"If you say so, rainbow. It's no skin off my back, since I don't have a skin or a back anymore. The first ghost will get here when he gets here." With that, the Davis ghost vanished from sight.

As the final wisp of his visage faded, Goodell heard a peculiar bell. It was not a Christmas bell, nor a funerary church bell, nor the cathedral bells he could hear peeling each hour over the Manhattan street noise.

It was a boxing ring bell, Goodell realized as sleep overtook him.

peeling pealing

>=( @ bleacher report.

The only reason he works there is because FO doesn't pay the mortgage, Sports On Earth went half-Grantland, ESPN already hired Barnwell and SBnation is just stupid I guess

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/sports/football/former-giants-safety-tyler-sash-found-to-have-cte.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

I realize SF denizens hating on shitty public displays isn't like a big surprise or any kind of indicator of the imminent demise of the sport but this is mildly entertaining

http://deadspin.com/san-franciscans-have-declared-war-on-super-bowl-sculptu-1756345681

and I also liked this comment:

You can glean this from the TV advertising, but it really stood out to me when the NFL draft was held last year not far from where I live in Chicago: the NFL has this thing where they can’t just smile and acknowledge that they’re the most popular sport in America; they have to have MORE. It’s like they want to bully you into getting hyped for football, like they want to create this sense that you’re not really participating in the culture if you’re not glued to your TV every Sunday*. Is my walk to work disrupted and my coworkers’ commute messed up by the weeklong unavailability of every parking lot near my office? THE NFL DRAFT IS COMING TO CHICAGO LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. Why wouldn’t arguably the most beautiful city in America (I went to high school in SF) welcome dropping garish SUPERBOWL 50 sculptures all over the place? IT’S FOOTBAAAWWWL.

Dude shouldn't drive to work anyway if he works in the loop. Ban cars.

OMG FUCK THIS STUPID SPORTSBALL POLICE STATE BULLSHIT

had to vent

there are metal detectors and cops in riot gear all over the place near my office - streets are blocked, public buildings are only accessible through security checkpoints, traffic/public transit is re-routed, ugly temporary statues everywhere... I hate pro-sports in general but making it unavoidable like this should be against the law imo.

I mean the game is in FUCKING SANTA CLARA

gawd if they schedule a super bowl for Seattle ever I'm taking a goddamn vacation

there are drones/copters flying over head scanning for "background radiation"

O RLY

When Dallas-Ft Worth had the Super Bowl I flew to NY for four days. Even better, it was actually warmer in NY than Texas that weekend.

just deigned to check and fortunately Seattle is not in the running through at least 2020

i still follow the NFL from the outside looking in with regards to stats and standings a lot, but even with that limited exposure stories like the Ken Stabler one continue to give me pause. also the Stabler story being the top sidebar story on ESPN, right next to a front page story about the #1 college recruit choosing to go to Michigan and me wondering if we're gonna see a similar story about him in thirty years.

I didn't realize SBNation runs the "Meet The Bag Man" story every year on NCAA signing day.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/09/bruno-mars-super-bowl-halftime-show.html

Approaching stunt-shittiness

SAN FRANCISCO -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that if he had a son, he would "love to have him play the game of football" despite various concerns about concussions and other safety-related issues.

Goodell, speaking Friday at his annual Super Bowl week news conference, said the NFL has "made great progress" in the area of concussions by way of rule changes and improving equipment.

"From my standpoint, I played the game of football for nine years, through high school. I wouldn't give up a single day of that," Goodell said. "If I had a son, I'd love to have him play the game of football. I'd love to have him play the game of football because of the values you get.

"There's risk in life. There's risk sitting on the couch. What we want to do is get people active. I want them to experience the game of football because the game of football will teach you the values ... the discipline, the teamwork, the perseverance. Those are values and those are skills that will lead you through life, and I believe football is the best to teach that."

johnny values

it's true though there are so many former NFL players who movingly talk about how football has given them a new appreciation for what is actually important in life, what should be valued, and they really desperately try to pass that message along to people thinking about playing the game.

If I had a son