Given the high and increasing costs of health care of patients suffering neurological disorders and the drain on the economy in lost productivity this is a macro economic issue. It goes beyond brain injuries as well.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-notre-dame-football-p… The link between playing football and an increased risk of developing later-life brain disorders like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has received increasing attention over the past 15 years. While National Football League (NFL) players are more likely to die from CTE and ALS and more likely to report cognitive impairment, behavioral changes and dementia, similar studies of former college football players have not been reported.
In a new study published today in JAMA Network Open, researchers at the Boston University (BU) CTE Center report on the long-term health outcomes and mortality rates of former University of Notre Dame football players who were seniors on the 1964-1980 rosters. Compared to a representative sample of same age men in the general population, former Notre Dame players were five times more likely to report cognitive impairment diagnoses, two and a half times more likely to report recurrent headaches and 65 percent more likely to have cardiovascular disorders during life, based on health surveys completed by 216 of the 375 (58 percent) former players who are still living.
Dana Skully and the Tiger Sharks are this month’s featured Small Studio artists. They’re an Indianapolis-based band that describe their sound as “dream pop punk to make your brain cry.” The group is led by 23-year-old singer-songwriter Dana Skully. WFYI’s Kyle Long spoke with Dana after their performance for Small Studio Sessions.
…
Long: And you have a unique voice and style as a songwriter. I want to ask you about that. Let’s start with a new song “Mama’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Proud Boys.”
I don’t know if that is her real name or an homage to The X-Files.
Born 1944-1945 (if 22 yrs old in 1964 = college senior) = last 2 yrs of Greatest Generation.
Born 1946-1963 = Boomers (essentially the rest of the rosters as 1963 birth = 17 yrs old in 1980. Cutoff likely 1961-62 or earlier, when 18 or more yrs old in 1980).
I wonder if soccer would be changed too much for the players and fans if using the head to strike the ball was illegal. I expect it would be much safer.
This is also an issue that hockey needs to deal with. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-03-03/… When studying whether the hits, year after year, can also be linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in hockey, the Boston University research team found the link is there: Each additional year of playing ice hockey may increase a person's chance of developing CTE by about 23%, the investigators found.
And for each year a person played hockey, there was an associated 15% increased chance for progressing one CTE stage, according to the study.
One could also add: soccer, hockey, lacrosse, boxing, rugby, and any other sport where collisions occur on a regular basis.
The other side of the controversy, ask an 18-22 year old raised in poverty if he would like $100 million and possibly die young and/or have mental issues but their family is financially set, the gross majority will take the chance.
Technology and rule changes are making the sport safer but will never totally eliminate the risk. Will be interesting to see if football in 20-30 years will be like boxing. Boxing used to be the sport but is now an after thought.
Will be interesting to see if football in 20-30 years will be like boxing. Boxing used to be the sport but is now an after thought.
The decline in football may be even faster. A football game requires two full teams of 11 players each, a minimum of 22 players. A boxing match has only 2 players.
If interest in football declines, this will make it harder to get enough players to make a team viable. Many teams and then leagues will go defunct. Youth leagues will be affected first, and the decline will spread upwards to the junior varsity level, varsity level, college level, and eventually professional level.
I watched the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High (one of my favorite movies) last night, and the football game demonstrated this danger. One of Ridgemont’s football players was extremely angry, and he singlehandedly caused several of his opponents to be carried away on stretchers. Of course, this is only entertaining because it’s fictional. This wouldn’t be so entertaining in real life.
It’s amazing that this movie is 40 years old. If football declines because of the safety record, the football scene will look so antiquated in another 40 years.
“Getting bucked off of horses and bulls is as hard or harder than being at the bottom of a football pileup.”
rodeo riders are phenomenal athletes, and are just crazy enough to be willing to hop on
those extremely powerful animals.
elite level skiers, both alpine and nordic, also take quite the beating from their sport, they
also need the “crazy” gene. I imagine surfers are the same, but have never been exposed
to that sport.
there are definitely sports that don’t get the hype of the NFL or NHL that are just as
physically demanding, with long term health issues if things go bad.
As a teen, played some football against farm boys, I learned to understand the meaning
of “country strong”, lol.
Getting bucked off of horses and bulls is as hard or harder than being at the bottom of a football pileup.
Both are “traditional USian values”, thus unlikely to die out. I have noticed the efforts to make football a 52 week/year sport. Within a few weeks of the Superbowl, the sports reporter on the local news starts chattering about “workouts”, “OTAs”, and “minicamps” in rotation throughout the spring and summer. I remember in May, well into the baseball season, when the Detroit Tigers were looking like contenders, the sports guy started his segment, and one of the news anchors noted aloud “this is the third day in a row you have lead with football”.
With the audience thus primed by 52 week/year football chatter, we now have the USFL. Season started April 16th, running for ten weeks, with games televised on Fox, Fox Sports, USA, and NBC.
The USFL season ends at the end of June, with the championship game scheduled for July 3. NFL training camps open in late July, with preseason games starting in August, so the summer break from football is almost gone.
There is so much money in football, I don’t know if facts will ever override the greed.
running on uneven, unstable surfaces is really good for developing balance.
I rarely run on concrete, but do trail runs on the xc ski trails near me, it’s kind of
rough, uneven, really hilly, and it definitely develops balance.
Same for just hiking on them, it’s very much different than walking on pavement.
Same applies to sand, have lakeshore dune trails in the area, hilly and uneven, good
for developing balance.
What the Olympic/World Cup skiers do is insane to me, both alpine and nordic, it would
be a death sentence on some of those hills and trails for normal skiers like me,lol.
Going 50mph downhill on skinny nordic ski’s on winding trails is insane.
Going 100mph downhill on alpine ski’s is insane.
Watching surfers riding big waves on TV, that looks like utter insanity to me, too.
( all from my perspective, those elite athletes aren’t crazy )
The decline in football may be even faster. A football game requires two full teams of 11 players each, a minimum of 22 players. A boxing match has only 2 players.
Things always adapt, and usually to be more entertaining.
Football has a 7 on 7 version (no linemen) that is basically flag football because of no tackling and a few other rule changes. It is popular right now for high school off season camps and weekend tournaments. Coaches/recruiters go to try and find the next undiscovered QB or WR.
Rugby is traditionally played 15 on 15. They even have a 7 on 7 version which is how it is played in the Olympics. Speed and agility is stressed more because of the extra open space. While they still have tackling and collisions, much less frequent. An exciting sport to watch.
The decline in football may be even faster. A football game requires two full teams of 11 players each, a minimum of 22 players. A boxing match has only 2 players.
The US is awash in hulking morons that like to crash into each-other.
The NCAA put together some numbers for the class of 2019.
Of slightly more than 1M who play football in high school, 7.3%, 73,712 that year, made it to an NCAA college program.
Of the 73,712 who play college football, 254 are drafted by the NFL.
The ranks of professional football players could easily be tripled, quadrupled.
Football: Probability of competing beyond high school