Every year it’s the same. As the fireworks subside from Independence Day celebrations, I begin to tingle with anticipation for the upcoming MLB All-Star game. What’s so exciting? Is it the thwack of a fine piece of ash connecting with the horsehide? 1-0 Pitching duels? Extra innings? Hot-dogs and beer?”
Hell no.
It’s the knowledge that baseball season is half over and that football camp is around the corner! Besides, what Chicagoan in his/her right mind is excited about baseball? I mean, we’re still milking that Blackhawks goat for a last few drops of vicarious pride until the dual abominations of Cubs and Sox pack it in for another season.
Well, today hope springs eternal because Da Bearsss report to camp, and the Big Ten (11, 12, 13, 14 and counting) Media Day opens.
In celebration of God’s Favorite Sport ™, let us turn to a topic that has been much discussed of late: Head Trauma.
Parents, doctors, pundits, and ex-players have been inveighing against football (and other inherently violent sports) because of studies showing the deleterious, long-term effects of prolonged battering inflicted while playing, especially the effects of repeated concussions or Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
There is little doubt about the crippling effects of playing football for many years. If we take a lad of say, the age of ten, who plays Pop Warner football on through high school, college, and finally a very modest career in the NFL, that totals about 20 years of collisions. We can be pretty certain that young man will suffer with various health issues the rest of his life as a result.
So what should we do? Take hitting out of football? Do away with it entirely? There are some who have argued for that very thing. Some state legislatures have considered outlawing football for children younger than high school age. Author and media gadfly Malcolm Gladwell advocates banning college football, citing the sad cases of Owen Thomas, Dave Duerson, and Junior Seau, all of whom committed suicide. CTE is considered to be a contributing factor in each case.
A few years ago, in an article for The New Yorker magazine, Gladwell went so far as to compare playing football to dog fighting. Asked about this in an interview, he answered,
In what way is dog fighting any different from football on a certain level, right? I mean you take a young, vulnerable dog who was made vulnerable because of his allegiance to the owner and you ask him to engage in serious sustained physical combat with another dog under the control of another owner, right?
Well, what’s football? We take young boys, essentially, and we have them repeatedly, over the course of the season, smash each other in the head, with known neurological consequences. And why do they do that? Out of an allegiance to their owners and their coaches and a feeling they’re participating in some grand American spectacle. (CNN – July 20, 2013)
I’ll grant him that there is a superficial similarity. The difference, and it’s an important one, is that dogs who are made to fight have no choice. Football players always have a choice. Certainly, there are parents who push their children to participate in violent sports for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless, even a ten year old is capable of expressing a desire to take up golf or the chess club instead.
As a species, we are fundamentally wired for competition, especially males. Truth be told, football is a lot of fun for most boys and young men. When I first decided I wanted to play football, it was based on the fact that all my friends were going out for the team. I didn’t want to be left out. Yes, I got hurt. Yes, I was concussed a few times—explains a lot really—but I also enjoyed myself immensely! I reaped the benefits of experiencing comradery, discipline, teamwork, perseverance through trials, and accomplishment.
I’m over fifty now and I’m paying for the short time I played competitive sports. Mercifully, I was too small, slow, and bereft of ambition to play football in college or I would no doubt be in much worse shape. Still, I would do it all over again and more, because what the sport gave me more than compensates for the pains I have now.
As much as we’d like to to avoid it, life continues to be a high-risk enterprise. We can no more do away with that risk, than we can change ourselves into trees. Still, I believe young people should be given the facts about the sports they participate in, especially as age and the stakes increase. If they weigh the risks and decide it’s still worth their effort, than I say go for it!
It might be the head trauma talkin’ but I still think football is the best game ever invented. Those who’ve never played probably won’t get it, but I know that playing did more for me than to me.
