A place for the discussion of all things not closely related to the sport and its competitive side. (Locked down several times a year during the major championships)
jazzcyclist wrote:say they are outlawing hard hits
What do you think the penalty for "unnecessary roughness" is? There was no need for something vicious like that. All the blocker had to do was literally get in his way and the guy couldn't have made the tackle. You see that all the time in downfield blocks: guys just get in the way of would-be tacklers, so they can't catch the ball-carrier. The NFL is in its terminal stages if they can't rein in the injuries caused by head-hunters.
You sound like someone who never played football, because what you preaching goes against everything that's ingrained in football players from the time they're pewees. You're taught to arrive at the scene of impact as fast as you can and to deliver the hit with extreme prejudice, not calibrate your speed based on what you feel is necessary to avoid injuring your target. To do what you ask, we might as well put flags on the players and take the helmets and pads off.
Furthermore, there was no head-hunting by Tate on that play, all the impact was delivered to the chest area, straight out of the textbooks. I actually agree with eliiniating the head-hunting, but that's not what happened on this play. I have a very strong hunch that Goodell wouldn't be throwing around these silly fines if he had ever played football at any level. I hope enough players get tired of these fines to drag him back to court so that he gets his hand slapped by a judge AGAIN before he totally ruins the game.
jazzcyclist wrote:what you're preaching goes against everything that's ingrained in football players from the time they're pewees.
Interestingly, this is exactly why I have zero interest in american football.
I don't watch the pros any more (unless I get a ticket to the Jags game) and my interest in college is due to old school ties. Any game where the idea is to hurt your opponent unnecessarily is not sport. Boxing is on its way out and MMA/UFC is one horrific death away from severe regulation (it'll happen soon).
jazzcyclist wrote:You sound like someone who never played football, because what you preaching goes against everything that's ingrained in football players from the time they're pewees. You're taught to arrive at the scene of impact as fast as you can and to deliver the hit with extreme prejudice, not calibrate your speed based on what you feel is necessary to avoid injuring your target. To do what you ask, we might as well put flags on the players and take the helmets and pads off.
My grandson's 7th grade football season is just about one third done and my observation is that they discourage "unnecessary roughness" right from the start of those football careers. They penalize even "clean" hits when delivered more harsh than necessary to tackle the ball-carrier.
As far as the helmets are concerned, I believe that the current helmet is a major contributing factors to injuries. It should be restructured (softened) to protect the head without being a deadly weapon.
Marlow wrote:Boxing is on its way out and MMA/UFC is one horrific death away from severe regulation (it'll happen soon).
Sorry to have to mention this here, but MMA is safer than pole vaulting. So with all due respect, Marlow, better be careful what you wish for. And professional MMA in the U.S. is rather heavily regulated as it is.
Marlow wrote:Boxing is on its way out and MMA/UFC is one horrific death away from severe regulation (it'll happen soon).
Sorry to have to mention this here, but MMA is safer than pole vaulting. So with all due respect, Marlow, better be careful what you wish for. And professional MMA in the U.S. is rather heavily regulated as it is.
Red herring - no one is trying to injure anyone in PVing. Cheerleading has more injuries than PVing. MMA is NOT safer than PVing, just because there have been PV deaths. MMA is a savage beat-down between consulting adults. As far as MMA regulation goes, the lack of protective padding and the fact that you can choke someone out, says all it needs to say.
That said, PVing has indeed been discontinued in some areas, as well it should be whenever unsafe conditions (or personnel) exist. I have 'cancelled' the event at away meets (when I withdraw my athletes, I ensure all athletes are stopped).
Marlow wrote:the fact that you can choke someone out, says all it needs to say.
So I assume you're also opposed to the Olympic sport of judo then?
Does the epithet of 'Olympic Sport' preclude criticism? If ckoking out your opponent is a viable tactic, yeah, I've got a problem with it. Is it something you'd recommend for your daughter? "Don't worry, honey, I'm sure she won't accidentally crush your trachea, even though that's kinda the object of the move."
[On the other hand, all three of my kids pole vaulted and now my 9-year-old grandson is doing it. Neither of my two sons ever wanted to try football. Not a word from my wife or me.]
Marlow wrote:even though that's kinda the object of the move."
No, it's not. The general difference is between air chokes (reducing air flow to the lungs) and blood chokes (reducing blood flow to the brain). Air chokes are the ones that pose the danger of injuring the trachea, while blood chokes are the ones that are used in MMA and judo.
I was once used in a judo demonstration to demonstrate a choke hold. I was strangled almost into unconsciousness by a local guy, Keith Remfry, who had won silver in the open division at the Montreal Games a month earlier. Most unpleasant and confirmed my decision that being a wussy high jumper was just fine. Ranked up there in unpleasantness with being pinned to the ground at the bottom of a ruck in rugby, being unable to protect my head or goolies with the opposition intent on a bit of afternoon GBH.
jazzcyclist wrote:..... I have a very strong hunch that Goodell wouldn't be throwing around these silly fines if he had ever played football at any level.....
<<of Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Bronxville High School where, as a three-sport star in football, basketball, and baseball, he captained all three teams as a senior and was named the school's athlete of the year.[5] Injuries kept him from playing college football.[6] ...>>
