I went downstairs ostensibly to watch a bit of mindless television to rest my brain for a bit. I turned on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption (PTI), one of my favorite shows. During the segment, "Five Good Minutes," the guest interviewed was Malcolm Gladwell who has written a disturbing article, "Offensive Play" in The New Yorker magazine.
It seems that researchers are finding that ex-boxers and football players have a greater propensity than average to develop dementia-type disabilities. While no definite conclusions have been reached as yet, it does appear that continued injuries to the brain -- both concussions and sub-concussions -- may be the culprit.
During the interview on PTI, Gladwell stated that the day may come when sports like football fall out of favor. As he asked rhetorically, what parent would allow their children to engage in an activity that has a good chance of leading to early-onset dementia and other neurological problems?
As discussed on the program and in the article, physical collisions aren't a byproduct of sports of this nature; they are inherent aspects. Consequently, no amount of safety equipment or better technique would be able to eradicate injuries of this type. If the preliminary assumptions are borne out with later testing, it may point to the day when full-contact sports become a thing of the past either by making them illegal or because they will become socially unacceptable.
If this were to happen, what would become of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network? There is only so much baseball, table tennis, gymnastics and tiddly winks to cover!
Maybe ESPN could morph into the Educational and Social Philosophy Network?
It seems that researchers are finding that ex-boxers and football players have a greater propensity than average to develop dementia-type disabilities. While no definite conclusions have been reached as yet, it does appear that continued injuries to the brain -- both concussions and sub-concussions -- may be the culprit.
During the interview on PTI, Gladwell stated that the day may come when sports like football fall out of favor. As he asked rhetorically, what parent would allow their children to engage in an activity that has a good chance of leading to early-onset dementia and other neurological problems?
As discussed on the program and in the article, physical collisions aren't a byproduct of sports of this nature; they are inherent aspects. Consequently, no amount of safety equipment or better technique would be able to eradicate injuries of this type. If the preliminary assumptions are borne out with later testing, it may point to the day when full-contact sports become a thing of the past either by making them illegal or because they will become socially unacceptable.
If this were to happen, what would become of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network? There is only so much baseball, table tennis, gymnastics and tiddly winks to cover!
Maybe ESPN could morph into the Educational and Social Philosophy Network?
nah, competitive sports are inherent in any civilization, i doubt if football would fall out of favor. more likely, a non-contact version of the game would be created, or there would be more rules about contact.
ReplyDeletehonestly, i love watching football, and i myself have done sparring, which included quite a few blows to the head (wearing padding, but, like you said, injuries still happen.) people don't quit running or gymnastics even though there's a substantial strain on the skeleton and joints from those sports, nor do people quit going to rock concerts even though repeated exposure damages your hearing permanently... i doubt if people will quit doing what they love to do despite the detriment it has on one's body. we can't live life in a cocoon. there are some professions which cause permanent damage, but that's called life.
Just me maybe, but I never liked these kinds of sports anyway. They seem rather barbaric. But there are lots of more graceful sports still around that ESPN could cover, like soccer (or what the rest of the world calls football). And soccer is crazy-popular in the world outside the United States. Or take basketball, too, which I like to watch although not as much as soccer.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is no revelation that being punched in the head for a career is going to damage the brain - it is interesting to consider how repeated bad input to the mind will also damage the person.
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean is someone who repeatedly hears they are stupid, someone who repeatedly tells themselves they are a failure, someone who constantly thinks all around them is misery - this bombardment is sure to bring about brain issues but from the inside out and not punched and kicked from the outside.
I detest football and dislike western style boxing, but I love martial arts movies: kung fu and wu xia. They are more like ballet. My favorite martial artist/actor said in his early days the hard part for him was the restraint he had to maintain for filming...sometimes he hurt people. But generally these guys know how to protect their heads, and everyone else's.
ReplyDeleteMy husband thinks watching SNOOKER is just great fun, and I worried about my son when he became fascinated, at around 13, with golf on TV. Now I think they are just really calm people.
The only part of the Beijing OIympics opening hooha I watched was the big martial arts show they had. If ESPN had a martial arts channel with tournaments I would watch it.
I have a funny article by a 7th Day Adventist who maintains that organized sports are the work of ...Satan!
ESPN morphing...we already have Public "Educational" Television.
Iktomi,
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine that the NFFL (National Flag Football League) would be as lucrative as today's NFL. :D
Dasein36,
I used to play soccer. I was the goalie on a team that won the city championship in Kansas City, MO.
Unfortunately, Americans just don't get excited by futbol. There's simply not enough violence to hold our attention. : (
Tao,
As always, you make the most astute points!!!
BR,
Yes, we DO have educational channels, but none that I know of that focus on philosophy! Wouldn't it be cool to transform the Super Bowl into the Philosophy Bowl? :D
Mandie,
ReplyDeleteI can certainly believe it. It seems that more and more of the reporters and anchors on ESPN are women!