[Football1]

Dave Diamond, I pretty much totally agree with you all the way down the line. I thought a few years ago when the link between football related head injuries and major problems later in life was finally being recognized that it was the beginning of the end for football as we know it. I have seen nothing since to make me think otherwise. As crazy as some may see it, I think football will be gone from a lot of high schools within my lifetime, and I am 50+. Just wait until the first time a school system is held financially accountable for injuries suffered by someone while representing that school system playing football. I'm talking about years after that person has graduated from that school system. See how quickly things get shut down then. I would hate to see it go, because football is as you said the greatest of the team sports. But changes, hard choices, will have to be made. Now football will never totally be gone, there is way too much television and gambling money involved. There will always be a professional level, and a developmental level below that. I think the big transformation will come in those developmental levels and how they are administered.

It is a tough pill for some to swallow but I have lived in the Healthcare industry for 20 years. Data. That is what is happening. In the past "evidence" was anecdotal and sparse. Now lawyers will have empirical hard proof that will connect head injuries to permanent cognitive decline. That will come at an amazing cost that high schools and tax payers will not be able to bear.

THE ONLY way to PREVENT this is to make drastic changes to the game the will produce a dramatic decline in the number of head injuries that occur every time kids play. Will stiffer penalties get this done? Nope - but it is a start. Otherwise, look forward to Friday nights where you are watching 7 on 7 passing tournaments.


Dave Diamond
[email]cdavediamond@gmail.com[/email]