Probably the Dumbest Rule Ever Made

[donovan]

Build a fire for a man and you keep him warm for a couple of hours...set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life

Where did you get this?

[billybud]

Sir Terence Pratchett...AKA "Terry" Pratchett. A Brit writer.

[warrriorsfan808]

I find this rule to be as nuts as when a flag is thrown after a hard hit in the middle of the field and the call is "Personal Foul, Unnecessary Roughness"
That's when I'm yelling at the t.v., "Gentlemen, go to the sidelines take of the pads, put on the little pink flags and return to the field of play" Sometimes I think we forget what game we are playing.

[donovan]

Well first things first. I think, despite the score, Hawaii will be all right this year. Tough to play the number one team. Chow is a good coach. New quarterback, offensive line that was having a tough time. Looking up for Hawaii, think they will have a winning record this year. And Chow was not exactly an unknown quantity to USC.

And to the topic. Why don't we go back to the Teddy Roosevelt days when he said we are banning college football because of the deaths and injuries. Our young student-athletes should just step up and be real men about this. We can allow horse collaring again. So you knee gets blown out, you won't remember it because of the concussion you are going to get, so what is the big deal. And what is wrong with chop blocking? It is spectacular to watch there are more players on the bench that are not yet in wheelchairs. And flying wedge. Has been used for centuries in warfare. Greeks, Romans, WWI, Patton's armor division, and who were the wimps that outlawed it after only a couple of years in the late 1800's because of guys getting maimed and killed.

The real problem is, we are not training our 2nd graders to be real men and take the head blow.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:6091106

[Spence]

I don't think that anyone would argue that leading with the helmet is right. There is a right way to tackle, although, there is no way for players to collide in a completely safe manner. Keep your head up (and back), lead with your chest, wrap and drive the player back and to the ground. That is the right way and the safest way to tackle. The officials have to learn how to keep it clean. That is the biggest problem. That and the fact that some people don't think concussions are that big a deal. The QB for our local team got a concussion during the game. His dad argued (to no avail) that he was OK and should play. The school rule says any kid that losses consciousness can't play until cleared by a doctor. It is out of the school's hands at that point. As it should be. Medical decisions should be made by medical professionals.

It is hear to believe that a parent would be the one trying to force the issue, but lots of people do not understant the seriousness of losing consciousness. Sadly serious accidents are possible in most sports and football is one of the more dangerous. I think you have to do your best to eliminate serious injurys and it should be the number one priority, but it is not possible to eliminate all serious injuries in sports without eliminating the game itself.

[billybud]

Football is a collision sport...it would be difficult to maintain the game as it is with a lot of additional "safety rules"....I guess one could go "full Aussie" and get rid of all equipment. Or..go straight to 7 on 7 no pad football or flag football.

Even soccer players are showing impaired cognitive performance attributed to repeated heading of the ball. Solution: Ban heading.

But we all could be safer...quit eating char grilled steak and it's known carcinogens...better yet...Ban grilled steak. Better yet..Ban grills.

We could become a Tofu nation and support ultimate frisbee as the national sport. I could look in the trunk and see if I have some vintage tie dyes....

[donovan]

Now we're talking.........

[Spence]

Football is a collision sport...it would be difficult to maintain the game as it is with a lot of additional "safety rules"....I guess one could go "full Aussie" and get rid of all equipment. Or..go straight to 7 on 7 no pad football or flag football.

Even soccer players are showing impaired cognitive performance attributed to repeated heading of the ball. Solution: Ban heading.

But we all could be safer...quit eating char grilled steak and it's known carcinogens...better yet...Ban grilled steak. Better yet..Ban grills.

We could become a Tofu nation and support ultimate frisbee as the national sport. I could look in the trunk and see if I have some vintage tie dyes....

Ban grilled steaks.................................blasphemer!

[Spence]

There are lots of concussions in soccer. Not just from heading, but because it can get rough. The coaches at the high school level teach contact. They teach using your shoulder to get leverage. In a crowd this causes head to head contact at times. This is why you have to make rules with intent in mind. if a guy is spearing throw the flag. incidental helmet to helmet contact, though, can't be a penalty unless you ban tackling. Flag football, although a fun way to get a coed game going, just isn't as fun to play as the real version.

[billybud]

In my time playing, coaching, and officiating in soccer....I saw a couple of serious concussions.

Never from a play on which a defender is shouldering a defender...but from banging heads in collisions on air balls, being knocked into the goal post, getting kicked in the head as a keeper when diving for the ball, from a thrown elbow to the temple, etc.

Soccer is rough sport, but is played, for the most part, below the head until one contests for a ball in the air.

[Spence]

In my time playing, coaching, and officiating in soccer....I saw a couple of serious concussions.

Never from a play on which a defender is shouldering a defender...but from banging heads in collisions on air balls, being knocked into the goal post, getting kicked in the head as a keeper when diving for the ball, from a thrown elbow to the temple, etc.

Soccer is rough sport, but is played, for the most part, below the head until one contests for a ball in the air.

I have seen people get kicked. I did see a concussion from shouldering and one from a straight on head shot from two kids going for a ball in the air. My kids have played for about eight years now and I still don't know a ton about the sport. They like it and I support them. I have never played the game myself. I think it is a little like basketball, except without hands.

[WoVeU]

Hold up, hold up! I have read about no grilling, no steak, flag f_____l, and soccer...all in 1 thread! I threw up at the second mention of flag f______l.

One of the keys in life is where you draw your lines. What do you value? We have to weigh risk and reward constantly in life. The great thing about the idea of America is the vast level people chose this for themselves..where it does not notably impact another. We have of course lost sight of this by a country mile and live in fear mongering state with cowardice on every corner. We have so anesthetized everything and added so much lamina that I forget what the core intent was/is to a great many things I do...or started to do. Last year I saw so many signs for vaccinations in lights and marquis that I thought we added another holiday preceding Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa and then increasingly saw people using all the anti-bacterial cleaners and more and more people wearing masks in public!

I'm tired, I just turned 41 and I am pretty sure I now have more losses and remember whens to talk about than my grandfather did at 65.

But in the current landscape I like the application of safety, and too a large part just to see what differences it yields. Because we lost this somewhere...we change and keep on changing...at some point you have to step back reflect, measure, and take account. And I think somewhere after this season or just a few more this needs to be done. And it needs to be done by those it most squarely effects...the players. Before hand I'd say this lacks merit. But soon it won't...a more educated decision can be made. We have the before and after effect on the game...true the full effect on players we won't have, but I think it can be extrapolated. Let them decide, and I don't want to hear about them being young. We let 18 year old's vote on things that directly effect 310M people...surely 22-40 year old's are competent enough to decide on something that effects them. (If they don't, we have a whole other issue. Then that issue should be addressed.) But I think there is a very good chance if we wait another 12 years to have explicit data it won't matter, we won't have the game anymore...let alone the ability to retrieve it.) But I guess that is OK...I feel I have lost a lot of things that I will only continue to lose more of (barring my expatriation.)

Yet I still say I accept the changes yielded to the game so far....but just barely! But I'd bet my savings account it is not done.