Category Archives: Sports

Sports

The end of the summer…

…the start of Football season.

I’ve always viewed the two as part and parcel of the changing of the seasons, particularly since where I live we don’t have any noticeable fall.

Thursday the 2016 Football season officially started with the game between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos and…it wasn’t pretty.

Mainly this was due to the fact that it appeared the Denver Bronco defense went well above and beyond in their attempts to take Carolina quarterback Cam Newton out of the game by targeting his head.  The refs, in this case, seemed to see nothing strange going on and didn’t make any calls for what appeared to most people’s eyes to be particularly egregious head hunting tactics.

Afterwards, when of course there was an uproar over this, the NFL and NFLPA announced they would investigate concussion protocol compliance for Cam Newton.

I’ve stated this before and I’ll state it again: I like watching football.  It is an exciting sport and when you see really talented players playing (I wish I could say that about my home team!) you’re in for some genuine excitement.

However, with each passing year and with more and more evidence available, it is clear Football is a sport which damages not only a player physically but also mentally.  Which makes what happened in the opening game of the season all that much more egregious.

As popular as Football is in the United States, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day the various reports on concussions and physical injuries turn people off the sport and it loses its incredible appeal.

Then again, it is certainly possible new technologies allow for better protection of players.

Perhaps then, and only then, the unease I feel at seeing some of the more savage blows will fade away.

Sports

Controversy regarding…Curling?!

Yes, there is controversy regarding that winter sport that fascinates so many.  I’m not talking about Hockey or Ice Skating or Cross-Country Skiing…we’re talking about…Curling.

This article, by Jennifer Ouellette and found on Gizmodo.com, offers insight into…

The Physics Behind the “Broomgate” Controversy Rocking the sport of Curling

All right, so I started this entry with tongue in cheek but let me now do an about face and say: I like Curling.  Really, I do.

Whenever the Winter Olympics are on or when I’m surfing around oddball cable channels and find they feature Curling, I stop.  I stare.  I enjoy.

There’s something incredibly fascinating, to me, about watching the sport even as I’d readily admit it is hardly the most physically demanding of winter sports and can be performed by your average person versus, say, running a Marathon or playing professional Football.

That’s not to say Curling doesn’t require concentration and mental skills, and that’s where the whole “broomgate” issue comes in.  In the game, you slide a “rock” across ice (not unlike bowling) and try to position your rocks closest to the center target while denying your opponent from doing the same.  When sliding your rock, your teammates may (or may not depending on your rock’s trajectory) brush the ice ahead of your rock to improve its speed or make it “curl” in one direction or the other.

The manner in which this brushing is achieved is by using a broom.

When I first saw Curling waaaaay back in the early 1970’s, this is what the brooms looked like:

Your eyes do not deceive you: The brooms used back then were actual, honest to goodness brooms.  This is what they use today:

These brooms are brooms in name only.  They’re high tech creations designed specifically for use in this sport.

The controversy, as outlined in the article above, is that new, even more high tech brooms have become so good it is feared they’re capable of turning all shots, even terrible ones, into good ones because they do such a great job in “fixing” the ice before the rock.

Anyway, I found the whole article fascinating to read but I suspect there plenty out there who wouldn’t.  To them I say, watch some great Curling shots and tell me even this sport can’t be exciting:

Sports, TV

Entertainment news…

A pair of entertainment related articles caught my eye between yesterday today.

First up is the news that, among a few others from different series, actress Stana Katic is leaving the show Castle:

Stana Katic and four other TV exits that stunned fans worldwide

For those who don’t know about the show Castle or Ms. Katic, it is a reasonably breezy murder/mystery type affair which started with a womanizing bachelor best-selling author, as they are wont to do, getting himself embedded in the NY Police Department for reasons (and they let him for stay on for… reasons).

At first the author, Richard Castle (played by cult/fan favorite Nathan Fillion) is viewed as an impediment to investigations but over time he becomes more and more a part of the “team.”  He is overseen/partnered with no-nonsense Detective Kate Beckett (Ms. Katic, natch) and over the course of the show we go through romantic tension between the characters followed by actual romance and, according to the article, the two characters are now married.

Anyway, here’s the show’s two leads.  Ms. Katic is (obviously) on the right:

According to the above article, after nine seasons, ABC last week announced the next season of Castle would not feature Ms. Katic.  The reasons for her departure were not made clear which, to my mind, may well indicate the parting was less than amicable.

I mention while admitting I’m not a fan of the show.  My full exposure to it was during a summer a few years ago where I caught several episodes worth of reruns on TNT or TBS and found the show fun and the two leads had plenty of charisma but it was not something I felt worth following beyond that.

Having said this and admitting my limited exposure, I nonetheless cannot see how Castle continues without Ms. Katic’s Detective Beckett.  Unlike other shows which feature larger ensemble casts, this show had other characters running around but the focus was clearly on these two and their interactions.  Further, part of the bigger storyline in the admittedly few episodes I saw was the fact that Richard Castle’s big literary creation was based on Detective Beckett.  Not only did he romance her but her character was the inspiration for the books he wrote.

Now, having her character suddenly gone has to radically change the show.  One wonders, did the show’s producers know she was leaving when they finished the previous season?  If they did, had they filmed something hinting at her departure?  Or will the new season simply start off with her character’s departure being a fait accompli?

Despite not following this show, I am intrigued to see if they can somehow overcome this very big change.  I hope they don’t just substitute another no-nonsense female detective in Ms. Katic’s place and try to start all over again.

The second bit of entertainment news involves former baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, an outspoken very conservative individual who finally said more than his employers, ESPN, could handle.  Thus his comments regarding transgender individuals cost him his analyst job:

ESPN fires analyst Curt Schilling over anti-transgender post

Mr. Schilling has made his sometimes controversial right wing opinions known for a while now.

What I find so fascinating is that he’s another of those people who make sometimes outrageous comments and then proudly proclaim their right to make their opinions known yet are baffled with the concept that when you make such statements, others have the very same right to make their opinions known regarding your opinions.

Freedom of speech allows for all people to say whatever is on their mind but while you’re certainly free to state your opinions, you have to understand that doing so does not somehow make you “immune” to having others react to those statements you make.

Especially when they’re inflammatory and controversial.

Worse for Mr. Schilling is the fact that the “others” who may react to your controversial statements can well be your bosses.  If they feel your opinions hurt the company’s image and having you remain employed by them is detrimental to their bottom line, then guess what: They have a right to fire you.

I’d say live and learn but considering the history of Mr. Schilling making statements like these I don’t suppose he has or will.

Sports

It was only a matter of time…

From CNN and written by Scott Polacek:

NFL Acknowledges Link Between Football and CTE

I’ve stated before that I’m a fan of Football (though my Miami Dolphins have been mediocre and far worse for an awful long time).

I’m also a realist.

Football is a wild, emotional, and fun sport to watch but its clear those participating in it are doing considerable damage to their bodies and, by extension, their future.

Because there is so much money involved in the sport now, we have players whose bodies are at near peak shape.  They couldn’t be much stronger or faster and they are involved in a sport that essentially takes these peak athletes and has them run at each other as fast as they can.

The collisions do damage to the bodies but padding can help.  Somewhat.

The problem is that as strong as you are, as built up as your body is, there is no way to further protect your brain.  It essentially floats within one’s head and even with the most high tech helmets out there, a hit can and will cause damage.  Damage that sometimes doesn’t manifest itself for years.

A few days back the whole sad, sordid O. J. Simpson saga made it to the headlines again when a knife reportedly found on the estate years before was turned in (you can read about that here).

I recall the entire sordid O. J. Simpson saga but now, with the benefit of hindsight, another element of the sordid affair comes to life.  Mr. Simpson, who was a famous running back for the Buffalo Bills before furthering his celebrity in movies, commercials, and sports commentary, may well also might be exhibiting symptoms of someone suffering from CTE.

This might explain -but certainly not forgive- the horrific abuse he inflicted on his wife which, in my and many others’ minds, ultimately led to her murder and that of Ron Goldman.

There is simply no happy ending to this story.  As repugnant as I find Mr. Simpson, I also know now versus back then how other ex-players for the NFL have been affected by CTE.  Some have withered away.  Some, like superstar linebacker Junior Seau might well have been driven to suicide.

As much as I enjoy watching professional football, someone far wiser than me noted the sports is today what the tobacco industry was in the 1980’s…a giant industry desperately trying to deny the undeniable, that their product is potentially deadly to those who actually participate in it.

Sports

Celebrity Basketball politics…

This is just…I don’t know what to say.

The NBA is currently on its mid-season All-Star Break and one of the events it features is a “Celebrity” Basketball match.  In the match, Arcade Fire’s singer Win Butler’s team won and in the interview following the win, Mr. Butler, who is Canadian, tried to talk about Canada’s Heath Care system and how in this election year -I can only imagine he was heading in this direction- people should educate themselves on the many positives of this system considering many of the Republican candidates have already promised to dismantle the Obamacare system.

I say I can only imagine that’s where he was going because Sage Steele, the lady interviewing Mr. Butler, cut him off as if he were in the middle of yelling out a string of obscenities…

I found this clip and article on deadspin.com…

Sage Steel Cuts off Arcade Fire’s Win Butler’s attempt to talk about Health Care

It’s been pointed out that Ms. Steel is a registered Republican and has in the past tweeted/talked negatively about Obamacare, which certainly explains her so sudden cutting off of Mr. Butler all the more.

Others might argue why, in an event meant to entertain, should Mr. Butler be given time to talk about something political and which doesn’t have all that much to do with Basketball.

To which I would say: How many times have you seen “entertainment” events and had the athletes interviewed after the fact mention God or Jesus or some charity they’re working for?  These things, too, often have little or nothing to do with the game.

Even if Mr. Butler had said something I might find offensive -say, “Elect Donald Trump…he isn’t as batshit crazy as he appears!”- I would have shaken my head and probably thought a little less of Mr. Butler as a person but it wouldn’t have changed my opinion of his music or made me bemoan the fact that he won this All-Star Basketball game.  Further, had the interviewer cut him off just as he started as Ms. Steel did, I’m thinking I would have been just as offended as I was with Ms. Steel’s actions here.

To Mr. Butler’s credit, he acted like your stereotypical Canadian and didn’t call out Ms. Steel for her boorish behavior.

Jeeze, give the guy a few seconds to say what he wants and don’t inject yourself into things so quickly and wag your finger at the man you’re interviewing (“But we’re talking about celebrity basketball and not politics”), Ms. Steel.

If he isn’t cursing or acting like a complete jerk, there is no reason to make yourself look like one.

Sports, TV

…and that’s why they play the game.

My thoughts on Super Bowl 50, if you’re interested:

Lady Gaga’s rendition of the National Anthem was quite spectacular.  Couldn’t tell you about the halftime show as I was busy doing a few things and missed it completely (I could have rewound and watched it but as I don’t care for either Coldplay, Beyonce, or Bruno Mars all that much there seemed little need to).

As for the final score, I was very surprised by it.  Going into the game I thought this would be a blowout with the Carolina Panthers winning.

While I knew the Denver Bronco’s defense was damn good (it was rated #1 this year), I felt Peyton Manning’s QB play was so very weak that it would ultimately prove a liability the Broncos could not overcome.  The fact is Mr. Manning’s body is broken down and he is, at best, an average to below average QB at this point.

Add to that the fact the Carolina Panthers looked to be an far better rounded team and you’ll understand my reasoning.  Carolina’s defense, while obviously not ranked #1, was nonetheless still a damn good unit and in combination with an overall better offense had me feeling this would be an easy win for Carolina.

Boy was I was wrong.

Denver’s defense essentially won the game while Manning, though he committed a few errors (and potentially more…there were times his passes were up there for grabs but Carolina didn’t get them), nonetheless didn’t sink their ship.

After the game, one of the announcers repeated my exact thoughts by noting he never thought a defensive performance alone would be sufficient to win a Super Bowl but that this game proved it could indeed be the case…provided your defense is as good as this one.

In the end, the better team won and in this case it was because of their incredibly good defense.

So much for the game.  How about…The commercials?

Ho boy.

What was always a side tradition of watching the Super Bowl was seeing a parade of clever and sometimes outrageous commercials.  This year, it was nothing more than a bust.

Of the commercials I could remember:

The Prius commercial.  This was the worst.  I mean, who thought it was a good idea to present a group of “lovable” bank robbers as protagonists in these commercials?  For those who didn’t see the commercial, it starts with the bank robbers’ car being towed and they are forced to steal a car to make their getaway.  They find a Prius and take it but, hey, it’s all good: They leave behind a bag of stolen money to pay the owner for the stolen car.  The commercial then has them getting away…and away…and away as the Prius is not only fast, but so fuel economical that it keeps the police from capturing them.

Of course in real life the police would blast the living shit out of that Prius and take the bank robbers down hard.  Further, other than the people behind the making of the commercial, who in their right mind would look upon bank robbers as being “lovable”?!

The Snickers commercial.  Last year Snickers presented one of the all time best versions of their “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry” commercials by having Danny Trejo (Machete) and, at the end of the commercial, Steve Buscemi (Broadwalk Empire, among many others) appear as the “hungry” versions of Marcia and Jan of The Brady Bunch.

This year we had Willem Dafoe playing a cranky Marilyn Monroe as s/he’s filming her famous “white dress being blown up by the subway air” scene from The Seven Year Itch.

On paper the idea of seeing Willem Dafoe in Marilyn’s dress and doing that scene must have felt like a home run but in watching it I couldn’t help but cringe.  Didn’t work at all.

The superhero commercials:  Unless I’m missing one, I believe there were five in total.  The Deadpool one was ok.  They’ve done better.

The Captain America: Civil War trailer was…only OK as well, IMHO.  I’m curious why they didn’t just call it Avengers 3: Civil War, considering the fact all the main superheroes (plus a few new ones) are there.

The Hulk/Ant-Man Coke commercial…Cute concept but ultimately played out too long.  And a part of me was thinking: All that destruction and potential human life lost/injured because of one stinking can of Coke?

The Batman v Superman/Turkish Airways commercial.  Though many have dumped on the film before its release, I’ve felt that up to this point the clips/trailers I’ve seen have me optimistic the film will be good.  But this whole Turkish Airways cross-promotion has me scratching my head big time.  I mean, what’s the point of this commercial?  Use Turkish Airlines whenever you want to go to fictional cities like Metropolis and Gotham?!  Very weird.

The X-Men Age of Apocalypse trailer…Again, I thought it was only OK.  It was so average, in fact, that I forgot entirely about it until I did a search for the superhero ads placed in the Super Bowl.  Not a good sign.

Other commercials:

The Bud Light Seth Rogan/Amy Schumer commercial.  Too long and not as funny as it could have been.  But I did like the Paul Rudd appearance/joke.

The Amazon Echo commercial featuring Dan Marino…I chuckled at that one, especially some of the zingers at the end.  The follow up/morning after commercial, though, wasn’t quite as good.

Weirdest commercial by far: The Puppy Monkey Baby commercial for Mountain Dew.  How do I even explain it?  I can’t so I’ll conclude this blog entry by showing it.  Gaze in wild wonder at one of the most bizarre commercials I’ve seen in quite some time…

Sports

If you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying…part deux

News organization Al Jazeera created a mini-scandal when they reported on HGH (human growth hormone) deliveries to the home of professional quarterback for the Super Bowl bound Denver Broncos Peyton Manning.  This report was furiously denied by the Manning camp.

Now some more unsavory details regarding this case, and Mr. Manning and his people’s actions following becoming aware of the investigation are coming to light, as well as the revelation that, yes indeed, the HGH was sent to his house after all:

Private Eyes Spook Parents of Manning HGH Accuser in 911 Call; Broncos QB Admits Drugs Sent to House

First thing’s first: The revelation the HGH was sent to the Manning household after all was explained as it being for Ashley Manning, Peyton Manning’s wife, and not for her athlete husband.  No further details were provided as the Manning’s cited Ashley Manning’s medical privacy.

While Mrs. Manning certainly has every right to her privacy, the HGH medication being sent to the Peyton household, even if it was sent under her name, raises all kinds of questions.

Let’s face it, many athletes use whatever means they can to gain that “extra edge”.  It is the difference between making it and being banished to the sidelines…or never being part of the game itself.  Further, this story cannot be viewed as a stand-alone instance as it inevitably becomes part of the sports doping continuum.  For years now there have been stories regarding star athletes who were reported to have doped.  These stories were inevitably followed by stern, finger-wagging denials by the athletes before the weight of the evidence against them was too much to deny and the athletes finally admitted what they did.

We’ve effectively gone through these very same steps with Mr. Manning, the only difference being that his camp is admitting the drugs were sent to his house but were for his wife rather than for Peyton.  Sadly, this explanation sounds like a variation of the old “the dog ate my homework” excuse.

But putting that aside, we get to something even sleazier: It is very troubling to hear that Manning’s people sent these two bruisers to the home of the parents of the man who was taped making the accusations against Peyton Manning.  What, other than intimidation, was the reason for sending these people there?  Even if we are to assume Peyton Manning is totally innocent and these charges are totally outrageous, what was the purpose of sending these people to that man’s parent’s home?  This cowardly, bullying action reflects very poorly on Mr. Manning and the people he employs.

For years Peyton Manning has had a sterling reputation among NFL athletes.  To many, he’s a star athlete, a family man, and an all around good guy.  As of this day, he’s two days away from playing in the Super Bowl and, if other reports are to be believed, this will be his very last professional football game.  Should his team win this Super Bowl, it would make for a truly legendary exit for one of the league’s superstars.

And yet this story lingers just behind the scenes and, thanks to these new revelations, soils what could be a crowning ending to a magnificent career.

I’ll grant you the timing of the release of this report is also suspicious and feels like it was timed for maximum exposure.  Having said that, it is difficult to excuse or ignore the alarming accusations within it.

Sports

Rare Super Bowl I recording results in clash between owner and NFL

This article shocked me.

It is from the New York Times and is written by Richard Sandomir and concerns Troy Haupt, a North Carolina man who likely has in his possession the only almost-complete copy of the TV broadcast of Super Bowl I between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs…and how the NFL is playing hardball with him regarding its sale and use:

Out of a rare Super Bowl I recording a clash with the NFL unspools

The upshot of the article is this: For reasons unknown, Mr. Haupt’s father recorded most of the television broadcast of Super Bowl I back in 1967.  The copy is far from perfect, according to the article, and the colors fade in and out and there is a choppiness to it resulting from Mr. Haupt’s father cutting out the commercials (the recording equipment of that era, understandably, wasn’t as good as it is now).  Further, he did not record the half-time show and, to save tape, much of the 3rd quarter.

Having said all that and noting the lost material, this nonetheless appears to be the ONLY existing copy of the first Super Bowl’s television presentation as all other copies were destroyed.

At the risk of giving away everything in the article (you really should read it!) Mr. Haupt, understandably, wanted to make some money from his father’s foresight and sell the recording to the NFL.  After all, it is a historical recording and the NFL itself tried to recreate it with film clips this past year but they don’t have the real thing.

So Mr. Haupt contacted the NFL and told them he was willing to sell the tape for one million dollars.  The NFL counter-offered $30,000 and, when he refused, essentially went “nuclear” on him.

They forbid him from selling the tapes to anyone else as they deem the material on the tapes their copyright material.  Further, when CBS offered $25,000 to interview Mr. Haupt and show some clips from his tapes the NFL apparently shut that down completely.  The NFL claims they didn’t do so, but one can’t help but wonder.

So Mr. Haupt has a piece of history he is forbidden by the NFL from making a dime off of…unless it is the NFL who gets the material in the end and at the price they want to pay for it and a historical record ages ever more.

Bear in mind, the NFL is a multi-BILLION dollar operation.  The Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell has reportedly made some $210 million since 2007.  Obviously, they could/should easily afford the one million to pay Mr. Haupt for his historic -and very unique- tape.  As incomplete as it is, the recording is obviously legitimate and the price he’s asking for it, at least to me (a big caveat: hey, it isn’t my money we’re talking about!) doesn’t seem too far out of the realm of reason.

The strong-armed tactics the NFL is employing to keep Mr. Haupt from benefiting from his unique recording, on the other hand, does seem petty and bullying.  Further, you would think the NFL could turn around and make money from this recording by cleaning it up and releasing it with their “reconstruction” in a video/digital format.

Hopefully the fact that the story has come out and the negative attention it is sure to draw toward the NFL might make the people there change their minds.

We’ll see.

Sports

Superbowl stuff…

1 Comment

A friend posted this on Facebook and it’s worth sharing, especially to the long suffering fans of other teams within the AFC East…

Because of a dreaded contract dispute, our local Fox affiliate has been blacked out for close to a week now on our ATT U-Verse system and not only did I miss last night’s Panthers/Arizona game (that one didn’t bother me so much and the end result was about what I expected) but I also missed the first episode of the brand new X-Files show.  And my wife is further upset because she not only missed that (we are both big fans of the show), but also the second episode of this season’s Hell’s Kitchen.

We’ll catch up to the shows as they become available (I hope!) on the internet but, seriously…can cable companies still wonder why they’re losing clients?!

As for the Superbowl, I’m far from a prophet regarding such things and being a fan of neither team and having absolutely no dog in this hunt, I nonetheless see a very big Panther win.

Granted, the Bronco defense is damn good -perhaps even on a level with some of the very best defenses ever- but you have to have some kind of offense to win that final game, especially against a potent scoring team like the Panthers.

Further, Its sad to say considering all his accomplishments but if Mr. Manning had been on any other team, I suspect we’d already have heard about his retirement instead of looking forward to seeing him get another chance to win a Superbowl.

Then again, maybe the two week break will do wonders on him and he’ll suddenly look like the Manning of old.

As with all things sports related, we’ll see in a couple of weeks.

General, Movies, Sports

Let’s see…what to talk about today…

Star Wars, again?  While Rotten Tomatoes has the film scoring an incredible 97% positive, I’m getting the feeling The positives reviews I’ve read (and I won’t even pretend to have read more than a handful) have been somewhat half-hearted.

Which in some ways is not all that different from your typical reaction to the works of J. J. Abrams.  I actually admire the man quite a bit: He knows how to create something that, while you’re watching it, is compelling and interesting.  But after the fact, when you stop to think about what you’ve just seen, doubts form and secondary opinions pop up.

Will this happen for Star Wars VII?  It happened, after all, with the “prequels”.  There was plenty of good cheer and great critical ratings until the warm glow of nostalgia lifted and people got a better look at the product.

By the way, I’m as prone to changing my mind as the next person.  I enjoyed Star Trek: Into Darkness when I caught it in the theaters but after thinking about it for a bit, realized the film was very flawed.

We’ll see what happens.

What else is there to talk about?

Politics?

Yesterday we had the 1,993,320,123,432th GOP debate and, like all the others, I dutifully avoided it as best I could.  Of course afterwards all those news stations (why, WHY!?!) had their anchors/analysts go over who did what and to whom and, like some morbid all enveloping black hole I couldn’t help but be sucked in.

It appears, at least to my eyes and based on what little was highlighted, that I didn’t miss all that much.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I wouldn’t vote for this version of the Republican Party if my life depended on it (check this chilling article by William Saletan which posits this question: Who would you elect President if your only choices are Trump, Cruz, or Carson?).  The latest debate -what little I saw of it- didn’t change my mind in that respect.

So forget Star Wars and forget Politics.  How about…

Football?

Bob Costas Says Football’s Biggest Problem Can’t Be Fixed

I’ve gone down this road before a few times but, like the self-driving car articles I so dearly love, this is rapidly becoming an issue I’m also intrigued with.

I’ve written about this before so excuse me while I (briefly) repeat myself:  When I was young, I had no interest in sports at all.  Let me be clear: AT ALL.

I was forced to play games I didn’t care to play (usually soccer…why the hell couldn’t you use your hands?!?).  TV was very limited back then and where I was there wasn’t a whole lot of sports aired on it.

Things changed back in/around 1984.  I started watching -and admiring- football, specifically the incredible talents of one Dan Marino.  He almost single handedly got me interested in football in general and the Dolphins specifically.

But I didn’t stop there and eventually became a full fledged sports fanatic.  I not only watched football, but also basketball, baseball, and hockey.  This all ended the year after I watched almost every single game of the 2003 World Series winning season the Marlins played.  I realized I was extremely lucky to see a team go from game one to winning the series and the likelihood of repeating this was very slim.

I also realized I had wasted waaaay too much time before the TV seeing this.

So I cut back dramatically.  In more recent times the most sports I’ve followed were probably the LeBron James Heat, but I only watched some of those games and more closely followed the playoffs.

Though it all, my favorite sport to watch remained football, in spite of the fact that since Marino retired the Dolphins haven’t done much of anything.

Having said that, I agree with Mr. Costa: Football is at heart a game that destroys not only the athlete’s body, but also, and more frighteningly, his mind.  Yes, some people come out of the game better but at this point I feel that even those who most want football to prosper cannot with a straight face say that it is a “safe” sport to play.

True, basketball, baseball, and hockey wear down athletes’ bodies as well, but the fact is that these sports don’t feature what is the staple of football: Athletes running at full speed into each other.

It happens now and again in basketball.  It happens now and again in baseball.  It may happen a little more frequently in hockey.

But the reality is that every play in football involves athletes running into each other at top speeds.  While a well-toned body may be able to absorb the hits, there is no training or helmet padding great enough to protect a person’s brain.

I’m not going to lie: I still love watching football.  But as each new study on brain trauma resulting from playing in the sport is released and the reality of what playing the game does to the athletes’ bodies is understood, I don’t know how much longer it can exist.