If football is deadly, why do we still watch?

[LuckyTheDog]

There are two reasons why pro football in particular and organized football in general won’t go out of existence, despite a consistent flow of head injury stories.

The first is popularity, and the financial strength that popularity means. Super Bowl 50 between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers illustrates the point perfectly.

Want to guess what the most-watched event in U.S. television history was? Last year’s Super Bowl, with 114.4 million viewers. What to guess the second? The Super Bowl in 2014. And so on, until the final episode of “M*A*S*H” at number seven. Not only does the NFL dominate this one Sunday, it crushes the competition for sports viewing throughout the fall. According to Sports Media Watch, NFL games were 43 of the top 50 most-watched sporting events in the U.S. in 2015. Three others were college football.

The NFL’s influence doesn’t stop with TV. Las Vegas’ legal betting handle last year was nearly US$116 million and record merchandising sales are expected this time around, given the 50th anniversary of the game and the sleek gold logo that goes with the event.

MORE HERE: http://yonside.com/if-football-deadly-why-do-we-still-watch/

[saturnsring]

1. we?

[HuckleB]

2. I don't watch it, any more.

I had mostly stopped because it had become completely intolerable as an entertainment, when the ads completely took over from the game itself, and I'm not just talking about the Super Bowl. Every game is really a big, long infomercial for various corporations, with a break now and then for a play or two.

On top of that, the NFL is the worst of the ugly corporate world of professional sports, where every league does everything it can to con communities into paying for new stadiums for their teams.

Still, the NFL's lackluster response to the concussion issue has made me choose to completely ignore the sport.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. Two words ...

... Lady Gaga.

[narnian60]

28. Yes, indeed.

[hobbit709]

4. the only time I watch football is when the Dallas Clownboys are losing.

[Captain Stern]

12. So basically, all the time. nt

[Odin2005]

22. I don't get how they still have such a large fanbase.

They've been shit since Aikman, Sanders, etc. retired.

[GGJohn]

38. I have two favorite teams,

the Arizona Cardinals and any team playing the Cowboys.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. Trainwrecks. NT.

[Big Blue Marble]

6. Sad commentary on the state of the American public.

This article basically says, the public does not care and should not care that
this is a violent sport that destroys lives for dollars, besides a lot of corporations
are making a lot of money. What have we become and why?

[onenote]

23. sad commentary on the rest of the world?

Rugby and Formula I and horse racing are more dangerous than football and very popular around the world.

[LiberalArkie]

7. I don't, I never understood the rules and how a home run turned into a goal for a goalie.

And it takes so long to do anything. I saw some rugby last year and that was something to behold.

[Botany]

8. because it is fun to watch

n/t

[LuckyTheDog]

9. Yeah. The thing is... it IS fun to watch.

If baseball is America's Pastime, Football is America's Guilty Pleasure.

[Botany]

17. Right now I am about 2 miles from Ohio Stadium (OSU) and I have known for years ....

.... the toll football takes from its players. I remember after one game I was walking
behind the University of Wahington's bench and a defensive lineman's arm was drapped
over the back of the bench and all I could think of when I looked at his upper arm was
"My God that is a big ham" and what damage that "ham" could do to another person.
Players now are now 6'4", 245 LBS, can bench 350 LBS, and run a 4.6 40 yd dash
and that combo of size, speed, and power hitting other person is like a car crash.

Football is a brutal game but so help me I love it.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/12910/alex-boone look at the size of this guy.

[The2ndWheel]

10. Why do people drive around in cars for fun?

[el_bryanto]

11. Do the players want to play (and be paid)?

I mean players on winning teams do make a fair amount of money, from what I understand (I don't really follow football myself).

Bryant

[Captain Stern]

13. The players do indeed make a fair amount of money.

The players are guaranteed a minimum of over $400k per season.....and that's just the number for the least experienced or talented of them.

[el_bryanto]

15. That complicates things - there's an element of "We need to save the players from themselves"

Most people don't want to be saved from themselves.

Bryant

[Brickbat]

14. We don't care about other empoyees' working conditions. Why would football by any different?

[liberal_at_heart]

16. Any form of physical activity can potentially be deadly.

[ileus]

18. Because it's a hell of a lot of fun to watch and play.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

19. Used to love to watch football.

Then I had my second "mild" TBI. Two years in and I am still recovering. I am not the same person in any way -- I can play the part of the old "Hell Hath No Fury" but it's a pale imitation of the original. Some days all I can do is sit in a dark room in front of a TV and zone out for hours -- interacting with people for too long or in a noisy, bright locale is wildly draining. When I am too tired the worst symptoms return with a vengeance -- I struggle for words, headaches, vertigo, nausea, trashed memory, deep depression -- my thought process feels like I am grinding through gears.

Watching the big hits, helmets crashing, players flung back onto the field -- it is too painful to watch, I can't do it knowing the road they are taking one more step down with every play.

They are free to play, people are free to watch -- and I am free to turn the channel because I refuse to participate in that madness.

[Odin2005]

20. I've found myself watching less and less football because of it.

I'm becoming more interested in rugby, instead. Saw the end of a game on the breakroom TV at work between New Zealand and Australia where New Zealand was about to lose until they scored in the last play of the game!

[onenote]

25. Rugby has a serious concussion issue that it is dealing with too.

http://www.brain-injury-law-center.com/latest-news/head-injuries-rugby-vs-football/

[Odin2005]

26. Well, fuck!

[sir pball]

36. Not to mention hockey.

Per the Wiki, men's hockey has a rate of 0.41 while American football is at 0.37. And women's hockey, well, we won't even go there (my cousin-in-law plays amateur and even she's had quite a few..)

[Bucky]

21. I like how your headline answers your question

violence is compelling, especially when there's something at stake like, you know, points... or the survival of Gotham City

[onenote]

24. If horse racing is deadly, why do we still watch.

If race car driving is deadly, why do we still watch.

If rugby is deadly, why do we still watch.

If boxing is deadly, why do we still watch.


In each instance "we" is some large group of people, not necessarily you, me or anyone else in particular.
But large numbers of people in countries around the world watch sporting events that are not danger free and can result in serious lifelong injuries, even death.

[clarice]

27. I stopped watching when the dancing started, nt

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

29. Because "we" really don't care 'bout that.

Awesome sport, looks great on TV, fun to play, fun to watch with others.

[Sienna86]

30. I don't. The science shows this is harmful to the players.

The players may decide to play, perhaps because f the salary and prestige, but I fear it is to the detriment.

[Skittles]

31. I hate it when people speak for me

I don't watch football, never have, never will

[A Little Weird]

32. I don't understand the appeal

The only time I watch is if I'm out with a group and that's the consensus of what to do. Besides feeling horrible about watching people endure head injuries for the entertainment of the masses, I also find football to be pretty boring. But, different strokes for different folks. I hope they can come up with ways to make it safer for the players.

[X_Digger]

33. Paying grown men gobs o money to dress up in costumes and play kids game, killing each other slowly?

Fuck that shit.

[a kennedy]

34. actually I don't, I cover my eyes for dang near half or more of the games......

My three older brothers, my younger sister my dad and mom all watched the Packers every Sunday. It was a family thing, and I guess I still am addicted to that feeling and watch now, but I do cover my eyes most the time because of the violence.

[Codeine]

35. Any number of human activities are potentially deadly.

Driving home from work is deadlier than football -- deadlier than Formula 1 in all probability.

People love playing the game despite the risks, just as people love watching it. I find it boring to the point of being impossible to watch, but I won't guilt-trip or demonize those who enjoy it.

[Logical]

37. Really? Boxing, MMA, racing, downhill skiing, etc. nt

[Phentex]

44. Downhill skiing always frightened me...

just to watch. My heart can't take it!

[Arugula Latte]

39. A friend was telling me that she can't watch it anymore.

She used to be a big fan (her family watched a lot of games together) but she can't stop cringing when they hit their heads together and thinking about brain damage has ruined the game for her.

Personally I always hated that game.

[CBGLuthier]

40. I don't.

Haven't seen a Super Bowl in years. Never watched regular games much either. I played as a kid but didn't let my son. Growing up in Oklahoma people don't ask young men what classes they take or what church they go to, they ask them what position they play. They were shocked that my obviously large enough son did not play.

Not really a fan of team sports except maybe curling.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

41. ANOTHER reason to watch (in addition to two words above), in one more word:

Squares!

[Algernon Moncrieff]

42. Because the game is loved and deeply entrenched in our culture

In another thread, I posted an article about former Cal & Vikings QB Joe Kapp. He now has Alzheimer's -- likely exacerbated by his football career. He said this:

Kapp, 77, who led the Vikings against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV in 1970, just can't remember anymore. The effects of Alzheimer's disease are holding his mind captive.

The man known for taking a licking on the field shared his condition with this news organization as word about the brain disease of star quarterbacks Ken Stabler and Earl Morrall surfaced before Super Bowl 50 on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.

He also shared concerns about his grandson, Frank, who is heading into his second season in Berkeley as a third-generation Kapp to take the field for Cal.

"Don't let your son be a football player," Joe said, "and here I am letting my grandson play."

http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_29482239/struggles-joe-kapp-football-family-copes-games-painful

I hate to say this, but the problem will only get worse before it gets better. Players only got bigger and faster in the decades after Kapp played, and kids play for more years.

My guess is that the ultimate solution will be to place limits on how long men can play pro ball.

[GOLGO 13]

43. To watch other people get bashed around

by human wrecking balls. Same as MMA, boxing, NHL, even nascar has "crash fans".

[spanone]

45. we're a violent species?