The NFL and others are spending millions of dollars attempting to "understand" concussions. The answer is simple: REMOVE the helmets. Helmets ENABLE hard hits to a greater degree than they MITIGATE head injuries. Rugby is an exciting, rugged sport with tear-down tackles and minimal head injuries. As noted with the addition of face-masks to the helmets, the masks enabled hits as well as a convenient, but dangerous, way to restrain or tackle a player. >>> Short of the removal of helmets, change the rules... DRAMATICALLY... to reward good play rather than penalize bad play. Example: Resulting from the kick-off injuries, the NFL has set the ball forward so that most kick-offs can no longer be run back. This is the WRONG ANSWER bring the sport in the WRONG DIRECTION. Kick-offs are the excitement of the sport! It is possible to nullify a player -- as in tag -- without destroying the player. Suppose for example a QB had two flags which gave a tackler the OPTION of either tackling the QB for a sack at the spot... or if the tackle grabbed the two flags, the result would be a the loss from the sack with the addition of 15 yards loss. Tie two flag tackles to a players contract compensation and watch the change in play. Then again, remove the STUPID penalty of "Offensive Holding." There is gargantuan strength in both offensive and defensive lines. Let them WRESTLE to the whistle! In so doing, the offensive will provide additional protection to the QB who is critical to the success of the game, and whose loss is costly. As we see throughout the football season, with few exceptions, back-up quarterbacks diminish the game. Of course, this is due to the tradition of using one starting QB... and a second stringer who is too sparsely used to be good under pressure. However, this is a different matter. >>> The NBA put MAJOR EXCITEMENT into basketball by incorporating the 3 point shooting line. It also changed the game by providing a quick way to "climb-back" from a deficit. >>> The fact is that "football" really -- deep-down -- believes that "cold-cocking" an opponent is the only attraction to the sport. (Just look at the collisions of crossing pass patterns over the middle where the receiver is not even provided the same two steps protection which are necessary to otherwise regard a pass as a completed one.) Therefore, its chin-stroking explorations on concussions within this sub and/or conscious thought pattern. >>> However, the real fact is that for the most part the BEST PLAYERS are sidelined by concussions because they play the most. This leaves the stand-ins. Starters have STAR POWER; they are an attraction. (Yes, I know. Season tickets trap the spectator. However, season tickets do not trap the TV audience -- think advertising -- which supports the networks which in turn pays for the rights to broadcast.) Surely, if a Broadway play fielded stand-ins for most the season, their marquee lights would go out. For this reason "football" needs to take a page from the NBA... think outside of the sidelines for creative solutions which energize the game while protecting its players who are the ASSETS of the sport.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 13:41:20 +0000
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