I don't get why football is popular

[Levin]

Of course football doesn't exist without violence, but the violence isn't the reason I or many others watch it. You also have speed, strength and power in basketball, but no violence and that is my favorite sport. Again, violence is part of the game, but it doesn't have to be the reason people watch.

It's already been clearly established that without it, you wouldn't watch.

Unless you want to start playing fantasy ultimate frisbee.

[smokymountainrain]

It's already been clearly established that without it, you wouldn't watch.

Unless you want to start playing fantasy ultimate frisbee.

I watch basketball and baseball - two non violent sports that also involve great athletes, competitiveness, strategy and skill. I think it's obvious I don't need violence in sports in order to be entertained.

[FMCoug]

Perhaps our modern day gladiators should be fighting wolves with their bare hands. Or we could even get the people out of it. Make it wolves vs. cattle and then it would become clear why ranchers don't like them.

[mUUser]

Football's great. Basketball's fine too. But, in the end, they're just something to keep kids busy between baseball seasons. :thumbsup:

[Guest]

Ding, ding, ding.

If we truly valued brain/knee/back health over violence we'd have professional flag football leagues. That way you get to showcase everything SMR wants while minimizing the risk to brains and knees.

I listened to Chris Mortensen last night on ESPN radio, while driving around, and he commented that within 5 years there is a 100% chance the NFL will get rid of the kickoff altogether, because of the higher rate of injuries on ST plays.

When I got home, I did some searching to see if the stats he quoted were accurate.

I couldn't find the numbers Mort quoted, but I found the chart below. It leads credence to the idea that, even with more rules, the game is more dangerous than ever. I'm assuming this outcome is a result of every player, at every position on the field, being bigger, stronger and faster than previous decades.

Injuries are increasing for all types of plays over the last decade

http://www.advancednflstats.com/2011/09/will-new-kickoff-rules-really-reduce.html

[Guest]

I listened to Chris Mortensen last night on ESPN radio, while driving around, and he commented that within 5 years there is a 100% chance the NFL will get rid of the kickoff altogether, because of the higher rate of injuries on ST plays.

Mort said something to the effect that 17 to 18 percent of catastrophic football injuries occur on kickoffs, but they only account for 2.5 percent of the plays of a game.

While that sounds like it may be true, I couldn't find his source.

[Katy Lied]

There are current studies on high school football injuries.

Also, the leading cause of head injuries for girls in Utah is soccer. (I heard that on some local newscast). When I watch my son play soccer, and he's getting ready to head the ball, I always call out "Nooooooo, not the headddddd"

As far as all the successful men who used to play high school football, that's because to be popular and to be successful in high school, you have to play football. (Think of all the support systems for football that arent out there for geeky sports: pep rallies, cheer leaders, pep band, pep club, etc etc) If underwater basket weaving was super popular, then all the driven/motivated boys would do that.

[YOhio]

How do strangers talk to each other if one of them doesn't like football? A few weeks ago I was on a conference call and one of the participants was a guy from Dallas. He and I were early on the call and we made a good attempt at chit-chat. He started with some comments about the weather. I then asked him if he was a Cowboys fan. He replied that he may be the only person in Dallas who doesn't like football. Awkward silence ensued.

[oxcoug]

To the extent that this is a serious question (which, of course, it isn't) - it's because football is awesome and the most intelligent, fully evolved sport on the planet. It combines chess with wrestling, technicians finesse with raw feats of strength, symphonic elegance and brute force, individual heroics and 11-piece machinery.

Its decisive, point-scoring moments have a variety that isn't possible in other sports. In soccer or hockey the thing goes in the net for increments of one point. In basketball, the thing goes in the net, in increments of 1, 2 or 3 pts. In baseball the dude (or softball girl) has to tap a foot on the same white square. In football the thing has to cross a line - and there are a thousand ways it can get there. And the defense can score points.

In short, football just presents more for both the mind and the eye to engage.

To the extent that it's not a serious question - .

[Jacob]

For my part, I couldn't disagree more. I like football for the speed, the strength, the power, the accuracy, the strategy, the resilience, the decision making, the timing, the skill.

I'm not sure the violence even registers in terms of a reason I watch football, and the chance I might "get" to witness somebody get injured most definitely doesn't register.

But what about the sex?

But now it's no better than an amped up sex

[Jacob]

I forget whether we have discussed this or not, but Malcolm Gladwell agrees with you.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell

I didn't re-read the article, but his time frame is even shorter than yours. I think something like 20 years.

I agree with that article...dog fighting is probably not that big a deal.

[SeattleUte]

Life is not supposed to be risk free.

Let's ban cars. That would save a lot more lives than banning football.

Also, I suggest we poll the football players and do what they want.

[falafel]

Also, I suggest we poll the football players and do what they want.

Which players should we poll? That current ones that are either making millions in the NFL or getting a free education in college, or the former players whose risk of getting Alzheimer's and Parkinson's has tripled due to playing football?

Perhaps we should also poll motorcycle riders to see whether they'd prefer to ditch their helmets.

[Jacob]

Which players should we poll? That current ones that are either making millions in the NFL or getting a free education in college, or the former players whose risk of getting Alzheimer's and Parkinson's has tripled due to playing football?

Obviously the current ones, silly. Why would the old guys be allowed to tell the young guys what to do with their lives?

[falafel]

Obviously the current ones, silly. Why would the old guys be allowed to tell the young guys what to do with their lives?

You're probably right. The old guys probably wouldn't even realize what they were being asked, so the poll would be pointless.