Kindly show me where I claimed not to watch football. I said it was inappropriate for impressionable children to watch superbowl football, and I cited the rather painfully obvious reasons I thought so. None of which, I note, have ellicited a defense, as yet.
Well, I think it is specious for you to presume that football is all the things that you described and is somehow bad for children to watch. According to one of your other posts, you like to play football (in the yard or the park). I would think the physicality associated with PLAYING football is infinitely more dangerous than watching.
[Now, if you are citing the "antics" of some of the current players, I don't know that I would disagree. However, I don't think that is the predominant approach of all the players, and the flashiness aspect certainly wasn't present in this Super Bowl].
Simply put, I don't agree with your description of what a football game is. I see the game as a mixture of intense physical conditioning and mental preparation. Professional football, in particular, requires an unbelievable amount of mental preparation.
Besides, there are different aspects of intelligence. Would you say that Michael Jordan is more athletically intelligent than, say, Albert Einstein? Surely. And vice versa? Surely. Is Yoyo Ma more muscially intelligent than donh? Probably. Is donh more intelligent than Yoyo ma? Probably.
You are way oversimplifying the game of football to necessarily be filled with "dumb jocks" or other athletic stereotypes.
Is football a violent game? Yes, but many sports are violent.
Does that make it inappropriate for a child to watch? I don't think so?
In fact, I think that they can learn alot from watching football, especially if they are motivated to play football and learn the game. (I used to watch old Big 10 football game film [the kind on a reel] of the great running backs and the blocking schemes that those teams employed. I found it very interesting and learned a lot from that).
Now, kids probably aren't watching the Super Bowl with that focus. But, hey, they might. Who are you to tell them or their parents that the game is onlya bunch of steroid monsters bashing each other's brains in.
[Aside: Acutally the NFL has a very stringent policy regarding steriods; Baseball, actually, is the major professional sport that they have yet to implement a strict policy.]
I will let the readers of this thread decide whether or not your description or mine of football is accurate. I personally think that your description is total hyperbole.