[Reily]

Well I think I can put my finger on when the problem occurred. I can remember in little league football when all of a sudden they changed how they were teaching kids to block and tackle. It went from blocking and tackling with the shoulder ‘Get your shoulder in there, son!’ to blocking and tackling with the helmet, ‘Put your helmet in there at the numbers, son !’. All of a sudden there was these proliferation of neck rolls as part of your equipment. From then Jr high to high school you struck with your helmet. There were pseudo-scientific explanations from the coaches about how this was safer then using the shoulder. Of we all accepted their explanation, back in the old days of open face helmets and lighter pads you could only hit so hard. Any harder, you hurt yourself more then you hurt the opposition. I played rugby during and after college for almost 20 years and concussions occurred, but it wasn't common. In rugby shoulder tackles were used and the goal in the tackle was as much to tie up or take the ball as bring the man down.

I am not sure what the final answer should be, but banning football isn't it. Demphasizing striking with the helmet my be the best choice. However its a rough game and a right of passage for young American males you can get hurt. You can also drown fishing.

[ccmay]

My son only played soccer for a few years as a small child, and played regular football a couple years in high school, but all he and his friends care about is English Premier League soccer.

[indthkr]

youth sports bump for later.....

[blueunicorn6]

In our little city, there are fewer and fewer youth football teams. Our high schools have gone to year-round football. Track is now football. One of our high schools has 19 assistant coaches. Every coach wants to coach at the next level, so it’s win at any cost. Way too serious. The faculty don’t like athletics. The students ignore or dislike the players. Football is being destroyed at the grade school and college levels. At least here.

[tbw2]

I’ve noticed a shift in youth sports to greater risk for students and families stuck with the bill. Cheerleading takes off points if you use a spotter for gymnastics that are ever more acrobatic. Football pushes kids to tackle and charge, even at young ages. A 14 year old ruins his knee, the parents pay thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for medical costs, the kid is partially handicapped, and it’s all considered “part of the game”. A cheer leader breaks a wrist, cracks a clavicle, it’s shrugged off as a risk of the sport, and there’s no help for parents.
Kids should not be pushed to do physical acts that adults would hesitate to do, with less assistance and preventative measures, with their parents stuck footing the medical bills and physical therapy costs.

[CodeToad]

So much as raise your voice to a child these days and their “parents” freak out. I rarely see children suffer punishment of any kind. This has been going on for several decades as I know see their offspring in business and they cry at the slightest unkind word. They are soooo needy that if you don’t praise them for going to the bathroom and not pissing on their hands they feel that no one loves them and sulk.

[bannie]

Last year's champions of the European Bowl were the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns.

http://www.deviantart.com/download/210567108/schwabisch_hall_unicorns_by_pe4kin89-d3hd6mc.png

I can't remember how to post pictures!!! " < img src ? "

I've been away awhile.

[EveningStar]

ping

[x]

Professional football has been America’s favorite spectator sport since 1972 when baby boomers became the most important TV audience demographic.

...

Pro football, depicted by Mr. Sabol as a confrontation between good and evil in which there can be only one winner, matched the values of baby boomers a half century ago.

Jeez, there's a lot to wonder about in those sentences. A lot of the early fans were pre-boomers. The "greatest generation" and the "silent generation" were still an important demographic in the seventies.

The archetypal baby-boomers (student radicals and hippies -- never a majority, but certainly the people who come to mind when we think of baby boomers) may not have had the kind of relation to competitive sports that the writer says. A lot of the attitudes he attributes to "millenials" go back to those boomers.

[Sirius Lee]

Congratulations, liberal moms and dads. You just raised the next generation of Vichy French.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

But this focus is not as appealing to the Millennial generation with its focus on win-win solutions and an instinct for avoiding confrontation.

How do you make competitive sports non-confrontational?

[ForAmerica]

I find it intresting that UFC Fighting or Hockey is not an issue!