FOOTBALL CONCUSSIONS: SHIELDING BRAINS WHILE SAVING THE GAME

It is likely, no probable, that most football concussions, at all levels, go unnoticed and untreated. They are often referred to, or shrugged off, as a "ding." The serious ones, when a player goes woozy and the gait is unsteady, are too obvious to let go without treatment, the extent of which is usually being taken out of the game temporarily and asked to count backwards from ten.
   The NFL has paid compensation to veteran players whose physical and mental faculties have declined. Many critics contend that the amounts doled out are not nearly enough to cover the pain of the disabilities. And no amount of money will make up for the suicides of players who have experienced severe concussions.
   The League has also instituted a protocol whereby players with suspected concussions are given a series of tests they must pass before playing again. I wonder how many players, excepting those who are demonstrably hurt, actually disclose their distress against the dread of losing their job? Much like baseball pitchers who would never dare admit to a sore arm for fear of being permanently displaced.
   Brain damage from football concussions is additive, meaning that cognitive impairment, often to the frontal cortex, accumulates over time, and is seldom due to one blow. The longer you play, the greater the insults to the brain. And once a player suffers a concussion, the next one comes much easier. The brain becomes weakened and susceptible to further injury, much like an alcoholic who has one drink and is quickly drunk.
   For years, helmet innovations have improved padding and suspension inside helmets, but concussions and their long-term effects persist. As players continue to get bigger, stronger and faster, the harm from concussions will grow.
   It appears that many players, especially defensive backs, see the helmet not as a protective device, but as a weapon that is used to intimidate and drive an opponent out of the game. In recent years, NFL referees were fairly stringent in issuing penalties for helmet-to-helmet contact. There has been a marked decrease in such penalties in the 2014 season.
   A "boys will be boys, let them just play, it's part of the game" philosophy permeates thinking in both the NFL and the NHL. Critics of excessive violence and its aftereffects are often met with, "Hey, it's their choice, no one is making them play, they know the risks, most of them are not crippled for life."
   Dismissive thinking about concussive harm supports the notion that big-time football, college and pro, is all about the money. Teams sign extended contracts with helmet manufacturers. One vendor has the NFL's teams pretty well sewed up.
  Resistance to equipment changes will be lobbied against. Putative experts will rail against improved padding and design innovations and have for years.
   In the1950's and 1960's, several college teams, Cornell and Harvard come to mind, used helmets padded on the outside. The design appeared to accomplish two things: It more efficiently shielded the brains of two players coming in contact and it made the helmet less of a weapon. The main argument against the external padding was that the padding caused friction and the helmets stayed in contact longer increasing the possibility of damage. Hmm.
   As Vince Lombardi once said, "Football is not a contact sport, it's a collision sport--dancing is a contact sport." No dispute there, and that argues for better-designed head protection and stringent rules-enforcement. But there's big, long-range contract money in play for the manufacturers and the teams in not changing the equipment.

 "When somebody says it's not about the money, it's about the money." -H. L. Mencken
   
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FAREWELL TO TELEVISED SPORTS: FED UP TO THE TEETH WITH THE COMMERCIALS

I'm adapting the title of a book written long ago by sportswriter Paul Gallico. He was moving on from sports to other kinds of writing and reporting and wrote a classic, Farewell to Sport. 
    As known, money derived from television commercials has revolutionized major sports. I've seen professional athletes putting a hand over camera lenses. That's called biting the hand that feeds you. Hey, big guy, your whopping salary didn't come from ticket sales or concessions. TV-ad revenue is your benefactor. Kiss the lens.
      
    Layer upon Layer.
    And the ads get longer, more frequent and more intrusive. When the action returns to the field or stadium, more ads are supered over a wide shot of the venue. And you are subjected to a painful, fidgety "Brought to you by" series. Didn't we just watch that? Then the announcer comes back on with his ad pitches, completing a trifecta of exasperation.
        
    Sport by Sport
    Televised baseball displays the least annoying ad show. Innings are uninterrupted, unless there is a pitching change. Unfortunately, these are becoming more frequent, especially after the fifth inning, as teams inject an ever-growing cadre of hard-throwing relievers.      With the two-line passing rule, NFL Hockey is free-flowing and a much more exciting game . Interruptions are less persistent, but only slightly so. 
     
    NBA Game Changer for the Worst
    When the three-point play was initialized in the 1979-1980 season, NBA basketball was transformed from a chess match with action highlighted by crisp passing and accompanied by picks, cuts and weaves. Proper blocking out often resulted in captured rebounds, followed by the start of a streaking fast break. It was beautiful to watch. Since then, the first guy to get the ball usually throws up a three-point heave. If the shot is missed, which happens 60% or more of the time, a rebounding scramble is followed by a foul, and a commercial. NBA basketball is a whistle-blowing nightmare. The three refs are in a game-halting competition The ad execs rub their hands in glee, as the endless stoppages allow a blizzard of ads.
   NOW TO THE MOST EGREGIOUS, the NFL, with its agonizing, becoming unbearable, ad saturation. Game-halting injuries, of which there are many, afford extra opportunities. You can imagine the network execs thinking: Let's hope this one requires a stretcher.
     
    Game on the Line? You'll Just Have to Wait.
    Lately, to hold the audience, ads break in at crucial times: A team is driving for a score late in the game, now it's fourth down on the one-yard line, the game is on the line. Will they opt for a field goal, a short pass, a plunge? Well, since we've gone to commercial, we'll just have to wait for the decision. Will it be a short commercial? Do I dare go to the bathroom, grab a beer, let the dog out, go tell my annoyed wife I love her more than football?
    Except for a crucial playoff game with my favorite team on the schedule, it's farewell to televised sports. I'll brush up on my reading. In fact, I'm off to re-read my own sports book, GUTS IN THE CLUTCH. Join me?

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