Football

The BSC championship game was on last night and right now, I don't know if Auburn or Florida State won.  We went to bed thinking about the people and cats out in the frozen air.

I've kind of fallen out of like with football.  It didn't happen overnight, but gradually over the last several years or so.  The pro game a couple of nights ago is a case in point.  They were hauling guy after guy off the field with injuries!  It was so bad the announcers were commenting on it.  It was a slugfest out there on the field.

Some of the injuries might have been "mild" but one injury that has proven to be troublesome is the head injury.  Older players are now coming forward in numbers stating that they suffer from various neurological problems because of the head injuries they suffered while playing in college or pros.  One of them is Terry Bradshaw, who said he suffers from short-term memory loss. 

We keep getting faster and faster -- remember the 100 yard dash in the last Olympic games?  They break records all the time in the sprints, and football is basically a game of sprints.  So as they get faster and faster, they hit each other harder and harder, particularly on punt returns but it happens on other running plays too.  The game is violent, even with new rules that are supposed to protect the quarterback and protect players from head injuries.

In the next few weeks as players prepare for the NFL draft, they will participate in something called the Combine.  The players are put through a series of drills that showcase their speed and agility.  Some of them are so packed with muscle that they lumber down the track, their bodies encumbered by their mass.  My son who is a speed and agility expert agreed with me when I commented on what I was seeing at last year's event, that they appear muscle-bound.  At the combine players wear numbers and rotate among the various drills in groups. 

At first glance, it reminds a person of a cattle auction.  The would-be NFL players look like specimens on display, and commentators make observations on their performance as though they WERE cattle.  In other words, the game has become one that objectifies the participants.

Years ago at The University of Akron, a former athlete would show up at virtually every sporting event drew numbers on campus holding a sign that said that UA used black players.

I don't think that UA "used" black players per se.  Athletes get primo treatment at most universities and good coaches don't treat players like things.  But in a sense, when you watch the combine and hear some of the TV commentators at the games, it increasingly seems to be the case.

The great benefit of being in college football is the scholarship -- the chance to get a degree.  What an athlete really takes with them after graduation isn't a ticket to the pros but a ticket to a better and more fulfilling life.  And that's another thing -- more and more of the "stars" leave the game early to try out for the pros.  So that only adds to the objectification and diminishes the college performance platform to one of preparatory school for pro athletes.  That doesn't sit well with me.

So I'm out of like with football and find myself watching less and less of it.  My boss at UA for 17 years talked a lot about his aching knees and his messed up shoulder from playing a little football.  And he never played in college or pros. 

And next -- all we'll hear about in the next few weeks is going to be the Superbowl.  Oh brother.