Why do we care about the Coronavirus?

[AJcat7755]

The major reason sports have been put on hold is not to specifically protect the athletes themselves, as players 18-40 in great physical condition are likely to get through it. But it's the spread of the virus from them to people that can't handle it (like coaches), from the fans spreading it in the stands, and to keep 1 more person out of a hospital bed that could be used for those higher risk candidates that direly need medical treatment to survive. They have to limit as much of the community spread as possible to prevent deaths in the higher risk candidates, which are typically not the students themselves.

[Hypeman]

I disagree. We seem to care about student well being when it comes to the virus, but we don’t when it come to CTE, voluntarily or not. I’m not saying we should not play football, but we closed everything to avoid a potential viral outbreak yet we don’t stop the game of football when we know for certainty that players have a high chance of brain trauma and lifelong injury. Seems odd to me.

Very few people get CTE from playing High School football. It develops from years of it. The longer you play, the more your chances go up. After that, it's on the individual if they choose to take that risk. It's no different than any other ADULT choosing to drink, smoke, do drugs, drive recklessly, etc... If we stop the game of football, then ban alcohol, tobacco, fast food, all of it. Where would it stop? Absolute overreaction.

Uh ... I think we do ban drugs for all, alcohol and tobacco for kids, locking dogs in cars on hot days ... all sorts of things that scramble your brains by choice. And Is it really a choice if a low income kid has only one option to get a degree and that’s by taking a risk to have a debilitating injury? Some call that exploitation.

[ksume2000]

Very few people get CTE from playing High School football. It develops from years of it. The longer you play, the more your chances go up. After that, it's on the individual if they choose to take that risk. It's no different than any other ADULT choosing to drink, smoke, do drugs, drive recklessly, etc... If we stop the game of football, then ban alcohol, tobacco, fast food, all of it. Where would it stop? Absolute overreaction.

Uh ... I think we do ban drugs for all, alcohol and tobacco for kids, locking dogs in cars on hot days ... all sorts of things that scramble your brains by choice. And Is it really a choice if a low income kid has only one option to get a degree and that’s by taking a risk to have a debilitating injury? Some call that exploitation.

There are plenty of options for low income kids to get a degree. Academic scholarships, need based grants, part time job. Sports is only the most glamorous option, and due to time commitments, usually not the best option for someone serious about education.

[Hypeman]

Uh ... I think we do ban drugs for all, alcohol and tobacco for kids, locking dogs in cars on hot days ... all sorts of things that scramble your brains by choice. And Is it really a choice if a low income kid has only one option to get a degree and that’s by taking a risk to have a debilitating injury? Some call that exploitation.

There are plenty of options for low income kids to get a degree. Academic scholarships, need based grants, part time job. Sports is only the most glamorous option, and due to time commitments, usually not the best option for someone serious about education.

Huh ... not a good option for those serious about academics? If that’s the case why are sports part of a University?

In reality, athletes have so many more advantages to succeed academically compared to other students it is ridiculous. The resources for are nearly unlimited from private tutors, to in class note takers, to computer resources ....

If you think need based grants are plentiful you are badly mistaken, especially for low income kids that are not from a targeted ethnicity. And the academic scholarships, they go to the rich kids because they are based solely on SAT or ACT score and rich kids get private tutors to help get their scores up.

For a low income kid, not of targeted ethnicity, and from rural America, an athletic scholarship is one of the few options they have.

CTE is the risk they take for a better future and 50000 people come to cheer the gladiators every Saturday. Some even pay millions to sit in a luxury box and be served like modern day Caesars. There goes another carted off the field; let’s all watch the replay of that viscous hit on the video board and do a cannonball!

[AJcat7755]

Uh ... I think we do ban drugs for all, alcohol and tobacco for kids, locking dogs in cars on hot days ... all sorts of things that scramble your brains by choice. And Is it really a choice if a low income kid has only one option to get a degree and that’s by taking a risk to have a debilitating injury? Some call that exploitation.

There are plenty of options for low income kids to get a degree. Academic scholarships, need based grants, part time job. Sports is only the most glamorous option, and due to time commitments, usually not the best option for someone serious about education.

Not to mention other non-contact sports. If in some bizaro world tennis was the mots popular sport with the highest paid athletes in the world, you would bet players would be playing that instead of football. You can't tell me that these kids that are athletic enough to play football could also play a different sport instead. But that sport would be as high of a payoff and get as much publicity as football. Even in HS, no one cares about the captain of the track team compared to the captain of the football team.

[Hypeman]

There are plenty of options for low income kids to get a degree. Academic scholarships, need based grants, part time job. Sports is only the most glamorous option, and due to time commitments, usually not the best option for someone serious about education.

Not to mention other non-contact sports. If in some bizaro world tennis was the mots popular sport with the highest paid athletes in the world, you would bet players would be playing that instead of football. You can't tell me that these kids that are athletic enough to play football could also play a different sport instead. But that sport would be as high of a payoff and get as much publicity as football. Even in HS, no one cares about the captain of the track team compared to the captain of the football team.

Yeah, there’s no skill in those other sports. Toss those football players a soccer ball or golf club or tennis racquet and they dominate no problem.

And that’s why we have sports ... for garnering publicity.

Wow.

[AJcat7755]

Not to mention other non-contact sports. If in some bizaro world tennis was the mots popular sport with the highest paid athletes in the world, you would bet players would be playing that instead of football. You can't tell me that these kids that are athletic enough to play football could also play a different sport instead. But that sport would be as high of a payoff and get as much publicity as football. Even in HS, no one cares about the captain of the track team compared to the captain of the football team.

Yeah, there’s no skill in those other sports. Toss those football players a soccer ball or golf club or tennis racquet and they dominate no problem.

And that’s why we have sports ... for garnering publicity.

Wow.

Completely missing the point.

Many football players are dual sport athletes already, some even play 3. Kyler Murray was drafted by the MLB but decided to play football, Terrance Newman was a track star, Patrick Mahomes played SS, we have seen John Holcombe dunk. Ndamunkon Suh, Odell Beckham, Chad Johnson, Andrew Luck, Wes Welker, Karl Joseph, Marcus Mariota, Jay Ajayi, Jake Butt all played soccer growing up but choose football instead. Examples like this are all over the place.

It's not about just tossing them into another sport, but given their athletic abilities, if they spent their whole lives training in another sport, they would probably be successful enough to earn a scholarship to play it. But at some point, even the multi-sport athletes, had to make a decision to focus on football instead.

The argument is the only way they can get a paid education is through football, which is false. If their only goal was an education, they are many other sports, and many other levels of school they could go to to do so. Let's not act like football is mandatory to save their lives. Football is a voluntary sport, they play it because they want a chance at the highest pay day and the most glamor, not because they want an education. If education was their only goal, there are many other ways to do so, with much less risk of bodily harm in the future. Not to mention the number of players that never even finish their degree, showing how much they actually care about that education in the first place. There are risks, CTE being a big one, with seeking out that glamor and $$, but let's not pretend it's their only option in life.

Basketball is actually consider the most accessible sport for urban youth because of the space requirements for a basketball court, or just a hoop, compared to that of a football field or baseball field. So if any sport was the one that had a better chance of helping players get a scholarship, that would be considered higher.

[ksume2000]

There are plenty of options for low income kids to get a degree. Academic scholarships, need based grants, part time job. Sports is only the most glamorous option, and due to time commitments, usually not the best option for someone serious about education.

Huh ... not a good option for those serious about academics? If that’s the case why are sports part of a University?

Money for the universities. In most other countries, and early in this country, sports were done by clubs, not colleges. I played two years of NAIA football while taking gen ed courses. During the season, that took up about 42 hours per week. I'm sure it takes more at the D1 level. It worked for me while taking gen ed courses, but I couldn't have done it while taking rigorous upper level engineering courses.

In reality, athletes have so many more advantages to succeed academically compared to other students it is ridiculous. The resources for are nearly unlimited from private tutors, to in class note takers, to computer resources ....

And the biggest advantage is ridiculously easy "athlete majors" which defeats the purpose of tying sports to education.

If you think need based grants are plentiful you are badly mistaken, especially for low income kids that are not from a targeted ethnicity. And the academic scholarships, they go to the rich kids because they are based solely on SAT or ACT score and rich kids get private tutors to help get their scores up.

I grew up a poor, rural, white kid. My college education was paid for by academic scholarships. If I had not earned the academic scholarships, need based grants still would have been there to make college very affordable for me. And (heaven forbid) there is always the option of a summer job, or even a part time job during the school year.

If the kid pays attention in HS and is a self starter, he can get decent test scores no matter how much or little money his parents have. A tutor can repeat the information over and over and maybe even help the kid to focus, but he can't make a dumb kid smart. When I was in HS, the biggest determining factor of academic achievement was whether or not the student took classes seriously.

For a low income kid, not of targeted ethnicity, and from rural America, an athletic scholarship is one of the few options they have.

CTE is the risk they take for a better future and 50000 people come to cheer the gladiators every Saturday. Some even pay millions to sit in a luxury box and be served like modern day Caesars. There goes another carted off the field; let’s all watch the replay of that viscous hit on the video board and do a cannonball!

[wild@nite]

Very few people get CTE from playing High School football. It develops from years of it. The longer you play, the more your chances go up. After that, it's on the individual if they choose to take that risk. It's no different than any other ADULT choosing to drink, smoke, do drugs, drive recklessly, etc... If we stop the game of football, then ban alcohol, tobacco, fast food, all of it. Where would it stop? Absolute overreaction.

Uh ... I think we do ban drugs for all, alcohol and tobacco for kids, locking dogs in cars on hot days ... all sorts of things that scramble your brains by choice. And Is it really a choice if a low income kid has only one option to get a degree and that’s by taking a risk to have a debilitating injury? Some call that exploitation.

I never said anything about banning that stuff for kids. No joke it's illegal for kids. I said, "adults". My quote.... "It's no different than any other ADULT choosing to drink, smoke, do drugs, drive recklessly, etc... If we stop the game of football, then ban alcohol, tobacco, fast food, all of it. Where would it stop?" Notice the word "adults" and not mention of "kids".

Once again.... CTE isn't happening in High School. It's YEARS of playing and continuous pounding that causes it. Look it up. After HS, they are adults. It a choice. America is great. Kids are going to take risks. That's what kids do. At least football is an "organized" choice. Many of those guys going pro and developing CTE would have been in prison or dead without football at a younger age. No doubt.

On top of that, I speak from my experience. I played it and have coached it for 11 years total (not anymore). I learned a great deal about myself doing both. Our football practices were harder than boot camp and I learned how to be a man during football practice. Nobody exploited me, but of course I wasn't D1 talent. Even the D1 talents have a choice. Choices are good. It's what make this country so great.

I take it you won't watch anymore football? That would be really hypocritical if you think kids are being exploited, then you partake.

[Hypeman]

Huh ... not a good option for those serious about academics? If that’s the case why are sports part of a University?

Money for the universities. In most other countries, and early in this country, sports were done by clubs, not colleges. I played two years of NAIA football while taking gen ed courses. During the season, that took up about 42 hours per week. I'm sure it takes more at the D1 level. It worked for me while taking gen ed courses, but I couldn't have done it while taking rigorous upper level engineering courses.

In reality, athletes have so many more advantages to succeed academically compared to other students it is ridiculous. The resources for are nearly unlimited from private tutors, to in class note takers, to computer resources ....

And the biggest advantage is ridiculously easy "athlete majors" which defeats the purpose of tying sports to education.

If you think need based grants are plentiful you are badly mistaken, especially for low income kids that are not from a targeted ethnicity. And the academic scholarships, they go to the rich kids because they are based solely on SAT or ACT score and rich kids get private tutors to help get their scores up.

I grew up a poor, rural, white kid. My college education was paid for by academic scholarships. If I had not earned the academic scholarships, need based grants still would have been there to make college very affordable for me. And (heaven forbid) there is always the option of a summer job, or even a part time job during the school year.

If the kid pays attention in HS and is a self starter, he can get decent test scores no matter how much or little money his parents have. A tutor can repeat the information over and over and maybe even help the kid to focus, but he can't make a dumb kid smart. When I was in HS, the biggest determining factor of academic achievement was whether or not the student took classes seriously.

For a low income kid, not of targeted ethnicity, and from rural America, an athletic scholarship is one of the few options they have.

CTE is the risk they take for a better future and 50000 people come to cheer the gladiators every Saturday. Some even pay millions to sit in a luxury box and be served like modern day Caesars. There goes another carted off the field; let’s all watch the replay of that viscous hit on the video board and do a cannonball!

I agree with you on several points, but disagree on others as much has probably changed since you were in high school.

For one, need based grants etc. would be much more limited to you today as those generally go to targeted classes only. That’s the harsh reality for rural white kids today.

As for academic scholarships based on ACT, that has changed dramatically too in the last 20 years as it has become big business. Rich kids start studying and tutoring for the test as early as middle school. Poor kids from rural schools don’t have those advantages. As a result, nearly all academic scholarship money goes to wealthy suburban kids. It’s like that everywhere but look no farther than KSU for proof of that. Another harsh reality for poor rural kids today.

One out is to become an offensive lineman and get your head bashed in every day. Another harsh reality.