Party of 1 » Sports

Football Concussions and the “Politicization” of Science

David Cole — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:25:17 +0000

The New York Times reports on a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Michigan, regarding concussive injuries in football. Committee members “spent much of their time calling out Dr. Ira Casson, who recently resigned as a co-chairman of the N.F.L.’s committee on concussions, for continuing to discredit mounting evidence linking professional football with cognitive decline and decrying what he called ‘the politicization’ of science.”

Reread this excerpt, think hard, and see whether you can discern parallels with other contemporary issues….

Tiger’s Travails: How Gossip Can Be Good

David Cole — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:58:40 +0000

Psychologist Nicholas DiFonzo in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal: “Gossiping about Tiger’s intrigues provides some form of moral instruction. Strangely, given the prurient images and juicy text-messages disseminated by the media, the value of marital faithfulness ultimately is reinforced…. Another lesson from this drama is that money and fame do not exempt a person from basic responsibilities, like marriage—especially with children. The superathlete is subject to the same standards as any other family man.”

That much having been stipulated, I think I’d better strive to keep this site a Tiger-free zone going forward, at least until the hubbub subsides….

Concussions on the Gridiron

David Cole — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:26:22 +0000

The “taking one for the team” concept may be on the wane in the gridiron game, as new guidelines and attitudes toward concussions filter down slowly from the NFL to the college and schoolboy level. Alan Schwarz of the New York Times reports.

Related article from Yahoo! Sports here.

Football and Dementia

David Cole — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:04:51 +0000

Whenever Congress looks into fun-and-games matters such as football, members often are suspected of grandstanding. A lobbying group has been formed for the sake of altering college football’s postseason BCS regime, which has aroused the ire of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and others — which leaves observers wondering whether Congress has anything better to do with its time.

What happened in a House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday may have been more serious. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was hauled before the committee to testify, amid increasing evidence that former players are suffering disproportionately from mental impairment and dementia as they age. According to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the concern is not only over those in pro football, but also “millions of players at the college, high school and youth levels.”

The issue becomes especially poignant in light of the case of a highly visible college football quarterback, who has continued to play in spite of an especially severe concussion suffered in a Sept. 26 game….

Sports Fan’s Lament

David Cole — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:30:28 +0000

With the Yankees in the playoffs, Bob Herbert laments in the New York Times that fans of modest means are being priced out of the palatial new Yankee Stadium. He notes: “The auto industry is on its knees and we’ve got school buildings in sorry shape and we can’t even rebuild a public hospital in New Orleans. But the Dallas Cowboys have a brand new billion-dollar-plus domed stadium that looks like something out of ‘Star Wars.’”