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News & ArtsWednesday, September 30, 2009
Sports It's Official: Football Makes You Stupid
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 10:07 AM
At least playing it does:
A study commissioned by the National Football League reports that Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-related diseases appear to have been diagnosed in the league’s former players vastly more often than in the national population—including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49. The N.F.L. has long denied the existence of reliable data about cognitive decline among its players. These numbers would become the league’s first public affirmation of any connection...
We need more data about watching football, of course, but the anecdotal evidence isn't good.
1
This is alarming.
Dan, did you know that 59% of all new AIDS cases in America occur among the 1.73% of the population that is homosexual men?
We need more data about buttfuckers, of course, but the anecdotal evidence isn't good.
Dan, did you know that 59% of all new AIDS cases in America occur among the 1.73% of the population that is homosexual men?
We need more data about buttfuckers, of course, but the anecdotal evidence isn't good.
2
More interesting would be a study looking into the impact of playing football at the high school or collegiate level where the number of people potential effected would be far more significant.
As a side note, what's the effect of rugby on the brain?
As a side note, what's the effect of rugby on the brain?
3
yes, & watching/playing futbol makes you gay. Or at least I wish it would make Fernando Torres gay & fall in love with me.
5
"We need more data about watching football, of course, but the anecdotal evidence isn't good."
So, basically, you think your brother is a moron?
So, basically, you think your brother is a moron?
7
For a city with such a shitty reputation for football, slog sure is up in arms about negative sports-talk.
Go Hawks!
Go Hawks!
8
it's actually all the TBI events (traumatic brain injury) - the good part is the players signed up for the studies because it is such a risk.
11
Correlation is not causation. It's just as likely that football fans are more likely to be morons because the sport attracts morons.
12
@2, there's no data for rugby. It's hard to say, because rugby players do have high-impact collisions, which is what causes it (brain sloshing around in its cage).
But rugby players don't wear helmets, and ironically helmets CAUSE the damage, because they (a) allow much higher impacts, as much as 100 Gs (ten times a fighter pilot's), over and over, and (b) because they themselves can be used as a weapon.
Helmets today do not resemble the thin shells of the 60s; they are serious armor. They keep the skull intact during incredible impacts, but in so doing they are encouraging those impacts.
But rugby players don't wear helmets, and ironically helmets CAUSE the damage, because they (a) allow much higher impacts, as much as 100 Gs (ten times a fighter pilot's), over and over, and (b) because they themselves can be used as a weapon.
Helmets today do not resemble the thin shells of the 60s; they are serious armor. They keep the skull intact during incredible impacts, but in so doing they are encouraging those impacts.
13
Watching football makes you stupid about as much as watching Broadway musicals makes you gay.
In other words, not at all.
In other words, not at all.
14
My father was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease recently. Don't appreciate you calling him stupid, Dan.
15
Not surprising... It also makes you a little crazy... I remember as a kid that the father of one of his baseball teammates was a former Seahawk and we would routinely catch him in the outfield talking to the grass, having conversations with rakes, etc. We thought it was hilarious as kids, but looking back now its kind of sad.
16
and watching FUTBOL must make you smart right? Because it's so intelligent, as opposed to dumb ole football.
18
There are many types of impacts, it should be pointed out - you can get frontal temporal dementia (FTD), various motor impacts, aphasia (forgetfulness) and a lot of other things.
So if that 50 yo former football jock seems to be forgetting who he is, it could be a sign of an underlying problem.
So if that 50 yo former football jock seems to be forgetting who he is, it could be a sign of an underlying problem.
19
@16 - based on most football I've watched, the average football player (world football, not American football - aka soccer) is more in danger of damage to their legs and joints although some get some head injuries. American and Canadian football has a higher risk factor for serious TBIs.
20
Hipsters: Dissing on football since the beginning of time.
(That's just for those of you who think you're so cool because you don't like football or sports in general. The actual issue of brain damage is very serious.)
(That's just for those of you who think you're so cool because you don't like football or sports in general. The actual issue of brain damage is very serious.)
21
As a guy who has been playing soccer since the first grade (who gags every time some poser calls it futbol) I remember tons of controversy over the possible effects of soccer on brains-according to this concussions account for the same percentage of injuries as in football
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/so…
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/so…
22
@2 I'm a little worried about the effect on Rugby players too... if my propensity to forget names is any indication, then the results can't be good.
23
And European soccer fans run the risk of getting their heads busted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgEwh3px9…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgEwh3px9…
24
@20 - so I grew up playing rugby and soccer and baseball and setting cross country and marathon records, so what?
There are different sports - Americans used to love playing totally different games than what we play nowadays and continue to change as time passes.
There are different sports - Americans used to love playing totally different games than what we play nowadays and continue to change as time passes.
25
@21, that study talks about concussions. Concussions are relatively rare in soccer. They're actually fairly rare in football, too, at least as far as officially recognized. What the new research is pointing at is that EVERY player, at least every lineman, is undergoing hundreds of these impacts that lead to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. It's literally eating their brains away.
And the symptoms are not just memory loss. The parts of the brain that are being destroyed deal with mood and aggression, too. You know when you read about football players being violent or criminal? The evidence is starting to suggest that's BRAIN DAMAGE.
For one example of where this could go, what would be your response if it was determined that Michael Vick's problem was irreversible brain damage suffered on a football field? The research on this how brain damage affects behavior is barely beginning -- what if most murderers were prompted not by sociopathology or evil but by accumulations of tau proteins due to abuse?
The NFL's reaction to this news has, of course, been to deny everything and go to court to avoid paying disability pensions. The union's record is no better. These researchers have about 20-25 brains they've examined so far, but they're collecting more -- they've got pledges from a number of NFL and NHL players who are worried about their futures.
And the symptoms are not just memory loss. The parts of the brain that are being destroyed deal with mood and aggression, too. You know when you read about football players being violent or criminal? The evidence is starting to suggest that's BRAIN DAMAGE.
For one example of where this could go, what would be your response if it was determined that Michael Vick's problem was irreversible brain damage suffered on a football field? The research on this how brain damage affects behavior is barely beginning -- what if most murderers were prompted not by sociopathology or evil but by accumulations of tau proteins due to abuse?
The NFL's reaction to this news has, of course, been to deny everything and go to court to avoid paying disability pensions. The union's record is no better. These researchers have about 20-25 brains they've examined so far, but they're collecting more -- they've got pledges from a number of NFL and NHL players who are worried about their futures.
27
In other news, anecdotal evidence indicates that watching soccer makes you an insufferable hipster twat.
28
Anyone that thinks playing/watching football is for dummies needs to read smartfootball dot com and re-evaluate their stance
30
Playing in the NFL is one the most destructive things you can do to your body. Knees, hips, back, neck, shoulders, hands, head can all be ruined for life.
31
I wonder if it's head trauma or steroid use, or something else? (Or a combination of the above, of course.)
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