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KnowItAll
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feeling a little guilty after watching this movie. I know it is about nfl players, but obviously affects cfl as well as all other levels. Particularly regarding Junior Seau. I remember cheering him on as he was basically killing himself. Gives one pause. I hope and pray that Dunigan never ends up suffering any worse than he does, nor the many players I don't know about in both leagues. I may not watch football in the same frame of mind.

I have never liked it when DBs are allowed to hit recievers while they are in the air and quite often hit their head when landing. We go ooo and ahhhh when the receiver jumps up and we are all yeah, what a great hit, what a great catch, yet the player just might have taken one more step towards early brain problems and death. Very sobering thought for me.

football, specially Canadian football and the cfl has been my passion for decades, but I would be very willing to give it up for the benefit of tomorrows players to be.

The best plays for me are the great non contact running and returning plays, on the ball carrier that is. Also the great passing and receiptions that do not involve contact. I would very much enjoy a type of professional touch football league.

everyone had heard some of the talk, but for those who have not paid much attention, have not watched the movie, etc

here is just one story on it

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sup ... 9b57d94fa2

everyone who has anything to do with football and football medicine should be required to watch this movie.
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Sir Purrcival
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It isn't just football either. I know that many don't consider pro wrestling a sport but all one has to do is look at the list of former wrestlers to see how many of them suffer from a variety of issues which can be attributed to CTE. However, much like smoking, I'm not sure it is going to make much of a difference. The time of willful blindness to the negatives of some of these athletic pursuits has passed but for some, it means a chance at the gold ring. Money, fame, adulation....if people are willing to smoke and pay for the privilege of hurting themselves, how much easier is it for someone to gamble with the possibility of a big payoff some day.
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KnowItAll
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Sir Purrcival wrote:It isn't just football either. I know that many don't consider pro wrestling a sport but all one has to do is look at the list of former wrestlers to see how many of them suffer from a variety of issues which can be attributed to CTE. However, much like smoking, I'm not sure it is going to make much of a difference. The time of willful blindness to the negatives of some of these athletic pursuits has passed but for some, it means a chance at the gold ring. Money, fame, adulation....if people are willing to smoke and pay for the privilege of hurting themselves, how much easier is it for someone to gamble with the possibility of a big payoff some day.
yeah, I can understand that.

for myself, I grew up wanting to play for the cfl but I was way too small, moved around a lot, etc. As I see not only concussion problems but knee and various other problems, I am glad I didn't play. however, when I was young, I probably would not have paid attention to the warnings, I wanted it so bad. If only there had been a pro touch league, sigh
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South Pender
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This is an important issue now, and will, I think, impact the future of football and other contact sports. There was a program on TV the other night (W5) dealing with concussion effects on NHL players, with the emphasis particularly on the "enforcers" in the game. They featured one ex-player, Mike Peluso, who is 50, who had taken part in a number of on-ice fights and was already experiencing the effects of CTE, and had suffered a number of grand mal seizures after he had retired. To me, the fighting in the NHL is more egregious (and completely unnecessary) than contact in football, and it seems to me that this aspect of hockey could be more easily eliminated from pro hockey than could contact from pro football. But, of course, it's all about the money, and, unfortunately, for many pro hockey fans the fighting is a part of what they're paying for. If the owners (and league) could get their priorities right, fighting could be easily eliminated. This wouldn't eliminate all the causes of concussion from the sport, but would certainly reduce the dangers substantially.

Although I love football, I wouldn't encourage a son to play the sport now that the dangers are becoming better understood. My three grandsons are playing soccer, and I'm happy to see that.
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The_Pauser
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Sir Purrcival wrote:It isn't just football either. I know that many don't consider pro wrestling a sport but all one has to do is look at the list of former wrestlers to see how many of them suffer from a variety of issues which can be attributed to CTE. However, much like smoking, I'm not sure it is going to make much of a difference. The time of willful blindness to the negatives of some of these athletic pursuits has passed but for some, it means a chance at the gold ring. Money, fame, adulation....if people are willing to smoke and pay for the privilege of hurting themselves, how much easier is it for someone to gamble with the possibility of a big payoff some day.
Chris Benoit is an example of what CTE can do. It's a very very dangerous disease.

Any kind of contact sport can cause this. Even if you're not being hit in the head. All it takes is for a collision with a high G force and you can sustain a brain injury. Unfortunately there's no real solution to prevent this. What are you going to do? Say "oh no you ran too fast, that's a penalty." Mitigating direct blows to the head is a good start, and something that can cut down the instances of this; however, I think this is going to be one of those things that is deemed a risk to those who decide to go into pro sports. Is it worth the risk? Depends on the person.

On a side note: I would be surprised if the players associations for the NFL, CFL, and NHL don't demand a higher share of revenues. Do the owners deserve a share? No doubt. But the owners aren't risking their lives to bring in those revenues. Now that we have a better understanding of the dangers that players are putting themselves in I think they deserve a bigger piece of the pie.
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DanoT
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The_Pauser wrote:
Sir Purrcival wrote:It isn't just football either. I know that many don't consider pro wrestling a sport but all one has to do is look at the list of former wrestlers to see how many of them suffer from a variety of issues which can be attributed to CTE. However, much like smoking, I'm not sure it is going to make much of a difference. The time of willful blindness to the negatives of some of these athletic pursuits has passed but for some, it means a chance at the gold ring. Money, fame, adulation....if people are willing to smoke and pay for the privilege of hurting themselves, how much easier is it for someone to gamble with the possibility of a big payoff some day.
Chris Benoit is an example of what CTE can do. It's a very very dangerous disease.

Any kind of contact sport can cause this. Even if you're not being hit in the head. All it takes is for a collision with a high G force and you can sustain a brain injury. Unfortunately there's no real solution to prevent this. What are you going to do? Say "oh no you ran too fast, that's a penalty." Mitigating direct blows to the head is a good start, and something that can cut down the instances of this; however, I think this is going to be one of those things that is deemed a risk to those who decide to go into pro sports. Is it worth the risk? Depends on the person.

On a side note: I would be surprised if the players associations for the NFL, CFL, and NHL don't demand a higher share of revenues. Do the owners deserve a share? No doubt. But the owners aren't risking their lives to bring in those revenues. Now that we have a better understanding of the dangers that players are putting themselves in I think they deserve a bigger piece of the pie.



The flip side of you argument is that higher wages might mean more people will endure the risks in order to get the big paycheque. It is a lot easier from a financial standpoint to retire early from the CFL and find other work that pays as well or near as well, while NFL players with their exceptionally high pay will most likely never make close to that kind of money once they are done with football.
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CardiacKid
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For anyone interested in the discussion of concussions as it relates to the NFL and it's players, I totally recommend "League of Denial", a 2-part documentary by Frontline and PBS. Very compelling and very sad. I haven't seen the Will Smith movie but I believe an awful lot of what is covered in that film is examined in this documentary, including the real life Doctor that is portrayed by Smith. This doctor's journey began with the death of Mike Webster and how his life just went all to crap because he simply couldn't function anymore (violent, erratic behaviour, living in his car). I believe you can watch it via Netflix or PBS online.

An update to the show indicates that 87 of 91 deceased NFL players that were examined, were found to have CTE.

Not great odds......
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