Can someone tell me the advantage of football?

[tavernier]

I've never "gotten it".

I see the younger kids being taught to be tough, cream their opponents. Most of them don't want to get hurt or hurt their friends, so they initially shy away.

As they learn the game, egged on by their elders, they lose their fear and get more aggressive. Some of them want to please so much that they will literally drop from heat or exhaustion or pain. This makes them "super athletes".

Later they are taught to purposely hurt their opponents, beyond the rules, just to win the game.

I don't like this game. It's not a sport, in my opinion. But I'm pretty much alone in my thinking.

[arcane1]

1. It's a stand-in for war n/t

[leftofcool]

2. I can only tell you how my old dad described it.

Keep in mind dad has been gone for 20 years and he was 77 when he said this. "Back when we were cave men, we could be violent because we had to fight for everything. These days, women won't let us be violent so we watch football instead."

[Rex]

3. Bread and circus for the masses.

Lots of war jingoism in football.

[Recursion]

4. Teamwork, concentration, focus, conditioning

Frankly soccer's probably somewhat better for all of those except maybe focus, but I know a lot of guys that football was very good for.

[DetlefK]

41. Focus?

[Recursion]

42. Yes, focus. Stand on-line with an offensive line some time

That is entirely about focus. I was one of those non-AD-HD kids and I found it difficult.

[MineralMan]

50. Playing in the band teaches the same.

Even conditioning.

Lots of group activities are capable of teaching those.

[Travis_0004]

77. Personally I hated band

It wasnt for me, but I loved football.

If you love band, then strive to be the best, and I will strive tl be the best at football.

I dont see a problem with that.

[davidn3600]

5. What exactly is a "sport" then in your mind?

Baseball? Hockey? Soccer? Tennis? NASCAR? Gymnastics? Curling?

What is a "sport?"

[tavernier]

7. I would think "sport" would be

an event where you would best your opponent by your skills. I don't consider a weight body slam as a skill, but of course in many sports it is.

[Recursion]

11. I think you're underestimating the skill involved in football

I played it in junior high and there's a lot more than weight involved, even for linesmen. Balance, technique, timing, and precision are all a huge part of effective (and safe!) blocking and tackling.

[Scootaloo]

26. It's a different game on the field than in the stands

Lots of footwork, agility, team coordination.

Sort of like how auto racing is a lot more complicated than turning left... and same how there are fans who show up for loud noises and hoping ot see a crash.

[flvegan]

6. Lets talk about this "taught to purposely hurt" crap.

Maybe you don't get it because you are indeed misinformed.

BTW, outside of America, there's this thing called "rugby" you should check out. If you want to go after ghastly, go find an MMA tree to bark up.

[The2ndWheel]

8. What's the advantage of any activity really?

Camaraderie.

Someone mentioned cavemen. I think many of the things we do go back to a time when smaller groups had to traverse their landscape. Whether it's playing football, or getting together with friends to watch a game after another bullshit week, or being members of a book club, joining the military, or whatever you want to name. A more visceral shared experience in a world increasingly made more individualistic and distant. In some ways, our global world doesn't make sense.

When guys retire from football, other than the money of course, what they always say they'll miss the most is the locker room. It's going through exhaustion and pain together.

[mythology]

9. People have dropped from heat or exhaustion or pain in many sports

I've had it happen to me at parkour and capoeira and gymnastics. I've ridden my bike until my leg seized. I've trained through a fractured tibia for a month because my pain tolerance is high enough that I didn't realize it was fractured. I'm currently training on a knee that will have major surgery on December 15th. On December 6th I will run a 5k, train 2 hours of gymnastics and then go to a 6 hour capoeira event.

I don't do it so that other people will call me a super athlete, I don't do it to look tough. I do it because I love doing it.

Football has (admittedly way too late) implemented rules to improve player safety which has paid dividends in reducing blows to the head which will hopefully work to lower the number of post-career head injuries.

If you think football players are willing to go too far, go look up John Hopoate a former rugby player, or Peter Filandia an Australian rules football player. Go look up Roy Keane who bragged in his autobiography about intentionally injuring another soccer player. Go look at Todd Bertuzzi from hockey. There is a long tradition in baseball of intentionally throwing the baseball at other players.

[Logical]

13. Great post. Sometimes posters post things out of emotion and not logic! Nt

[Recursion]

15. You do parkour?

Jesus... I did a groupon for an intro class and was terrified of walls after I finished that. Though I did like how it made me look at surfaces differently since then. Still, hats off to you.

Personally I fence, and have wound up with gashes and bruises on my arms so bad that a store owner called social services.

[LeftyMom]

27. Baseball has a lot more head injuries than you'd think, too.

I mean, they're pretty much unavoidable for catchers and umps (A ball is getting thrown your direction 85-100 mph all day every day. Some of them will hit you in the head.) but pitchers and to a lesser degree infielders are at risk as well.

And then there are collisions because of fielding mishaps, plays at the plate etc.

[JonLP24]

39. I was always scared of the baseball

Pitcher has to worry about the line drives but they don't have fast throws thrown at them to throw the runner out - with the exception of covering the bag so the guy at first can chase the ball.

I played a lot of tackle football without equipment which was dumb but you'd have to pay me to stay inside the field. Batting scared me but I only faced someone throwing fast pitchers (the fast balls were thrown in the infield) maybe one time. I was scared of that ball. Outfield was different, it was like being a receiver. You're an athlete until the ball arrives -- fundamentals take over after that.

[WhiteAndNerdy]

10. I don't like it, either.

A friend of mine used to call it "Neanderball," and that pretty much sums up my feelings.

[Recursion]

12. Allow me to introduce you to the Indian sport of Kabaddi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabaddi

I'm toying with training for it... it looks like an amazing workout.

[tavernier]

14. No, I get that football isn't the only physical sport.

I just don't understand the "wonderfulness" of these sports, especially since I come from a family of devout football/hockey fans. As I said, I just don't "get" the fervor. I hate that kids are taught to "like" hurting each other, I hate that children die from being made to play football at age ten in the blazing sun, and I hate that men who play it professionally are turned into cripples long before their time.

I just don't like the game. So sue me.

[Cleita]

16. Same purpose as gladiator contests in Rome.

It's a big fat distraction for the average citizen so our fearless leaders can go about the business of emptying the coffers and filling the pockets of the 1% without too much scrutiny.

[elleng]

17. No.

[Quantess]

18. I have minus zero interest in football.

I wish that it was less influential in high school.

[flamingdem]

19. Down with Football!

[flamingdem]

20. Love all of you who dislike the head butting sport

Even my mom loves it, but I don't. I have to listen to enthusiasts yelling and screaming and it leaves me cold. All I can think is "head injury". I know, many hate me for this attitude and usually I keep my mouth shut but I love seeing all the criticism here.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. I have no interest in any sports or athletic competitions...

least of all football. I understand the rules and strategies, but just don't give a shit.

As someone else said above -- it's gladiatoral combat to take the public's minds off of important stuff.

[Art_from_Ark]

71. I don't think anyone in my family is interested in watching any televised sport

We watched quite a few way back when, including not only baseball and football, but tennis, bowling, even Wide World of Sports and roller derby. But these days, nobody seems to watch any sport.

[LeftyMom]

22. It's a game. It's fun to play. It's fun to watch. It gets kids out of the house.

It's something more fun to do on Sunday than church and brunch.

Kids get a lot out of it. They have to be physically active (Go by any field in August and you'll see tubby kids running stairs. Go back in September and you'll see leaner, more muscular kids practicing plays. They're the same kids.) and to work hard and memorize thick binders of material and think about strategy. They learn work ethic or they learn to sit and watch the kids who work hard. More importantly they're not sitting around playing video games and developing diabetes.

In terms of injuries do you know what the most dangerous youth sport is? It's actually cheerleading. There are a surprising amount of head injuries from all the tumbling and pyramids and stuff, and the dance steps and tumbling are responsible for a lot of knee and ankle injuries. And of course you're as likely to be doing that on a slickly waxed wooden gym floor as on dirt or grass, the shoes are shit, you invest a lot more time in it (typically football and basketball games are all required events) and there's no safety equipment in actual performances.

[larkrake]

34. track and field is soooo much better for kids

[larkrake]

35. cheerleading is just like a stripper who

carries the Round sign around the boxing ring- the sexual equation men have put in alot of sports

[LeftyMom]

36. This comment is itself rather sexist.

My sister (who also played football and baseball and did karate and now *gasp* boxes competitively) used to cheer. Which is how I know all about cheer as a major source of injuries. But basically competitive cheer is just a group form of dance and tumbling.

At the competitive amateur level it's not about titillation at all, because other than the few young men on teams and the bored fathers waiting to drive their daughters home, competitions are in a hall consisting almost entirely of women and girls. The outfits (which I think are overpriced and of terrible quality, but that's another post) are no skimpier than those used for gymnastics, and significantly less form fitting because they're usually made of some ghastly trouser weight polyester double knit. (At one of my sister's interminable competitions I did see a team competing in spandex outfits. It was the least attractive thing mankind has ever devised, I assure you, and not a trend likely to catch on. I suspect they just couldn't afford the aforementioned ridiculously expensive uniforms.)

Professional sports cheer teams are another story, but you're maligning a whole lot of young women if you lump their carefully timed and choreographed dance and tumbling routines in with a few dozen women who have part time jobs doing four dance routines on a Sunday afternoon in a skimpy outfit. And even that isn't stripping and neither are ring girls. (Hint: if it doesn't involve removing your bra or rubbing your ass on a guy's crotch it's not stripping.)

[Iggo]

63. They also lead the cheers. (n/t)

[JayhawkSD]

23. You either like it or you don't.

If you don't like it, don't watch it. Is there any benefit for you in making it unavailable for people who do like it? Do I come here and rant about things you enjoy?

[LeftyMom]

25. I don't get that either.

I happen to think that soccer is the most boring thing in the known universe, but I don't start threads about how the Premier League is the cause of all human misery and anybody who likes it is an inbred hooligan looking for something to do in between EDL marches.

[Bluenorthwest]

52. I think those who enjoy it should do so as fully informed consumers

Once they are aware of the level of injury to players if they still dig watching and the players still want to take those risks then play on.

[JayhawkSD]

56. In other words, yes.

There is something in it for you to make things unavailable that other people enjoy. It's called "being a dog in the manger." You don't really want to be there, but you want to be sure that no one else can be there either.

[MannyGoldstein]

24. Well... for certain adolescent males

(like me a few years ago)... and perhaps some females as well... it's a gas! I do realize it's not a brilliant thing to do and perhaps should be stopped, but creatively slamming into people to knock them down is quite fun for some.

I guess you don't want to know about boxing?

[southerncrone]

29. Because there is no advantage.

It contributes negatively to our society. It is encouraged violence in the guise of a "game". Violence that carries over in players' lives off the field.
I'm glad the info on the concussions is finally coming out. Perhaps mothers will not promote their boys to play this crazy sport.
Also, how many families have been driven into debt/poverty from the insane gambling on this & other sports.

[cyberswede]

62. "Violence that carries over in players' lives off the field"

Do you have any references to support that?

I ask because my 14 y.o. - a lineman (6'2" 230 lbs) - is as gentle as a lamb.

[southerncrone]

70. There are numerous examples of players engaging in domestic violence.

One of those recently in the news is Ray Rice, there are many others. It happens in other sports, too, but football has many. Just google football & domestic violence.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-rate-of-domestic-violence-arrests-among-nfl-players/

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/nfl-controversy/still-playing-12-nfl-players-have-domestic-violence-arrests-n204831

I suspect there are a number of instances where the victim does not report the violence because of the notoriety & public persona involved. As the nbcnews link states many of these players are still playing & are given a slap on the wrist, or things are quickly swept under the rug.

I might add, I sincerely hope your son remains gentle as a lamb as he matures.

[cyberswede]

73. But is the incidence rate actually higher than the general population?

Or do we just hear about the cases involving famous athletes because they're famous athletes?

I don't dispute that the rate of domestic violence among NFL players is too high, but is there data that shows that football itself is the cause?

Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.

Patricia Tjaden & Nancy Thoennes, U.S. Dep't of Just., NCJ 183781, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/183781.htm

I don't think the majority of those assaults are perpetrated by football players (famous or not).

[Ron Green]

30. It gives men a default conversation topic, saving them from

having to really get to know each other.

[ZombieHorde]

31. This is the think I like least about football.

People will try to start conversations with me about football, and they act offended when I tell them I have no interest in what they're talking about. NASCAR fans don't seem to get offended when I tell them I have no interest in their favorite form of entertainment media. Maybe because I live in a college football town. I am expected to love the Grizzlies, but I just don't.

[Bettie]

54. I get the same thing

I'm in a small town and it is hard to strike up a conversation that doesn't turn to football.

I think it is harder for my kids, 12 and 13 year old boys who have zero interest in sports, beyond playing at the games (they are in band).

[LostInAnomie]

32. People enjoy playing and watching it.

That's all the "advantage" they need.

[larkrake]

33. I do not enjoy watching it, it is brutal and destroys bodies and minds for the almighty dollar

Stopping every 5 seconds is incredibly stupid, they are drugged to the teeth and get brain damage. The public are romans watching gladiators beat each other up. It is not a sport any more than dog fighting, The skills are throwing and knocking the opponent down. Whoopie. I feel the same about fighting- its just aggression and not a virtue, especially when the players beat up their women and rape with no risk.

[Oktober]

37. K...

I'm not into cricket...


Is it worth a thread to itself? Not so much...

[madokie]

38. With two sons

one an athlete and the other not I can tell a difference in their outlook on life. One is easier to work with has more of a team spirit one not so much. I bet you can figure out which is which. Both raised under the same roof under the same conditions.

[HereSince1628]

44. No doubt true, but while the comparison looks like it controls for nature and nuture

the sample size is far too small to be meaningful either as a general association or one that is interpreted as causal.

What came first, the personalities or the choices of team vs no team activity? No way to know from the anecdote

No way to know what fraction of the youth population shows similar pattern so it isn't possible to make any statement that generalizes to a population beyond the family unit...at which level I have no doubt that it is true.

People vary, and their preferences also vary over time, consequently meaningful statements must be based on samples large enough to describe the inherent variablity.

[Rex]

40. A friend told me something interesting.

That contact sports is a good release for aggressive behavior that could otherwise lead to bad results. So countries with no contact sports - higher crime rate or lower?

[logosoco]

43. It has too many rules for me to enjoy it.

I have had to sit through many football games because my daughter was a cheerleader and my son was in the marching band. I know how hard they worked at that and was always glad they weren't the kids in the game. It just looks painful.

I enjoy baseball. Much easier to understand and I can follow what is going on.

[Inkfreak]

45. lemme guess...it's "bread & circus for the masses"

Never get tiresome hearing that old trope trotted out everytime sports are mentioned. Yes, we get it. Those who don't watch it are soooo much our betters.

[Gemini Cat]

49. +1!

It gets seriously tiresome. Some of us like sports, so what's the big deal?

[nomorenomore08]

67. +2

[panader0]

46. I like bumper cars too.

[deutsey]

47. I've never been a big sports fan, but my oldest son plays football

He's on the offensive line, a big guy, taller than me now.

From all accounts he's very good at playing left guard and can be quite aggressive on the field and very good with his techniques.

However, he doesn't try to hurt anyone and his coaches don't teach the guys to play that way. The coaches even tell them to refrain from trash talk on the field (as best they can in the heat of the moment) and instead let their performance speak for them.

Off the field, my son is in the National Honor Society (so are a few of his friends on the team, including the quarterback), can play music (baritone and bass), and has had two jobs as a counselor working with children. Socially, he glides very easily between different groups in and out of school, has a very tight, family-like bond with his racially mixed team, and politically he's liberal and isn't afraid to give his views during class discussions in AP Government.

If his experience was anything like you describe (which may very well be accurate for some programs), I would've pulled him from it a long time ago and filed complaints with the school board.

So, even though I'm not into sports (I was involved in theater and writing back in high school, to let you know where I'm coming from), I'm thankful this has been a very positive, character-building for him.

[raccoon]

48. You're not alone. I've never liked it. And in my red state, football is almost a religion. nt

[Bluenorthwest]

51. A good book: Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto by Steve Almond

It's interesting material...
http://againstfootball.org/

[snooper2]

53. looks like you already made up your own narrative of what you think the game is

Maybe you should actually go out to a little league game or something...

[GusBob]

65. This is apparant ^^^^^

and the poster admits he "doesn't get it" Then goes on to prove that

I have coached youth football for 16 seasons now. I had a long reasoned response to the OP but figured the post was more to prove a point than learn anything.

The kids that I have coached from lower socio-economic backgrounds play sports to escape the realities of a harsh existence. For many of them it is their ticket out of the hood and for some of them there is no parents to "egg them on" ( I got a kick out of that line, every season there are 2-3 kids I carry to and from practices. Not too sure if they have 1 or even 2 parents in the household).

Am just now starting to see the results of these athletes that I have coached ( for and against): college scholarships and productive lives

have also seen too many kids drop out of the sport and they are getting notorious for other reasons....the wrong ones......

[yeoman6987]

55. I don't think there is a thing wrong with Football

Either enjoy it or don't watch. It is not like smoking where others are "hurt". I hope it is here for another couple centuries.

[pipi_k]

57. Well I guess no one is going to see

a point to, or advantage in, any sport they don't really care for.



I used to not like football much either until I learned more about it and realized that it's about way more than just running a ball up and down a field. Lots of planning and strategy go into the game. Planning for specific players on the opposing team...trying to take advantage of weaknesses in their defense or offense.

The spectacular plays, like the one-handed grab by #87 on my favorite team

I mean, damn...this is not a small guy. He's had a couple of surgeries on his arm and was out for the final part of last season after a serious leg injury.

How can anyone see that and say it's not pure poetry in motion?

Some of the plays really are beauty. A well thrown ball. A spectacular catch in double (or even triple) coverage. A punt return of 50+ yards for a touchdown.

Yes, it's violent, but there's beauty in it as well.

[Brickbat]

58. Your OP doesn't describe the experience my kids have had with football at all.

[GreatGazoo]

59. Football is in many ways just another sport but why do

we get to subsidize the stadiums they play in and then build them a new one once a decade or so?

What does football have to do with getting a college education really? The best paid employees on college campuses are the football coaches, with some topping $5mil.

The sport, colleges and local governments might all be better if they weren't so tied up in each other.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/27/the-nfl-is-very-profitabl_n_4346428.html

[Travis_0004]

76. The NFL has dropped its non profit status

Also, in college, football and mens basketball tend to fund all other supports, since only those two make money.

I have no problem with a football coach making a few million. If you drop him and the football program, I hope ypu are willing to drop about 20 other sports so you dont have to raise tuition.

[Iggo]

60. Some people like it and think it's fun.

You're welcome.

[nomorenomore08]

69. No further explanation needed.

[Marrah_G]

61. Some people like it, some don't

I like it. I spent ten years with someone who coached HS football and I disagree with your assessment of it.

[AnalystInParadise]

64. The advantage is

fun.

Also teamwork, competition, athletic conditioning, overcoming obstacles.....the list is endless.

I don't get people who don't like football. At all.

[radicalliberal]

75. Perhaps they were bullied by jocks in school.

I guess nonathletic kids should be scorned.

[Douglas Carpenter]

66. I don't relate to sports at all - but just because it is not my thing - I'm not going to knock it

[LanternWaste]

68. I too often criticize those things I neither understand nor "get".

I too often criticize those things I neither understand nor "get".

[AgingAmerican]

72. There doesn't have to be an 'advantage'

It is the greatest sport in history of ever of all time ever.

[longship]

78. Brain damage?

Both the practitioners and the fans.

IMHO.

Baseball! The only Zen sport. How can anybody malign the squeeze play. (Mayo Smith would smack you upside your head if you did.)

Also, Australian Rules Football, a sport which does not stop every 30 seconds and nobody wears armor, other than teeth guards.

Here is the best team sport on the planet:

[tavernier]

79. We are alone

as you can see from the other posts.

I don't mind, though. I look forward to Superbowl Sunday when I can shop at the mall or eat in a nice restaurant without a crowd.

[longship]

80. My best to you. And GO SWANS!

I've always liked Adam Goodes.

He's an ethnic native Australian who calls out a racist fan. And he is an awesome Footie player.