Ruin Your Own F*cking Thread You Bastards

[someonecompletelyrandom]

Kidding aside I respect him because he made Leaving Las Vegas. Which was really touching to me because it was probably the most accurate depiction of alcholism I've ever seen in a film. Which is something that's in my family history and I had problems with myself at only 16 years old.

So it pains me to see him in the corny movies he puts out nowadays.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by Conan

Kidding aside I respect him because he made Leaving Las Vegas. Which was really touching to me because it was probably the most accurate depiction of alcholism I've ever seen in a film. Which is something that's in my family history and I had problems with myself at only 16 years old.

So it pains me to see him in the corny movies he puts out nowadays.

Yeah, Leaving Las Vegas was another great one.

[someonecompletelyrandom]

You know, I actually kind of liked National Treasure.... I let that one slide because it's really intended for children.

[midnight rain]

Originally Posted by Violent & Funky

That explains why you said you were at that Weezer concert too. I'm an Ohio State fan by the way. Been to at least one game since I was seven years old.

I go to Miami. 1 of the few, the proud, the brave white people out of the 90% white students here!

Ah I applied there but picked OSU. Wouldn't rule out transferring there though if OSU doesn't live up to my expectations. Are you a freshman? Do you like it?


Also, I heard Miami has some grade A babes.

[Violent & Funky]

Originally Posted by Tuna

Ah I applied there but picked OSU. Wouldn't rule out transferring there though if OSU doesn't live up to my expectations. Are you a freshman? Do you like it?


Also, I heard Miami has some grade A babes.

I'm a junior accounting major. I like it a lot, but I got lucky and made a lot of friends who aren't dbags. This school has plenty of them.

But yes, our reputation is quite accurate...

[VEGANGELICA]

Originally Posted by Dirty

VEGANGELICA, I don't think you completely know what you are talking about regarding NFL football. NFL officials aren't fighting protective measures AT ALL. Over the past few years they have started penalizing and fining players more for helmet-to-helmet contact and late hits on the Quarterback. Yesterday they stated that players would be suspended for head-to-head collisions and 'devastating hits.'

Most former players are really opposed to this, as are many fans (myself included)... Nobody supports unnecessary helmet-to-helmet contact (I dont think), but the view of many is that the game of football is becoming ridiculous in regards to hitting players. Penalties get called almost anytime a player touches the Quarterback. You can't even touch above the neck or below the waist anymore.

Yes, NFL officials have started to get tougher about preventing concussions and brain injuries OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS...but that follows YEARS of ignoring and minimizing the problem, Dirty. Evidence that I know what I'm talking about:

Concussions and Head Injuries in Football - The New York Times

As scrutiny of brain injuries in football players has escalated in the past few years, with prominent professionals reporting cognitive problems and academic studies supporting a link more generally, the N.F.L. and its medical committee on concussions have steadfastly denied the existence of reliable data on the issue.

And:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/sp...oncussion.html

Dr. Ira Casson and Dr. David Viano, members of the [NFL League's] committee [on brain injuries] since 1994 and co-chairmen since 2007, co-authored most of the group’s published research papers whose conclusions regarding head injuries were met with considerable criticism from medical peers. Casson has been the league’s primary voice discrediting all evidence linking football players with subsequent dementia or cognitive decline, drawing criticism from fellow scientists, players and ultimately Congress.

Most critics said that their primary concern with the N.F.L.’s handling of concussions and research into them was that it often misled the public about the seriousness of football brain injuries.

Dirty, here is still more evidence that the NFL ignored the problem of player brain injury for years, and fans don't like the rules designed to protect players:

The League Panelists: NFL doing more to protect, treat players with concussions but more to be done - Dr. Matthew Prowler

To its credit, the NFL is no longer ignoring this problem. But as long as hard hits are part of the fabric of the game, a mark by which players' toughness is measured, one rule change will not be enough. As much as fans might protest, a game change is what any good doctor would order.

Finally, a very condemning article, holding fans responsible for the brain trauma experienced by players...

" + pageTitle + "

For years the NFL has disputed the findings of independent researchers, which showed concussions, especially multiple concussions, were far more dangerous to players than originally thought.

Thankfully, the NFL has finally begun taking some responsibility for protecting its players from the dangers of concussions. As of December 2009, if a player suffers a concussion he is barred from re-entering practice or play for the rest of the day. This is an obvious improvement over the previous rule, which only barred a player until their symptoms subsided.

The NFL recently capitulated to its detractors and increased the harshness of its wording for the 2010 season. The new poster reads "[traumatic brain injury] may lead to problems with memory and communication, personality changes, as well as depression and the early onset of dementia." The new poster is definitely a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough.

Why not tell the players about how of the six deceased NFL players, ages 25-50, who have been autopsied, the brains of all six looked like those of 80-year-old Alzheimer's patients?

Why not tell them about how an 18-year-old football player, who sustained multiple concussions, died and had similar brain damage to an Alzheimer's patient four times his age?

If playing football is so dangerous, why don't the players just stop?

Well for one, the bare minimum any NFL player can make, even if he only plays three games in the season, is $295,000, and according to the NFL Players Association the average salary in the NFL is $1.1 million annually.

So who is to blame for this predicament?

We are.

Players only rake in these salaries because we watch them play. Just from an economics point of view, these are men who, for the most part, have been raised since the time they were in grade school to play football. It would be irrational for them to turn down these huge salaries and go work at McDonald's.

Their education has always been given a backseat by their fans and by the people they are supposed to be able to trust — their families and coaches. What marketable skills do NFL players possess other than the game they've been trained to play and love since childhood?

This last article makes me especially angry at football fanatics...because the article is exactly right: fans, spending money to watch other people clobber each other, encourage the perpetuation of mental damage suffered by the athletes, whose "education has always been given a backseat by their fans and by the people they are supposed to be able to trust - their families and coaches."

Originally Posted by Dirty

It isn't about knowing them personally or where the players come from. Every fan, every player, has a common goal: Seeing a world championship for their team. People care because to many people, sports are FUN. I grew up watching and playing lots of sports and simply put; they are exciting and fun to watch. When you really understand the sports, you develop a respect for how talented the professional athletes are.

It's like someone who grew up playing music listening to professional guitarist or pianists or whatever. Once you understand something in-depth, you just appreciate it.

I agree that many football players have developed great athletic skill and the ability to think strategically quickly. Being able to drop a ball in with such finesse to someone running at full speed is extremely impressive. But I'd argue that the "game" is much more than just "fun" to many fans. Otherwise, why would they get so upset if one team or the other wins? I mean, really ANGRY at the opposing team and those who support them: An SEC Murder: When Fans Go Too Far | Bleacher Report

Originally Posted by Dirty

Not directed at me, but here's my 2 cents. Absolutely fans care about the players health. Nobody wants to see anyone get injured! That being said, everyone (including players) also realizes that football is a physical sport where injuries are a possibility. You make it sound like you have to choose between either caring for players health or getting drunk and having fun. It's BOTH.

I'm glad some fans care about football players' health, although the quote I mentioned earlier suggests fans care more about seeing an exciting game than seeing the players' brains stay intact within their skulls. It's true, I made it sound as if people who are having fun getting drunk and rooting for "their team" can't also be caring for players' health. You are right: fans can do both -- have fun and want players to be safe. And yet, they pay to watch an inherently dangerous sport.

Originally Posted by Violent & Funky

This thread can be about anything! There are no limits to what we can discuss!

Yes, that's what I like about this thread. I think it should be named "The Conversation Thread," if there isn't one already, because this thread is like conversations I have in non-computer life: you start with one topic, such as the difference between Spain's Spanish and Mexico's Spanish, and 30 minutes later end up discussing the Wizard of Oz flying monkeys!

At least, that's what happened with me in a conversation at work yesterday.

[Dirty]

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA

Yes, NFL officials have started to get tougher about preventing concussions and brain injuries OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS...but that follows YEARS of ignoring and minimizing the problem, Dirty. Evidence that I know what I'm talking about:

Your original post didn't say anything about the efforts they have been trying to make recently. for those who don't follow the NFL closely like I do, it made it look like the NFL was still ignoring problems so that's why I had to mention their recent efforts.


Blaming fans for football injuries is RIDICULOUS. So because I buy a ticket to a game, I now support brain injuries? Because I pay for games, I care more about the action than the health of the guys playing? Serious injuries do NOT happen that often... You're a little too far down the slippery slope now. Nobody wants to see injuries, but EVERYONE knows it is just part of the sport. Everyone knows the high risks of their given job. When you join the army, you realize there is a higher risk of you dying than if you worked at an office. Similarly, when you decide to play NFL football, you realize your risk of injury is greater than that of most occupations... but to blame these injuries on the fans?? That is retarded. They don't have to be blamed on anybody, they just occasionally happen. It's a part of professional sports and everyone involved knows that.

I think the NFL 'ignored' it for a long time because... how do you really fix it? I don't think they had any ideas on what to really do about brain injuries. They still don't really know. Like I said... It's just a very physical game with absolute freak athletes who are gigantic and run like the wind. Injuries happen and ya deal with them. It is especially hard when, not only the fans, but also the players themselves are opposed to NFL rulings, like fining players for completely legal hits (like they did this weekend to a few guys). The only rules I think fans really don't agree with are ones that involve late hits on quarterbacks sometimes (Refs call penalties that aren't late hits or vicious and it changes the outcomes of games).


Murder instances over games are such isolated instances. 99,99% of fans, at the worst, will get pissed off and chuck their remote across the room after a loss or drop a few F-bombs around the house...and by the end of the day they are cooled down and just disappointed in the loss.

Why don't the players stop if it is so dangerous? Because they LOVE this game. The game they have spent their whole lives playing and learning and training for. Your articles basically say that because fans pack the stadiums each weekend, it keeps guys playing in the NFL. That's bull****, if an NFL player was really seriously scared about their health, then they could play one or two seasons and live comfortably as a millionaire for the rest of their lives.

Some player's education may take a back seat to education, but that is because they are world-class athletes who make more in a year than some people make in their lifetimes. Anyways, the 'meathead' stereotype is WAY overblown. The majority of players in the NFL are VERY smart people, even if sometimes it's a different type of intelligence than we are used to. Yeah, a lot of guys probably cant perform open heart surgery or teach a physics seminar class... but then again surgeons and professors probably can't remember playbooks with hundreds of plays, or know how to manipulate a safety to the corner so you can through a post route, or how to read a defense before the snap and call out hot routes and audibles. All this being done in just a couple seconds.

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

I used to play rugby, a sport with just as much contact only without pads, I didn't get paid, and I didn't do it because of crowds wanting me to clobber someone.

And why did I do it?
I did it because I enjoyed playing the game, nothing more, nothing less.

Of course there's risk, there's risk every time you wake up in the mornings. And I do have a permanent reminder of my rugby days in the form of a blown out knee, never had a concussion, never had any head injury but these things happen, just as you can get them from riding a bike.

How about that? Maybe we ban bikes because they're dangerous & cause head injuries too and just have people driving around in great big padded 4 x 4's instead.

Erica dear you're a nice lady but sometimes you really do talk a load of rubbish.

[right-track]

If only the whole world was like this;

[Violent & Funky]

Vegan, can't you just try and enjoy it and stop worrying about all that garbage? It's fun to watch.

(at least as much fun as watching the marching band at halftime, I promise)