Poll Is Football in Trouble?

[Kachina]

True, but who wants to play those sports.

If you could make the money NBA players make, and still keep your brain intact, then that is a win/win to me.

 

[Kachina]

If soccer could get some of these athletes, they’d still make millions and the USMNT would win the World Cup every four years.

Agree.

Youth soccer has grown massively in the Atlanta area over the past 5-10 years, and while I'm not sure on the youth football numbers, I still think it reasons that maybe these kids would have been directed towards football 10-15 years ago, but with head injuries being all in the news, were directed towards soccer.

 

[Kachina]

No. They aren’t in trouble.

I just watched the Hines play and it’s never a pretty thing to see. But, what’s important is that they show they can handle things better on this one. Hines’ brain is going to need a break.

Tua is actually the scariest one I may have ever seen, and it's gotten national news.

Hines was just another case of a head injury we are starting to see more and more each year.

 

[fordman84]

Yes.

How many kids do you see going into boxing these days? Now how many from affluent or middle class American households?

 

[RobBase]

Yes.

How many kids do you see going into boxing these days? Now how many from affluent or middle class American households?

Youth boxing academies don’t put kids in the ring against each other but they still train.

 

[fordman84]

Youth boxing academies don’t put kids in the ring against each other but they still train.

Very few kids are going into it, but there is just as much money to be made. Because everyone knows standing there and getting your head bashed is a bad idea.

Football will run into this same issue.

 

[Y.O.M.]

Very few kids are going into it, but there is just as much money to be made. Because everyone knows standing there and getting your head bashed is a bad idea.

Football will run into this same issue.

lol

no it won't.

 

[DraftNerd]

Tua is actually the scariest one I may have ever seen, and it's gotten national news.

Hines was just another case of a head injury we are starting to see more and more each year.

Wracking my brain this morning trying to think of the scariest one I’ve seen, and realizing, maybe scary isn’t the word….but all instances (even before we knew so much more about head trauma) always were gross to me.

That said there certainly are more these days, even in a game where they have tried to take some head trauma risk out. You just can’t take much out when everyone is bigger, faster, stronger.

And that’s fine. A player like Hines chooses to play this game and take these risks. What he shouldn’t have is any expectation that he needs to shake it off and get right back out there. As detrimental as it can be for the teams goals (especially in Tuas case) they have to get a proper break now.

 

[Top Cat]

There will be a stagnation/decline phase like we saw with MLB. But it won't die by any means.

 

[Wild Turkey]

First - Kids really shouldn't be in pads until middle school and just play flag football working on conditioning and skills until around 7th grade.

Second - The game is going to change and people aren't going to like it but things like the targeting call are here to stay and will just get more and more expanded. At some point, we will see the end of kickoff returns and the Halo rule will come back on punts.

These changes will not be welcomed but they will happen.

 

[Wild Turkey]

There will be a stagnation/decline phase like we saw with MLB. But it won't die by any means.

Participation is down in most sports and there are two big reasons for it.

1. So many kids are just not into sports and are more into video games and electronic-based activities.

2. We have created travel teams at younger and younger levels and there are some kids that are slower developers and they get left behind and don't come back. This is particularly an issue in girls sports because if a girl doesn't make the travel team they want they will go do something else. I can't tell you the number of girls I coached in basketball that were squirts, quit to take dance and I see them a couple of years later and they are 5'11" and taller than anyone on the actual team now.

3. Because we are pushing these kids into more competitive leagues younger and younger they are getting burnt out. It's forcing kids to choose to concentrate on one sport much earlier and that's really unfair to the kids. When I was growing up you played the sport that was in season so we played football, basketball, baseball and swam in the summer and that was great for development. Today that ends when these kids hit 3rd grade and they go all in for one sport. Think about all the kids that would play a second and third sport and how many that takes out of the pool.

 

[RobBase]

Very few kids are going into it, but there is just as much money to be made. Because everyone knows standing there and getting your head bashed is a bad idea.

Football will run into this same issue.

Kids are fatter than ever. Kids, teens and young adults are absolutely riddled with mental health issues. Nobody seems cares about those kids.

Is that better than forgetting where you put your car keys every once in awhile in your 50’s?

 

[RobBase]

There will be a stagnation/decline phase like we saw with MLB. But it won't die by any means.

One of the big factors in the drop off in all youth sports is that they all go year round now. It’s a huge business. So if baseball kid wants to play year round he can. That takes away from football sign ups, and vice versa.

Other kids like doing something different a lot, and with all these available options 365, they can.

When I was a kid, football season was football season, baseball season was baseball season etc. it’s not like that anymore.

 

[RobBase]

First - Kids really shouldn't be in pads until middle school

The younger kids aren’t moving fast enough to do any real damage. You put them in pads early so you can start teaching proper technique early. You put a much of developing middle school kids in pads with zero knowledge of how to use that equipment and you’re asking for injuries.

 

[Top Cat]

Participation is down in most sports and there are two big reasons for it.

1. So many kids are just not into sports and are more into video games and electronic-based activities.

2. We have created travel teams at younger and younger levels and there are some kids that are slower developers and they get left behind and don't come back. This is particularly an issue in girls sports because if a girl doesn't make the travel team they want they will go do something else. I can't tell you the number of girls I coached in basketball that were squirts, quit to take dance and I see them a couple of years later and they are 5'11" and taller than anyone on the actual team now.

3. Because we are pushing these kids into more competitive leagues younger and younger they are getting burnt out. It's forcing kids to choose to concentrate on one sport much earlier and that's really unfair to the kids. When I was growing up you played the sport that was in season so we played football, basketball, baseball and swam in the summer and that was great for development. Today that ends when these kids hit 3rd grade and they go all in for one sport. Think about all the kids that would play a second and third sport and how many that takes out of the pool.

Absolutely. I am a baseball guy and it's very frustrating to see the gatekeeping and overall cluelessness in how youth baseball is handled. It's disheartening to see kids burnt out because some coach is a wannabe MLB manager while shutting out families with lighter wallets. Seeing that shit creep into youth football and basketball more and more is not gonna be healthy for those sports either.

 

[RobBase]

Absolutely. I am a baseball guy and it's very frustrating to see the gatekeeping and overall cluelessness in how youth baseball is handled. It's disheartening to see kids burnt out because some coach is a wannabe MLB manager while shutting out families with lighter wallets. Seeing that shit creep into youth football and basketball more and more is not gonna be healthy for those sports either.

Youth baseball seems like an animal compared other sports around here. Who plays baseball in the winter? My nephew was that kid who looked like he was going D1 until he blew his arm out pitching all the time.

 

[HammerDown]

Since this poll doesn't allow multiple options, I will be taking a knee in protest.

 

[DraftNerd]

Since this poll doesn't allow multiple options, I will be taking a knee in protest.

As is your right, that all Vets fought to secure.

 

[Kburjr]

The sky is falling, the sky is falling.

 

[fordman84]

The younger kids aren’t moving fast enough to do any real damage. You put them in pads early so you can start teaching proper technique early. You put a much of developing middle school kids in pads with zero knowledge of how to use that equipment and you’re asking for injuries.

They can't take as big a hit, but their brains are still developing and so even lesser damage can do more harm.