NFL 2010

[skeptik]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_696961.html

Starkey: NFL losing its mind
By Joe Starkey, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, August 29, 2010

This is insane.

It's downright scandalous, actually, for the NFL to be peddling an expanded regular season even as evidence mounts of football-related collisions causing long-term brain damage.

There should be talk of shrinking the already ruthless 16-game season, not piling on. But here we are, fresh out of the owners meetings in Atlanta, staring at the possibility of 18 games in 2012.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would like you to believe this is about entertaining the fans.

It's not about money. Noooooo. It has nothing to do with owners lining their pockets by exchanging two financially paltry exhibition games for two lucrative regular-season ones.

The owners are doing us a favor!

"There's tremendous support for it," Goodell told reporters after the meetings. "Almost all the questions, all the discussions, are how to do it in a way that's fan friendly."

Shouldn't all the discussions be about how to "do it" in a way that's player friendly? The players are the ones sacrificing their bodies for our viewing pleasure. They are compensated generously, to be sure, but that doesn't mean putting them through two more days of car-wreck collisions is the right thing to do.

The players see through the owners' ruse. Even increased pay won't make this idea fly among the rank and file.

"Not at all," said Steelers linebacker James Farrior. "If you follow the money trail, you see it's all about greed."

Added Steelers player rep Charlie Batch: "For (owners) on one side to say concussions are a point of emphasis and then turn around and add two more games just doesn't make sense. It's a bad idea."

DeMaurice Smith, union chief, responded this way to my e-mail request seeking comment:

"There has been no full proposal (from the league) regarding lowering thresholds for post-career health care, changes in offseason conditioning, bye weeks, roster sizes, impact on careers, impact on games, cumulative injury rates and a host of other issues," Smith wrote. "The players know it is difficult to get through the current season, and that this proposal has a lot of pieces that need to be addressed.

"It will be a tough sell in the locker rooms, but I think it is important to address these issues quickly."

Don't even negotiate on this one, Mr. Smith. The season is too long already. No amount of bye weeks or reduction of offseason conditioning can make up for subjecting players to two more games.

Steelers president Art Rooney II declined comment on the issue, but be sure of this: If any franchise should be vigorously protesting an expanded season, it's the Steelers, who have seen several former players — Mike Webster, Terry Long, Justin Strzelczyk, Paul Martha, to name four — lose their quality of life on account of brain damage. Their two best current players, Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu, have sustained multiple concussions.

The question of whether football-related collisions cause dementia, depression and worse remains disputed in the medical community, though evidence is increasing. At the very least, the NFL should refrain from adding more games until it sees more research. And it has to consider the stunning scientific studies already performed.

One of those, conducted by the West Virginia University-affiliated Brain Injury Research Institute, determined that deceased Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry had a form of degenerative brain damage caused by multiple hits to the head. Henry was one of more than a dozen NFL and college players found with the condition.

Then there is the heartbreaking story of longtime NFL fullback Steve Smith, captain of Penn State's 1986 national championship team, as told on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel."

Smith, who turns 46 on Monday, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) in 2002. He is tethered to a ventilator, bed-ridden and unable to speak. He also is one of 14 ex-NFL players to have developed ALS, or a condition that directly mimics it.

That is an outrageous number, considering only one in 100,000 among the general population will develop the disease.

The theory is that toxic proteins created by head trauma leak from the brain into the spinal cord, causing the condition. That is the finding of Dr. Ann McKee, a neurology professor at Boston University who has studied the brain and spinal cord of two NFL players (Wally Hilgenberg, Eric Scoggins) who died from ALS.

Steve Smith's mind remains clear. He speaks by directing his eyes to computer keys on a video screen. At one point in the interview, he burst into tears.

Somebody should see to it that the scene is played at the next NFL owners' meeting.

"I have hit people 40 to 50 times every week in practice, not to mention 50 to 70 times on gameday 16 days a year, not to mention camp every year," Smith said through a computer-generated voice. "When is enough enough? You have the old-school owners that say, 'That's how you make them tough.' I'd love to see them get out there and hit heads with guys that are bigger than them."

Enough's enough, gentlemen.

Stop the insanity.

 

[Dak]

That article is fairly weak. Sure it's about money. Fans would rather see more games that count.

But to suggest that 2 extra regular season games is going to lead to way more concussions is a major stretch. In the 3rd/4th preseason games, the starters are played for at least a total of 4 quarters if not more. So we are only adding at most, 4 quarters more football for starters.

 

[skeptik]

The main premise of the article is that it's ridiculous for the NFL to be pushing for expanding the season on one hand while on the other trying to stress the significance of football injuries and the importance in taking them seriously. Why increase the risk of the very injuries you're trying to address? As far as the preseason games go, the fourth preseason game is about as intense for starters as the first preseason game. They usually only play one or two drives. The third preseason is the "dress rehearsal" game, and really the only one teams take seriously. However, even at that, anybody not fighting for a roster spot isn't playing at 100% intensity. Of course there are flukes like the hit Manning took, but you can't compare a regular season game to a preseason game, unless you're talking week 17 with two teams who have nothing to gain or lose.

I honestly hope we never see an 18 game season. The season is long enough as it is. Purely from a players' health perspective, it's a horrible idea, and I would rather there be a lockout next year solely in response to owners pushing for an 18 game season if it meant in the long run that it doesn't happen. I could not possibly care less if two more games a year would be more exciting for fans to watch. Player health is a far bigger concern, and it's nearly hypocritical the way the NFL is trying to juggle concussions with more collisions per year. I think the NFL will have to make a lot of concessions for the players to accept an 18 game season, and I obviously mean being monetary compensation.

 

[Dak]

Well the obvious response is well then lets just get rid of football for the sake of the potential players health.

 

[Matt]

I honestly don't care whether or not they add two games or not. I'm still going to watch football either way.

 

[Badbird]

The NFL will inform teams Tuesday about tweaks to where the umpire will be stationed in the offensive backfield, The New York Times reported.

The adjustments are in response to a new rule that moved the umpire from the middle of the defense to 14 to 17 yards behind the offense for safety reasons. That was adjusted to 12 yards back after the Hall of Fame Game so the ball could be spotted quicker. Still, the rule drew criticism from Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, whose team was penalized twice for snapping the ball before the umpire was in position during a preseason game Thursday.

The latest tweaks, made after a conference call that included members of the league's competition committee, include requiring the umpire only to be standing behind the deepest member of the offense, and quarterbacks can look at officials near the sidelines to get the go-ahead to snap the ball, rather than turn around and look for a signal from the umpire.


Wow I agree with Bill and Manning for once. Good job NFL.

 

[Badbird]

Polls for the NCAA AP


AP Top 25
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Alabama (54) 0-0 1491
2 Ohio State (3) 0-0 1400
3 Boise State (1) 0-0 1336
4 Florida 0-0 1237
5 Texas (1) 0-0 1223
6 TCU 0-0 1160
7 Oklahoma (1) 0-0 1104
8 Nebraska 0-0 1033
9 Iowa 0-0 1007
10 Virginia Tech 0-0 973
11 Oregon 0-0 870
12 Wisconsin 0-0 822
13 Miami (FL) 0-0 785
14 USC 0-0 590
15 Pittsburgh 0-0 516
16 Georgia Tech 0-0 511
17 Arkansas 0-0 496
18 North Carolina 0-0 397
19 Penn State 0-0 382
20 Florida State 0-0 379
21 LSU 0-0 300
22 Auburn 0-0 296
23 Georgia 0-0 206
24 Oregon State 0-0 198
25 West Virginia 0-0 184


Poll from USA today.



USA Today Poll
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Alabama (55) 0-0 1469
2 Ohio State (4) 0-0 1392
3 Florida 0-0 1245
4 Texas 0-0 1240
5 Boise State 0-0 1215
6 Virginia Tech 0-0 1052
7 TCU 0-0 1051
8 Oklahoma 0-0 1035
9 Nebraska 0-0 1001
10 Iowa 0-0 952
11 Oregon 0-0 940
12 Wisconsin 0-0 778
13 Miami (FL) 0-0 728
14 Penn State 0-0 508
15 Pittsburgh 0-0 492
16 LSU 0-0 476
17 Georgia Tech 0-0 455
18 North Carolina 0-0 445
19 Arkansas 0-0 438
20 Florida State 0-0 374
21 Georgia 0-0 312
22 Oregon State 0-0 263
23 Auburn 0-0 260
24 Utah 0-0 169
24 West Virginia 0-0 169

 

[Dak]

I am very surprised to see UNC in the top 25 for the first time in forever.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

fuck off college... it says NFL 2010

how 'bout that Matt Leinart

 

[Dak]

Poor Cards.

 

[muzmaze]

Pats best cb Leigh Bodden out for season...just loving this shitty long pre-season stuff!

 

[Badbird]

I am very surprised to see UNC in the top 25 for the first time in forever.

And wasn't there basketball team either.

 

[muzmaze]

...not too often UNC football shining brighter than thier basketball

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

Pats best cb Leigh Bodden out for season...just loving this shitty long pre-season stuff!

Great news!
now if Brady and Moss would go down, win!

 

[Mort Divine]

The Patriots no longer have a defense haha. They've got Wilfork and Mayo and ... well that's it. McCourty is going to be a star, but not this year.

 

[Badbird]

Horrible news!
now if Brady and Moss kickass, win!

Fixed

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Merriweather is an excellent S and Spikes is going to be a solid 2nd MLB.

If Butler steps up the Pats will be fine.

 

[muzmaze]

Agree...Mayo and Spikes potentially could be one of the best LB tandoms for a long time to come. The only good thing from pre-season is the rookies look fantastic...Gronkowski and Hernandez already look like beasts as tight-ends. Pats really need the rooks to step up...the question is if and when they hit the wall in a long NFL season.

 

[Mort Divine]

Oh yeah, forgot about Merriweather.

 

[Badbird]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=tsn-166944