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[QB Eagles]

The Klitschko brothers are as great as anyone, but no one cares because they’re Ukrainian.

[MDS]

Boxing's biggest detriment has probably been the lack of great heavyweights since the Tyson/Holyfield era.  A legit boxing fan will watch lightweights or middleweights or any other weight class, but casual fans are mostly in or out based on the heavies. 

there is some truth to this but ultimately people love superstars more than anything....so in that sense weight class doesnt matter. even if boxing had tyson jr right now it would still be mitigated by the fact that people cant easily watch these fights.

thats what happens when the sport has no governing body. its the wild west and its run by evil men who would sell their child for a profit. 

[ice grillin you]

Illinois took a significant step toward becoming the first state to ban organized tackle football at the youth level.

HB 4341, also called the Dave Duerson Act, would prohibit any child under 12 from participating in organized tackle football. The measure passed out of the Illinois House mental health committee on an 11-9 vote Thursday and now heads to the House for a full debate and vote.

[Zanshin]

Illinois took a significant step toward becoming the first state to ban organized tackle football at the youth level.

HB 4341, also called the Dave Duerson Act, would prohibit any child under 12 from participating in organized tackle football. The measure passed out of the Illinois House mental health committee on an 11-9 vote Thursday and now heads to the House for a full debate and vote.

I think I'm on record as saying football will be in it's death throes in my lifetime because of a wide variety things, including this. That said...that law is pretty stupid. From 6-9 was the only age I was cool with my kid playing tackle football, because none of the kids had any real power to block or tackle. 12 is really where it STARTS to get dangerous.

[Rome]

Holy shtein this country is turning into Hoyda central.   

[BDN]

Rypien tried to commit suicide, blames CTE

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22968747/mark-rypien-former-super-bowl-mvp-washington-taterskins-says-attempted-suicide

Thought this was rather interesting:

Researchers from the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) analyzed suicide death rate data on 3,439 retired NFL players. All the men played football for the NFL for at least five seasons between 1959 and 1988. The scientists compared the findings with the suicide death rate for men matched for race and age in the general population.

They found that the rate of suicide among the former NFL players was actually lower than the suicide rate in the general population. Between 1979 to 2013, there were 12 suicide deaths in the NFL group compared with 25 suicide deaths in the group of other men, according to the study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-findings-on-former-nfl-players-and-suicide-risk/

[Diomedes]

That study begs the question:  if NFL vets commit suicide at a lower rate than a control group of similar age and race men, how do NFL vets compare against a control group of other extremely accomplished athletes whose sport doesn't routinely cause brain damage, like basketball players? 

[QB Eagles]

whose sport doesn't routinely cause brain damage, like basketball players? 

Basketball is a contact sport in which players are routinely jostled around, whacked with stray limbs, and falling to the floor. Plenty of people in basketball suffer concussions. Just ask Joel Embiid. An unstudied sport is not a safe sport. When the data is complete, there probably will be few sports unaffected by CTE -- especially team sports. Once this problem is fully understood, parents and their kids will have to decide how much additional risk they are willing to accept. It will probably have to be more than zero, unless they are really into tennis, golf, and swimming.

I do agree with your overall point that the control group should be as much like NFL players as possible, without bouncing their heads around. They should be much more wealthy, famous, and physically fit than the general population, as all of those things influence suicide rate. Good luck finding that group, though.

[Diomedes]

I do agree with your overall point that the control group should be as much like NFL players as possible, without bouncing their heads around. They should be much more wealthy, famous, and physically fit than the general population, as all of those things influence suicide rate. Good luck finding that group, though.

The control group should feature athletes of some kind, to capture the physical comparison, and it should be a group of people who are highly highly accomplished.  NFL players are more than one in a million each, so I'd like the control group to be composed of people who have achieved the highest level of their particular pursuit, not just rich and famous.  If basketball doesn't fit the bill because they bump heads sometimes, then perhaps tennis, or track and field, etc...


Joe Schmo who never achieved anything is not a good comparison to someone who became the best at what he does when trying to get a look at something as complicated as suicide.

[ice grillin you]

numerous hockey players mostly players who fought a lot have committed suicide

[Rome]

They’re White so they matter more, right racist?