Sunday, November 30, 2014

The dangers of concussions, part zillion

The worst fears have been realized for Ohio St faithful.

Defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge was found dead of an apparent suicide last night, after having disappeared with a suicidal text to his mother on Wednesday. The apparent source of Karageorge's distress was the confusion, pain, and many other issues caused by the many concussions he suffered playing football and wrestling.

Many of the usual expressions of disbelief followed, and he was due to be recognized at senior day before the OSU/Michigan game yesterday.

What are the ramifications of concussions? Nobody knows, completely. But only someone with their head in the sand can possibly believe that the frequency of concussions in the NFL, and college football, and high school football, won't have ANY effect on the future of "American football". 

Will the sport still be popular...heck, will it even exist in twenty years? Consider: if high schools are fearful of lawsuits because of possible concussions - and they can't claim they don't have any evidence that it might happen, or what it might do to the victim - why would they keep promoting the sport? For that matter, why would parents allow their sons to play the sport that could destroy their brains?


And if high schools don't keep sending players to the college programs... and if the colleges stop supplying the NFL with victims players, the sport will die. Like other very dangerous sports, it'll disappear. 


Or be marginalized. Think boxing.

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