Well, it’s the first big college-football weekend…Who am I going to be rooting for?
Nobody.
I’ve written in the past about my effort to wean myself off pro football because of the game’s clearcut association with degenerative brain disease.
I was moderately successful last season: I watched relatively little of the Chiefs’ games and went to just one — on a frigid night against the Raiders, when a friend offered me a club-level seat. (Temptation at that level is hard to turn away from.)
This year, I’m going to try to avoid the pro game altogether, and I am vowing here and now to extend my self-imposed ban to college football.
This is going to be extremely difficult, mainly because I love going to KU football games — not because it’s quality football, which it hasn’t been for years, but primarily to watch the KU Marching Jayhawks and listen to the band play “Home on the Range” after most of the fans have left and the field has long been cleared.
I know…A lot of people might think it’s a bit weird, going to Lawrence to watch a marching band and listen to one song. But that’s me. I pick up on obscure stuff and stick with it. (Example: Several years ago, when a certain women’s college basketball referee — a woman — caught my eye, I sidled up to her at halftime and introduced myself. Through downright perseverance, I befriended her over the course of a few seasons. We still see each other about once a year…In case you’re wondering, Patty doesn’t mind: My friend is gay and has had a partner for more than 20 years.)“
A neuropathologist has examined the brains of 111 N.F.L. players — and 110 were found to have CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), the degenerative disease linked to repeated blows to the head. The New York Times, July 25, 2017
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You might be wondering what brought me to my present vow to try to abstain from football altogether.
The turning point was a recent New York Times story about a longtime ESPN and ABC college football analyst named Ed Cunningham, who last spring announced he was stepping away and giving up his six-figure-a-year job. At the time, he said he was resigning because he wanted to spend more time with his two young sons and because of his workload as a film and television producer. Only recently did he come out with the real reason — “my ethical concerns.”
Ed Cunningham
“(T)he real crux of this is that I just don’t think the game is safe for the brain,” he told The Times. “To me, it’s unacceptable.”
I decided that if a guy who has been making more than $100,000 a year (by his own account) as an analyst is willing to act on the courage of his convictions, I should do likewise.
“I take full ownership of my alignment with the sport. I can just no longer be in that cheerleader’s spot.” Ed Cunningham
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I don’t think I’m going to be able to make a complete withdrawal, however, for one main reason: Patty is an MU graduate, and she loves going to Columbia at least once or twice a season. Although she likes to go to the games, the bigger attraction for her is tailgating at the Phi Sigma Pi house, a few blocks from Memorial Stadium.
Patty was a Phi Si “little sister” when she attended MU, and many members of her old gang gather at the frat grounds on football weekends. I go with her at least once a year, and I’m sure I’ll be going again.
On “Phi Si” weekends, I’m going to give myself a pass and try to keep my focus on the socializing and not get caught up in the football…which is going to be a big challenge.
“Repeated blows to the head cause the buildup of an abnormal protein that degenerates brain tissue. Areas of the brain vulnerable to CTE include those that govern cognition, working memory, abstract reasoning, planning, emotional control and aggression.” Chicago Tribune, Aug. 6, 2017
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The hardest part of living up to this vow, though, is going to be finding other fall and winter-time diversions.
I already play golf through most of the winter; I play when the temperature is as low as the upper 30s, as long as the wind isn’t strong. And with the “wrap-around” professional golf season starting in late fall, it’s not hard to find a golf tournament on TV.
As many of you know, I like women’s college basketball and go to some KU games every season. (Fortunately, the pep band plays at those games and I can get my “Home on the Range” fix, although it’s nothing like hearing the song played by the 270-member Marching Jayhawks.)
So, I’m in the market for new possibilities for fall and winter activities and interests.
— Maybe I could expand my basketball horizons and start following men’s college basketball more closely. MU is expected to be much better this year, and it’s only a two-hour drive to Columbia.
— Maybe I could take Patty’s suggestion and start doing some volunteer work, you know, “giving back” to the community instead of focusing mostly on my “fat self.”
— Maybe I could get a weekend job working at the 7-Eleven in Brookside.
Wait, what am I thinking about? Scratch that.
As you can see, I need help.
Any suggestions, constructive or otherwise?
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“He ended his life living out of a car, unable to get his thoughts together and fighting anger and confusion. At one point, he destroyed all his football pictures, slashing them apart.” The New England Sports Network, writing about the late Mike Webster, former Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas Chiefs center, who died of a heart attack in 2002. An autopsy showed his brain was filled with an abnormal protein associated with CTE
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
I happened to see the first few minutes of the Michigan – Florida game. In that time frame a Michigan player speared a defenseless, out-of-bounds Florida player.
I say defenseless because another Michigan player had the Florida player wrapped up such the Florida player could not lift his hands or arms to protect himself. The Florida player was also unequivocally out-of-bounds.
The call was “Unsportsmanlike”; 15 yards were marked off and play resumed.
Or almost did. Play was again halted so the review booth could take a look; it appeared “targeting” would be called and the Michigan player would be ejected from the game. A chyron was displayed limning the behavior needed for such a call, all of which the Michigan player had met: THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT.
Mere seconds after the chyron disappeared from the screen the announcement came that targeting was not applicable, and play resumed.
So a play that had obvious long-term health results for both players was deemed insignificant.
All the PR announcements to the effect that college and pro ball have instituted rules to insure the safety of their players are just more and more bullshit, self-serving hot air, if they aren’t enforced. Cognizant of that, a discerning viewer might well find other things to do with their time Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
Or…perhaps those organizations turn promotions 180 degrees and actually hawk life-shortening collisions as a feature! Truth in advertising in an industry that has traditionally avoided such.
Finally, in a moment that indubitably had Kosiński chortling in his grave, a Florida player was introduced as Chauncey Gardner…
Thanks for the report, Will…I’m glad I didn’t see that. I would have been angry, too.
I’m off to a good start…In looking at the sports section, I saw a couple of scores but didn’t read any game stories, wasn’t even tempted.
We’ve never been football fans – the most we’ve been to was one Clemson game when we lived there, and group gathering Superbowl parties (we were the ones out of the room during the game, but back in for the commercials). I’ve never understood the draw to a game that celebrates violence on the field and does little to condemn it off the field. I’m hoping this year will be the winter I finally get myself to a curling rink and maybe even throw a few stones. As for ideas on how to distract yourself during football season that could be Patty-approved: You could read newspapers for the blind, walk some dogs at one of the area animal shelters, or pack Backsnack packs at Harvesters to help out the kiddos who need weekend food. However you fill your time, congratulations and good luck with your decision. Miss you two.
Good to hear from you, Stacey…and excellent suggestions, all three. Thanks!
My suggestion is soccer. There are many different leagues, foreign and domestic that play well into October and beyond. So at least you’re covered until Jayhawk basketball is in season.
I guess I could give that a shot…It’s the sport that will likely displace the NFL as the No. 1 sport in the U.S. in one or two generations. Learning the nuances of the game would be difficult, but…I’ve got the time.
Talk to Nick at Brookside Soccer; they use older referees.
A friend of mine –in his 60s– referees there; he told me when his young daughters (don’t ask; he apparently never learned how such things come about) started playing, he didn’t know didly about the sport. He discovered a day-long referee course BSC holds, complete with written test and some practice running up and down UNKC’s pitch waving flags; he went, passed the exam and now refs weekends. BSC is K-8, so you get to see the best of the kids.
It’d get you out of the house, exercise those knees, and would put football totally out of your mind.
If you’re still looking for motivation to avoid college football, here’s a video of the former KU football coach who was honored in Lawrence this past weekend:
Thank you, Mark…What a colossal turd Mangino was.
I agree with you, but it’s interesting that Vahe Gregorian wrote a column downplaying “his allegedly harsh behavior.”
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article168015047.html
I missed that column, Mark, and as for “allegedly harsh behavior,” I guess Vahe has never seen the video you linked to above.
That alone is plenty of evidence of “player abuse.” It’s outrageous. The young man on the receiving end of that that profane tirade must have been thoroughly confused — too confused to walk to the locker room, gather his stuff and never return. (Of course, it would have meant giving up a scholarship, so the guy was stuck with a coach who should have been fired earlier than he was.)