#549 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday January 5)
Good morning,
For those of you who don’t follow football, here’s a quick update:
COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND THE USC COLLAPSE
The college football championship semi-finals were among the most exciting games in the past decade. Both were hard fought. One was an upset and the other nearly was as well. Of all major sports, both pro and college, I contend college football offers the most unpredictability. These are young men just out of their teens, not yet fully developed or matured, prone to distraction and overreaction and capable, on any given day, to shine or stumble. That is why they play the games!
As the result of two bad decisions on the field (trying to field a kick on the two-yard line and running the ball out of the end zone and getting tackled for a safety), USC managed to blow a healthy lead of 15 points to lose to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.
Two of USC’s losses this year were by a mere one point. If there is an adage from another sport that applies to the Trojans’ season, it’s that good defense will beat good offense every day of the week. [The baseball phrase is that good pitching always will beat good hitting—the same concept…]
USC fans are calling for blood, many of whom demand that the Defensive Coordinator be fired. This was after an 11-3 season, far better than predicted, coupled with the emergence of the confident swagger of USC teams past. They have overachieved with a weak defense and really should never have been in the discussion for a seed in the championship. That the defense was painfully weak is a product of the personnel the Defensive Coordinator had at his disposal. Let’s see what the next recruiting season yields. I suspect people will be pleased with USC in the coming season.
THE REAL STORY OF THE WEEKEND
During the first quarter of the much-anticipated Bengals-Bills Monday Night Football game this week, there was a horrific event on the field. After a tackle in which he was involved, 24-year old Damar Hamlin got up, took two steps, dropped to the ground and was unresponsive. He stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. Ten minutes of CPR on the field, followed by an ambulance to the University of Cincinnati hospital, where Mr. Hamlin remains in critical condition.
The tackle in question wasn’t all that unusual. In fact, it was pretty ordinary for what is a violent game. While all the facts are not yet known, it seems Mr. Hamlin was hit hard in the chest during the tackle, apparently precipitating cardiac arrest.
Certainly the game is the proximate cause of many injuries, primarily to bones and joints. Some injuries are not the result of contact. They may also be the result of physical exertion, a congenital defect and/or predisposition, combined with bad luck. Sometimes, it’s just the randomness of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If there are enough games and enough players, sooner or later every possible malady will be seen. The fact that it is on national television makes the event that much more vivid and may give the false impression that this “happens all the time.” The only death on a professional football field that I recall was back in 1971, when a player keeled over and died. He had had no contact during the prior play. His number was up and he happened to be in a football game when his luck ran out. Did the exertion contribute? A previous hit? We’ll never know. Sometimes, coincidence and causation become confused.
There will be calls to suggest that football is too violent of a sport or that its safety precautions are insignificant—that the sport is inhumane and ought to go the way of gladiator contests (although the objective of football isn’t to injure others, though it definitely is a possibility). Football has never argued that it is anything other than what it appears. There have been a lot of changes over the years to reduce the effect of the violence that is meted out during each game and there are further equipment advances and rule changes on the horizon. But there is no getting around the fact that football is a violent game that carries with it the risk of serious injury.
I suppose the question that will be debated is whether informed consent to engage in this sport, for considerable compensation but with the attendant risk, is worth it. It’s a tough argument and I can see both sides. I’ve come out on the libertarian side of this equation. If a person is willing to take this risk, they should be entitled to do so. People jump out of airplanes, SCUBA dive, engage in extreme skiing, climb mountains where there is insufficient oxygen to think clearly, and engage in all sorts of activities that carry with them high risk of harm. People accept a certain level of risk to do these and other activities.
Mr. Hamlin is, by all accounts, a kind and gentle man off the field. He established a nonprofit foundation to do good in the world. Would he have achieved the success he has achieved without the opportunities presented by football? And isn’t the good that his foundation is able to achieve in large measure the result of his participation in this sport?
I say we should make it as safe as possible and do whatever can be done to minimize injury and address the cases of CTE that many suffer by virtue of multiple concussions. CTE, and not the occasional on-field injury, is the great tragedy of football—one that needs to be addressed actively by the NFL.
As long as people know and accept the risks, I think they should continue to play.
Have a great day and, whatever you do, play safe,
Glenn