Concussions in America's Pastime

I'll be brief. If I'm not mistaken, last night's Titans-Jaguars game had higher TV ratings than Cliff Lee's soon-to-be legendary decimation of the Yankees. What does that mean? It means that the "baseball is America's pastime" idea is more ridiculous than the term "student-athlete." Football is America's pastime and if you really think about it, this country identifies with the NFL almost in its entirety, from the gross misappropriation of funds (rookie contracts) to the military-style regimental nature of the sport itself. (Not to mention "America's Team" the Dallas Cowboys bottoming out at the hands of an oil tycoon...)

Anyway, the topic of concussions has come up, after this beautiful hit by Dunta Robinson on DeSean Jackson:



I just don't see why Robinson was penalized. Was it a terrifying hit? Absolutely. Was it extremely dangerous? Damn right it was, especially for Robinson to be leading with his crown like that. But was it malicious? Considering it was DeSean Jackson it very well could have been, but unless you can read minds there's no evidence on the tape supporting that. Plus, Jackson is 175 pounds, of course he's gonna get demolished when another NFL player is able to connect with him like Dunta did. When I play basketball and what would've generally been a no-call on most sends me to the ground, I get back up and continue playing. If you enter the field of play with grown men, YOU ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCES. If your weight automatically puts you at physical risk, that's on you. Nobody forces me to play basketball, and nobody forces DeSean Jackson to play football.

BOTTOM LINE: This is the nature of the beast. If you can't handle seeing a play like this, pick a new sport to watch. Injuries are a part of physical exertion. The whole point of these sports is to push the limits of the body. You can't toe a metaphorical line, especially not in this arena. In order to find out where that line is, it has to be crossed. That's what sports are. Especially contact sports.

(To be clear, James Harrison deserves to be fined and deserves to be suspended. He has a history of dirty hits, and I have no problem punishing him. And he's a rat. I don't know how Robinson can be penalized instantly but Harrison gets a free pass, TWICE. Oh, right... nevermind...)

Here's my issue: The NFL's decision to levy fines and suspensions as a deterrent to these types of hits is not only counterintuitive to the sport itself, but it's actually dangerous to the players as well. People are drawn to football for one reason: hitting. You can conjure up rationalizations about strategy and skill, but without the pads you're playing and watching ultimate frisbee. Which means you're NOT playing or watching ultimate frisbee because ultimate firsbee is for tree-huggers. We've seen how the quality of basketball has dipped (significantly) as the NBA has implemented rules to effectively criminalize defense, and we're talking about a game who's essence is putting the ball in the basket; scoring points. Now we're moving towards disallowing hitting in football?

These measures will make players much more tentative on the field. Not only will this make defenses less effective, but it will create MORE INJURIES. You see it all the time; once an athlete is unsure of his movements on the field that is the precise instant he shreds his knee. All this is doing is implementing a theoretical quick fix that will ultimately serve to exacerbate the problem at hand. America's pastime, indeed.