{"id":2750,"date":"2012-02-06T14:02:03","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T20:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/diaryofawimpycatholic\/?p=2750"},"modified":"2015-03-13T15:03:15","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T21:03:15","slug":"catholics-and-the-war-on-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/diaryofawimpycatholic\/2012\/02\/catholics-and-the-war-on-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholics and the War on Football"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When it comes to football and its risks, writes Ken Briggs<\/strong><\/a> in National Catholic Reporter,<\/em> Catholic scholars may be caught in a spiral of silence. Briggs finds that a sampling of these scholars, while believing \u201cthe medical hazards exposed by the research raise serious questions\u201d about the wisdom of continuing the game, has chosen to soft-pedal them, fearing \u201cstormy protests by fans and financial backers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Briggs is right that recent research shows players are at graver risk than anyone could have imagined. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, results from the brain\u2019s repeated collision against the skull. A degenerative disease, it can lead to memory loss, excessive aggression and even suicidal depression. Studies of 2,500 former NFL players<\/strong><\/a> undertaken at UNC\u2019s Center for the Study of Retired Athletes found \u201ccognitive impairment, Alzheimer\u2019s-like symptoms and depression rose proportionately with the number of concussions they had sustained.\u201d Since 2008, Dr. Ann McKee, associate professor of neurology and pathology at Boston University\u2019s School of Medicine, has examined the brains<\/strong><\/a> of seven retired NFL players and four college players and found all suffered from CTE. <\/p>\n

In First Things,<\/em> Owen Strachan writes<\/strong><\/a> that \u201cthe stories that fit this mold are startling.\u201d They include Owen Thomas, the Penn team captain who hanged himself, as well as high-school players Douglas Morales and Brian Colvin, and 13-year-old Spencer Juarez. The CTE risks to boxers have been well known for decades. In fact, the death rate in the ring seems to be rising, with Daniel Aguillon, Bae Ki-Suk, Yo-Sam Choi and Luis Villalta all dying fight-related deaths in the past ten years. But then, at least here in the U.S., boxing isn\u2019t the kind of sport a teen\u2019s parents will drive in their X-Terra to watch him (or her) compete in. Football is turning into blood and Astroturf and death in a suburban afternoon.<\/p>\n

Strachan, an instructor of Christian theology and Church history at Boyce College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary\u2019s undergraduate school, does what Briggs wishes Catholic scholars would do. He comes right out and suggests that parents \u201ctake a step back from [football] and point youths to concentrate on less violent sports.\u201d But his advice is the exactly kind of advice you\u2019d expect from an intellectual who values logic and consistency above anything. It would surely encounter serious resistance from those further down on the brain chain, and for reasons irreducible to greed. The word \u201creligion\u201d comes from the Latin re-ligare,<\/em> or \u201cto re-bind.\u201d How bound do we have to be, <\/em>the faithful could be forgiven for asking. We\u2019ve already agreed not to use condoms; now we don\u2019t get to play football? Jiminy Christmas, can\u2019t we have any fun at all?<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fair question. With the advance of science comes a new awareness of the danger posed by all sorts of apparently harmless diversions, which creates an onus for more restrictions. On the Catholic Answers forum,<\/strong><\/a> someone named Murray 1105 writes about his new parish priest, a dynamic figure who encourages \u201cstronger prayer and community and outreach.\u201d But, because Father smokes cigarettes, writes Murray, some parishioners \u201care so bothered by this they want to switch parishes.\u201d Murray\u2019s own, relatively tolerant, view, that \u201cit is no worse for him to have a weakness that is easily seen by public than one that is not,\u201d marks him as another product of post-Paula Deen America.<\/p>\n

For a view of a dystopia governed by the principle of \u201ceverything in moderation, except abstemiousness,\u201d see The Simpsons.<\/em> In one episode, Bart, Lisa and Maggie are packed off to spend a weekend with the Flanders family. There, they\u2019re scandalized to discover that American Bible Christianity\u2019s version of nachos involves cucumber slices and cottage cheese. Ayaan Hirsi Ali never indicted Islam so effectively on the best day of her life.<\/p>\n

But the case against football is too strong to dismiss out of hand. For that reason, some states have passed laws preventing student athletes from taking the field fewer than 24 hours after sustaining a concussion. New York State\u2019s Public High School Athletic Association recommended<\/strong><\/a> a \u201cfive-day weaning process,\u201d according to which concussed student athletes, having obtained medical clearance, would be gradually eased back into play. It\u2019s unclear, though, just how far these measures will reduce the incidence of CTE. As Briggs points out, concussions aren\u2019t the only contributing factor; every hit plays its part. \u201cOne analogy cited by some sources is the cumulative effect of smoking: No single cigarette triggers lung disease,\u201d he writes. \u201cAnother is the grim image of a death by a thousand cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before any Catholic educators or ethicists decide to make a stand against football, they\u2019d better think of something more exciting to offer in its place than tag team Taize prayer. The career of mixed martial-arts might be instructive. With the combatants wearing thin gloves and encouraged to grapple, maxillofacial and cranial pummeling lose the importance they have in boxing. At least to this casual fan, battles in the octagon make better watching than those in the ring. (There\u2019s also the impression that MMA attracts a better class of people. A vulgarian Tank Abbot might have been; unlike Liston, Lyle and LaMotta, a felon he was not.) <\/p>\n

Personally, I\u2019d like to see lacrosse become the new football. Fast-paced and often high-scoring, it\u2019s the only sport to have been named by a saint and martyr. With constant checking, it should satisfy anyone\u2019s lust for violence, but leaves room on the field for fairly normal-sized players, who are likelier to blow out their shoulders and knees than their brains. I wonder what it would take to talk Tim Tebow into a little occupational re-orienting. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to football and its risks, writes Ken Briggs in National Catholic Reporter, Catholic scholars may be caught in a spiral of silence. Briggs finds that a sampling of these scholars, while believing \u201cthe medical hazards exposed by the research raise serious questions\u201d about the wisdom of continuing the game, has chosen to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49,77,220,326,315],"class_list":["post-2750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catholicism","tag-education","tag-sports","tag-tank-abbot","tag-tim-tebow"],"yoast_head":"\nCatholics and the War on Football<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When it comes to football and its risks, writes Ken Briggs in National Catholic Reporter, Catholic scholars may be caught in a spiral of silence. 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