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Gladwell on football, brain injuries and dogfighting

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by PopeDirkBenedict, Oct 12, 2009.

  1. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Ban soccer I say:

    Head Injuries in Soccer
    Across the United States, from league meetings to scientific conferences, there is a continuing debate about whether young soccer players should head soccer balls. Head and neck injuries are the concern - balls can be as big as a child's head and almost as heavy in wet conditions.

    America Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) represents almost 700,000 players on 50,000 teams in the U.S. AYSO members have proposed a rule that would ban heading in practices and games for all players under 10 years of age. That proposal was narrowly defeated in May 2001 by a vote of AYSO's Executive Committee. It received overwhelming support from subcommittees of coaches and referees, but was defeated by a mere 10 votes out of 500. Supporters of the proposal plan to push for it again. In some American cities where parks and recreation departments run soccer leagues, heading is banned in both games and practices.

    In October 2001, the Institute of Medicine of the American National Academy of Sciences convened a conference where experts on head injuries discussed the potential risks of heading, but reached no firm conclusions. However, some studies reveal that a startling percentage of soccer players have neuropsychological deficiencies of attention, concentration, memory and judgement. These result not only from heading; player collisions and running into goal posts also lead to a significant number of concussions.

    In 1999, the team physician for McGill's football and soccer teams realized he was seeing more head injuries in soccer players than in football players. Dr. Scott Delaney noticed that some soccer players were lost for the entire season. Many missed weeks of school, unable to keep up with their studies in more advanced fields.

    Dr. Delaney identified three high risk groups: those who have previously suffered a concussion, goalkeepers and children. The youngest group, eager but largely unskilled, was of particular concern. Though heading the ball is intrinsic to the game, most young players don't know how to head the ball safely. They have thinner skulls to protect the brain than adults, and weaker necks that don't absorb or dissipate forces applied to the head. He recommended head protection for these players - not hard-shell protection like a bicycle helmet, but something modeled loosely on the old-style leather football helmet.

    The American Society for Testing and Material currently has a committee whose objective is to set standards for soccer headgear. However, no such protection is currently sold in Canada.

    Indoor soccer is a popular wintertime sport in some Canadian centers. The game is played in an area similar to a hockey rink. Children can be pushed into the boards or can trip on the carpeted cement floors. With smaller, heavier balls, heading is a concern. FIFA (Féderation Internationale de Football Association), soccer's world governing body, recognizes Futsal, a safer version of the game that does not have boards and has stricter rules. Most soccer associations in Canada do not offer Futsal.

    Although some neurologists have expressed concerns, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) does not accept the U.S. studies. CSA officials maintain that most soccer head injuries are from collisions, and are not considering a ban on heading for younger players. The association recommends not teaching the skill until a child is nine or 10. At that time, a ball that is smaller than the approved No. 5 FIFA ball should be used to teach proper technique. One official recommends something as light as a beach ball. CSA officials say children have to learn to keep their eyes on the ball and make contact with the top of the forehead, the hardest bone.
     
  2. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    Boom - there is a difference between a head injury and cumulative damage to the brain.
     
  3. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Kyle Turley must be so brain damaged that he forgot he is Mormon:

    "One evening in August, Kyle Turley was at a bar in Nashville with his wife and some friends. It was one of the countless little places in the city that play live music. He’d ordered a beer, but was just sipping it, because he was driving home."
     
  4. Birdscribe

    Birdscribe Active Member

    FYI, players don't use a size 5 ball until they are 12, or playing U-14. They use a size 4 in U-10 and U-12.

    And heading a ball is the least of a kid's worries on the soccer field. Most kids seek this out. They think it's cool and I've yet to see a kid yelp in pain after heading a ball.
     
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Yea but wait till their 40. Lets see how they feel.

    To me the real danger of youth soccer is all the unhealty snacks the mothers serve after every event.
     
  6. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    I've read some postings on a football coach's blog saying this newfound concern over concussions is overblown, that anyone who plays a contact sport is going to get headaches. One guy noted that he was knocked out in a game and returned to play the rest of the game.
    They say this is all just another example of how soft we've become.
     
  7. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Gladwell missed a good sidebar story, He should have asked Turley how as a practicing Mormon could he hang out in a bar drinking beer.
     
  8. I thought that perhaps the most interesting nugget in there, from a practical standpoint, was the idea of banning kickoffs. Wouldn't be surprised to see that come to pass some day. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But I could see it starting at the high school or youth level and working its way up.

    I thought the dogfighting metaphor, as a literary device, fell somewhat short. However, one of the reasons I enjoy Gladwell and Michael Lewis is because they give different a shot, even if they don't always connect 100 percent (still waiting for the lost chapter about Hudson, Zito and Mulder!).
     
  9. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Many Youth programs have no kidkoffs or punts.

    Giambi should also be added to that chapter or perhaps have his own chapter. We know know that the genius of Beene was aided by steroids.
     
  10. Lewis did a great job giving the sabermetrics revolution a narrative hook by concentrating on the A's. But what he gained in readability he sacrificed somewhat in credibility by leaving some holes you can drive a truck through because they didn't fit his point of view.

    I actually enjoyed, on the same subject, Alan Schwarz's "The Numbers Game" more.
     
  11. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Really the entire premise of Money Balll was wrong. The success of the A's of that era had little to do with Beene Money Ball theory.
     
  12. I don't think that's entirely true.

    Here's the good years in Oakland, with how they ranked each year in batting average (which Beane found to be overvalued) and on-base percentage (which he felt was undervalued) in the American League:

    1999
    4th in OBP
    13th in AVG

    2000
    3rd in OBP
    10th in AVG

    2001
    3rd in OBP
    9th in AVG

    2002
    12th in AVG
    10th in OBP

    2003
    8th in AVG
    5th in OBP

    2004
    5th in OBP
    6th in AVG

    2005
    5th in OBP
    11th in AVG

    2006
    7th in OBP
    13th in AVG

    At least early in, from about 1999-2001, it's clear that he found a major inefficiency in baseball's marketplace that he exploited. But the really good Oakland teams in 2002 and 2003 were nothing special when it came to exploiting on-base percentage over batting average. Those were the teams that were carried by the Big Three pitching staff, but by that point the "Beane is a genius" label had been applied, and Lewis helped it stick, facts be damned.

    Obviously the league has now caught on. The A's finished 13th in the A.L. in on-base percentage last year and 11th this year. Beane won the battle - everyone knows that on-base percentage is vital now. But he lost the war - it is now properly valued and can't be found cheaply.
     
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