Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Insights into the Similaries of Dogfighting and the NFL

Written by Malcolm Gladwell (one of my favorites)...interesting comparison that cites the social recognition of courage and valor in the face of serious injury and danger. We've acknowledged that it's not OK to let dogs fight to the death to entertain audiences and please thier owners, yet we all sit down to watch college and pro football every weekend to see the players do the same? Obviously, it's slightly different, in that football players chose to play and recieve monetary benefit for playing, but essentially they're withstanding similarly detrimental injuries every day. Not that i'm arguing for making football a felony, or anything....GO PACKERS/GIANTS!

3 comments:

TJE said...

Gladwell thinks football may be extinct in 50 years, as evidence of harm accumulates.

Chris Smith said...

I once read that O-linemen walk around on a daily basis in the sort of pain that would send a normal person to the hospital.

Still, I think that as long as NFL revenue remains like this that we won't be seeing too much of a change.

Andre said...

Don't think the dog-fighting comparason is relivant, but here's a related article

http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/200909/nfl-players-brain-dementia-study-memory-concussions