tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post2939751355545166836..comments2024-01-01T20:33:52.554-08:00Comments on a moon, worn as if it had been a shell: Sunday Secular Sermon: FoolballElizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-69879327209483580712015-08-17T15:44:58.455-07:002015-08-17T15:44:58.455-07:00I love this post to pieces. My parents' sport...I love this post to pieces. My parents' sports hero was Arnold Palmer and, since they had all daughters, we grew up knowing nothing about football other than their unified party line, which was that it's a weird sport that can make players end up with brain damage. When I was first forced to watch a game, by a boyfriend, I just couldn't understand why people are rabid fans. Maybe it's like auto racing. At their cores, audiences are hoping someone will be injured and/or die. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07453910179778058846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-88488800955222522112015-08-17T12:37:34.422-07:002015-08-17T12:37:34.422-07:00I have said it before but you have such a way with...I have said it before but you have such a way with words. I have thought all of these things about football but have never been able to articulate them. <br />I wonder if the love of these violent sports is somehow linked to our link to survival of the fittest. It isn't politically correct to kill someone who is different but it is OK to pummel them into the ground. And of course you pray first! Makes me think we are not as evolved as everyone thinks. Birdiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03479872783727855901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-64664971799808688262015-08-17T10:54:31.714-07:002015-08-17T10:54:31.714-07:00Money money money money (think Pink Floyd). That&#...Money money money money (think Pink Floyd). That's why. Just like most everything else in this country. kariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10150537989886423212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-91882665111749017222015-08-17T04:56:27.701-07:002015-08-17T04:56:27.701-07:00Lacrosse is behind only football in youth concussi...Lacrosse is behind only football in youth concussion. It's where one draws the line. Actually the special mouth guards used by some schools, (the pricey private ones) reduce the concussion risks to just about lacrosse level with the usual fare that most kids use, so those parents who have kids in mouth guard sports might want to invest in those. They are, about 20X the price and more than those plastic cheapies you boil.<br /><br />Parents are getting the message. There has been a sharp dip in youth football enrollment, notably in Pop Warner, where the stats show this clearly. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07636670946994161261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-10672635304168483672015-08-17T01:52:36.040-07:002015-08-17T01:52:36.040-07:00As you know, this is a rant with which I totally a...As you know, this is a rant with which I totally agree. I have never understood the public fascination with football. At least we have largely moved away from boxing as a popular spectator sport.<br /><br />That picture is amazing. Look at that poor guy's distorted eyes.Steve Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11684120060438252945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-67873803734802345012015-08-16T20:58:46.408-07:002015-08-16T20:58:46.408-07:00There's a percentage of boys and young men who...There's a percentage of boys and young men who go into football with the notion that...".Yeah, it's dangerous and I'm scared of it but what else can I do if all the other guys are doing it ?". And then there's an element of hopeful young men, and so very impressionable kids, who think the massive amounts of money and fame that may follow are well worth the risks. And then there's the issue of the constant head buts in soccer that give the same injury and baseball helmets - give me a break! This is 2015, a good society should be able to at least take the edges, at least the edges!, off that whole "built into them" thing. <br /><br />Both ways of thinking are wrong and the only thing that will probably ever change this thing is mother's, and father's even more so - especially FATHER'S - getting educated enough and involved enough and insistent enough to change the thinking. But there is a growing number of people like you Elizabeth, who are raising aware young men who think deeper and act more consciously. It's not an insignificant number.<br /> It will change, I really think it will, but not for a long time and not until there are legions of men, young and old, taken down. But it will never, ever be where we want it to be. Never. Very sad.livhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00091094639074377780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-27600255158601985122015-08-16T20:19:50.656-07:002015-08-16T20:19:50.656-07:00I agree, this is powerful. I am glad I don't ...I agree, this is powerful. I am glad I don't have a son that I have to have such a conversation with as my answer would be, "no way!" And how sad that the football industry would make more progress on the marijuana issues then dying kids and epileptics. That's just fucked up.Joannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08015888228309968515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-80005776546963867672015-08-16T19:27:54.414-07:002015-08-16T19:27:54.414-07:00My son went out for football in 9th grade. He was ...My son went out for football in 9th grade. He was scrawny and didn't make the team. I was glad. He was too. 37paddingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12400464105403622384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-24128516958143508122015-08-16T18:57:01.005-07:002015-08-16T18:57:01.005-07:00I will just cosign Ms. Moon and say that your writ...I will just cosign Ms. Moon and say that your writing is beautiful, bold and powerful. Which is why I come to read your words. I won't go into much more than that on this subject. But I will say this: Something about the way you write makes me want to go knock on somebody's door and give them an earful about exactly what I think. I dig having people like that in my life. gradydoctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10639816377218206777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-46356664408662900632015-08-16T17:00:33.597-07:002015-08-16T17:00:33.597-07:00Whoa. You flattened me with this one.
I will say ...Whoa. You flattened me with this one. <br />I will say that boys just seem to want to play contact sports. Or do crazy things like join the Marines. No matter how we raise them. I really do think it's in our DNA- the young boys went out to hunt down the mammoths and bring back the meat. They don't have that outlet anymore. <br />I don't know, Elizabeth. I just know that you write so powerfully and get right to the blood and bone. Ms. Moonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09776404747858099919noreply@blogger.com