NashBuff
CSU Knob-Slobberer
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/27/obama-football-head-injuries_n_2560176.html
There is no secret out there...football is a dangerous sport and concussions are on the rise. Are we overreacting or becoming more aware of the problem of the lingering effects on players who have suffered concussions?
The Seau family is suing the NFL over Junior Seau's death. Will it force a change in how football is played? Some people are suggesting that we remove the helmets and shoulder pads from the equation but while rugby appears to have a lower concussion rate than football, more players are getting paralyzed in rugby than football. Honestly I admit I am one of those people who would support the removal of helmets and shoulder pads from the game. But there is another option out there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-platoon_system
However, one other option needs to be looked at and that is eliminating the double platoon system that has been in football for years and going back to single platoon. I'm no stranger to making outrageous comments such as CU to the MWC but this is something that I feel like I have to make.
I SUPPORT A RETURN TO ONE PLATOON FOOTBALL IN ALL LEVELS OF FOOTBALL!!!
:saythat:
I acknowledge that there are not enough studies to determine if playing both ways in football is actually safer than playing one way in football. There is the risk that playing both ways could lead to an increased risk of head trauma but at the same time, playing both ways means that the player is not as fresh and would not play as fast as the one way player. Endurance would be more of a bigger emphasis than being bigger and faster.
But there are more reasons why a return to one platoon football would be great. It's not in order of importance but what I am thinking as I type:
1. Cost of the sport being reduced? The cost of football is going through the roof and could become unsustainable down the road. If you read the Wikipedia link that I provided, even the legendary Bud Wilkinson said that going to a double platoon system led to more coaches having to be hired thus reducing the importance of the head coach. If we went back to the one platoon system, there would be less of a need for extra coaches and staff members to ensure that the team continues to operate within the spoken & written expectations.
2. Kickoffs. It appears to me that more people are getting injuried on kickoffs these days. If we had the single platoon rule in place, I don't think players would be going as fast as they do these days on kickoffs and that should reduce the likehood of serious injuries but football is still a violent sport and injuries will happen no matter what.
3. Decreased level of complexation of football. As a fan, it's cool to see a variety of offenses in colllege football compared to the NFL where creativity is more limited. But those are student athletes and having to study thick playbooks in addition to the coursework can be taxing. If we go to the single platoon way of football, the offenses will not be as complex and we can restore some semblence of balance to football. We need to be willing to accept some tradeoffs as fans and this would be one of them.
This would help newcomers to football understand the game better and thus grow the fanbase and potential player pool. Would this also help football become more popular internationally?
4. Narrowing of the gap of the haves and have nots. With single platoon football, this will mean that teams will no longer be able to stockpile as much talent as the haves of college football can these days. The gap between the haves and have nots have never been wider than it is today and while this is a good thing for CU being in a have conference such as the Pac-12, you have to wonder if this is good for the game of college football.
I also would wonder how many colleges would be able to reinstate football with all those reduced costs? Would it also be easier for schools to be in compliance with Title IX and also would it be easier for schools to add sports as well?
5. The elimination of specialized players. If you compare the sport of football to other sports, you might notice that football might be the only sport (besides baseball and the DH rule) that has a different group of players focused on the offensive aspect of the game while a different group of players focused on the defensive aspect of the game. What happened to being an all-around player like in basketball, hockey, soccer, etc?
I'm tired of having special rules for protecting QBs like in the NFL and it's kind of creeping into the college football game. There are some good arguments for that but is that real football? In one platoon football, the QB would be forced to be more of a football player. Love him or loathe him, Tim Tebow would be one heck of an one platoon QB. If the NFL suddenly adopted one platoon football, Tebow would be a very hot commodity.
In closing:
I also disagree that safer equipment will lead to a reduction of injuries because it normally allows the hitter in football to feel more safer from injuries and dish out more devasting hits. One platoon football could lead to a reduction of such hits and the emphasis of better tackling would be there. In football these days, it doesn't appear that players are as good tacklers as the players were 20 years ago.
One can say that the safety equipment for football players is so much better than it was in the 1940's and 1950's so the injury issues from that era could be reduced. Plus better training year around should reduce injuries as well.
It would be easier for fans to know their team since instead of having to become familiar with more than 24 players, you would maybe only need to be familiar with about just 15 players. I feel like it would also make football more of a team game instead of a QB and his team.
This could be the best way to make the sport of football safer and more sustainable fincanically over the long run which in turn would make athlethic departments in the days of reduced state funding more likely to be in the black instead of red.
There are some drawbacks to one-platoon football that I have not listed but I feel that going back to one platoon football would be more of a positive thing. Thanks for taking the time to read this post. :thumbsup:
There is no secret out there...football is a dangerous sport and concussions are on the rise. Are we overreacting or becoming more aware of the problem of the lingering effects on players who have suffered concussions?
The Seau family is suing the NFL over Junior Seau's death. Will it force a change in how football is played? Some people are suggesting that we remove the helmets and shoulder pads from the equation but while rugby appears to have a lower concussion rate than football, more players are getting paralyzed in rugby than football. Honestly I admit I am one of those people who would support the removal of helmets and shoulder pads from the game. But there is another option out there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-platoon_system
However, one other option needs to be looked at and that is eliminating the double platoon system that has been in football for years and going back to single platoon. I'm no stranger to making outrageous comments such as CU to the MWC but this is something that I feel like I have to make.
I SUPPORT A RETURN TO ONE PLATOON FOOTBALL IN ALL LEVELS OF FOOTBALL!!!
:saythat:
I acknowledge that there are not enough studies to determine if playing both ways in football is actually safer than playing one way in football. There is the risk that playing both ways could lead to an increased risk of head trauma but at the same time, playing both ways means that the player is not as fresh and would not play as fast as the one way player. Endurance would be more of a bigger emphasis than being bigger and faster.
But there are more reasons why a return to one platoon football would be great. It's not in order of importance but what I am thinking as I type:
1. Cost of the sport being reduced? The cost of football is going through the roof and could become unsustainable down the road. If you read the Wikipedia link that I provided, even the legendary Bud Wilkinson said that going to a double platoon system led to more coaches having to be hired thus reducing the importance of the head coach. If we went back to the one platoon system, there would be less of a need for extra coaches and staff members to ensure that the team continues to operate within the spoken & written expectations.
2. Kickoffs. It appears to me that more people are getting injuried on kickoffs these days. If we had the single platoon rule in place, I don't think players would be going as fast as they do these days on kickoffs and that should reduce the likehood of serious injuries but football is still a violent sport and injuries will happen no matter what.
3. Decreased level of complexation of football. As a fan, it's cool to see a variety of offenses in colllege football compared to the NFL where creativity is more limited. But those are student athletes and having to study thick playbooks in addition to the coursework can be taxing. If we go to the single platoon way of football, the offenses will not be as complex and we can restore some semblence of balance to football. We need to be willing to accept some tradeoffs as fans and this would be one of them.
This would help newcomers to football understand the game better and thus grow the fanbase and potential player pool. Would this also help football become more popular internationally?
4. Narrowing of the gap of the haves and have nots. With single platoon football, this will mean that teams will no longer be able to stockpile as much talent as the haves of college football can these days. The gap between the haves and have nots have never been wider than it is today and while this is a good thing for CU being in a have conference such as the Pac-12, you have to wonder if this is good for the game of college football.
I also would wonder how many colleges would be able to reinstate football with all those reduced costs? Would it also be easier for schools to be in compliance with Title IX and also would it be easier for schools to add sports as well?
5. The elimination of specialized players. If you compare the sport of football to other sports, you might notice that football might be the only sport (besides baseball and the DH rule) that has a different group of players focused on the offensive aspect of the game while a different group of players focused on the defensive aspect of the game. What happened to being an all-around player like in basketball, hockey, soccer, etc?
I'm tired of having special rules for protecting QBs like in the NFL and it's kind of creeping into the college football game. There are some good arguments for that but is that real football? In one platoon football, the QB would be forced to be more of a football player. Love him or loathe him, Tim Tebow would be one heck of an one platoon QB. If the NFL suddenly adopted one platoon football, Tebow would be a very hot commodity.
In closing:
I also disagree that safer equipment will lead to a reduction of injuries because it normally allows the hitter in football to feel more safer from injuries and dish out more devasting hits. One platoon football could lead to a reduction of such hits and the emphasis of better tackling would be there. In football these days, it doesn't appear that players are as good tacklers as the players were 20 years ago.
One can say that the safety equipment for football players is so much better than it was in the 1940's and 1950's so the injury issues from that era could be reduced. Plus better training year around should reduce injuries as well.
It would be easier for fans to know their team since instead of having to become familiar with more than 24 players, you would maybe only need to be familiar with about just 15 players. I feel like it would also make football more of a team game instead of a QB and his team.
This could be the best way to make the sport of football safer and more sustainable fincanically over the long run which in turn would make athlethic departments in the days of reduced state funding more likely to be in the black instead of red.
There are some drawbacks to one-platoon football that I have not listed but I feel that going back to one platoon football would be more of a positive thing. Thanks for taking the time to read this post. :thumbsup:
