Difficult news on an otherwise great weekend of football.

[DinwiddieProud]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-illinois-high-schools-concussion-lawsuit-ihsa-20141129-story.html



Try to cut and paste this to your browser and read this article. It's about a former high school football player in Illinois, filing suit against that state's equivalent of our VHSL.

A similar article ran in today's Richmont Times Dispatch, but I could not find a link on their home page.

You can have your own opinion, but nobody can dispute that suits like this are coming our way. And when they do...?

 

[GilliamRatings]

Oh, the future of football is doomed. Tom Garrett (remember Central Region Tom) has been writing about it and he's a lawyer and knows his stuff. I just hope I'm dead before they shut it down. Life without Friday Night Football in the fall is unimaginable to me.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Unfortunately I feel you and Tom are correct... They are trying to make the sport as safe as it can be without taking all the physicality out of the game and just like so many things in life, you know the risk when you play the game of the effects but the writing is on the wall.

 

[Imahokie]

It will be interesting to see where this goes...I can't speak for other states but when parents and players sign that VHSL physical every year, you are acknowledging that you as a parent and as a player recognize that there are dangers associated with the sport or sports said athlete is participating in. I believe that you will see changes made in high school soccer before you do in football. Statistically, there are more concussions suffered in Virginia high school soccer than there are in football. The helmets in football are being designed to protect and now they have sensors,etc to monitor and record data. Teaching correct tackling technique, not leading with the helmet etc needs to start in the youth leagues so that when these athletes reach high school the foundation is there. Shows like Friday Night Tykes show exactly this fact...I don't know about you but I don't know who the little league champion was EVER...but the number of small kids being injured in that show for the sake of winning is just unbelievable.

I can see the VHSL AND/or the NHSF REQUIRING soccer players to wear head protection. It's only a matter of time. I'm all for safety but at some point, you have to stop and realize that in this day and age, so many people are looking for a quick buck that they are willing to blame anyone or anything in an attempt to make the quick buck. If that's the case then who do I go after for all the times I fell out of bed when I was 4 years old and hit my head...

 

[DinwiddieProud]

In virtually all of our rural or semi rural communities, football is a religion. Fridays, and fall without high school football is unimaginable. And I don't think it will come to that.

What worries me in the short term is the financial challanges that lay ahead. The VHSL will be sued. That's a fact. Regardless of your opinion of the VHSL, the cost of defending itself will stress it's ability to conduct business as usual. And remember this, the funding for this organization comes from the member schools. That is where the financial difficulties will ultimately trickle down to. So we all have a vested interest in this inevitability.

But, it is important that this fact not get lost. If there is more that can be done to better protect our kids from head trauma, then it must be done. I hate the fact that we will have to endure the agony of the law suit process. But, hopefully out of this comes great strides in providing improvements in head injury protection.

This post was edited on 12/6 9:27 PM by DinwiddieProud

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Yes sir, soccer is scary. I hope they require head gear ASAP. I'm not sure what the rule is, but I'm glad to see the girls in softball wearing the face guards.

The diehards will argue with us, but that is to be expected. Can you imagine the uproar that must have taken place when football started requiring face masks? Hockey was the same way. When they started requiring helmets you would have though they were being asked to wear pink tutus.

I've never seen the videos of the show you are speaking of, and almost don't want to. I get so bothered by stuff like that, I almost want to stick my head in the sand.

And you know how it is. Just because you sign a paper agreeing to accept the risk, it doesn't mean you sign away you right to legal action.

And when you get sued, no matter how absurd, it cost you to defend yourself.

Yep. I wish my parents were still alive so I could hold them responsible for the two concussions I had when I was 9. They LET me use a rotten rope to lace a kind of hammock between two limbs in the tree in our back yard, 10 feet up. Leaned back in it and instantly fell backwards on my head. And this was a few months after they LET me run across the yard and jump up on top of the wet picnic table. Slide off the other side and bounced my head off of the bench part on the way down. Now what type of parents would allow this? Certainly wasn't MY fault. The one good thing that came out of these two stunts is I have an excuse now for being stupid!

 

[shauntclair]

I said this 2 years ago. Football will be litigated so completely over the next decade, it will look nothing like the game we know today. Not a damn thing you can do about it because it is essentially an inherently to dangerous game for the young in how it impacts their future potential. Gladiators with shoulder pads. No more or less. No rule or waiver will over ride the basic protections provided to those under 18 and the penalties to parents that allow them to be in dangerous situations. Football will become Sumo wrestling suits or something akin to Robotic games played with a joystick. That's the future I see.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I hear you. I'm just hoping you are wrong. But, major changes are for certain.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Shaunty, are you going to make the games in Lynchburg?

 

[shauntclair]

Would love to and will try. Had to move from MO. When Mom broke her hip in June. The job wanted me to stay but the travel was no longer equitable to my responsibilities as a Son. That ended in October. I am in Chestertown, MD now. Quite a long ride to Lynchburg from here. About 6 hours 1 way. I'm trying to work it out now. The plan now is Playoffs in Lynchburg Saturday. One of those now really cheap Redskins Tickets Sunday with one of my son's who's in the Honor Guard at Arlington. Also, just bought a house here on the 5th. Obviously, lots to do but want it bad. Hope it works out. We'll make arrangements if I can.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I hope you can work it out. My future son in law pulled a stint at Arlington too. He spent 21 years as an Airborne Ranger and reflects back on that assignment as his proudest.

I wondered how your mom was doing. You hadn't mentioned her in some time, so I was hopefully assuming that she had made good progress?

Busy time for you, for sure. Keep me updated. If you make it to Lynchburg we will meet up. I believe I have at least a half a serving of crow to eat, unless you let me off the hook.

 

[GilliamRatings]

I don't think this lawsuit will go anywhere yet, but it wasn't long ago I laughed at things like banning cigarette commercials or the concept that they might put a pastor in legal jeopardy for refusing to marry a gay couple. The nanny state has a way of getting what it wants in order to keep us living safe and the way they want us to live.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

That's right. In fact someone thought they say you eating a Twinkie the other day. You know the reward for turning you in is pretty substantial.

 

[shauntclair]

If you have to eat half, I'll take the other. I'm sure I've earned during the year.

Mom's ok but moves really slow. Still goes to rehab twice a week. Pop's walks almost as poorly. Proud of how they're doing for their age. Both are in their 90's. But it's how rapidly the mental deterioration is now taking place that is the most heart breaking and difficult to deal with. But we all do what we have to do and I have help.

Hope to be there Saturday.

 

[free lunch]

High School football is a contact sport and such can result
in injuries. So can many other sports, however head trauma is serious and every
effort should be made to avoid it happening. There will be technologies that
emerge and some programs will be early adopters at a heavy cost. Some of these
technologies will become the norm and some will be scrapped. A danger looms for
those programs who take a wait and see approach, that decide before investing
they want to see a track record. They are heroes if the technology does not
deliver on the safety that is promises, but if it does and becomes the norm,
they can now be found liable for negligence. By definition being negligent,
either willfully or unknowingly has been deemed to be punishable in our civil
court system. These lawsuits will name schools, coaches and administrators as
co-defendants along with the VHSL or the other state groups and this will
simply make the choice easy for the schools. They will be forced to abandon
high school affiliated football and quite possibly many other sports. I come to
this opinion that it is matter of time before one of these programs does do
something negligent, and the plaintiff is awarded money. Then the standard for
negligent has been set, and each time it will take less proof to prove
negligence. School board attorneys will advise their boards that there is big
unknown liability out there that looms and the only way to ensure reproach is
to dismantle football. It is a sad fact, but our schools are burdened with
academics, staffing & teacher retention, drugs & violence and the
family issues of students that sports in the grand scheme of things become less
important. It is a solid argument that sports and extracurricular activities
make these things more manageable by providing a more cohesive experience for
our students and communities, but million dollar lawsuits will mute these
benefits. Let me step off my perch and
lets enjoy the football that we have today and hope it last a long time!