LeBron James Won't Allow His Kids To Play Football
69 replies, posted
I wonder how many Europeans got mad at the title.
American football :v:
I played a few different sports in high school (baseball, shot put/discus), but football will always hold a special place for me. It showed me how to physically push myself further than I ever had in my life and what my actual limits were, I made friends with people who I never would have even talked to otherwise, the team spirit in football is unmatched in any other sport I played, and many other things. Sure, I got some injuries, but I still look back with way more positive thoughts than negative.
[QUOTE=Explosions;46481774]The sad nerds are coming out in force in this thread.[/QUOTE]
What is that even supposed to mean?
If the the dangers of football get people riled up, then you should look at cheerleading too.
It's UNREAL how dangerous that shit is, since the folks participating don't ever even wear safety gear.
The Penn & Teller: Bullshit! episode on violent video games had a thing at the end where they compared injuries resulting from football to said violent video games (and a confession about a kid they interviewed where they got him to shoot a real gun). I wasn't sure someone had uploaded just this segment, but someone did:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX60j_rlTOA[/media]
Good on James, though I wouldn't force a ban. I'd probably try to at least discourage play, but if my kid(s) knew the risks fully, and they still wanted to play, I wouldn't stop them, but I'd keep a close eye.
I certainly wouldn't make a career out of it, but goddamn the energy that football teases out of you is unlike any other sport.
[QUOTE=breakyourfac;46481319]I played football for 6 years and I agree with him on this. It's a very taxing sport and I've gotten countless injuries from it. [b]In other news I bought his new line of Nike shoes and they are the most comfortable thing I've ever put on my foot.[/b][/QUOTE]
[video=youtube;KjB6r-HDDI0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjB6r-HDDI0[/video]
[QUOTE=redBadger;46481876]Some pads and a helmet isn't going to prevent a few hundred pound man of pure muscle from breaking your leg or another part of your body.[/QUOTE]
True, but the helmet and pads prevent most of the worst kinds of injuries and you lift weights to prevent the rest. Rules are in placed to keep people from blocking in the back and hitting someone in the head. Even with all of this, People still get hurt.
It's risk/reward, just like everything else. Sure, football has higher risk than many other sports, but I would also argue that it has more chance of higher personal reward.
[QUOTE=paul simon;46482817]What is that even supposed to mean?[/QUOTE]
It means par for the course with Explosions.
[QUOTE=Monkah;46482731]Or, it's just called decent parenting...[/QUOTE]
Circumcision. Also good parenting?
[QUOTE=Code3Response;46483104]Circumcision. Also good parenting?[/QUOTE]
Telling a child "no" to playing a risky sport is comparable to circumcising them??
[QUOTE=Code3Response;46483104]Circumcision. Also good parenting?[/QUOTE]
How do you go from Football to Circumcision? Go away.
Preventing them from throwing the ball around would be bullshit, but I can completely understand not letting them play PeeWee. The little kid football games do nothing beneficial in the long run, while games like Soccer teach a lot of fundamentals going further into the game as they grow.
Once the kid gets to middle school, let them play. At that point they are physically capable of withstanding a hit.
[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;46483218]How do you go from Football to Circumcision? Go away.[/QUOTE]
Comparable by the same reasons LeBron says his children wont be playing football: Health risks. "Its a safety thing", "You want to protect them as much as possible"
Why should the child be circumcised without them having input. They're too young to make an informed decision. Perhaps the parents are acting in the child's best interest as some claim he is here.
[QUOTE=Chernobyl426;46483339]Preventing them from throwing the ball around would be bullshit, but I can completely understand not letting them play PeeWee. The little kid football games do nothing beneficial in the long run, while games like Soccer teach a lot of fundamentals going further into the game as they grow.
Once the kid gets to middle school, let them play. At that point they are physically capable of withstanding a hit.[/QUOTE]
Not Physically capable? Kids aren't playing against 300 lb brick shithouses, also AFAIK they only play flag football, no contact.
Is this the reason why there isn't any hooliganism in the US?
An American exchange student told me he thinks it's because the game is already so violent.
[QUOTE=Tetsmega;46482759]I wonder how many Europeans got mad at the title.
American football :v:[/QUOTE]
Maybe some Brits, but I don't really give a shit about the debate.
[QUOTE=Code3Response;46483379]Comparable by the same reasons LeBron says his children wont be playing football: Health risks. "Its a safety thing", "You want to protect them as much as possible"
Why should the child be circumcised without them having input. They're too young to make an informed decision. Perhaps the parents are acting in the child's best interest as some claim he is here.[/QUOTE]
This discussion is about football not ethics of circumcision, please don't derail the thread into a dick argument.
[QUOTE=Code3Response;46483379]Comparable by the same reasons LeBron says his children wont be playing football: Health risks. "Its a safety thing", "You want to protect them as much as possible"
Why should the child be circumcised without them having input. They're too young to make an informed decision. Perhaps the parents are acting in the child's best interest as some claim he is here.[/QUOTE]
Difference being that one involves cutting off body parts and the other involves simply abstaining from a very specific physical activity. Are you dense? You're comparing apples to deep-fried mars bars, fuck's sake.
My older brother got THREE concussions of progressively worse damage playing high school football. He wanted to keep playing but my parents forced him to stop at the third strike. That shit is not safe for kids and can result in permanent damage that can fuck their lives up.
My nephew who's in Highschool football nearly fractured his back a month ago, was laid up for a while. Pretty stupid to go through that for a pointless match between two pointless local schools, potentially causing permanent injury as a 14 year old. I think it's a stupid thing to put kids through, but yet my girlfriends brother was having his four year old in competitive wrestling matches where both kids were crying before and after the match because they didn't understand what was going on. Organized kids sports makes me sick most of the time. Let them play what they want, on their own time. Stop basing your self value on how tall your kids trophy for participating is.
[QUOTE=sgman91;46482948]It's risk/reward, just like everything else. Sure, football has higher risk than many other sports, but I would also argue that it has more chance of higher personal reward.[/QUOTE]
Isn't the risk/reward concept something that is really only applied in finance?
[QUOTE=Mackalda2k6;46482554]Baseball isn't really a safe sport either if you're a pitcher. I know a lot of guys who pitched in high school and had to have surgery on their arms.[/QUOTE]
Shit, nowhere on that field is safe. Getting hit with a stray ball isn't fun either, and that can happen to anyone. Soccer isn't safe either, there's plenty of potential for hard collisions and tripping at full speed. Basically no physical sport is "safe", it's all about mitigating the risk and potential damage. If a kid wants to play football, let them. But don't force any of them into it, they should be allowed to choose what they want to do and discover what they enjoy.
[editline]13th November 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=Satansick;46483398]Is this the reason why there isn't any hooliganism in the US?
An American exchange student told me he thinks it's because the game is already so violent.[/QUOTE]
There's some, but not much. It's very possible the violence in the sport is the reason there's much less, but the cops being prone to rough handling troublemakers at events like those probably don't hurt.
I remember once in football training (was about 16 years old) they wanted to make us "Tougher", so the coaches made us ram each other 40 yards apart head-first. I was the guy who had to ran into the 400 pounds guy. (he was just fat, not strong/tall)
I lost consciousness for about 30 seconds, and I had an headache for an entire month after.
I ran cross country in high school and the worst thing I ever did was get a stress fracture in my foot.
Having played football for 3 years and getting a knee surgery, shoulder surgery, and chronic migraines from several concussions as a result, I can say he made a good choice. The game is fun as hell and comes with some unforgettable memories (unless you get CTE :v:), but just isn't worth it when you realize what it really does to your body. Few players get out of football without some sort of injury.
[QUOTE=Feuver;46483795]I remember once in football training (was about 16 years old) they wanted to make us "Tougher", so the coaches made us ram each other 40 yards apart head-first. I was the guy who had to ran into the 400 pounds guy. (he was just fat, not strong/tall)
I lost consciousness for about 30 seconds, and I had an headache for an entire month after.[/QUOTE]
You could have reported your coach to HEADS UP! Football
[QUOTE=Zambies!;46483977]You could have reported your coach to HEADS UP! Football[/QUOTE]
Wasn't really aware back then. We kind of trusted our coaches too.
[QUOTE=sgman91;46482794]I played a few different sports in high school (baseball, shot put/discus), but football will always hold a special place for me. It showed me how to physically push myself further than I ever had in my life and what my actual limits were, I made friends with people who I never would have even talked to otherwise, the team spirit in football is unmatched in any other sport I played, and many other things. Sure, I got some injuries, but I still look back with way more positive thoughts than negative.[/QUOTE]
Same, I still throw in college, but high school football still holds a special place in my heart. Wouldn't want to be playing it now, but I really am glad I played in high school.
Off topic but how far did you throw?
