OT: Must read - GQ

[Tyrone Bigguns]

In this month's GQ magazine there is a very good article on dementia, brain injuries, and the NFL.

There is some pretty strong evidence about the repeated head trauma and the dementia/depression that follows (16 cases so far: think Webster, Waters, McHale, Long, Strelzcyk (sp?), etc.).

There is some debate about the role roids play in this as well, but what is most shocking is the reaction from the NFL itself...and the shameful treatment of former players. Webster's treatment by the NFL was sickening.

Hopefully, some rats will pick it up or read it, and we can discuss.

[mraynrand]

link?

http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_10980

McHale?

[mraynrand]

interesting read. The only solution is to stop playing football, and I'm not being sarcastic.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

interesting read. The only solution is to stop playing football, and I'm not being sarcastic.

good job on the link, i didn't think they would put up content from this month already.

McHale: lineman for TB.

Solution: Not according to Omalu, he thinks we can solve this thru medication.

[boiga]

Another issue are that there is no standardization for helmets in the league. There are newer technologies that help protect against concussions, but they are bulkier and heavier than the most common helmets now. Peyton Manning wears one for his own protection and it makes him look like a spaceman.

http://www.colts.com/images/news_photos/18_manning%5C2009_0913_jax_836.jpg

Many younger players don't like the feel of the better insulated helmets or they think it'll slow them down, so they won't wear them. They would increase the lifespan of your average player a good deal though.

Edit: Here's a link to the npr transcript talking about the need for new helmets in the NFL and MLB.

[Lurker64]

Solution: Not according to Omalu, he thinks we can solve this thru medication.

I'm not sure Omalu necessarily thinks we can solve it through medication, but we can almost certainly help. His analogy was to people who take aspirin to prevent heart attacks. Absolutely that helps, but there are still plenty of people who take preventative aspirin who still succumb to heart disease.

The interesting angle is what Davies suggests, that steroids or other PEDs have a causal role in this. Since there are plenty of guys who suffer head trauma in other professions who don't appear to succumb to this malady. Though, by the same token, there are probably plenty of steroid abusers outside of football that don't seem to develop the same problems.

So, like most complicated scientific issues, it's probably best explained by a variety of causes, probably involving trauma, chemicals, and genetics.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Another issue are that there is no standardization for helmets in the league. There are newer technologies that help protect against concussions, but they are bulkier and heavier than the most common helmets now. Peyton Manning wears one for his own protection and it makes him look like a spaceman.

http://www.colts.com/images/news_photos/18_manning%5C2009_0913_jax_836.jpg

Many younger players don't like the feel of the better insulated helmets or they think it'll slow them down, so they won't wear them. They would increase the lifespan of your average player a good deal though.

Edit: Here's a link to the npr transcript talking about the need for new helmets in the NFL and MLB.

If you read the article, helmets won't solve anything.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Solution: Not according to Omalu, he thinks we can solve this thru medication.

I'm not sure Omalu necessarily thinks we can solve it through medication, but we can almost certainly help. His analogy was to people who take aspirin to prevent heart attacks. Absolutely that helps, but there are still plenty of people who take preventative aspirin who still succumb to heart disease.

The interesting angle is what Davies suggests, that steroids or other PEDs have a causal role in this. Since there are plenty of guys who suffer head trauma in other professions who don't appear to succumb to this malady. Though, by the same token, there are probably plenty of steroid abusers outside of football that don't seem to develop the same problems.

So, like most complicated scientific issues, it's probably best explained by a variety of causes, probably involving trauma, chemicals, and genetics.

Omalu definitely thinks it can be solved by meds. You need to reread.

Omalu has set his sights on curing CTE. And why not? “You pop a pill before you play, a medicine that prevents the buildup of tau,” he says. “Like you take an aspirin to prevent heart disease.”

Which plenty of others in sports....we see this in boxing. What specifically are you talking about.

Roids: Yes, there may be a link, but then, what does that tell us about the NFL? Hmm, testing program ain't as good as they claim.[/b]

[Patler]

In the autopsy room, Omalu snapped on his gloves and approached the slab. He noted that Mike Webster’s body was sixty-nine inches long and weighed 244 pounds.

Webster was 5' 9"?

[swede]

In the autopsy room, Omalu snapped on his gloves and approached the slab. He noted that Mike Webster’s body was sixty-nine inches long and weighed 244 pounds.

Webster was 5' 9"?

Patler, honestly, you are like Rainman.

Numbers that slip by me like so much static twirl in your brain and clatter around like a paper clip in a vaccuum cleaner when they don't align.

Are you the first one to spot the piece of beach glass among the pebbles?

Did your children find that a casual re-telling of one innocent story might contain a key piece of information that you would immediately find to be inconsistent with a prior untruthful story of theirs from weeks before?

It must be a blessing and a curse, such a mind. A useful tool with commercial value, yet unable to engage in casual conversations without hearing the logical and mathematical inconsistencies of your fellow humans as they blather along good-naturedly.

(I only bring it up because you are quite a gentleman, and you never seem to correct out of a need to be right or better than the other guy. It must simply be deep-seated desire to be precise; if one says a body is 69 inches long one must mean 5' 9" and such a number is outside normal parameters and requires correcting or explaining.)

[Tarlam!]

It must be a blessing and a curse, such a mind. A useful tool with commercial value, yet unable to engage in casual conversations without hearing the logical and mathematical inconsistencies of your fellow humans as they blather along good-naturedly.

His real identity is quite obviously Leonard Nimoy.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

In the autopsy room, Omalu snapped on his gloves and approached the slab. He noted that Mike Webster’s body was sixty-nine inches long and weighed 244 pounds.

Webster was 5' 9"?

Patler,


I read that as well...and actually went thru the math.....like, 5 x 12 plus 9...several times, thinking, my math skills have really fallen apart.

Iron mike was listed usually at six one.

Assuming a bit of shrinkage, it wouldn't surprise me to find out he was really five elevenish (not like NFL has ever inflated #s b4 : ) before the shrink that we all undergo.

[Scott Campbell]

Assuming a bit of shrinkage..................

Speak for yourself.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Assuming a bit of shrinkage..................

Speak for yourself.

I wouldn't be caught dead speaking for you.

[Patler]

Numbers that slip by me like so much static twirl in your brain and clatter around like a paper clip in a vaccuum cleaner when they don't align.

....... (edited by Patler for brevity)

(I only bring it up because you are quite a gentleman, and you never seem to correct out of a need to be right or better than the other guy. It must simply be deep-seated desire to be precise; if one says a body is 69 inches long one must mean 5' 9" and such a number is outside normal parameters and requires correcting or explaining.)

You pretty much hit it on the head, Swede. I really like the "paper clip in a vacuum cleaner" comparison!

A couple years ago I explained my background a little on here, things I did with numbers as a youth, (sometime to win drinks at bars, etc. ) Inconsistencies in numbers sort of leap off a page for me, sort of like misspellings do for some other people. For this (and other things) I am sometimes described as "anal".