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Originally Posted by dissentowner
Well that is just ridiculous. You think they are going to take hitting out of football? Not bloody likely. Hockey may evolve but the fans love the big hits and it isn't going anywhere, guaranteed. Again, players know what they are getting into, they don't have to play in the NHL. A lot of people choose careers that contain a risk to their health. I am not even sure how you stop big hits? What constitutes a big hit? Is it to the officials discretion? That would be a cluster bleep. I think you would have totally eliminate body checking in which case the game will be crap and half of the NHL fanbase would quit watching.
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As I've said, for hockey - the definition of checking needs to evolve to be about getting possession of the puck and anything more than that - is a penalty. So more about angles and stick checks than physical body checking.
For football - I'm not sure but I see it as a significant long-term risk to the sport that is already playing out at the grassroots levels where participation rates are falling. The tipping point will be as we learn more about the damage of not single huge hits, but the cumulative impacts of hundreds and thousands of small hits.
But know I don't know how football evolves.