Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee
This might sound cruel or strange but for all you people who view these types of terrible injuries as the calling for the end to fighting as a part of the game, would you say the same thing about boxing or UFC? Aren’t these injuries occurring in those sports? What about football? Rugby?
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Yes, yes, and ... maybe. Society should move past the idea that two people attempting to injure each other counts as a "sport." It's got a veneer of sport around it -- training, rules, techniques -- but ultimately it comes down to who's better at hurting the other guy (within the rules). Plenty of other sports evolved from their primal "kill something" origins...but I don't see how boxing & UFC can do that.
As a fan of (crappy Canadian) football, that one's tougher for me. When done cleanly, it's a beautiful game to watch. When done recklessly, the injuries are as devastating and pointless as the face-punching we're debating. And unfortunately, there's evidence that even "clean" play causes cumulative effects, so it's not as simple as cracking down on dirty plays. I don't want to see hitting & tackling gone, but we may be going that direction too.
NHL, NFL, CFL are all facing a big choice. At the very least, if they crack down on the wanton, intent-to-injure type of plays, they may survive... despite the inherent risks of playing a collision sport. Or they can ignore it, and pretend that hurting the opponent is part of the game, and die out ...