Let's Fix Professional Football

Let’s fix the concussions in football problem. This may seem like the opposite of a solution. I’ll admit it’s counter-intuitive. Here’s what you do. Take away protective gear. Let them have a jock strap and maybe shin guards but that is all.  

Football players are the most concussion prone athletes in sports.  These guys are so padded and protected they begin to feel invincible. When your body is so shielded you have little fear of using it as a battering ram. A full speed collision is not such a painful proposition.  

Stated clearly, the theory is this: When your body is not padded and cushioned in every conceivable spot you will use it in ways you wouldn’t were it not padded. This results in much harder collisions with greater consequence. The no padding theory works for a number of reasons. One, you won’t find guys still playing 15 or 20 years after their college career is over. Two, the hits will be less devastating. Three, players will be much less likely to leap into the air to make body sacrificing catches. Four, when your head is unprotected you are much more careful with how you tackle and collide.  

My theory that less protective equipment would actually be safer comes from watching Rugby. Those guys are TOUGH!  They wear very little protective gear. The only head gear they wear is a sort of cloth helmet that looks like the helmets worn by the football players of yesteryear. These are only worn by certain players and not everyone who is eligible to wear one does.

There is another thing I think should be done to make football a less injurious sport. End the use of pain blocking injections. If you can’t play because of pain then don’t play. Pain is your body telling you something is wrong.  If a guy doesn’t have access to powerful pain blocking drugs that allow him to continue playing though injured, he won’t end up with a more grievous injury.

So, what do you think? Am I wrong? Tell me why I’m wrong. I’d love to read your thoughts on this topic. I’d enjoy exploring it further and in depth. Comment your responses, if you’d like.

Wanna Hangout?

Everybody likes to hang out. Well, almost everybody. I suppose there are a few people who don’t enjoy hanging out. Just being with friends or loved ones with no particular agenda except enjoying each other’s presence may seem like a waste of time to some, but I believe it is vital to human well-being.

Christians call it “fellowship”. Many families have a “family night” or a “reunion”. A group of friends may call it a “cookout” or a “party”. To a sports fan it’s “Tailgating”. Whatever it’s name, people need to spend time with each other just “being”. This is part of how we develop a sense of belonging. It helps us feel “connected”.

So how can you build connection with a group of people who are far away and in different places? Way back in primitive times, before the internet, somebody invented circle letters. Everyone in the circle wrote about what their family was experiencing then sent it to the next person in the circle. When the envelope came back around they could read what was happening in the lives of all the others in the circle, update their own letter, and send it on.   It was great for the time, but limited in effectiveness. Then came Facebook. This is an improvement over the circle letter because it allows a nearly instant connection. If a group of friends wants , they can write short “letters” to each other that can be read and responded to instantly. And more than one person can respond at the same time. This is wonderful for helping to build connection but it is limited to text based communication.

Enter Google +. This wonderful invention by the people at Google Inc. allows up to nine people to interact with each other over long distances like never before! Google + Hangout allows my wife and me, who live in Indiana, to vist with my brother and his family in FL, Mom and Dad in GA,  and my two sisters, who live in different cities in SC! It is indeed wonderful! At Thanksgiving this past year we decided to designate Tuesday evening as “hangout night” for our family. I’m so glad we did! Even though we are separated by hundreds and hundreds of miles, our weekly visits are bringing us together  in a way that letters and phone calls never could. A “hangout” is the next best thing to actually being together. 

Of Cowards And Heroes

American folklore and culture is full of proverbs and other wise sayings. I’m not talking about Biblical Proverbs but wise sayings that use interesting word pictures to communicate a message. I love quoting them when I’m asked for advice…or even if I'm not asked. 

Last week I wrote about Ben Franklin’s proverb about vinegar and honey. This week I heard someone say “It’s better to be a live coward than a dead hero.”  I disagree. Nothing inspiring has ever been done by someone afraid of failure. It is such a small way to live.  As Patrick Henry, the famous statesmen once said, “Give me liberty or give me death!”  I feel sure the late Statesmen would’ve been appalled at a proverb calling us to cowardice.  Likewise, no one has ever said “I was so inspired by your refusal to act.” Or “I’m so proud I stood by and did nothing!” What would we think of Victoria Soto,  the teacher at Sandy Hook, who died shielding her students, if instead she had climbed out of a window to save herself and left her students inside to face the gunman?

So what about “Better safe than sorry”, “ Make love not war”, “Time heals all wounds”, "He who hesitates is lost” or “ If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Are these good proverbs? Are they right sometimes and wrong other times?

Is caffeine bad for you?

Do you get tired of the conflicting health headlines? Are you suspicious of the claims of health potions energy drinks, diet pills and cure-alls? Is it all lies and half-truths or are they telling it straight? It’s too bad there’s not an easy answer. Here’s a video I found on TED.com that shed’s some interesting light on this subject. It’s well worth the 12 min it takes to watch.

http://www.ted.com/talks/molly_crockett_beware_neuro_bunk.html

You can find Dr. Crockett's profile and credentials by copying and pasting the following link in your browser. 

http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?mc536

How To Argue and Win

Perhaps you’ve heard it said that Politics and Religion should not be discussed.  I personally have decided to stop listening to political talk shows. Both sides, conservative and liberal, have a really hard time remaining civil. In nearly every political discussion in the media there is one or more of the following: name calling, accusing the other side of heinous motives, yelling, interrupting each other, attempting to monopolize the conversation, etc. Politicians themselves are guilty of such things. During election campaigns we call it “mudslinging”. This often includes subtle and not so subtle twisting of the truth.

Religious discussions are often just as ugly. Christian people often get very angry with each other over pretty minor details. There are literally hundreds of Christian denominations in the United States. These divisions are created and maintained because we can’t worship with people we believe are wrong. Some denominations refuse to let pastors ordained in other denominations to speak in their churches. Some will not observe the Sacred Rite of Communion with those who do not agree with them in nearly every detail. It is not uncommon to hear people verbally look down their nose at fellow Christians with whom they disagree. We Christians are a pretty dogmatic bunch and we’re fond of declaring “we can’t both be right”. We fail to recognize that we could indeed both be wrong.

              

           In all our religious and political huffing and puffing I fear we fail to change anyone’s mind. As Ben Franklin famously said “A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.”  We would do well to apply the wisdom of this statement in all our attempts to convince. And don’t forget the words of King Solomon, “A soft answer turns away wrath.”

Frustration!!!

S. Anthony Iannarino wrote a brilliant blog post titled “Forty-Five at Forty-Five.  It is a list of forty-five things he has learned in his forty-five years of life. #17 is especially insightful and bears repeating.  

“If you are frustrated with someone else, it isn’t his or her behavior that is frustrating you. It’s your lack of resourcefulness in dealing with their behavior or it’s that you are investing too much meaning in their behavior. “

What a challenging statement that is! So often when I feel frustration with someone else I put the blame on them. After all, if they would do what I wanted I wouldn’t be aggravated.

But what if I apply my God-given resourcefulness to the situation? Can I find a solution that will help me eliminate frustration? Is there a better way to communicate with coworkers? Can I reduce my frustration in my financial life by changing the way I spend my money? Could I deal with a serious illness more effectively by changing my attitude? Should I pursue a different treatment?

This statement by Mr. Iannarino has changed my approach to life. There is so much HOPE in recognizing that I don’t have to live with things as they are. I can change my approach, I can search for options, and I can change my attitude.

Does this statement resonate with you? How do you deal with frustration?

 Photo Credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/markkelley/253278143/

Title: Frustration

Christmas Bully

Bullying has become a big topic lately. FLOTUS (Secret Service lingo for First Lady of the United States) has made this a part of her agenda. As a result, we’ve begun to hear a lot about bullying. Of course, bullying is bad and no one wants to be accused of it. You hear “Racist” used by politicians to label people with whom they disagree in an effort to silence them. “Bully” will soon be an added weapon. Don’t believe me? Consider this:

Radio.foxnews.com reported this week that, according to some parents in Missouri, “Christmas songs are a form of bullying.” When you get your blood pressure back down and your jaw off the floor, I will give you my analysis of the situation.

Bullying has been around as long as people have been on the earth. We traditionally think of bullies as children being mean to other children. When adults mistreat other adults we generally call it intimidation, harassment, or assault. If an adult mistreats a child we refer to it as abuse.

You may be wondering how singing a Christmas song fits into that definition. I’ll let you read the article for yourself if you’re interested. Here’s the link:  http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/parents-say-christmas-carols-are-form-of-bullying.html .

Here’s what I think. Demanding that other people stop what they are doing because you are offended can become a form of bullying. As I see it, the few using being offended to force the majority to change their behavior is bullying.  Or at least it could be. Someone claims to be offended, and maybe they are, then demands that everyone else stop doing whatever it is that offends them. I say “Deal with it.” Any number of things can offend me. In fact, I may be offended that you are offended. Now we have reached an impasse, haven't we?

My point is this. As a society we have begun to use the “I’m offended” ploy to force others to do what we want them to do. “You’re a bully” is just another wrinkle in the ”I’m offended” playbook. Sounds like bullying to me. What do you think?