Stopped watching pro football in the 1960’s. Game had changed so much, watching was no longer a pleasure. And also, because, when sports figures began making more money than the US president and vice-president combined, I saw the US had taken a huge turn its value system. That has simply expanded over the years.
It’s pretty difficult to get excited about two 1%ers employees beating each other up. Green Bay is the only team that actually belongs to the people of its’ city. All the rest of the teams are supported by corporate interests- to the point that they name their stadiums after them- and whatever taxes they can con the cities whose names they use out of.
Until the late 1980s a student in Texas could get held back for one year in K-6 school and still play, get held back another year in middle school and still play and held back a further year in high school and still play and enter college as a 21 year old freshman and still play. Then a wealthy Texan decided that student athletes should be making academic progress in order to play and the whole idea of flunking to get bigger on the playing field was not a good thing and he helped organize a stop to that practice and so now a student athlete in Texas must make academic progress or not play. That wealthy Texan was H Ross Perot.
Imagine you’re Gutzon Borglum, sketching out your plans for sculpting four giant faces on Mt. Rushmore. Washington, of course. Lincoln, duh. Jefferson, OK. But then the field really levels off for that fourth slot. What did Teddy Roosevelt do that was so much different from the presidents he beat out?
As the cartoonist in the room, I have to advance the theory that he went to the head of the line by being a hell of a lot of fun to draw and sculpt. He just had a look. But he also saved football, which, whatever you feel about football, you have to allow that saving it is a pretty big deal. But he did. In the early part of the 20th century, chronic traumatic encephalopathy wasn’t the issue it is today because America’s finest young men were dying in alarming enough numbers right there on the field. In 1904, 18 people were killed playing the game. (We’ll pause to point out that 1904 was just one year. And while, OK, it was a leap year, there weren’t nearly as many people playing the game then.) And 159 injuries that, in a season with a weekly player obituary, managed to be labeled “serious.” The following year it dropped to 137 serious injuries, but posted 19 dead. Put it this way: You know a sport is problematically rough when Stanford and Cal replace it with rugby. Columbia, Northwestern and Duke dropped it altogether. That doesn’t leave a lot of major football schools back then, and Roosevelt invited three of the biggies — Harvard, Yale and Princeton — to the White House for a summit, which worked about as well as most summits. So Roosevelt pushed for some radical rule changes that made the game a little safer without making it — these are Roosevelt’s words — “too ladylike.” The most notable difference was to introduce the forward pass, which strikes me as making football less dangerous kind of the way a shower makes you less wet than a bath. But whatever. Teddy Roosevelt saved football.
Boy am I glad I never played football. I once saw a documentary of a football player who fell wrong, and now he’s a quadriplegic. The NFL never batted an eye, don’t know if they even helped him at all.
It was the snobbery of this cartoon, exemplified in today’s example, that finally made me drop Frazz from my queue. I only see it now when GC features one.
I think grown men wearing funny clothes and riding bicycles is completely boring, Jef. Just FYI.
homfencing over 5 years ago
Fencing is far FAR safer than football (for all that we whack and stab each other with a 3 foot metal stick).
Anathema Premium Member over 5 years ago
Football and college basketball is about all that I watch on TV.
Nighthawks Premium Member over 5 years ago
three games to go , not counting the exhibition All Star game
nosirrom over 5 years ago
If your team’s not in the playoffs – the season’s over.
sandpiper over 5 years ago
Stopped watching pro football in the 1960’s. Game had changed so much, watching was no longer a pleasure. And also, because, when sports figures began making more money than the US president and vice-president combined, I saw the US had taken a huge turn its value system. That has simply expanded over the years.
Nighthawks Premium Member over 5 years ago
you tell ’em
COL Crash over 5 years ago
It’s not just about Texas! Don’t forget the Tide and the rest of the SEC.
micromos over 5 years ago
I agree.
Motormaniac over 5 years ago
Hot diggity dog! I’m gonna grab my popcorn and watch the fireworks!!
Diane Lee Premium Member over 5 years ago
It’s pretty difficult to get excited about two 1%ers employees beating each other up. Green Bay is the only team that actually belongs to the people of its’ city. All the rest of the teams are supported by corporate interests- to the point that they name their stadiums after them- and whatever taxes they can con the cities whose names they use out of.
Al Nala over 5 years ago
Football’s been over for me for yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrssssssssss.
Tempest over 5 years ago
I for one enjoy watching the full contact chess that is Football
mischugenah over 5 years ago
We need to switch to rugby, like the rest of the civilized world. Benefits of being both less dangerous and more exciting.
Teto85 Premium Member over 5 years ago
Until the late 1980s a student in Texas could get held back for one year in K-6 school and still play, get held back another year in middle school and still play and held back a further year in high school and still play and enter college as a 21 year old freshman and still play. Then a wealthy Texan decided that student athletes should be making academic progress in order to play and the whole idea of flunking to get bigger on the playing field was not a good thing and he helped organize a stop to that practice and so now a student athlete in Texas must make academic progress or not play. That wealthy Texan was H Ross Perot.
JoeMartinFan Premium Member over 5 years ago
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Mallett doesn’t like football…
rubenmenchaca over 5 years ago
God Bless Texas. Don’t mess with Texas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mysterysciencefreezer over 5 years ago
They said the same thing about boxing 20 years ago.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 5 years ago
Frazz14 hrs ·
Imagine you’re Gutzon Borglum, sketching out your plans for sculpting four giant faces on Mt. Rushmore. Washington, of course. Lincoln, duh. Jefferson, OK. But then the field really levels off for that fourth slot. What did Teddy Roosevelt do that was so much different from the presidents he beat out?
As the cartoonist in the room, I have to advance the theory that he went to the head of the line by being a hell of a lot of fun to draw and sculpt. He just had a look. But he also saved football, which, whatever you feel about football, you have to allow that saving it is a pretty big deal. But he did. In the early part of the 20th century, chronic traumatic encephalopathy wasn’t the issue it is today because America’s finest young men were dying in alarming enough numbers right there on the field. In 1904, 18 people were killed playing the game. (We’ll pause to point out that 1904 was just one year. And while, OK, it was a leap year, there weren’t nearly as many people playing the game then.) And 159 injuries that, in a season with a weekly player obituary, managed to be labeled “serious.” The following year it dropped to 137 serious injuries, but posted 19 dead. Put it this way: You know a sport is problematically rough when Stanford and Cal replace it with rugby. Columbia, Northwestern and Duke dropped it altogether. That doesn’t leave a lot of major football schools back then, and Roosevelt invited three of the biggies — Harvard, Yale and Princeton — to the White House for a summit, which worked about as well as most summits. So Roosevelt pushed for some radical rule changes that made the game a little safer without making it — these are Roosevelt’s words — “too ladylike.” The most notable difference was to introduce the forward pass, which strikes me as making football less dangerous kind of the way a shower makes you less wet than a bath. But whatever. Teddy Roosevelt saved football.
ars731 over 5 years ago
Looks like Jef is going to get some hate mail for sure
6turtle9 over 5 years ago
Apparently Frazz does not understand the power of profit.
i_am_the_jam over 5 years ago
Boy am I glad I never played football. I once saw a documentary of a football player who fell wrong, and now he’s a quadriplegic. The NFL never batted an eye, don’t know if they even helped him at all.
Max Starman Jones over 5 years ago
It was the snobbery of this cartoon, exemplified in today’s example, that finally made me drop Frazz from my queue. I only see it now when GC features one.
I think grown men wearing funny clothes and riding bicycles is completely boring, Jef. Just FYI.