Our little rural high school had both sports in the fall. Cross country is fun — typically 2.5-3 miles. And it attracted quite different participants than football did.
And the approximately 11-13 minutes of actual play time of a football game not counting the huddles, timeouts, standing around waiting on the officials, etc.
Seems contact sports are similar to ego battles. Somebody has to dominate. Individual sports, on the other hand, seem to allow a person to be one’s own opponent with better times or personal improvement as the ego builders. Everybody wins a little, regardless who gets the trophy.
There exist individual sports where one “dominates”. Think tennis. And maybe golf. But team sports make for good viewing. Maybe the best thing is for whoever’s doing it to enjoy it.
As a sports writer, I always enjoyed covering football games, especially at the high school level, as there was usually at least 30 seconds between plays so I could keep caught up with my notes. As the grandparent of an XC runner, it’s constant motion as most cross trails go all over campus, in and out of the woods and up and down hills. The pay is low, but the rewards — like my grandson breaking 19 minutes running at 90% on a weak ankle, are tremendous. And it’s only his second year of competitive running (he’s a sophomore) as he never ran in middle school. Talk about an individual sport.
The recent concern over concussions is a good thing, to be sure; when I was a kid, we’d (team & coaches) laugh at the goofy things the concussed kid would say, and as soon as he could tell 2 fingers from 3 back in he went. Not good.
But the main thing “concussion protocols” accomplish is to distract attention from the fact that, while they can be very dangerous, by far the more usual cause of CTE is the constant, low-level impacts that happen every play, to almost every player, which could only be eliminated by eliminating football.
Letting your kid play football is not only child abuse, it’s reckless endangerment.
The main idea I’m able to synthesize from all these comments are that some people like some sports, other people like other sports, some people like no sports at all, some like to participate, and some like to watch, but every single one of us can find activities that we DO enjoy, so let’s be glad we live in a world with so many wonderful opportunities.
I did track… because I was too small for football and too clumsy for basketball. I was a fair pitcher, but we didn’t have a baseball team, so played sandlot only.
To all the above. In the 1950’s HS we had only the usual 4 = FB, Basketball, Trk, & Baseball. I played at football, which means I was blocking fodder for the stars in practice and a rider of the pine during games. Put up with a lot of putdowns and cheap shots. Track was slightly better in its structure, but most team sports were not a big thing for me. Found my own level in other ways and let the bad stuff slide.
As I have quoted so often: Life ain’t no easy gig. You gotta find your beat.
I wonder why so many people who don’t have to play or watch a certain sport spend so much time and effort maligning that sport. I’m not into soccer, but I know it’s more than just running around and flopping. To paint football as just a bunch of big guys running into each other is ironically narrow-minded. Do yourself a favor and YouTube highlights of Lynn Swann, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, Patrick Mahomes, Lance Alworth, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Staubach, and Lamar Jackson, to name just a few. You’ll probably still hate football, but hopefully you’ll realize it’s much more than mindless collisions.
rshive over 2 years ago
Our little rural high school had both sports in the fall. Cross country is fun — typically 2.5-3 miles. And it attracted quite different participants than football did.
Dunligiel12 Premium Member over 2 years ago
And the approximately 11-13 minutes of actual play time of a football game not counting the huddles, timeouts, standing around waiting on the officials, etc.
sandpiper over 2 years ago
Seems contact sports are similar to ego battles. Somebody has to dominate. Individual sports, on the other hand, seem to allow a person to be one’s own opponent with better times or personal improvement as the ego builders. Everybody wins a little, regardless who gets the trophy.
P51Strega over 2 years ago
Play hockey, kid. It’s much more fun.
rshive over 2 years ago
There exist individual sports where one “dominates”. Think tennis. And maybe golf. But team sports make for good viewing. Maybe the best thing is for whoever’s doing it to enjoy it.
Lambutts over 2 years ago
As a sports writer, I always enjoyed covering football games, especially at the high school level, as there was usually at least 30 seconds between plays so I could keep caught up with my notes. As the grandparent of an XC runner, it’s constant motion as most cross trails go all over campus, in and out of the woods and up and down hills. The pay is low, but the rewards — like my grandson breaking 19 minutes running at 90% on a weak ankle, are tremendous. And it’s only his second year of competitive running (he’s a sophomore) as he never ran in middle school. Talk about an individual sport.
Cozmik Cowboy over 2 years ago
The recent concern over concussions is a good thing, to be sure; when I was a kid, we’d (team & coaches) laugh at the goofy things the concussed kid would say, and as soon as he could tell 2 fingers from 3 back in he went. Not good.
But the main thing “concussion protocols” accomplish is to distract attention from the fact that, while they can be very dangerous, by far the more usual cause of CTE is the constant, low-level impacts that happen every play, to almost every player, which could only be eliminated by eliminating football.
Letting your kid play football is not only child abuse, it’s reckless endangerment.
scaeva Premium Member over 2 years ago
Ah yes, cross country: run twenty miles as fast as you can, then barf.
Plods with ...™ over 2 years ago
12 more minutes and he would’ve had a full game.
Teto85 Premium Member over 2 years ago
But last night’s game was great. The Roughriders were down 18 to 24 with less than 30 seconds to play and won 31 – 24.
Richard S Russell Premium Member over 2 years ago
If your idea of sports is completely centered around the concept of “the more, the better”, try swimming the Atlantic.
Flower Girl over 2 years ago
We see various cross-country distances here. Our kids typically ran 5km=3.1miles in competition. We have many amusing stories… (:
Richard S Russell Premium Member over 2 years ago
The main idea I’m able to synthesize from all these comments are that some people like some sports, other people like other sports, some people like no sports at all, some like to participate, and some like to watch, but every single one of us can find activities that we DO enjoy, so let’s be glad we live in a world with so many wonderful opportunities.
Ukko wilko over 2 years ago
I did track… because I was too small for football and too clumsy for basketball. I was a fair pitcher, but we didn’t have a baseball team, so played sandlot only.
sandpiper over 2 years ago
To all the above. In the 1950’s HS we had only the usual 4 = FB, Basketball, Trk, & Baseball. I played at football, which means I was blocking fodder for the stars in practice and a rider of the pine during games. Put up with a lot of putdowns and cheap shots. Track was slightly better in its structure, but most team sports were not a big thing for me. Found my own level in other ways and let the bad stuff slide.
As I have quoted so often: Life ain’t no easy gig. You gotta find your beat.
JoeMartinFan Premium Member over 2 years ago
I wonder why so many people who don’t have to play or watch a certain sport spend so much time and effort maligning that sport. I’m not into soccer, but I know it’s more than just running around and flopping. To paint football as just a bunch of big guys running into each other is ironically narrow-minded. Do yourself a favor and YouTube highlights of Lynn Swann, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, Patrick Mahomes, Lance Alworth, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Staubach, and Lamar Jackson, to name just a few. You’ll probably still hate football, but hopefully you’ll realize it’s much more than mindless collisions.