Nowadays traditional group sport activities have evolved to become more and more dangerous with the passage of time. Half a century ago rarely would players get injures, due to the rules of the game, the built-in mechanism for safety was effectively enforced. But still human behavior, the code of sportsmanship was at a higher level of self respect, self preservation and discipline
Therefore, seldom would one see a soccer player stopping an attack by faulting anybody: Today it is more than a common occurrence. The same with all the other games, that involve passing, tagging, catching, and interacting with the opposing team (in other words games where teams are separated from direct attack upon each others’ players by…a net, or other positive barrier.
I was reading an article about the fact that football helmets are not build to protect the head and neck of players: So I said to myself, that once again we’re blaming anything else but the illegal and unacceptable violence, outside of the rules of “engagement”, because one cannot call “game” something that is so violent as to leave people paralyzed from the neck down or even dead on the field due to a direct attach by another player: Young people trained, athletic and in perfect health.
Rugby, on the other hand does not call for helmets, other than the symbolic leather head covering, more like the pioneers of air flying were wearing from the beginning of the last century. The following article, addresses my belief that violence in sports is anti-social behavior, leading to more violence, even among the audience, and that no outcome justifies these means.
http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/13/study-student-sports-continue-dangerous%c2%a0streak/
Maybe, instead of helmets protective properties we should take the example, of the freeway patrol officer, who slows down an out of control, ever speeding column of cars, by getting ahead, and to wavering through the lanes, while flushing the red and blue emergency lights: One effective way to slow down a race toward a no good outcome.
What do you think: should we make ever more efficient equipment, or should we slow down, and review: WHAT SPORTS ARE FOR?
Related Articles
- Soon, Helmet Data at a Keystroke (nytimes.com)
- Sen. wants helmet maker probe (cbssports.com)
- Senator Seeks Federal Investigation of Football Helmet Standards (nytimes.com)
- Football helmets: New tools in fight against concussions (denverpost.com)
euzicasa 
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