On New Year's Eve, Lots of Red Flags About Sport of College Football

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.com/2015/12/on-new-years-eve-lots-of-red-flags.html

From concussions to concerns about ESPN's future profitability, 2016 should look a lot different than 2015, for better or for worse, for college football.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

In about 5 years, most will have forgotten about the concussions and Pop Warner participation will recover.

Who knows what the future holds for ESPN, but as long as there is interest in bowl games (and make no mistake, the number of bowl games has proliferated because they are lucrative) someone will be there to make money off of it.

[CID1990]

In about 5 years, most will have forgotten about the concussions and Pop Warner participation will recover.

Who knows what the future holds for ESPN, but as long as there is interest in bowl games (and make no mistake, the number of bowl games has proliferated because they are lucrative) someone will be there to make money off of it.

I think the bowls will largely be absorbed into what will inevitably become a 24 team playoff.

The bowls that are left over will remain what they are - an extra game that only bookies and fans of the participating schools will care about.

A good portion of the shared revenues will concentrate in the playoff system of bowls.


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[Go Green]

I think the bowls will largely be absorbed into what will inevitably become a 24 team playoff.

The bowls that are left over will remain what they are - an extra game that only bookies and fans of the participating schools will care about.



The Rose Bowl won't be fielding teams #25 v. #28 without going down kicking and screaming.

[CID1990]

The Rose Bowl won't be fielding teams #25 v. #28 without going down kicking and screaming.

I don't envision the Rose Bowl being anything less than at least a semifinal round. It will almost be on a rotational basis, with the bigger traditional bowls rotating through the final 7-8 games.


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[PantherRob82]

I often wonder about the future of football, but I don't see much changing. I would have a real hard time letting my son play(if I have one).

[GAD]

I think the bowls will largely be absorbed into what will inevitably become a 24 team playoff.

The bowls that are left over will remain what they are - an extra game that only bookies and fans of the participating schools will care about.

A good portion of the shared revenues will concentrate in the playoff system of bowls.


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The P5 will never allow a 24 team playoff to happen, 8 teams possibly.
24 would equal everyone having a shot they will not let that happen

[CID1990]

The P5 will never allow a 24 team playoff to happen, 8 teams possibly.
24 would equal everyone having a shot they will not let that happen

I think is as inevitable as the FCS playoff expansion was inevitable.


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[Go Green]

A reminder to all how we all got to this point (at least bowl-wise).

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=fiesta87

I do miss the days when New Years meant Cotton, Rose, Sugar, Orange.... and nothing else.

[DFW HOYA]

I often wonder about the future of football, but I don't see much changing. I would have a real hard time letting my son play(if I have one).

Football could solve a lot of these problems overnight by redesigning the helmet. The current hard shell was an attempt to eliminate skull fractures (which are all but nonexistent today) but at the expense of turning the helmet into a weapon.

Maybe they should look to go back to something like these old helmets:

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/1951-11-19-Dick-Kazmaier-Princeton-Time-Magazine-/00/s/MTI5NFgxMDAw/z/9CsAAOSwFnFWFJgY/$_35.JPG

[Hammerhead]

Concussions can be reduced with this headgear squashed by the NFL almost 30 years ago. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-03-18/helmets-preventing-concussion-seen-quashed-by-nfl-riddell

For those of you youngin's who don't know who Gazoo is:

http://thedailyjim.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Great-Gazoo.jpg

http://assets.bwbx.io/images/in_M4R.yHoKA/v1/750x-1.jpg

[uni88]

Football could solve a lot of these problems overnight by redesigning the helmet. The current hard shell was an attempt to eliminate skull fractures (which are all but nonexistent today) but at the expense of turning the helmet into a weapon.

Helmet design has been improving and there are several efforts underway to come up with innovative designs by groups with various backgrounds (not just your usual equipment manufacturers).

Coaches teaching improved techniques is also doing a lot to reduce the risk of concussions. Heads Up football is being taught by youth coaches and in youth leagues such as Pop Warner. Penalties for targeting while not completely written, understood or enforced the way they should be are also helping. Teaching proper technique is huge but can be difficult for a youth coach because kids see NFL players making these highlight reel tackles (leaving their feet, leading with their heads down and making no effort to wrap up) and thinking my hero gets paid millions to do it this way, why should I listen to this volunteer who gets $0. Teaching better technique at the youth level and getting pros to play smarter will go a long way toward making the game safer.

If given a choice between football and another sport, I can see someone choosing the other sport for safety reasons. But if the choice is between football and not participating in sports then the answer is that football is actually safer. Inactivity is a greater health risk than concussions and other injuries.

[clenz]

The issue with helmets is the contract the NFL has with Riddell.

Riddell makes some very unsafe helmets that "look cool" so the NFL players wear them. So colleges pick those up. Then high schools. Then youth.

That contract should go away. It would improve helmet technology and get safer helmets out there in a hurry

[Bisonoline]

The issue with helmets is the contract the NFL has with Riddell.

Riddell makes some very unsafe helmets that "look cool" so the NFL players wear them. So colleges pick those up. Then high schools. Then youth.

That contract should go away. It would improve helmet technology and get safer helmets out there in a hurry

Many schools use Schutt. Whats the difference between them and Riddell?

[caribbeanhen]

A reminder to all how we all got to this point (at least bowl-wise).

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=fiesta87

I do miss the days when New Years meant Cotton, Rose, Sugar, Orange.... and nothing else.

I agree

[clenz]

Many schools use Schutt. Whats the difference between them and Riddell?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/januaryfebruary_2015/ten_miles_square/three_simple_fixes_that_could053471.php?page=all

Football fans of a certain age will remember Don Beebe. A wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills in their heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was an inspiration to five-foot-eleven white kids like me. Beebe was fast and tenacious. He was also a magnet for ferocious hits. After sustaining several concussions, he and teammate Mark Kelso began wearing their helmets with a special covering that was fitted onto the existing helmet, called a ProCap. This technology put padding on the outside of the helmet, giving the helmets a puffy, inflated look (they were frequently referred to as “Gazoo” helmets, after the Flintstones character). But the covering also served to dissipate the energy of helmet-to-helmet hits by 30 percent. A small study of the technology, conducted at St. Alban’s High School in Washington, D.C., by George Washington University’s sports medicine department, had half the players wear ProCap coverings and half stick with their traditional helmets. There were no concussions among ProCap users, and six among those who didn’t use it. Kelso never had another concussion after he started to use a ProCap. Other players began using the helmets as well.

This is where NFL helmet politics come into play. The NFL claims to be a helmet democracy, in which players are allowed to choose any helmet they like. In practice, this means that an overwhelming number of them choose helmets made by Riddell, the NFL’s official helmet sponsor. Because Riddell has the imprimatur of the NFL, younger players tend to choose their helmets and stick with them as they rise through the football ranks. And many players admit they choose helmets for aesthetic reasons, assuming safety to be equal among them. But the major flaw with today’s NFL helmets is that their design is a vestige of a time in which skull fractures were a greater concern than concussions.

In 1996, Riddell effectively signed the ProCap’s death warrant, stating that Riddell’s warranty would be negated if their helmets were modified with the use of the ProCap. Riddell maintained that wearers of the ProCap were at a greater risk for neck and spinal injuries, because of the concern that two padded helmets hitting one another would maintain contact long enough to put players in danger of “axial loading,” spinal damage caused by a blow to the top of the head. Despite studies showing that this was not the case, the warning went to youth sports equipment dealers and college customers, and the ProCap all but disappeared. Other helmet innovations met similar fates, as the league, Riddell, and the league’s then-laughable concussion committee disparaged and denigrated these new models.

More recently, as helmet-testing regimes have improved, results show that Riddell is the maker of some of the best and worst models in terms of concussion prevention. Players at all levels need to know which helmets are the best, and the worst, irrespective of brand. For the league to regain credibility with players and make players safer, it should cease to have a helmet sponsor. Taking self-interest out of the equation would allow the league to conduct unbiased helmet safety and impact ratings, and make those ratings available to all players. If one model of helmet proves to be clearly superior in protecting against injury and concussion (as the ProCap might), the league could even mandate use of that helmet.

Would future helmets look different than today’s? Perhaps. Would they even seem silly, by today’s standards? Quite possibly. Would the more flexible helmets that seem to fare better in safety tests diminish the satisfying crack of a big hit? Likely. But could they represent a change that would make the game safer for players at all levels? Without a doubt.










Simply put, Riddell single handily killed off safety advances because it didn't want companies insinuating their helmets weren't safe enough, and didn't want the aesthetics of the helmet with wit name on it to look bad because of someone else's product. That same tend continued for decades. The Revo Speed, the first "advanced helmet", was pushed by Riddell as as safe as you could get when it first came out just over a decade ago. Every one wanted it as soon as they saw their first NFL player in it. Turns out, that helmet was actually worse than the standard helmet that had been around for decades.

Didn't matter though. Riddell had no competition because head injuries were just starting to pop into public conversation and they had no real challengers because 99% of NFL guys were in Riddell.

Schutt, if you look at rankings, has like 7 of the top 10 rated helmets and Xenith and SG both have more 5* helmets than Riddell. No one wanted those helmets when they first came out though. They looked real goofy compared to the Revo series helmets.


It wasn't until the last 2 or 3 years that anyone really started using something other than Riddell. Watch the NFL, nearly every single player is still using a Riddell and not the higher rates Schutt or Xenith. Colleges are starting to use the Xenith Stealths as more research has come out. Programs like Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc... Using the Xenith is going to make a major difference at the lower level, but helmet technology is a decade, plus, behind because if Riddell.

Thankfully Schutt and Xenith are able to put out their quality and about 60% of Riddells price. That's the big reason college programs made the move to Schutt. The top rated helmet is a Schutt and retails for 199. The top rated Riddell is 399. If those prices were comparable Riddell would still get the sale, even though they don't test as well as Schutt or Xenith

[Bisonoline]

I think many need to realize that until around 1970 the helmet of choice was a web suspension helmet and you could really get your bell rung weaqring it. But it was a better option than the padded foam rubber lining before it. Iowa got the new air suspension helmets in the spring of 1971. They were heavy but really fit your head and I never got my bell rung wearing one.

[DFW HOYA]

For those of you youngin's who don't know who Gazoo is:

http://thedailyjim.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Great-Gazoo.jpg



The moment the Flintstones jumped the shark.

[WTFCollegefootballfan]

In about 5 years, most will have forgotten about the concussions and Pop Warner participation will recover.

Who knows what the future holds for ESPN, but as long as there is interest in bowl games (and make no mistake, the number of bowl games has proliferated because they are lucrative) someone will be there to make money off of it.
Pop Warner numbers are already up in North Dakota and Minnesota. Highest numbers ever.

[Bisonoline]

Red flags my azz!xrolleyesx

[smallcollegefbfan]

I think the bowls will largely be absorbed into what will inevitably become a 24 team playoff.

The bowls that are left over will remain what they are - an extra game that only bookies and fans of the participating schools will care about.

A good portion of the shared revenues will concentrate in the playoff system of bowls.


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People here say that about only those participating in the bowls will care but I would be willing to bet that this year the FCS National Championship, and yearly, will draw no more TV audience than any bowl and if it does it will only be 3 or 4 of the 40 something bowls. Bowls aren't going anywhere. I agree we have too many but if nobody cared and they did not make money they would go away. I do think we will eventually see a 8 team playoff but it will be a long time before we see 24. The TV folks are basking in the controversy of 4 teams for now and we won't see 8 teams until after 2022 or 2023, at the earliest it appears.

Trust me, if any level will hurt it will be FCS and below. It is hurting because there will be less talent. If Montana, NDSU, and a couple other programs were to move up I think the FCS NC would basically be what the D2 NC was back in the 90s.

[walliver]

My take on all this is that:
1) The concussion issue is not going away. Many parents will steer their sons toward soccer and lacrosse and away from football. The risk for football at the sub P5 level is the possible financial liability for concussion related issues.
2) The College Football playoff is not going to expand beyond 6 or 8 teams. The big boys don't want to deal with the SunBelt, MAC, CUSA, MWC and AAC. After watching this weeks games, would anyone really want to see Alabama vs Arkansas State or Clemson vs. Ball State? There is too much money involved in the major bowls to give them up. In addition, a move to a 16-24 team playoff would likely involve reducing the number of regular season games to 11, eliminating conference championship games, and very few teams would still be playing over the holidays.
3) There will be no new subdivision. A G5 playoff would be just as profitable as the FCS playoffs, in other words, a big money loser. If the P5 take their ball and go home, there might be a playoff since G5 bowl games aren't going to be profitable either.
4) ESPN's business model has its weaknesses. Longer term, I suspect it will mostly be a pay-per-view model for big games, and the G5 and FCS will likely have their telecasts subsidized by their schools and conferences.

[clenz]

Pop Warner numbers are already up in North Dakota and Minnesota. Highest numbers ever.

Numbers across the country are starting to draw back to even before the hysteria.

My son will play football if he wants. No question about it. None of this "I don't know if I'll let him" bull****. It's his choice what he plays/doesn't play. I might be his parent but I don't get to dictate his life. I have had 6 diagnosed concussions. If any father was going to hold his son out because of concussions it would be me. Very few parents who weren't college/NFL players will understand the issues associated with repeated concussions like I do. The affect on memory and quick trigger for anger.

The fact is 5 of my 6 came from football, but one came from baseball. Are people going to hold their kids out of baseball? Soccer has rampant concussion issues as well that are starting to be found out.

Safety advances need to be made, and will. The overreaction from people across the country that have never played football and/or don't really understand concussions beyond what the overreaction hype media tells them is sickening

[Bisonoline]

A lot of the hysteria is driven by the tabloid media. They try to extrapolate anything to CTE because its a hot button issue.

[clenz]

A lot of the hysteria is driven by the tabloid media. They try to extrapolate anything to CTE because its a hot button issue.exactly. Also while ignoring the fact the NFL guys have played football at a speed/physicality that 99.9999% of players will never touch. Not only that they'll do it for 20-30 years of their lives. 99% of football players will never play past age 23. That's about 10 years.

The research for HS and lower level is nearly non-existent.

hell, kids shouldn't be tabling until 7th grade anyway. The parents trying to start it at 5 years old are dumb

[Go Green]

After reading this...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/awful-cfp-semifinal-ratings-show-executives-there-is-a-limit-to-greed-001910612-ncaaf.html

I think it's anyone's guess as to the future here.

[heath]

Numbers across the country are starting to draw back to even before the hysteria.

My son will play football if he wants. No question about it. None of this "I don't know if I'll let him" bull****. It's his choice what he plays/doesn't play. I might be his parent but I don't get to dictate his life. I have had 6 diagnosed concussions. If any father was going to hold his son out because of concussions it would be me. Very few parents who weren't college/NFL players will understand the issues associated with repeated concussions like I do. The affect on memory and quick trigger for anger.

The fact is 5 of my 6 came from football, but one came from baseball. Are people going to hold their kids out of baseball? Soccer has rampant concussion issues as well that are starting to be found out.

Safety advances need to be made, and will. The overreaction from people across the country that have never played football and/or don't really understand concussions beyond what the overreaction hype media tells them is sickening
It is ALL political. The left wants our soda,our money,our guns and now football. Anytime you see a movie about concussions,you know there is an agenda behind it...ESPN has become part of the problem as their message is usually slanted to the left also.............we have become a society of spineless pusses thanks to a minority combined with the media backing. BTW Clenz, bet you had more than 6,don't get mad because I said that...You probably wont remember this post tomorrow anyway.xnodx

[clenz]

It also seems like ESPN is forcing more and more and more bowls onto ESPN from ABC, and onto ESPN2 rather than ESPN.

They are attempting to fight the millions of people per year leaving cable by forcing all of their "big name" events to be only on ESPN, and not available to non-cable/dish subscribers.

[clenz]

It is ALL political. The left wants our soda,our money,our guns and now football. Anytime you see a movie about concussions,you know there is an agenda behind it...ESPN has become part of the problem as their message is usually slanted to the left also.............we have become a society of spineless pusses thanks to a minority combined with the media backing. BTW Clenz, bet you had more than 6,don't get mad because I said that...You probably wont remember this post tomorrow anyway.xnodx
Oh, I know I had way more than 6. I've done enough reading about concussions to "know" about how many I actually had....you can take 6, double it, and still be low. I just use 6 because that's the number of times a trainer/doctor told me I was concussed....or the multiple times I completely blacked out on the field...that's a concussion no matter how "with it" you may be after.

I never missed a game/snap/pitch because of concussions. I missed 2 plays in practice after I took a helmet to helmet shot, had my head slam against the field, and spent about 3 minutes on the field before "coming too".

The number of foul balls I took off the mask that "rung my bell" likely added a few "mild concussions" to my total.


The reason I had the issues I did? I didn't allow them to "heal". Even though I "felt fine", I went right back out there and took blow after blow after blow, day after day after day. I'm paying for it at, nearly, 28 years old. I have nearly zero short term memory. I have learned to "live with" depression that I always had, but was "made worse" as a result of the concussions. That hasn't been easy. I'm learning to handle the "anger" outbursts that come with it. People don't want to believe these symptoms but it's absolutely the case. You're brain never "heals". The connections suffer damage and never really come back. That means the proteins, and other chemicals, that regulate the brain continue to be off and unable to properly regulate.

My issues are "mild" compared to those who played at a much higher/longer period than I did. My issues related back 100% to lack of knowledge at the time (even though it was only a decade ago that I was a senior in HS). The information and protocols that are out there now are going to keep future generations much safer, and give them much better long term outcomes.

Part of they hysteria in the media comes from the complete lack of any real research before. So all research that comes out, and continues to come out, is going to show an increase in the baseline. That's simply because the baseline has never existed so it's constantly being reset. Give it a few years when the research has some legs under it and we'll get a better picture of what is actually happening. We are also better able to recognize concussions.

One way to look at it is similar to this hysteria over peanut allergies, ADHD diagnosis, PTSD, etc...

It wasn't until the last 15-20 years that research and ability to properly diagnose has come about. That means everyone thinks "OH MAN, AUTISM RATES ARE GOING THROUGH THE ROOF". The reality is, until 15-20 years ago those kids were "special ed" or "problem kids with no future". That means the rates of diagnosis are significantly higher now, but the rate likely isn't higher. It's the same, just a better professional understanding of what it is.

Honestly, it's going to take the "old school" line of thinking going away (people of that age dying, honestly) and the current generation of over-reaction getting old enough that the true balanced thinking can come through. The old school thinking is "Kids are pussies these days. We did it that way and were told to walk it off. Blah blah blah". See all the veterans who were in WW2, Vietnam, Korea that got "shell shock". Now we call it PTSD and try to treat it, because we understand it but the attitude of "Man up. Quit being a pussy" is still out there and keeping proper funding/treatment from being available. We need to get past the overreaction generation as well. They are going to swing the pendulum too far the other way and actually end up hurting their own cause becasue people will get sick of the doom and gloom.

Eventually level heads will be able to look at the situation and see things more clearly.

[dgtw]

Fantastic post, clenz.


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[Ivytalk]

Fantastic post, clenz.


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Agreed. xthumbsupx Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to give clenz reppies on that.

[AshevilleApp2]

Agreed. xthumbsupx Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to give clenz reppies on that.

Taken care of. :)

[wapiti]

The moment the Flintstones jumped the shark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE