KarateKen

It could be worse, at least you are not a Jets fan. The Cowboys have only sucked for 30 years. The Jets have sucked for over 50.

Another big news day on the NFL front, this time about the continuing saga between the league and former head coach Jon Gruden. Gruden scored a big win this week when the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in his favor that he can go forward with his civil lawsuit against the league, and do it publicly. This makes the league potentially vulnerable to public humiliation, especially Goodell. If what comes out in discovery shows that Goodell is the one who was behind the leaking of Gruden's emails, the fallout could be huge. Two options now for the NFL to avoid this going to court. One, the league has the option to appeal the ruling (they will), so it could be heard by the US Supreme Court. Popular opinion is that the odds of the Supreme Court taking the case are slim. Option two, the NFL offers Gruden an absurd amount of money, plus the chance to coach in the NFL again, in return for him not going to court. Basically, a settlement. However, Gruden appears to be holding such a grudge against the league that he has said no amount of money will be enough and he intends to "burn the house down," in his case against the NFL. If the Supreme Court does not take the case (or if they take it and rule in favor of Gruden), then the question is, will Gruden stick to his word or will the NFL make such a great offer he can't refuse it? Oh it's getting spicy!

One thing that I know used to happen in the NFL, and this is not to excuse anybody, but players would often lie or downplay their injury so they could get back into the game. The NFL is so competitive that if you miss time due to an injury, another player could step in and take your job. Or the team could use your injury as negotiation leverage against you when your contract is up. The "tough guy" attitude was/is a big part of the football culture and "playing hurt" was often celebrated by players, fans, coaches, and the media, praising players for their toughness. When it comes to concussions, NFL coaches would often rely on doctors to decide if a player is healthy enough to play. Back in the 90s and early 2000s, before all of this came to light, concussions were not always taken as seriously because you couldn't see it the way you can see a broken bone or torn muscle. In the 90s, NFL Commision Paul Tagliabue put a doctor named Elliot Pellman as the lead doctor for concussions. Problem was that Pelman worked for the NY Jets, and the NFL, so he was not independent. A bigger problem still was that he was not an expert in neurology. This is who the league picked to head up the concussion investigation. Irresponsible choice by the NFL IMO. It is my belief that the NFL from the coaches, to the commissioners, to the owners, to the doctors, did not have the player's best interest in mind and were willing to downplay the concussion risks for fear of how it would hurt them financially. Which it did eventually did. A class action lawsuit against the NFL was settled out of court for over a billion dollars. You bring up the coaches and heat. In 2001 there was a Vikings player named Korey Stringer who died during training camp from heatstroke. There is a lot of information about that situation, but it did cause the NFL to change some things. If it happened in the NFL I wouldn't be surprised if irresponsible coaches were doing the same thing in college and high school. I've never been a coach, it is not for me, but I would think any responsible coach would prioritize the health of their players for many reasons, one being it is the right thing to do, and another being that without healthy players you don't have anyone to put in the game.

I find this interesting. I don't know anything about Rugby so I figured I would ask someone who has experience with it. Many Ruby fans I talked to years ago looked down on American Football, saying it was "soft" due to the pads worn by players, which I guess Ruby does not have, or did not at one time. I don't know the size/speed of the Rugby players or how the game works, I do know in the NFL you have very large people coming at you quickly in a small space, looking to knock you down, and, sometimes, they aim to knock you out of the game. See Vikings/Saints playoff matchup January 2010. The Saints players were offered bonus money if they were to injure Brett Favre. They roughed him up, but at age 40, Brett Favre, the record holder for most consecutive starts, never missed a snap in that game. Favre was one of the toughest guys ever. Your feedback is helpful and appreciated.

I was trying to be playful. Sorry if that was unclear.

Oh wow. Are you asking what I regret about my life that is not connected to MA? Bob, if your biggest regret is not learning the Wolf Whistle (I don't even know what that is) then you sir have made a lot of good decisions in your life and are well blessed!

Agreed.

Is Rugby less dangerous than American football in your opinion? The coaches probably deserve some blame as well, I think that is fair. While it hasn't been proven that the NFL covered anything up, they were irresponsible in how they delt with the situation. They did not take the issue seriously enough for way too long. In recent years the new rules have reduced concussions, unless maybe your name is Tua Tagovailoa.

Way to go Revario

Don't stress yet, it is only the preseason. I'm sure once the regular season starts they will lose a lot more. I'm just messing with ya, only having some fun.

My first thought is to always consider violence the last form of action to resolve any issue. When we are training, we are in a controlled environment. Same when we are in a tournament. There are refs, rules, other people, ect. Even a UFC fighter or boxer studies their opposition before getting into the ring with them. On the street we do not have any idea who we are dealing with. The person could be high, drunk, mentally ill, armed, and so on. There are endless possibilities of how things can turn out once violence takes place. We do not know who we are dealing with, and it is not a controlled environment, making it far riskier than what we do in class. Some claim that MMA is the closest that MA has ever created to a true street altercation. I don't know if that is true or not, but even if it is, it is nothing like a street altercation at all. What victory means in the ring and what it means on the street can be very different.

Have any of you encountered this situation? A tournament takes place, and a competitor is competing at green belt but is actually a brown belt. He just wants to compete against lower competition so he can beat up on them and win the prize. What would you do if you ran a tournament and discovered that someone had done this? I've never knowingly seen it, but there was a time or two I was suspicious. Someone from out of town, not known to anyone running the tournament, shows up with a Gi and a belt claiming to be a student but is "independent" and not naming a dojo. I was not running the tournament, but it seemed like nobody has to verify their rank or who they trained under since most of them were locals and all in the same circle. One student was wearing a while belt and fighting in the green/blue belt division. Why?

On a personal note. I was able to visit Green Bay last week and get a tour of Lambeau Field. There was not a game, but we got a tour of the field and got to see the stadium, and visitors were allowed to watch practice. I am not a Packers fan, but I almost came out of there as one. They have an incredible story. Green Bay is only 107,000 people, and the season ticket waiting list is 150,000. Imagine the waiting list for tickets being larger than your cities population. Amazing. The team is also owned by shareholders, not some rich jerk like Jerry Jones. A small town in northern Wisconsin has the greatest football story ever told. If you get a chance to go, I recommend it. Packers fan or not, it is very cool to experience Lambeau Field.

I never watch preseason because it is nothing like the regular season. Some fans say that the preseason is a way to get an idea of how good their team will be. It isn't. For one thing many of the players who decide the preseason game will either be cut or get little playing time during the regular season. Also, teams do not prepare for preseason games the way they do the regular season. Thus, I put zero merit in how well a team does in the preseason. As a Lions fan I remember that in 2008 the team went 0-16, the first team in history to lose every single game in a 16-game season. Their preseason record that year? 4-0.

Since ESPN is owned by Disney, that would be a possibility. Seems a lot of brands are trying to do that. Disney, WalMart, Amazon, NFL, Apple, Nike, ect. The NFL will continue to broadcast Christmas games on Netflix and Thursday games on NFL Prime, as well as FOX, NBC, and CBS on Sunday's, however ESPN is going to get more games if this deal goes through, also, this could have an impact on how the NFL decides to negotiate future deals with those networks once the current contacts run out. The one with FOX ends in 2033, but the NFL I think has an opt out clause for 2029 if they choose, not sure though. I remember back in the 90s when FOX landed the NFL, it was a complete shock to everyone, now they might have new challenges with keeping the games after the current contract. While more people are cutting the cord, and especially young people are not watching as much TV as past generations, streaming is the future of live sports.

WARNING FOR POSSIBLE SPOILERS!! Anyone else watching this new Dexter series? I was a huge fan of the original, and then loved what they did with New Blood, and Original Sin, and so far this has been great as well. I was concerned that they might be dragging it out too much and it would get lame, but so far the writing has been brilliant. Michael C, Hall is back as Dexter, this time trying to reunite with his son, Harrison, who works at a hotel in New York City. As with many shows, the more I see it the better the show gets. Six of the ten episodes are available, I hope it will keep getting better.

Sounds pretty crazy. Sorry you had to experience that. I had no idea.

It would be ludicrous for anyone to claim that the NFL forced anyone to play football. However, I have watched the documentary Leage of Denial, and read the book by the same title, and it is reasonable to conclude that the NFL was negligent in how they handled concussions and head injuries for years, and how they likely tried to cover it up. These injuries are not just in the NFL, head trauma from playing football has shown up in college and even highs school football players. Former NFL RB Arian Foster claimed that if he could do things over again, he would never have played football. Despite all the money he made in the NFL, it is not worth what damage it does to your body. He also said he will encourage his son to not play football and go into a different line of work. It was an interesting conversation he had on the Rogan podcast years ago.

When I trained TKD (it was WTF style) we were never taught how to fall correctly. I learned that when I switched to Hapkido. Is this a common thing in TKD? If so, why is it that learning to break fall is not a taught in some TKD training? It is a very helpful skill to have both on and off the mat.

Absolutely. We live in a violent world and knowing how to protect yourself can be lifesaving. Even if you don't use it against an attacker, martial arts are great for fitness, self-esteem, personal growth, self-confidence, and meeting new friends.

ESPN is acquiring NFL Network and NFL RedZone, among others, in exchange for giving the NFL a 10% equity share of ESPN. Lots of unanswered questions about what this will lead to. How will this change ESPN's coverage of the NFL? How will this impact the fan experience? Will ESPN be willing to hold the NFL accountable and run negative stories, or will they ignore them now that the NFL has some ownership in the network? The general feelings early on seems to be that this is a great deal for the NFL and ESPN, but a major conflict of interest for the consumer, especially when you consider that the NFL will now have a financial interest in ESPN Bet, an ESPN app designed for sports gambling. For this deal to go through it requires federal approval, and the NFL has started to lobby congress for exactly that. If the deal does not get approval, then all of this will disappear, so none of this is official, yet. I'm guessing that since the NFL is such a rich and powerful force, they will likely get what they want. This is a complex issue and there is a lot of information to unpack here, so if you care to learn more, I hope you read about it, but there is simply too much to go over in one post.

What is the story on this?

I am not sure what the age should be, maybe 16?, before getting a black belt. A JBB maybe start at 14? I find it unfortunate when schools give out a BB to a 9-year-old just so grandma can brag to her friends.

What is worse is that some students, typically young adults who train at MMA gyms, are hoping and looking for violence when they go out. They are all excited to use their MA training on someone in the bar.

I posted this in the NFL thread but then realized it was probably better fit here. I've copied and pasted the post. A crazy man walked into a building in New York and opened fire, killing four people before committing suicide. He had a note saying that he had CTE from playing football in high school. It appears he intended to target the NFL offices in New York but accidently went into an elevator that goes to a different location. The gunman never played in the NFL but blamed football for causing his brain damage. One of the victims was a police officer who had two children and a third on the way. Tragic and scary situation for sure.