Chief among the worries for players is getting chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is a degenerative brain disease found in people who have suffered repeated blows to the head. CTE is most commonly found in athletes playing football, boxing and other contact sports.
The dangers of these sports could lead to the rise of digital and robotic sports, methinks.
Already, competitive video game play, known as e-sports, is a big deal, watched by millions worldwide online and drawing thousands for arena-held tournaments.
There also are robot fighting competitions, such as BattleBots and an upcoming giant gladiator robot match. Previously robot fighting was only in science fiction movies like “Real Steel” and “AI: Artificial Intelligence.”
Plus, there is a new robotic racecar circuit, robotic soccer and sumo matches, and aerial drone racing.
I’ll look at these emerging sports more closely in my next article.
The next generation of youngsters might be more interested in playing digital or robotic sports and less interested in dangerous sports like football, boxing, MMA and racecar driving. And their parents are likely to support them.
Just look at some of the negative news in recent months.
Are you ready for some CTE?
In August, Ed Cunningham, a former NFL player, resigned as a college football analyst for ESPN and ABC in the prime of his broadcasting career because of his growing discomfort with the damage being inflicted on the players he was watching each week.
He said he no longer wanted to be a cheerleader for the sport. (See articles by the New York Times and the Daily Mail.)
Earlier this year, Bo Jackson, an All-Star in baseball and a Pro Bowler in football, confessed that he regrets having played football.
“If I knew back then what I know now, I would have never played football. Never,” Jackson told USA Today. “I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn’t tell anybody.”
At his Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement last month, retired Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis addressed the long-term health effects of playing football, especially CTE.
“I can’t lie, we’re all scared,” Davis said. “We’re all concerned, because we don’t know what the future holds.” (See articles by USA Today and Sporting News.)
Dr. Bennet Omalu, a doctor who discovered the link between CTE brain disease and the NFL, said that letting children play football should be considered child abuse. (See article by the Daily Mail.)
MMA is DOA for some
Many people like boxing and mixed martial arts, but they’re deadly sports.
Last October, Scottish boxer Mike Towell died after suffering severe bleeding and swelling to his brain during a televised fight. (See article by Fox News.)
In June, former UFC heavyweight Tim Hague died after suffering a knockout loss during a boxing match in Canada. (See articles by MMA Mania, the Daily Star and the New York Post.)
In July, amateur MMA fighter Donshay White died after a bout in Louisville, Ky. (See article by MMA Maxim.)
Also in July, amateur MMA fighter Rondel Clark died three days after he was knocked out during a fight in Massachusetts. (See article by the New York Post.)
Will athletes, fans and government regulators continue to support these blood sports? Probably.
But maybe attention will shift to other sports, perhaps emerging geek sports.
More on that in my next post.
Photo: Poster from the 2011 sci-fi movie “Real Steel” starring Hugh Jackman.
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