When Do We Draw the Line on NFL Violence? Fines, suspensions and concussion awareness are fighting an uphill battle against hypocrisy and fan apathy, by Bill Simmons (Grantland)
... You're walking a tightrope, basically. Only one thing can save you: the knowledge that fans won't really care because of the whole "people just want to eat steak, they don't care how it's made" mentality. Sadly, that's the best thing you have going for you. Before yesterday's Cardinals-Marlins game, I watched Muhammad Ali (one of my childhood heroes) trembling so severely that he couldn't throw the first pitch. Poor Ali could only hand the baseball to Miami's catcher … and he could barely do that. Boxing did that to him. He took too many punches; now he's a quivering mess. I noticed this, digested it and felt absolutely horrible about it.
Yes, I will keep watching boxing.
Which makes me a hypocrite ...
Sunday, April 08, 2012
NFL violence: "So what do you do? You pretend you care."
I know you're still mourning Peyton Manning's departure, and all that, but see, there's this little issue of lifetime debilitation ...
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In 1980, I had the pleasure to be next to Muhammad Ali at the Kentucky Governor's Derby Breakfast hosted by Gov. John Y. Brown.
I swear, energy poured off of and out of Ali. I have never been so affected by the sheer physical presence of a human being. Heat boiled off of that man.
To have been so close to that, and to see him now, barely able to hold a hardball is sad.
Being beaten about the head as hard as another can hit you isn't good - and remember, Ali rarely got hit.
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