Republicans More Likely to Let Kids Play Football: Poll

Football and politics don’t always mix, but according to a new poll, they are often linked.

A recent poll conducted by the RAND Corporation for The Upshot asked people about their attitudes toward allowing their children to play football.

The poll was conducted on the heels of a spate of reports linking football and concussions and brain damage. Most recently, the National Football League stated in federal court that they expect nearly a third of retired players to develop long-term cognitive problems at a “notably younger age” than those in the general population.


It seems those reports are starting to affect parental decisions. In the poll 55 percent of those surveyed said they would be fine with their sons playing football. That may be more than half, but it’s significantly lower than the average 90 percent of adults surveyed who said they would be comfortable with their sons playing baseball, basketball, soccer and track.

The pollsters also asked people who they voted for in 2012 and found that those who voted for Obama were about half (48 percent) as likely as Romney voters to be OK with their sons playing football.

There was no significant difference in results when Obama and Romney supporters were asked about other sports for their sons.


Whether or not parents had a bachelor’s degree also seemed to factor into people’s responses. People who earned a college degree or higher were 29 percent less likely to be comfortable with sons playing hockey and about half (46 percent) as likely to be comfortable with sons playing football, relative to adults without college degrees.

Could these numbers be highlighting the beginning of a decline for high school football? It just might be. According to a recent New York Times article, high school games and seasons have been canceled across the country this season as interest dwindles and health concerns rise.

-- via New York Times.


http://news.discovery.com/human/life/republicans-more-likely-to-let-kids-play-football-poll-141104.htm

Republicans don't mind concussions because they think brains are highly overrated in the first place

Yes -- it's mean and it's cheap, but it needs to be said.

this is utterly ridiculous. no sport is without danger. senior has a concussion (mild) from a soccer match on Saturday. I think the NYT is pushing the envelope here.

Cass wrote:this is utterly ridiculous. no sport is without danger. senior has a concussion (mild) from a soccer match on Saturday. I think the NYT is pushing the envelope here.

I did find it weird and wanted to have the views of people who are American to guage this, so thanks me Lady.

Brasidas wrote:

Cass wrote:this is utterly ridiculous. no sport is without danger. senior has a concussion (mild) from a soccer match on Saturday. I think the NYT is pushing the envelope here.

I did find it weird and wanted to have the views of people who are American to guage this, so thanks me Lady.

they are kind of stretching the stories that the NFL and other school leagues are waking up to the possibility of permanent damage to someone who doesn't take correct precautions and are finally being proactive instead of reactive. lets face it if any sport will disappear because of concussion then Boxing will be the first to go.

I love boxing so I hope not.

Ben_Reilly wrote:Republicans don't mind concussions because they think brains are highly overrated in the first place

Yes -- it's mean and it's cheap, but it needs to be said.

Not cheap at all. I just think there's more to it. Conservatives generally like violence. That's why they love their wars. Now, a concussion comes from violence. So they find it totally acceptable. What they will do is hold an awards ceremony, like they do with wounded soldiers, and then send off more to be killed and maimed.

It's not something to be stopped or avoided for conservatives. It's a 'red badge of courage.'

Cass wrote:

Brasidas wrote:

Cass wrote:this is utterly ridiculous. no sport is without danger. senior has a concussion (mild) from a soccer match on Saturday. I think the NYT is pushing the envelope here.

I did find it weird and wanted to have the views of people who are American to guage this, so thanks me Lady.

they are kind of stretching the stories that the NFL and other school leagues are waking up to the possibility of permanent damage to someone who doesn't take correct precautions and are finally being proactive instead of reactive. lets face it if any sport will disappear because of concussion then Boxing will be the first to go.

You may well be right about boxing where the intention is to punch the other guy in the face or body. I can relate to worrying because my grandson is into boxing and he's pretty good at it as well. He only took it up a couple of years ago and he's already a British Amateur champion at his weight. I'd rather he stuck in at football because he was just as good at that as well but boxing is what he wants to do.
It is a worry that they will get seriously hurt more so than in football but I'll support him all I can.

         

REPUBLICAN voters and supporters are also a lot more likely to give guns to their 5 and 6 year old children as birthday presents...

GO figure..

Irn Bru wrote:

Cass wrote:

they are kind of stretching the stories that the NFL and other school leagues are waking up to the possibility of permanent damage to someone who doesn't take correct precautions and are finally being proactive instead of reactive. lets face it if any sport will disappear because of concussion then Boxing will be the first to go.

You may well be right about boxing where the intention is to punch the other guy in the face or body. I can relate to worrying because my grandson is into boxing and he's pretty good at it as well. He only took it up a couple of years ago and he's already a British Amateur champion at his weight. I'd rather he stuck in at football because he was just as good at that as well but boxing is what he wants to do.
It is a worry that they will get seriously hurt more so than in football but I'll support him all I can.

THERE are other martial arts that can be just as bad, if not worse in some cases ~ such as "MMA", full contact versions of karate/ninjutsu/kung fu/taekwondo/kempo/savate, wrestling...

THEN there are those (more aggressive than Soccer...) "team sports" ~ the likes of Ice Hockey, Thugby League, Gaelic Football, Rugby Union, Aussie Rules, Cricket, NFL, Baseball, Netball, Basketball, Hockey ~ these can all have higher injury and casualty rates than may appear at first glance, (except for Ice Hockey, of course - where everyone knows how dangerous it is from the "get go"..).

AND let's not forget other high-risk "action" sports activities ~ horse riding, surfing, mountain biking, skin and scuba diving, skiing, snow-boarding, motocross, 'climbing and abseiling, parachuting, hang-gliding..

Lone Wolf wrote:          

REPUBLICAN voters and supporters are also a lot more likely to give guns to their 5 and 6 year old children as birthday presents...

GO figure..

Precisely.

Irn Bru wrote:

Cass wrote:

they are kind of stretching the stories that the NFL and other school leagues are waking up to the possibility of permanent damage to someone who doesn't take correct precautions and are finally being proactive instead of reactive. lets face it if any sport will disappear because of concussion then Boxing will be the first to go.

You may well be right about boxing where the intention is to punch the other guy in the face or body. I can relate to worrying because my grandson is into boxing and he's pretty good at it as well. He only took it up a couple of years ago and he's already a British Amateur champion at his weight. I'd rather he stuck in at football because he was just as good at that as well but boxing is what he wants to do.
It is a worry that they will get seriously hurt more so than in football but I'll support him all I can.

I'm with you Cass.  I don't like any fighting sports at all.

I realize that it is a long-standing tradition, but so is dog or cock (rooster) fighting.  It's just intended brutality. Football, or even golf, is a competition over skills apart from adversity. Fights are just 'meanness' packaged as entertainment.

I particularly dislike this so-called cage fighting, where anything goes.  It's gotten to the point where you might just as well simply bring a .38 into the ring, blow the guy away, and collect your belt.  Makes as much sense.

FYI - just found out senior junior has cracked his cheekbones - he got some guys face in his in his soccer match on last Saturday. Urgent care said he had mild concussion on Monday - today went to a mate who works at a dentist and they gave him free xrays - and voila broken.

honestly that child!!!!! and after his big accident 4 years ago!

Cass wrote:
FYI - just found out senior junior has cracked his cheekbones - he got some guys face in his in his soccer match on last Saturday. Urgent care said he had mild concussion on Monday - today went to a mate who works at a dentist and they gave him free xrays - and voila broken.

honestly that child!!!!! and after his big accident 4 years ago!

MAYBE someone could gently point out to him that in soccer the general idea is to lead with one's feet - and NOT with one's face !!!

Lone Wolf wrote:

Cass wrote:
FYI - just found out senior junior has cracked his cheekbones - he got some guys face in his in his soccer match on last Saturday. Urgent care said he had mild concussion on Monday - today went to a mate who works at a dentist and they gave him free xrays - and voila broken.

honestly that child!!!!! and after his big accident 4 years ago!

MAYBE someone could gently point out to him that in soccer the general idea is to lead with one's feet - and NOT with one's face !!!

he was on the ball (c'mon city) and running for goal and outdid 2 defenders when this guy came right at him - didn't even touch the ball - senior stumbled but then got back on the ball and scored. But he's out for a few weeks

Cass wrote:FYI - just found out senior junior has cracked his cheekbones - he got some guys face in his in his soccer match on last Saturday. Urgent care said he had mild concussion on Monday - today went to a mate who works at a dentist and they gave him free xrays - and voila broken.

honestly that child!!!!! and after his big accident 4 years ago!

I'm really sorry to hear that, Cass. Pls send my lov and regard.

But it doesn't deter my point. Yes, they are finding out that a lot more concussions take place in the contact sports, and that is partially because diagnosis and care have gotten so much better. But I still detest a sport where the design and intent is to maim the other guy. For me, that's over the line. It's not competition; it's malice.

Brasidas wrote:I love boxing so I hope not.

I like boxing!
Well, I should say, I used to like it. Boxing nowadays is a farce and pretty tame.
I liked the boxers of old, sugar ray Robinson, sugar Ray Leonard, hearnes, Roberts Duran to name a few
That was the best era.

Cass wrote:FYI - just found out senior junior has cracked his cheekbones - he got some guys face in his in his soccer match on last Saturday. Urgent care said he had mild concussion on Monday - today went to a mate who works at a dentist and they gave him free xrays - and voila broken.

honestly that child!!!!! and after his big accident 4 years ago!

Oooh I was going to say I remember his big accident!! (Was it really four years ago??!!)

Hope he's ok and mends soon. Thank god my son is a sporty freak - I'd be constantly worried!!

Eddie, you forgot to mention Henry Cooper, one of the greatest British heavy weights, and a very nice man. PS he gave Ali something to think about!!

nicko wrote:Eddie, you forgot to mention Henry Cooper,   one of the greatest British heavy weights, and a very nice man. PS he gave Ali something to think about!!

Righto, chap -- but in the end, Ali was as he advertised himself. The greatest -- of all time!

Ali was an "asshole poet," to boot:

"I'm here to give him his pension plan."

And undoubtedly the speech that marked him as the greatest bad-ass, ever:

I’ve wrestled with alligators,
I’ve tussled with a whale.
I done handcuffed lightning
And throw thunder in jail.
You know I’m bad.
just last week, I murdered a rock,
Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick.
I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.
I’m so fast, man,
I can run through a hurricane and don't get wet.

Do you know how ali won his fight against Henry Cooper? Henry put Ali on his arse with his famous "Ammer" [his left hook] To give Ali time to recover Ali's second,cut the laces on his glove and the ref stopped the fight while new laces were fitted.this gave Ali time to recover.he won the fight when the ref stopped it because henry's eye was badly cut. Cooper would have won the fight otherwise and Ali,s future could have been much changed!

eddie wrote:

Cass wrote:FYI - just found out senior junior has cracked his cheekbones - he got some guys face in his in his soccer match on last Saturday. Urgent care said he had mild concussion on Monday - today went to a mate who works at a dentist and they gave him free xrays - and voila broken.

honestly that child!!!!! and after his big accident 4 years ago!

Oooh I was going to say I remember his big accident!! (Was it really four years ago??!!)

Hope he's ok and mends soon. Thank god my son is a sporty freak - I'd be constantly worried!!

yup.....time flies and all that x

sorry eds but I'm with quill (I made a post on this last night but it disappeared??????) - boxing makes me sick.....I just have never understood the hype around it. Know what I mean 'arry?

Cass wrote:

eddie wrote:

Oooh I was going to say I remember his big accident!! (Was it really four years ago??!!)

Hope he's ok and mends soon. Thank god my son is a sporty freak - I'd be constantly worried!!

yup.....time flies and all that x

sorry eds but I'm with quill (I made a post on this last night but it disappeared??????) - boxing makes me sick.....I just have never understood the hype around it. Know what I mean 'arry?

Each to their own me Lady, but I grew up with this, where the Irish side of the family are all boxers.
Yes it is dangerous, granted, but then many sports are, yes the object is to knock your opponent out, making it very dangerous, but there are some of us who are adrenaline junkies who love the buzz of danger, pain etc.

Brasidas wrote:

Cass wrote:

yup.....time flies and all that x

sorry eds but I'm with quill (I made a post on this last night but it disappeared??????) - boxing makes me sick.....I just have never understood the hype around it. Know what I mean 'arry?

Each to their own me Lady, but I grew up with this, where the Irish side of the family are all boxers.
Yes it is dangerous, granted, but then many sports are, yes the object is to knock your opponent out, making it very dangerous, but there are some of us who are adrenaline junkies of love the buzz of danger, pain etc.

oh I know Hon. the mother and stepfather were into that WWE wrestling stuff.....I always just looked at them like WTF?

Brasidas wrote:

Cass wrote:

yup.....time flies and all that x

sorry eds but I'm with quill (I made a post on this last night but it disappeared??????) - boxing makes me sick.....I just have never understood the hype around it. Know what I mean 'arry?

Each to their own me Lady, but I grew up with this, where the Irish side of the family are all boxers.
Yes it is dangerous, granted, but then many sports are, yes the object is to knock your opponent out, making it very dangerous, but there are some of us who are adrenaline junkies who love the buzz of danger, pain etc.

It's not the danger; it's the malice.  All contact sports are dangerous.  But fighting intentionally seeks to harm another.

To draw an analogy, we all argue that handguns are particularly heinous because, as distinct from hunting rifles, handguns have only one purpose.  Well, boxing differs from football because it has only the same purpose.  Both are built around the notion of intentional malice.

Original Quill wrote:

Brasidas wrote:


Each to their own me Lady, but I grew up with this, where the Irish side of the family are all boxers.
Yes it is dangerous, granted, but then many sports are, yes the object is to knock your opponent out, making it very dangerous, but there are some of us who are adrenaline junkies who love the buzz of danger, pain etc.

It's not the danger; it's the malice.  All contact sports are dangerous.  But fighting intentionally seeks to harm another.

To draw an analogy, we all argue that handguns are particularly heinous because, as distinct from hunting rifles, handguns have only one purpose.  Well, boxing differs from football because it has only the same purpose.  Both are built around the notion of intentional malice.

I know its intention is to harm another, but this again is a buss when fought in a controlled environment. Of course it is not without risks, but again it offers much attraction.
The adrenalin rush, one of competitiveness also, skill and Technic.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

nicko wrote:Eddie, you forgot to mention Henry Cooper,   one of the greatest British heavy weights, and a very nice man. PS he gave Ali something to think about!!

Righto, chap -- but in the end, Ali was as he advertised himself. The greatest -- of all time!

Ali was an "asshole poet," to boot:

"I'm here to give him his pension plan."

And undoubtedly the speech that marked him as the greatest bad-ass, ever:

I’ve wrestled with alligators,
I’ve tussled with a whale.
I done handcuffed lightning
And throw thunder in jail.
You know I’m bad.
just last week, I murdered a rock,
Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick.
I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.
I’m so fast, man,
I can run through a hurricane and don't get wet.

The poetry is legend. The character is legend. The mind is even legend.

But anyone who looks and listens to Ali today cannot refute my view about boxing. It is malice, packaged as entertainment. And Ali was a winner most of the time, FCS.

Nobody is trying to refute many of your points on boxing, in fact your views are agreed on many points, but one, those who enjoy the sport.

Brasidas wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

It's not the danger; it's the malice.  All contact sports are dangerous.  But fighting intentionally seeks to harm another.

To draw an analogy, we all argue that handguns are particularly heinous because, as distinct from hunting rifles, handguns have only one purpose.  Well, boxing differs from football because it has only the same purpose.  Both are built around the notion of intentional malice.

I know its intention is to harm another, but this again is a buss when fought in a controlled environment. Of course it is not without risks, but again it offers much attraction.
The adrenalin rush, one of competitiveness also, skill and Technic.

This is a very interesting discussion because I think that love of sports of malice (just invented that new adjective) is central to the love of war. That is to say, the same adrenaline-producing dopamines are called up by each. It's a hypothesis, anyway.

I wonder if there is a genetic cause to war and violence.

Original Quill wrote:

Brasidas wrote:


I know its intention is to harm another, but this again is a buss when fought in a controlled environment. Of course it is not without risks, but again it offers much attraction.
The adrenalin rush, one of competitiveness also, skill and Technic.

This is a very interesting discussion because I think that love of sports of malice (just invented that new adjective) is central to the love of war.  That is to say, the same adrenaline-producing dopamines are called up by each. It's a hypothesis, anyway.

I wonder if there is a genetic cause to war and violence.

I think the opposite, because you have two poeple as you do here knowing full well the risks, short term and long term, wanting to engage in a bout where they wish to better their opponent, which does not need death to evolve for one to be the winner, where again it is the adrenaline that is the main buss. If they were connected, people who viewed this as a love of war, would actively engage in war, and that really just does not happen. Most people including the boxers have no intent that one dies, where many are always concerned including the opponent if the other has been seriously hurt.

Brasidas wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

This is a very interesting discussion because I think that love of sports of malice (just invented that new adjective) is central to the love of war.  That is to say, the same adrenaline-producing dopamines are called up by each. It's a hypothesis, anyway.

I wonder if there is a genetic cause to war and violence.

I think the opposite, because you have two poeple as you do here knowing full well the risks, short term and long term, wanting to engage in a bout where they wish to better their opponent, which does not need death to evolve for one to be the winner, where again it is the adrenaline that is the main buss. If they were connected, people who viewed this as a love of war, would actively engage in war, and that really just does not happen. Most people including the boxers have no intent that one dies, where many are always concerned including the opponent if the other has been seriously hurt

See what you have pointed to (I've highlighted the relevant passages) are rational calculations, not genetic urges.  It's perfectly reasonable that one might rationalize 'covers'--so to speak--for an urgency that might be morally frowned upon.  We dress up porn to be literature and art.  Why not dress up an urge toward violence and war, as sport?

Original Quill wrote:

Brasidas wrote:


I think the opposite, because you have two poeple as you do here knowing full well the risks, short term and long term, wanting to engage in a bout where they wish to better their opponent, which does not need death to evolve for one to be the winner, where again it is the adrenaline that is the main buss. If they were connected, people who viewed this as a love of war, would actively engage in war, and that really just does not happen. Most people including the boxers have no intent that one dies, where many are always concerned including the opponent if the other has been seriously hurt

See what you have pointed to (I've highlighted the relevant passages) are rational calculations, not genetic urges.  It's perfectly reasonable that one might rationalize 'covers'--so to speak--for an urgency that might be morally frowned upon.  We dress up porn to be literature and art.  Why not dress up an urge toward violence and war, as sport?

There is no methodology to your point it is based upon an assumption, not data or evidence, you would need to show all people or many who like boxing would also like to kill and go into war and enjoy war. That is not the case, showing your view is based on a poor stereotype view you have of people, which is a recurrent problem you seem to have

Indeed, let's factor in something else. What about computer games?

Perhaps another 'cover' to mask a lust for war and violence???

Brasidas wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

See what you have pointed to (I've highlighted the relevant passages) are rational calculations, not genetic urges.  It's perfectly reasonable that one might rationalize 'covers'--so to speak--for an urgency that might be morally frowned upon.  We dress up porn to be literature and art.  Why not dress up an urge toward violence and war, as sport?

There is no methodology to your point it is based upon an assumption, not data or evidence, you would need to how all people who like violence would also like to kill and go into war and enjoy war. That is not the case, showing your view is based on a poor stereotype view you have of people, which is a recurrent problem you seem to have

Well yes...I did say it was just a hypothesis.

We would have to operationalize a study. Without some data, we have no conclusions at this point.

Original Quill wrote:Indeed, let's factor in something else.  What about computer games?  

Perhaps another 'cover' to mask a lust for war and violence???

You mean another assumption, how many kids, who enjoy violent games, are violent themselves?


Research Shows No Link Between Video Game Violence And Real-World Violence
New study from Stetson University researcher suggests violent video games do no lead to increases in violent crimes.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/research-shows-no-link-between-video-game-violence/1100-6423385/


Oh well that theory was quickly squashed.

Brasidas wrote:

Original Quill wrote:Indeed, let's factor in something else.  What about computer games?  

Perhaps another 'cover' to mask a lust for war and violence???

You mean another assumption, how many kids, who enjoy violent games, are violent themselves?


Research Shows No Link Between Video Game Violence And Real-World Violence
New study from Stetson University researcher suggests violent video games do no lead to increases in violent crimes.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/research-shows-no-link-between-video-game-violence/1100-6423385/


Oh well that theory was quickly squashed.

Well, the part about games perhaps.  But you see...the difference with assumptions is that they try to supplant conclusions...and it doesn't work.

What does work are hypotheses.  You lay them out, find appropriate data, and voilà...ya got sommin' going.

I know all that Quill and hence why I argue logically and rational view points, as they are backed by countless evidence.

Catch you later Quill, have a fab weekend.

You too. Been fun.

Chat soon...

nicko wrote:Do you know how ali won his fight against Henry Cooper? Henry put Ali on his arse with his famous "Ammer" [his left hook] To give Ali time to recover Ali's second,cut the laces on his glove and  the ref stopped the fight while new laces were fitted.this gave Ali time to recover.he won the fight when the ref stopped it because henry's eye was badly cut. Cooper would have won the fight otherwise and Ali,s future could have been much changed!

Very true Nicko in that the delay may well have saved him from defeat that night. Almost every man and his dog wanted to Clay put on his backside to shut up his big gob.

It didn't happen though and in my opinion Clay went on to be the worlds best ever sportsman. He also ended up being loved by the public who came to realise how great he was and that all the showman stuff and the bragging was just him selling himself. Point is though he lived up to all the bragging and the shouting by delivering on most of what he said about himself and what he could do.

On that note there is a young English boxer from Bury coming up through the ranks who has just won the EU championship at the 52Kg weight and one to watch for the future. He'll be 18 soon and fighting as a senior next year and his name is.....

Muhammad Ali