Rugby players are monsters. They have become so big, can they be called human? In this modern day, rugby union is more about how hard you can tackle and how fast you can run, than the rugby. This essay will delve into and explore whether professional rugby union is becoming too dangerous and why this is the case.
Was the professionalism of rugby a good idea? Sure, it’s great to watch and exciting to play but at what cost, Death? As a rugby player myself, I believe rugby is a fantastic sport and it is something I know a lot about. However, I believe the size and fitness of the players is changing the dynamic of the game. The idea that rugby players must be over a set height and weight for selection to represent your country is profound. The skill and determination of a player appears not count for much in today’s rugby.
The equipment worn by the players contribute to making the sport of rugby union much safer. Mouth guards are worn; this is a piece of plastic that fits to the players upper set of teeth, to prevent the teeth clashing. Teeth clashing can cause concussion; therefore, mouth guards are worn to stop this danger. Secondly, post pads are placed around the rugby posts to stop the players hitting into them and causing a very serious injury, as the posts are made from metal. Although not mandatory, scrum caps are likely to be the most commonly used accessories in the game. This piece of equipment involves a cloth helmet that covers the head but leaves the face uncovered; the cap is filled with small pockets of soft material, usually foam. This also helps to stop the game being so dangerous. There are many pieces of equipment that contribute to making the sport of rugby much safer. However, there are many reasons why the...
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...are to forgiving in such a dangerous sport. With people’s lives on the line in some situations, why should the referees forgive athletes for rule breaking? Rule breaking should be more harshly dealt with, resulting in match bans or sending the athletes off the pitch.
In the past ten or twenty years we have noticed a considerable change in the players physiques, however this is not a valid reason for rugby becoming more dangerous as this is in fact protecting the athletes. However, surprisingly, the equipment involved in making the game safer can have the reverse effect as the players take safety for granted, this can result in injuries to players. The structure is different from other sports, but isn’t much more dangerous. Rugby is a contact sport, and in any contact sport however good the rules are injuries will occur. I believe rugby is in fact becoming safer.
Are current equipment regulations enough to keep our hockey athletes safe? I ask this after the life threatening injury that recently occurred here in Buffalo. However this isn’t the first time that the NHL (National Hockey League) has seen injuries of this magnitude. What were these injuries? How did they affect the NHL rules? What kind of rules are in place today? What is the NHL doing about neck guards? These questions and more will be answered as we take a look into NHL injuries, the history of equipment regulations, current equipment regulations, and the debate over neck guards.
Playing football comes with several risks factors that players’ acknowledge prior to playing the game starting a young age. Regardless, these players still chose to play the game, which they end up loving and cherishing despite all the risks accompanied with it. Football is one of the toughest sports in the world; it takes a certain amount of strength, speed, and aggressiveness to play 48 minutes of hard-nosed football. However, the National Football League (NFL) is in the midst of a controversial issue. Is the NFL getting soft? This has been a debatable issue for several years. While some believe that implementing all these rules in the NFL is progressively turning the game soft, others say that the NFL is not getting soft; it is just trying to make the game safer for its players.
American football in the past several years have really developed, not only from the fans perspective but also from the players and the official heads. Safety is the most important topic talked about in all sports but it is a must in football, especially because of the way the game is played with all of the tackles and hits. It is really important not only for the players to be safe but also the officials to keep it safe. Both players and officials play a key role in making the game of football safe and interesting to watch for the fans and a great experience for the players as well. As said in the Denver Post, players are expected to play with the rules…coaches are expected to teach…and game officials to emphasize the rules. The game of football, in the NFL, is safer than it has ever been because of the rules, penalties and the equipment.
Players are using their heads as a weapon which is careless, dangerous, and should be banned from the sport. A lot of time and money has been invested in improving football helmets. Quinn and Brachmann emphasizes that “There’s a strongly held belief that no matter how much time and money is invested into research and development there will never be a helmet that is truly concussion-proof ” (Quinn and Brachmann). Helmets have been effective in preventing skull fractures, but not concussions. Helmet manufacturers are researching and trying to develop safer protective head
This is because the equipment does not protect the important parts of the body that are most vulnerable to injuries. Furthermore, they also don’t make football players hit or tackle other players correctly, leading to serious injury and some have even died, due to concussions or other serious injuries.
American football is full of exciting competition, but do we realize the danger! Helmet safety in football remains an immense problem as the sport accounts for the highest incidence of concussions. Since leather football helmets, the technology for safer helmets has improved drastically and continue to improve. The development of newly designed helmets and technology has lowered the risk of head injuries for players. Furthermore, improvements in helmet testing methods have led to better understanding head injuries and the protectiveness of the helmet. In respect, football helmet safety still remains a challenge, such as a necessity of a proper categorization system to rank helmets and regulations to improve helmet safety. Regardless, standards and regulations attempt to address helmet safety through government intervention and a proper measuring system for football helmets. Despite the cultural perception of football, measures are taken to ensure safety, such as the reforms and education with regards to playing safer football. I intend to address the technological advances and regulation of football towards the discussion of helmet safety. Therefore the aggresivity in football’s culture should embrace stronger helmet standards and regulation that are promoted through improved testing methods and innovations because of the need to prevent further dangerous head injuries, especially concussions.
America’s newfound favorite pastime, football, came from a bizarre chain of events. Football started when a soccer player got fed up with just kicking the ball, so he picked up the ball and ran to the goal. His actions of picking up the ball and running with it fathered a new European sport, rugby, which was soon brought over to American shores, and was altered slightly, the shape of the ball and a few other small rules. The sport became organized into a league and produced the NFL(National Football League). The NFL had a slow beginning, but has picked up popularity, currently having a 9 billion dollar yearly revenue. Playing football comes with great costs, including physical and mental health deterioration, plus the amount of time spent prepping before game day. Which can pose several questions, “Why suffer for a game, Is it worth the money? Is it worth the fame? How great is the cost?” I believe that football, should have stricter regulations for the treatment of injuries, along with informing players of just how devastating a concussion can be, along with the other major injuries that commonly occur while playing football.
Throughout the years, many sports have evolved from that of their beginning. Be it through rule changes, advances in the way people watch the game, advances in how they play the game, but this biggest one of all is the change in equipment. This is most commonly seen and heard about in American football. Due to all of the advances in the medical field and seeing the sports injuries that occur. Football had to adapt and change to the new standards of safety for the players with new and improved equipment to lessen the chance of long term damage.
There are many risks involved in the sport and it is great to shed light on the situation as to improve playing conditions for the players and teams we hold dear to us. What is unfair is to demonize the fans who enjoy the sport. It is not immoral and cannot be
So whats one more thing to think about? There professional level athletes,they need to give themselves more credit. And yes there right, injuries are bound to happen in a contact sport, but they need to try and do their best to play within the rules that are being set for their benefit.
Since football’s inception, it has been considered a manly sport. Young boys have been encouraged by their parents to participate in the game. For many boys, it is considered a rite of passage. However, football is a dangerous sport. A study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy found, “an estimated 5.25 million football-related injuries among children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments between 1990 and 2007. The annual number of football-related injuries increased 27 percent during the 18-year study period, jumping from 274,094 in 1990 to 346,772 in 2007” (Nation 201). These reported injuries include sprains and strains, broken bones, cracked ribs, torn ligaments, and concussions. A concussion usually happens when a player takes a hard hit to the head or is knocked unconscious on the playing field, and if not diagnosed and treated quickly, a concussion can result in death.
Football is a very exciting sport to play and watch. Boys enjoy getting a touch down and kicking a field goal. People love to sit and watch their friends and family perform. Even though everyone gets a lot excitement out of it, football can be very dangerous. The danger can occur within getting tackled or just by running up and down the field. "Football is at a crossroads," says Jodi Balsam, a sports law professor at Brooklyn Law School in New York. "And that crossroads is about convincing the next generation of players and their parents that the game is safe to play and that the rewards of playing outweigh the risks." (New York Times Upfront, Charles) Football has always been a sport known for hard tackles and rough play, making injuries inevitable. Football is a dangerous sport because it can lead to problems with the head like: concussions, brain damage, and head trauma.
Even though football players are aware of the dangers the game can bring upon them, they take part despite it. The passion, the joy it creates; for professionals it’s also the devoted fans and compensation they receive is what keeps the players motivated. Today players are much bigger, faster, smarter, bigger, better. The game is more physical. The sport has never been so competitive. The popularity has reached new peaks, as much that the NFL has thoughts of moving a team to London, England. Additionally, Super Bowl XLVII (47) was one of the most watched television events of all time; an astonishing 108.4 million viewers (The Associated Press). Fans worship their teams and love to see big hits. Football is a contact sport; injuries are no doubtingly part of it. Concussions are one of the many detriments caused by the ruthlessness, but one of the few with perpetual effects: consequence of the brutality.
With each passing civilization and the era it’s [its] people lived in, one can find a great deal about the times by examining an area that is not often thought of. That area is in regards to sports. The ancient Mayans had arenas, the Greeks helped initiate the Olympics, and the Romans had bloody matches between gladiators in the Colosseum. These sports and games often reveal to us what was occurring outside the playing field and arenas, into the political arenas and clashes between the classes. Examining the history of rugby throughout Europe, particularly in Great Britain, allows one the opportunity to see how the changes throughout society’s values, norms, and principles are mirrored by the evolution of the game of rugby from the mid-nineteenth century up to World War I.
When it comes to physical contact sports, there are two categories, collision sports and tackling sports. American football, ice hockey, lacrosse, boxing, and many more are considered collision sports. Tackling sports would consider rugby, Gaelic football, Australian rules football, and even soccer as some of the world’s tackling sports. A collision sport is way more dangerous than a tackling one. For example, in a football game, it is pretty typical to see players lose their helmet’s, ripped out of their jersey’s, and be taken off the field by ambulance. Reason being is because nowadays players feel like they are Iron Man...