Washington Post (November 30)
“The NFL was a joke Sunday, at a time when nothing about the coronavirus warrants laughter. In Baltimore, the Ravens reported a positive test for the eighth straight day, further jeopardizing a twice-delayed game against the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. In the Bay Area, the San Francisco 49ers were rendered temporarily homeless, if they want to keep playing football, because of local restrictions.” Make no mistake. “The coronavirus is in charge, and it is raging once again…. It’s impossible to play football out in the open, without a bubble environment”
Tags: 49ers, Baltimore, Bubble, Coronavirus, Delayed, Football, Joke, NFL, Pittsburgh, Positive test, Raging, Ravens, Restrictions, San Francisco, Steelers
Detroit Free Press (August 12)
“After a spring of wishful thinking, a summer of flimflamming, and 48 hours of confusing, closed-door debates, the Big Ten has finally canceled its fall sports season, which to most fans means: football.” This was no surprise and “shortly thereafter, the Pac-12 did the same…. All the other conferences should follow suit.”
Tags: Big Ten, Canceled, Conferences, Confusing, Fall, Football, Pac-12, Sports season, Spring, Summer, Surprise, U.S., Wishful thinking
The Economist (January 31)
America’s “favourite entertainment faces many charges. One of them will finish it.” Despite soaring popularity, the Economist believes football is due for a fall now that the “maiming of so many of football’s professional players” is no longer a secret. Roughly one third of ex-pros go onto suffer from brain injuries and this ugly fact will cause the sport’s popularity to wane. Though it seems unthinkable, “football will go the same way” as boxing and westerns, which once also enjoyed broad appeal.
Financial Times (June 4)
Just as the World Cup is about to kick off in Brazil “the prestige sporting event has been tarnished by allegations of corruption at Fifa, world football’s governing body, over the choice of Qatar to host the 2022 competition.” But alleged bribes are hardly Fifa’s first red card. “Fifa is a body that has been mired in corruption allegations for so long – and which has been so lame in mending its shoddy governance – that it demands a complete overhaul.”
Tags: 2022, Allegations, Brazil, Corruption, FIFA, Football, Governance, Overhaul, Qatar, Soccer, World Cup
USA Today (September 4)
“As evidence mounts that permanent brain damage and dementia are legacies of some still-unknown number of NFL careers, the league faces a dilemma: Bone-jarring hits are an unavoidable part of football, but if the game gets too brutal, fans and the parents of prospective players could abandon it…. Making an inherently violent game less dangerous won’t be easy.”
Tags: Brain damage, Career, Dangerous, Dementia, Evidence, Fans, Football, Game, Hits, NFL, Parents, Players, Violent
