Sports

Parents Forum
281

<p>Former Harvard football quarterback earned MD and MBA and develops radical new helmet design</p>

<p>
[quote]
New Helmet Design Absorbs Shock in a New Way </p>

<p>By ALAN SCHWARZ
Published: October 27, 2007</p>

<p>Vin Ferrara, a former Harvard quarterback, was looking for an aspirin in his medicine cabinet when his eyes fixed upon a ribbed plastic bottle used to squirt saline into sinuses. Ferrara squeezed the bottle, then pounded on it — finding that it cushioned soft and hard blows with equal aplomb, almost intelligence.
“This is it,” Ferrara declared. Three years later, Ferrara’s squirt bottle has led to a promising new technology to protect football players from concussions.
....
Ferrara, who after graduating from Harvard in 1996 earned medical and business degrees from Columbia,....

[/quote]

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/sports/football/27helmets.html?hp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/sports/football/27helmets.html?hp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

282

<p>I'm interested to see more about this helmet. I'm pretty sure both Schutt and Riddell already have similar models available. My high school uses a variety of models right now ranging from a basic helmet model from the 90's (actual helmet is newer) to the Schutt DNA, to the Riddell Evolution and the Riddell Revolution. The problem at this point is cost issue. I understand-- brain injuries and possible death have no price tag. But schools can't afford $200-$350 per helmet when you think about equipping 80-100 athletes. Believe me-- they would love to all have the super-nice helmets that have been praised as being more advanced.</p>

<p>A couple things I noticed in the article: Mention of a 20 year-old helmet; That is a lawsuit that should have happened! Most companies recommend replacing a helmet after about 6 years. Riddell suggests no more than 10 years. For one thing, the technology changes in these helmets. And for another, that helmet had to be beat up.</p>

<p>On the reconditioning standpoint, I am pretty sure that the foam padding IS something that is looked at and replaced as needed.</p>

<p>Article said it best-- Education is just as important if not more important than the helmet itself.</p>

283

<p>what bugs me most about sports is that much of the "skill" comes from being born a certain way- the genetics, sure much is practice, but if you have one leg shorter than another, have health issues, etc., you won't be part of that world, no matter how are you work</p>

<p>Yes sports are wonderful, but why should you having long legs and being fast be more important than being a good student, why should being born big and strong be more important that volunteering at a hospital</p>

<p>Yeah yeah, there is training and commitment involved, whatever, but when it comes down to it, its all about bodies, and it is just so, how shall I put this, "Basic", caveman like- those with the best bodies win...</p>

<p>Doing sports for yourself is laudable, of course it is, something like the special Olympics does amazing things for the participants, but to just watch others run around, eh</p>

<p>And no, it is NOT the same as singing or playing an instrument, not when we are talking about millions of dollars for sports while those programs are cut</p>

<p>I know I am in the minority, but I just find this whole college sports thing kind of creepy- irs all about the bucks and NOT about education</p>

284

<p>Another article related to concussions and football helmets:
<a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/education/story/32DE543AB05523178625738100110AD5?OpenDocument%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/education/story/32DE543AB05523178625738100110AD5?OpenDocument&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

285

<p>
[quote]
what bugs me most about sports is that much of the "skill" comes from being born a certain way- the genetics, sure much is practice, but if you have one leg shorter than another, have health issues, etc., you won't be part of that world, no matter how are you work</p>

<p>Yes sports are wonderful, but why should you having long legs and being fast be more important than being a good student, why should being born big and strong be more important that volunteering at a hospital</p>

<p>Yeah yeah, there is training and commitment involved, whatever, but when it comes down to it, its all about bodies, and it is just so, how shall I put this, "Basic", caveman like- those with the best bodies win...</p>

<p>Doing sports for yourself is laudable, of course it is, something like the special Olympics does amazing things for the participants, but to just watch others run around, eh</p>

<p>And no, it is NOT the same as singing or playing an instrument, not when we are talking about millions of dollars for sports while those programs are cut</p>

<p>I know I am in the minority, but I just find this whole college sports thing kind of creepy- irs all about the bucks and NOT about education

[/quote]
</p>

<p>And you think that 'talent' or genetics aren't involved in Music, theater, and the like? Or straight up academics. A kid with Downs isn't going to Harvard no matter how hard he tries. The kid with bad teeth who needs braces for years upon years isn't going to be the next Louie Armstrong. My tone deaf dad isn't ever going to sing like Aretha Franklin.</p>

<p>All of these are talents used for money and non-academic purposes.</p>

<p>And there are more people in orchestra, symphony, a cappela, theater, or whatever other arts program for a living than in sports. And it isn't close. Only a couple thousand people play sports professionally, not enough to supply Broadway or Hollywood.</p>

286

<p>^completely agree. some people are naturally better at sports, and some are better at other things.</p>

287

<p>CGM- While there is a lot dependent on genetics (as you say, "the body"), there is much dependent on hard work and discipline, especially in endurance sports. What in the world is "creepy" about a bunch of young men and women running together, cheering each other on, bonding with their coaches and teammates...... You think THAT is about the money? I worked for a CEO who valued athletic commitment above many other qualifications. He liked what that said about a person. Maybe he was just creepy....</p>

288

<p>yeah, only a couple thousand and how much $ is thrown into that on the college level, and the HS level, while other programs go without</p>

<p>and how much push is given to the jocks OVER all the other talents</p>

<p>why should a jock get a leg up in the admission process? oh, cause they will nake the school look good</p>

<p>that is where it isn't right...that a student who got lucky as a freshman to make the cut because of breeding can get a full scholarship or an acceptance based on their physical attributes...taking the place of some very worthy people who back in 9th grade were quite big or fast enough, so never had the chance to be one of the "chosen" few</p>

289

<p>That's a bunch of cr*p.</p>

290

<p>So if the other programs do without so much.. how come they don't fundraise?!!!!</p>

<p>Our Athletic Booster Club pays for a lot of things for our athletes. Our fine arts get a lot of their stuff paid for by the school.</p>

291

<p>Brains, beauty, athleticism, and other qualities are not distributed equally. Is that some kind of revelation????</p>

<p>Re fundraising: Our town's music programs realized that they'd get the funding they needed when hell froze over, so they rolled up their sleeves & raised their own $$$. Two new Steinway grands, trips all over the globe, supplies & instruments -- the works. Every kid is given fundraising opportunities year round, so even the poorest kid is able to tour Europe or purchase a fabulous madrigal costume. When the program's success & great press began to boost school pride, a budget referendum was passed for new choral room construction. </p>

<p>While the football team (2 and 8 last year) gets a lot of loyal attention, the music programs are surpassing them in school prestige. But honestly, the sports programs have been fundraising with booster clubs forever. The artsy families & the music directors just took the initiative & decided to emulate the sports booster clubs rather than continue complaining. The amount of crossover between jocks and artsy kids is quite high. I attribute this to the excitement generated by the successful musicians & singers and their dedicated supporters. It really does have the feel of a homecoming football game when these groups head off to compete or stage wonderful performances for the hometown crowd.</p>

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<p>DSC/MOWC are correct---sure, some kids are naturally more athletic than others just as some are more musical, etc. Very few top athletes (or top musicians for that matter) get to the highest levels of their sport without the blood, sweat and tears of hard work, practice, repitition of a skill, building strength and endurance.</p>

<p>I am not an athlete (don't know where my sons get their talent), but in my day I was a pretty talented vocal musician-I practiced, worked on my breathing/endurance, did scales ad nauseum. I don't really see much difference in that sort of committment from my dear sons who lift weights, run, and shoot 100 hockey pucks a day to improve their skill.</p>

<p>You start out with a level of talent and then hard work comes into play</p>

293

<p>My kids all play school sports, but it is extremely rare for anyone from their school to get any kind of sports scholarship (less than 1% of the graduating class). However, lots of parents don't recognize this and spend way too much money and energy on the private coaches, training camps, etc. My daughter was very good in one of her sports until a recent injury put her on the bench all season and I am not sure she'll ever play as well again. Although sports are great for a well balanced life, I am really thankful that we always encouraged her to have other interests; physical abilities are so easily lost!</p>

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<p>At D's school, only three girls were offered Div1 athletic scholarships from a class of 133. One was the Gatorade Player of the Year, which is supposedly a great achievement. One turned it down to attend Columbia. 30% were admitted to tier 1 colleges and the class earned about $7million in scholarships and grants. So our experience matches that of Muffy. Sports are wonderful activities, but not too many kids are cashing in on their athleticism. It's more common for the scholars to get the $$$.</p>

295

<p>My son just told me that an athlete of friend of his has gotten the "nod" from an HYP....before the ED app was even due! I don't know how much money he is getting, but he knows he is accepted before the other kids have even sent in the apps!</p>

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<p>Allmusic- there are no athletic scholarships at the Ivy schools. There may be nice "need-based" aid packages, but not athletic scholarships The top recruits do get likely letters in some sports from some Ivys.</p>

297

<p>I don't think his folks need the money for him to attend, but just getting that call from the coach was sweet!</p>

298

<p>I do alum interviewing for my Ivy so I've been involved in admission events and such and I didn't know anyone could get a definite acceptance before the deadline, even a recruited athlete.</p>

299

<p>I think he just got the call from the coach, and it sounded pretty definite, according to my son. Nothing official in writing though, but I have heard of kids knowing yay or nay from coaches before the deadline....</p>

<p>If it were my kid, I would not rest easy until I had the acceptance on paper....</p>

300

<p>MOWC. I was putting together a well reasoned footnoted response to the anti-jocks but have now erased it as I see you have already covered all of the topics I was planning on covering.</p>

<p>
[quote]
That's a bunch of cr*p.

[/quote]
Back to the grill. [edited:thought better of it.;)]</p>

<p>Let it go, folks. Life's too short to be this bitter.</p>