Tiger69
Postdoc
Posts: 2816
Reg: 11-23-04
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05-16-17 11:08 AM - Post#229357
In response to palestra38
P38. I concede that I regard football as a special case. I have long been a fan, though not a player, of Ivy football. My views of how the game is played have changed over the years as has, I believe, the game itself. I never gave much thought to the long term effects when I was younger. As a kid growing up in the town of Princeton I got to know many undergraduates like big brothers who worked in the ticket office where my mother was employed seasonally. I was an early Princeton fanatic. I went to lots of football, basketball and hockey games as a town brat, and got to know a few athletes. One football player was nicknamed "Bumpy" by friends and roommates. The joke was that Bumpy never remembered much of anything except the physical contact from the games he played.
Years later, as a freshman in 1965, I had a dorm mate from rural Virginia whose entire life was playing football. He worked out VERY hard (I recall trying to run with him our freshman fall while I briefly was an eight oar crew member). Sadly, Bob was his name, though talented and hard-working, was a little too small for the linebacker role he coveted. After practice he was always a little fuzzy and welcomed being included in study sessions with his roommates. But, with little else to identify, he dropped out after freshman year and transferred to a small Baptist school where he felt more at home.
Finally, we had a very good defensive back during my undergrad years whose nickname was "Cheapshot" for the hard hits he made to opponents, often as they were falling out of bounds. We all cheered "Cheapshot" and much admired his work.
Now, years later, I wonder about how some of those less fortunate hard hitters have fared. They played only nine games then, the time demands, though great, were less than today and college sports were much less specialized. We had no illusions of National Championships. The Ivy League Championship and (sorry, P38,) a Big Three Championship were as good as it got. And, that was plenty. I don't think that a post season loss to East Georgia Aggie Tech would have Improved things.
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