Getty ImagesSome links from around college football on a Wednesday…
- Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated ranks the 10 most powerful people in college sports. If you’re looking for SI’s full list of the 50 most powerful people in sports, click here. Little ticked neither John nor I got a nod.
- SI also reports that sideline reporter Jenn Brown is leaving ESPN.
- The Big East released its 2013 football schedule.
- Thrust into a starting quarterback role last season because of numerous injuries, Shawn Petty is back at linebacker for Maryland this spring. Until a meteor takes out the QB two-deep, that is.
- Exactly which recruiting deregulation proposals are under reconsideration?
- How much are college athletic directors making these days? USA Today has the directory and the story.
- More research on head injuries at the college level from Business Week. Okay, but what’s being done about it on a practical level?
- Oh, dear. This tattoo.
The physician and his family of southernpatriots have written the NCAA, NFL, helmet manufacturers, and others making suggestions for improvement of protective helmets and protective paddings and have advocated improvements for decades now.
The NCAA et al will only fund research on head injuries but not come up with any changes or solutions. The NFL will do the same. Meanwhile, head injuries continue and could be avoided if the powers which are would make some adjustments to the equipment and some adjustments to the rules of the game. The NFL has covered up all their knowledge of the huge problems of head injuries over the years and this will be revealed by discovery in the law suits the owners now face.
gatorsnapper, sounds like a plan to me. But leave it to GOoDell to pull something like the status quo crap. Later he’ll be wantin to take credit for any changes. I can just hear his speeches now. God, how I wish somebody would give him an attitude adjustment. Glad to know that somebody like southernpatriots is lookin out for change.
Read it all before you jump.
The reason for the excessive number and severity of football injuries at all levels is the protective equipment.
Football officials should go talk to rugby and soccer experts about injuries and their prevention.
Just know this the boxing glove is the proven source of head injuries, all in the name of protecting the hands. That’s just stupid.
If it was painful to hit another player full blast and it hurt you to weigh 300 you wouldn’t do it and the guy you hit would be saved the crippling injury.
Like boxing there should be weight limits.
Now you have the answer so do something with it.
WRT Staples’ list, I can’t agree with Slive being ahead of Delaney. Slive is powerful because the SEC is playing out of this world football right now. What Delaney is doing is Sun Tzu level strategy.
@gatorsnap
Better helmets would likely lead to harder hits, no?
I always thought helmets would go to an inner and outer shell. With the outer part having crinkle zones like a car, to disperse energy. The outer zone could be made quickly replaceable, liked face maskes.
@norm
*masks
Knowing what little I know about these things, that would be nearly unfeasible. The material would have to be tough enough as to not “crumple” or lose integrity under minor hits, yet soft enough to absorb the big hits accordingly. So, you either have a negligible difference in protection over the current helmets, or a game that’s already slow slowed down further by equipment management.
Dhlions- I read about that maybe 5 years ago, thought it was a great idea at the time.
I have to disagree about Delaney to some degree. He already had media markets, academics, and basketball. He needs quality football. Slive had great football, and needed markets and academics. Slive filled needs, with A&M also increasing football greatness to boot. Delaney only got what he already had. The B1G and SEC already own their footprints, as far as TV eyeballs. The trick is getting eyeballs from outside your boarders. That’s what makes a network a great idea. But, you need quality football to do that. Outside of OSU and Michigan, the B1G have few national draws. I see the two men as pretty equal, for different reasons, if that makes sense. Delaney is innovative, because he has to be. Slive plays defense, because he can.
I want to add one thing. Props for getting rutgers, I under stated the quality of recruits from NJ in prior posts. However, most go out of state. If they could lock that down, I would expect a huge jump in play from an already good rutgers team. They need that to take the next step.