Should Dungey play

[Townie72]

The only problem with that is that time can be used towards lax, baseball, golf (I know...) or other sports.

The issue with football is that it's a low ceiling type of thing. Would rather not have my son out there against DeMatha getting rung up by some ACC / BiG recruit when he can be hitting fastballs or doing a lifetime sport like golf or tennis.

Well, I understand. But these other things, don't hold a candle to the youth football experience.

And the better lacrosse players I have known have been two and three sport guys and football has very frequently been one of those other sports.Some of these kids have good stick skills, but no toughness.

Basketball is the #2 best sport for lacrosse players because of the footwork required and the hand-eye coordination required.

 

[rrlbees]

You guys must be around different doctors than I have been in contact with. For these guys, there is no black and white. They think in and talk in statistical terms about probability and increased and decreased risk. Some concussions are easily diagnosed but some give off weaker or mixed signals. Repeated concussions are statistically connected with all sorts of bad stuff later in life like early-onset Alzheimer's and Parkinsons. That doesn't mean they understand why this happens, they just know it does statistically. And I don't know what "cleared to play" actually means. It certainly doesn't mean there's no risk. It means the risk is not beyond a certain limit. There's been a lot of conversation lately about the danger of eating meat, especially smoked meats like bacon. The research shows that people who eat a lot of bacon, etc increase their chances of colorectal cancer from about 5% to about 6%. The Press --- starved for this kind of bad news --- reported this as a 20% increase in the probability of getting the disease (without mentioning the 5% number) Dungey and his family have to decide how much increased risk they are willing to take. I'd be a little concerned about HCSS, who is fighting for his job, making that decision. There's a lot of pressure on him to keep this very valuable part of the SU team on the field. So his level of acceptable risk might be different from ED's parents. One of my good friends died after a several year bout with early Alzheimers. I wouldn't recommend it as a way of going out. At the end of the road the family is wrecked emotionally and financially and the patient has no idea who any of these people are.

Oh come on. Is it that hard to know what cleared to play means? Cleared to play is black or white. The rest is just background noise that may or may not help a doctor make a decision in clearing a kid. But there's no doubt what cleared or not cleared means.

 

[rrlbees]

If Eric lets them, I think.

As a parent of an 18 year old in college, they are considered an adult at 18 and if he didn't want us to see any records or talk to any doctor, we wouldn't be able to. I'm sure ED allows his parents to be engaged, but he doesn't have to and they could be left in the dark.

 

[Scooch]

The risk of injury in youth football is extremely low. I was involved over a 7 yr. period with a large youth football program in Bethesda, MD. It was at the "Select" or most competitive level. For four years I was the Adminstrative officer. The club fielded five teams in five different weight classes up to 120lbs. There were about 20 players per team or 100 boys a year. We played about 10 games a year and had practices 5 days a week from mid-August to Mid-November. In a seven year period I was there the five teams combined played about 350 games and had over 2ooo team practices. During that seven year period during practices and games, we had two injuries ... a dislocated hip and a broken finger. The kids, however, did get hurt. It invariably happened before practice started with kids climbing on playground equipment or trees or playing a rough game they called "Maul Ball" without pads, helmets or supervision. You know, the stuff athletic boys do when left to themselves. Once practice started, the risk of injury fell to zero. Parent's who are spooked by injury myths are denying their sons a great athletic and character building experience. I had trouble getting them to pick up their rooms. These coaches had them in goal line stands in the driving rain and enjoying it. The danger is --- if you can call it one --- is that many will then want to play high school football, which is more dangerous and some will play in college.

I work with several college football players. Many either outright won't let their kids play, or are discouraging it intensely. We all have anecdotes.

 

[Townie72]

I work with several college football players. Many either outright won't let their kids play, or are discouraging it intensely. We all have anecdotes.

That's true. But I''m convinced based on a lot of data, that youth football is as safe as soccer and a lot safer than the neighborhood boys on their own at the field at the end of the block.

I'm sympathetic to the risk. I am. And it amps way up when they get to high school.

But I'm as concerned about the impact of parent's with all these fears on their kids. The parents never saw a safety device they didn't like. The kids are constantly supervised. All their activities are organized. If they allow them to ride tricycles in the driveway at all, they are decked out in helmets and knee pads.

All this parental fear is going to have an impact on these kids.

But I know former football players who can hardly walk in their 50's.

 

[upperdeck]

Well, I understand. But these other things, don't hold a candle to the youth football experience.

And the better lacrosse players I have known have been two and three sport guys and football has very frequently been one of those other sports.Some of these kids have good stick skills, but no toughness.

Basketball is the #2 best sport for lacrosse players because of the footwork required and the hand-eye coordination required.

interesting to hear that since almost none of the lax kids i know play basketball.. some play soccer/fball but most played hockey

 

[Townie72]

interesting to hear that since almost none of the lax kids i know play basketball.. some play soccer/fball but most played hockey

I first got that bit of wisdom about the connection between basketball and lacrosse from Georgetown coach, Dave Urick. While at Hobart, when he was looking for walk-on players to fill out his quad, he would go to the gym and see if he could find any really good athletes playing basketball. The keys are finding someone with agility (especially going backwards) and hand-eye coordination. It's pretty easy to see how these skills translate into lacrosse.

I am very close to one of the top US high school programs and have been for many years. They have sent many players off to play in college. Just a few of them have been impact players in college. The one's that have been were all either also football and/or basketball players in high school. And good players at that because they were the best athletes in the school. (These kids would be familiar to SU lax fans because several of them played for UVA or Georgetown)

In fact, this school's lacrosse program went from pretty average to the top tier of US programs when they convinced the schools best athletes, who were then playing football and/or basketball to pick up lacrosse as a Spring sport.

I don't know about other areas outside of DC, but the kids that play hockey here or even soccer are not the best athletes in the school (biggest, fastest, toughest).

 

[IHeartSUFball]

He should play if cleared by doctors, its a long off season and he will get rested up then. You can't take tomorrow or next season for granted play the kid now if he can.

Hope the team overall hits the weights hard this off season, we look small and obviously are weaker than a lot of teams regardless of being freshmen.