Yeah. Saturday.
Unless you love your morning run, you probably aren’t interested in the early morning edition of Hogs Haven.
But many readers (like me!) live in other parts of the world, and I’m just getting my Tony Lama’s on and my jeans pressed tight. The pick up’s washed and I just got paid; with any luck at all I might even get laid, ‘cause where I am, the sun is about to set and it’s Saturday night.
So this edition isn’t for all you sleepyheads in the DMV... this one is for those of us on the other side of the world who have already taken the kids to play soccer, finished cleaning up the apartment, and warmed up with a couple of cold ones while you were sleeping.
Drew Brees has recently made an effort to “save the game of football” by focusing on flag football for younger kids. I admit that I was surprised by this when I read it.
For the past 2 1⁄2 weeks, I’ve had a friend visiting Bangkok from the U.S. He’s a childhood friend that I hadn’t seen for about 25 years prior to his visit. As he walked around Bangkok with me, he was amazed by things he saw. He commented on things like platforms with no guardrails or unsafe railings, power lines hanging at shoulder-level, food being prepared and served on sidewalks, and dozens of other things that he considered to be unsafe.
Having lived abroad for a quarter-century, I was a bit amazed at my pal’s attitudes. When we were kids, he had a table saw with no safety cover over the blade. I remember well, because I cut the end of my thumb off on his saw. When it happened, his father’s comment was, “It’s not bad. Just wash it and put a band-aid on it.”
My buddy was so aghast at so many things he saw here, that I began to wonder how much the U.S. has changed over the past few decades.
Has it become a total “nanny state”, where personal safety and protection of society from terrorism and other threats has killed the spirit that won the West?
And what does this mean for the sport of NFL football?
Is the NFL doomed because it is a violent throwback to an earlier era?
Should the NFL owners continue their (very public) efforts to make the game safer, or have they already gone to far in changing a great game into a game for sissies?
When our grandkids talk about “football”, will they be discussing soccer instead of ‘gridiron’?
Poll
What does the shift in American attitudes mean?
This poll is closed
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44%
The country has grown soft, and the NFL is doomed
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43%
People have become more aware of the risks in the world and in the NFL, and they’re being smarter
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7%
What "shift" are you talking about? Nothing has really changed.
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4%
All I know is, I’m glad I live in another country these days