Boom, Bang, Crash. Who Am I? What Day Is It?

     My wife and I went to see the movie Concussion on Saturday night. We both enjoyed it very much and it had a couple of great messages. I admired the writers and producers for showing a couple of faith in a positive light and secondly the message of the possible consequences of playing football. Let's face it folks, American Football is a violent and possibly dangerous game with some very significant health risks. Concussions which may lead to some serious problems with players in the future after they have retired from the game is just one of those risks.
      I have never been seriously injured playing golf, nor have I ever heard of anyone seriously injured as a direct result of playing golf. I have heard of a few golf cart roll over incidents which ended up in death, but these were attributed to either stupidity or drinking on the part of the driver of the golf cart. The game itself had nothing to do with the deaths.  I have been hit a couple of times with a golf ball, but lived to fight again. There may have been cases of a fatal insect bite on a golf course, but I have never heard of them.
     Mike Ditka who was a great football player and coach has said that he would advise parents to steer their kids away from football and into golf. He would know.  Have you ever seen Mike Ditka walk? He hobbles from all the knee surgeries he has had from playing football.
     I wouldn't want my son or daughter playing full contact football, especially at an early age. In fact, my grandson is a very big kid for his 8 years and his school is wanting him to play full contact football next year. I would want him not to, but I am not going to discourage it. The choice is his and his parents. Should he decide to play, I would hope that his coaches would do everything in their power to teach him the game the right way, and not with a "kill" mentality.
     Each year thousands of young people strap on the pads and play football, no matter the level at which they compete--from peewee to the pros. I am NOT against football. It is a fantastic game that has its own drama and excitement. I enjoy watching it even though I am more of a baseball fan. One thing you have to remember though is that not everyone who starts football at the peewee level is even going to make it to the NFL or even the college level for that matter. In most cases, high school or college is the end of the line for the person that plays football. The pads will be put up for the rest of their lives. They may coach, but that is as close as they will come to the playing field as they will get.
     Golf, on the other hand, is a sport you can play for a lifetime. Granted you may not play as a touring PGA pro, but you can still play and enjoy the game and you can still play competitive at whatever level you choose. I have played in California State tournaments and at 61 still enjoy competing in my age and handicap bracket.  Golf is truly a game for life.
     Please don't get mad at me. As I said, I enjoy watching football just as much as the other guy or gal.   Concussions are just as much a part of baseball as football and other sports. Concussion injuries kept my San Francisco Giants out of the playoffs this season. We just need to make football safer. Let's get more kids and people playing golf at all levels as their playing years will be longer. They can do both play football and learn golf. Believe me, they will be thankful that they learned to play golf for a lot of reasons.

Last I checked you don't have to wear a helmet to play golf.