Buzz Bissinger, author of FNL "College Football should be banned"

crimsonaudio

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I just think it's hilarious that the whole article is based on "I think" and "I feel" in stead of facts and data...

This guy has his own agenda and is using gross generalities in an attempt to achieve his goal.
 

Al A Bama

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Really? Man I coulda saved a fortune by letting old joe the plumber do my transplant surgery.
What I was saying is that they give a diagnosis then prescription for problems just like a doctor would. Now some of them aren't very good at it, just like some doctors.

Now I would not like a plumber doing my heart surgery. However, I would not want a doctor to determine the cause of my air conditioner leak in my attic.

If plumbers, electricians, HVAC specialists, etc. are very good at their job they are very good at diagnosing a problem and giving a prescription for correcting the problem just like a doctor with a patient who has heart disease, cancer, etc.
 

BamaPokerplayer

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I just think it's hilarious that the whole article is based on "I think" and "I feel" in stead of facts and data...

This guy has his own agenda and is using gross generalities in an attempt to achieve his goal.
I agree the minute I read I think and I feel the article was lost for me. He can think or feel anything but until he "knows" he is just trying to get exposure.
 

MattinBama

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Oh come on. Prof was wrong when he said the guy didn't have problems with the top 20, but that doesn't mean you have to say something dumb to make your point. To say that football isn't a distraction in ludicrous. Heck, you'd be better off to argue that its a distraction for adults also so college students shouldn't be singled out.

It's a proven fact that work productivity and attendance of employees goes down on Fridays before big games. Heck there are people on here who take off for national signing day. When I was at The University of Alabama I sat in the class room on Fridays in half empty rooms. It's a proven fact that attendance lags on Fridays before a game. Students take off and road trip to games or party and get ready for Gameday when the games are at home. Prof was wrong but you are making a ridiculous argument.
My point seems to have slipped over your head or I didn't give enough detail. I don't consider it to be any extra distraction from a college education because it is & has long been part of the college experience. Therefore in my eyes it's just part of the deal & not something worth singling out as a distraction. Doesn't really bother me if you think that is dumb or ridiculous.
 

bamatex82

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Scab is somewhat making "the idiot's" point for him in this paragragh. He's saying there's too many distractions in colleges these days. It seems his main point is that college is for higher education, not entertainment. Which to be honest, how many millions of kids go off to college and absolutely do nothing but waste away in "dreamland" for three/four years while mama and daddy foot the bill, only to graduate with a degree in something they can't even find a job for. I do think banning football is nuts. That point I do not agree with him on. But I do somewhat agree with him on some other things. Like the quality of education these "student-athletes" are getting. For every B. Jones/GMac how many Kenny Irons are there?

Again, I don't agree with everything he's saying but I think he brings up some good points regarding education and what our colleges have turned into.
What does he mean by too many distractions? He goes on about football as if it is the only offender that draws those away from learning, but does not apply that to any other extracurricular activities. His arguments could be applied to the Greek system. I set up an interview with a gentleman who graduated with a mechanical engineering and worked full time in a four year time frame. He had to pay his way through school. How in the world did he find the time? He set his priorities. Also, his comment about the student-athlete not integrating with the rest of the students is plain silly. I was an engineering student. I certainly didn't integrate with the art majors. He is all over the map with his logic.

As too student-athletes, I do agree with you about them in some instances getting preferential treatment and not earning their strips. I don't have an answer for that one, but that is an issue that goes beyond football. In our culture we put a high value on those that excel in sports and entertainment. However, at the risk of being banned myself, I have seen the Greeks get preferential treatment, too. In neither case do I think they should be banned. However, a breach of ethics should never happen. That's where I feel he should have been making his point in the first place.

He may have a valid point, but he does not make his case about banning football. He may be smart, but I found it to be an idiotic rant. I wished I could get paid to do that.
 

dirtroadlizard

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Bissenger basically trashed Odessa TX in Friday Night Lights , a book about Permian HS football in 1988 . Odessa had been going through severe financial hardship since the collapse of the oil boom and had little to hang their hat on except their football teams . The same could be said of Midland and many other West Texas towns . Odessa and Midland are different , more prosperous towns today than when the book was written . Permian's football team hasn't been so dominant in recent years . Things like this go in cycles . I wonder if Mr. Bissenger thought to donate a portion of the millions he made off the book and the spin-off movie and tv series to scholarships for deserving students in the Odessa - Midland area . Mr. Bissenger put your money where your mouth is ! And come to Tuscaloosa on a Saturday afternoon and see how bad football is for the players ,students , University and the community that is still recovering from the storm last year . Good luck with your new book . I look foward to not reading it . rtr... :mad:
 
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Bamabuzzard

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What does he mean by too many distractions? He goes on about football as if it is the only offender that draws those away from learning, but does not apply that to any other extracurricular activities. His arguments could be applied to the Greek system. I set up an interview with a gentleman who graduated with a mechanical engineering and worked full time in a four year time frame. He had to pay his way through school. How in the world did he find the time? He set his priorities. Also, his comment about the student-athlete not integrating with the rest of the students is plain silly. I was an engineering student. I certainly didn't integrate with the art majors. He is all over the map with his logic.

As too student-athletes, I do agree with you about them in some instances getting preferential treatment and not earning their strips. I don't have an answer for that one, but that is an issue that goes beyond football. In our culture we put a high value on those that excel in sports and entertainment. However, at the risk of being banned myself, I have seen the Greeks get preferential treatment, too. In neither case do I think they should be banned. However, a breach of ethics should never happen. That's where I feel he should have been making his point in the first place.

He may have a valid point, but he does not make his case about banning football. He may be smart, but I found it to be an idiotic rant. I wished I could get paid to do that.
He threw a lot of stuff up against the wall. Some of it stuck, some of it didn't. As I stated in my original comment. Some of it I agree with, some of it I do not. Banning football was not one of them.
 

rammerjammer69

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There is way too much money being made for college football to be banned. I didn't hear the author mention anything most of us don't know already. There are many obvious flaws in the system, but any player can get a good education if they want to sacrifice and put their priorities in order.

My concern is the ongoing head trauma case/cases in the NFL and how any judgement, settlement or rule changes there will ultimately affect college football. I'll bet Roger Goodell is spending the majority of his time right now with a team of lawyers figuring out what they need to do on several fronts. I don't like many of the NFL rule changes, but my guess is that more are coming as part of a strategy to possibly settle their cases and provide more money for players in terms or treatment, pensions or something like that. Maybe Earle or other attorneys could comment on how this could play out in coming years? If there is a judgment/settlement and the NFL modifies its rules and compensation, it seems to me the next step for former players and their attorneys would be to go after universities. If the average NFL career is 4 years or whatever and player had 4 yrs in college, could they not assert some of their injuries occurred in college? I'd imagine in court the NFL will use this as a defense.
 

Dallas4Bama

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My point seems to have slipped over your head or I didn't give enough detail. I don't consider it to be any extra distraction from a college education because it is & has long been part of the college experience. Therefore in my eyes it's just part of the deal & not something worth singling out as a distraction. Doesn't really bother me if you think that is dumb or ridiculous.
You're obviously a pretty smart fellar. So I won't point out the existence of universities long before the invention of the game, nor the correlation between the elite academic institutions around the world and their lack of sports programs for distractions. As for the rest of your argument you had just as well written the article if you're basing whether something is a distraction or not on, "in your eyes it's just part of the deal". With scientific formula like that behind you it's hard to see why anyone would argue.

I'm as against football being banned as anyone, but you leave yourself open to debate from others when you make a weak statement. Kids screaming in the back seat while you're driving is a distraction. It doesn't make it any less of a distraction just because they've been doing it since the invention of the automobile. Nor does it mean it can't be overcome with concentration, which is where the solid argument lies. Cute girls can be a distraction and they always have, it's up to the individual to not let it become an overwhelming distraction.
 
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CrimsonNagus

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Girls... lets ban them as well. I'm not even in college and they still distract me and, I can't even talk to my wife with being distracted by her hotness! No, football ain't the problem on college campuses, it's those darn sexy girls.


Also, I think and I feel that this article was a waste of my time. Just because the man wrote one great book about football doesn't mean everything he writes is great. This article is trash written for attention and deep down everyone here knows that, even if some don't want to admit it.
 

Dallas4Bama

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My concern is the ongoing head trauma case/cases in the NFL and how any judgement, settlement or rule changes there will ultimately affect college football. I'll bet Roger Goodell is spending the majority of his time right now with a team of lawyers figuring out what they need to do on several fronts. I don't like many of the NFL rule changes, but my guess is that more are coming as part of a strategy to possibly settle their cases and provide more money for players in terms or treatment, pensions or something like that. Maybe Earle or other attorneys could comment on how this could play out in coming years? If there is a judgment/settlement and the NFL modifies its rules and compensation, it seems to me the next step for former players and their attorneys would be to go after universities. If the average NFL career is 4 years or whatever and player had 4 yrs in college, could they not assert some of their injuries occurred in college? I'd imagine in court the NFL will use this as a defense.
Guys I'm telling you this is really where this whole thing is headed. This guys book happened to come out at the rights time so he got some interviews. I bet half the interviews were set up by people thnkingbhe was going to talk about the dangers of head trauma.

For the last year there has been at least one story a month on local news about the dangers of head trauma in sports. So now with the NFL lawsuit, the death of Junior Seau and other reports of the long term effects of football collisions and the brain it's really ramping up. There were two stories on the local news last night about the long term effects of head trauma from sports on the brain. Soccer, which is just as rough but has always avoided the negative press associated with collission injuries seems to be the next big target. Last night we were told that soccer injuries are causing children long term brain damage.

Already major media outlets have referred to watching football as similar to watching the roman gladiators kill each other in the collesiums. It's being called brutal and cruel.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Guys I'm telling you this is really where this whole thing is headed. This guys book happened to come out at the rights time so he got some interviews. I bet half the interviews were set up by people thnkingbhe was going to talk about the dangers of head trauma.

For the last year there has been at least one story a month on local news about the dangers of head trauma in sports. So now with the NFL lawsuit, the death of Junior Seau and other reports of the long term effects of football collisions and the brain it's really ramping up. There were two stories on the local news last night about the long term effects of head trauma from sports on the brain. Soccer, which is just as rough but has always avoided the negative press associated with collission injuries seems to be the next big target. Last night we were told that soccer injuries are causing children long term brain damage.

Already major media outlets have referred to watching football as similar to watching the roman gladiators kill each other in the collesiums. It's being called brutal and cruel.
I was having discussion, well more like an argument, yesterday with a German friend about heading in soccer. He thinks football is brutal but wouldn't concede that there was any danger in heading. He was maintaining that there was no problem if the ball were headed properly - with the forehead (Stirn). There are actually several studies on cognitive dysfunction from heading for a period of years...
 

MattinBama

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You're obviously a pretty smart fellar. So I won't point out the existence of universities long before the invention of the game, nor the correlation between the elite academic institutions around the world and their lack of sports programs for distractions. As for the rest of your argument you had just as well written the article if you're basing whether something is a distraction or not on, "in your eyes it's just part of the deal". With scientific formula like that behind you it's hard to see why anyone would argue.

I'm as against football being banned as anyone, but you leave yourself open to debate from others when you make a weak statement. Kids screaming in the back seat while you're driving is a distraction. It doesn't make it any less of a distraction just because they've been doing it since the invention of the automobile. Nor does it mean it can't be overcome with concentration, which is where the solid argument lies. Cute girls can be a distraction and they always have, it's up to the individual to not let it become an overwhelming distraction.
You seem to be a pretty smart feller, so I won't point out that there were sporting events associated with colleges long before college football that would also qualify under this discussion. I also won't point out that college students that don't want the distraction of sports are more than welcome to attend colleges that don't offer sports and thusly not be distracted. Otherwise the 'distractions' are just part of what makes college what it is & thus in my opinion isn't worth singling out as a being a distraction rather than just an integrated part of what makes up a college education. Also since you seem to be such a smart feller I won't point out that an opinion is just what someone thinks, and not necessarily a scientific formula. A good example of an opinion and not a scientific fact is the article linked in the OP.

As another poster said you might as well ban the Greek system, women, alcohol, and everything else under the sun. Heck we can just adopt a Clockwork Orange version of education where we just strap kids in and brainwash their info straight into their heads.
 

Dallas4Bama

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You seem to be a pretty smart feller, so I won't point out that there were sporting events associated with colleges long before college football that would also qualify under this discussion. I also won't point out that college students that don't want the distraction of sports are more than welcome to attend colleges that don't offer sports and thusly not be distracted. Otherwise the 'distractions' are just part of what makes college what it is & thus in my opinion isn't worth singling out as a being a distraction rather than just an integrated part of what makes up a college education. Also since you seem to be such a smart feller I won't point out that an opinion is just what someone thinks, and not necessarily a scientific formula. A good example of an opinion and not a scientific fact is the article linked in the OP.

As another poster said you might as well ban the Greek system, women, alcohol, and everything else under the sun. Heck we can just adopt a Clockwork Orange version of education where we just strap kids in and brainwash their info straight into their heads.
You obviously are so determined to defend the statement that football isn't a distraction you can't debate it honestly. When I was at the university it was a huge distraction for myself and many others and we weren't playing. I had players copy notes from me on lectures they missed for traveling on Fridays before games. Missing at minimum 4 or 5 lectures during a semester seems pretty distracting to me.

But just keep saying it isn't because they've been playing sports a long time in college. That makes all the sense in the world.

BTW, banning all that stuff would be just as stupid as banning football. Yes they are all distractions, but you can't ban them all. That's a stupid ideal.
 
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Dallas4Bama

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I was having discussion, well more like an argument, yesterday with a German friend about heading in soccer. He thinks football is brutal but wouldn't concede that there was any danger in heading. He was maintaining that there was no problem if the ball were headed properly - with the forehead (Stirn). There are actually several studies on cognitive dysfunction from heading for a period of years...
Isn't it interesting that soccer has gone without notice for so long in this area. It has been offered up as a safer alternative to football and baseball, yet I would argue it's more dangerous than baseball and just as dangerous as football.

I know it isn't as big in rural parts of the country so that may be some of it, but in large metro areas it's big. The fact that many moms who are afraid for their kids to play football but let them play soccer blows my mind.
 

TRU

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Frank DeFord on NPR jumped on the ban football bandwagon this morning. Of course, this was to be expected from a guy that, as far as I can tell, only really enjoys women's tennis.
 

MattinBama

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You obviously are so determined to defend the statement that football isn't a distraction you can't debate it honestly. When I was at the university it was a huge distraction for myself and many others and we weren't playing. I had players copy notes from me on lectures they missed for traveling on Fridays before games. Missing at minimum 4 or 5 lectures during a semester seems pretty distracting to me.

But just keep saying it isn't because they've been playing sports a long time in college. That makes all the sense in the world.

BTW, banning all that stuff would be just as stupid as banning football. Yes they are all distractions, but you can't ban them all. That's a stupid ideal.
I'm only defending the fact that it's my opinion. It isn't footballs fault if you are distracted by it. It's your fault. Feel free to continue arguing for no reason other than you are distracted by thinking I'm saying it's a fact rather than stopping your long history of distractedness & understanding it is just how I feel about it.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I'm only defending the fact that it's my opinion. It isn't footballs fault if you are distracted by it. It's your fault. Feel free to continue arguing for no reason other than you are distracted by thinking I'm saying it's a fact rather than stopping your long history of distractedness & understanding it is just how I feel about it.
We've had enough of the back and forth. Drop it or take it to PM...
 

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