Urgency

Cassandra, insane, before a burning Troy.

In ancient Greek mythology, the god Apollo became infatuated with a beautiful mortal named Cassandra.  He bestowed upon her the gift of prophecy; however, when she spurned his advances he twisted the gift he had given her.  She was doomed to prophecy truth, but never to be believed.

On May 2^nd, the newspaper headlines sent a chill down my spine.  I had been toying with the idea of creating this blog for some time; I was becoming more and more convinced that lives were in at stake.  Then, I opened the news.  Junior Seau, formerly a hard-hitting linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, was dead of a gunshot wound to his chest. 

I had known, intellectually, that football players were going to kill themselves while I was writing this blog.  In fact, given the total number of athletes involved in football each year, the scenario was almost certainly doomed to come true.  However, Seau’s suicide gave me a jolt of urgency.  Although swifter creation of God Hates Football would in no way have prevented Seau’s suicide, there are parents right now signing their children up for football who might be dissuaded.  It sounds overly dramatic to say that the lives of those children hang in the balance—but it’s true.  If a million children decided to take up some other sport, some number of them would be spared the addled brains the football can cause.  Their lives do indeed hang in the balance.

It is an awful thing for a truth to be disregarded; it is just as senseless if that truth is never heard.  If you agree that the risks of football far outweigh its rewards, tell somebody.  Tell your neighbor.  Share this book.

And for goodness sake, if you have been considering signing your son up for football—don’t!