Let me make something clear - I'm not trolling, nor is this a "soccer is teh sux" post. I've been on that side of the argument before, and I've actually come to enjoy the game over the last year or so.

With all that said - if I remember the data correctly - soccer is alongside hockey in 2nd place for number of concussions in youth/HS/College sports.

And play it he may, all the way through his HS days and possibly later.

But what is he likely watching on Sunday afternoons in the Fall?

With the way everyone here complains about Goodell turnign the NFL into flag football is won't be the NFL his not yet born son is watching on Sundays.

You are right. There are a lot of concussions in soccer. I think it's crazy that most soccer players don't wear a mouthpiece. My kid certainly will.

It's not just the concussions, though. It's the constant sub-concussive blows that your head takes throughout a football game/practice.

I have personally dealt with a noticeable loss of cognitive ability in my early twenties that I can only attribute to ten years of tackle football (playing both ways every season).

Which brings up another point: if my future son does want to play football, I might try to make him wait until at least 7th grade and try to make sure he only plays on one side of the ball.

Same here, so I completely understand your thought to avoid football. If I (or my parents) known back then what we know now, I wouldn't have played.

Just pointing out that soccer isn't exactly exempt from the concussion crisis either.

Thing is, there are constant blows to your head in soccer too in terms of headers etc.

You don't have to head the ball.

You don't have to tackle with your head either.

You're right. I'll probably have to look into it a little bit more.

I would tend to think that wearing a mouthpiece would do a lot to minimize the effect of simple headers, but I could be wrong.

It just seems to me that the amount of blows and the severity of the blows taken in soccer is far less than that of football.

I was getting ready to say that you don't hear many stories about former players offing themselves or slipping into dementia. But, I just remembered a story about a German goalkeeper who played for the national team that tossed himself in front of a train out of nowhere. Damn....

**** it, my son is going in a bubble.

I read somewhere that the act of heading the ball rarely results in a concussion.

It's the head-to-head collisions during the attempted headers - along with head-to-shoulder and head to ground/knees when tackling/being tackled.

Yeah soccer balls simply don't have the mass and are rarely driven to the velocity to concuss someone.

If you took a full-throated shot directly to the forehead, maybe. A corner kick, no chance.

I do wonder if some of those headers can give you a "sub-concussive" blow. I haven't played enough soccer to know.

There is a great concern that the constant sub-concussive blows that a football player experiences start to pile up and have a detrimental effect.

I've only played a little bit of soccer, but I've had my bell rung a little bit on some headers before.

I've never had any ill effects from a header I intended and managed to meet with my forehead, some that missed and glanced off behind my ear were a tad painful, though.

It's the consistent head trauma that comes from heading it. IIRC, ESPN did a 30 for 30 on a soccer player that developed a debilitating neuro muscular disease.

Studies have found CTE in the brains of soccer players as well, same as football. Don't think it was at the same rate though. I'll see if i can find anything on that.

Why can't he watch it all? I do.

Concussions are more acutely dangerous, but the risk of CTE comes from the hundreds of sub-concussive impacts, hence CTE in soccer players and jockeys.

What's his name, Ian Darke's color commentator on the US broadcasts, was an MLS player who had to retire due to concussions. Twellman?

losing to win is the Euro way

You can lose 3 games in the championship series for baseball and basketball and still win the championship.

Damn liberals.

Ian Darke is the older British guy. Taylor Twellman is the one who is big with the concussion stuff and was a good former player. Younger guy. Both good IMO.

Germany won the group? They didn't even beat the team that the U.S. beat, though! They got lucky!

But you still "won" 4 games. You still "won" more games than your competition.

Soccer isn't based on solely winning games. They are not really comparable to other sports. How they measure success is a different animal.

They won against Ghana.

There were 4 teams and two advance. They did better than the othe two in a group of games...the fact that some are so wrapped up in the fact that one of those is a loss makes me think..l don't even know what to think. The whole setup is actually really simple.

To add on. This system isn't used to determine a champion in this tournament. It's used for seeding for a bracket. For some reason nobody gives a shit when an NFL team loses the last regular season game before their playoff game. (This is exactly what is happening)

This thread is hilarious.

You don't see people having to defend real football.

Soccer fans are insecure.

Real football is for pussies. They have to wear a bunch of padding.

Play a real sport like rugby. No pussy-ass padding.

Insecure are the tards that keep posting in a thread about something they don't care about. They keep coming back to the thread over and over and posting repeatedly how much they don't care about it.

Oh wait, that's you Mr. Bicep

Billay s new name should be Diarrhea

Group play is just comparable to another sport's regular season - win enough to qualify for the playoffs. You don't have to win every regular season game in any sport.

Don't most soccer leagues not even have a playoff? Regular season determines it? Part of me has always been perplexed why so many sports will "punish" the team that was best throughout the season by having to win a tournament.

Club teams play in tournaments, but yes, winning the league just means being at the top of the standings when the season ends.

Yes it is. How many teams have won the world cup with a loss during playoff rounds?

0

Rugby is just a bunch of gang tackling by unathletic white dudes.

Football is a bunch of well padded pussies.

You seem upset

Maybe, but it's entertaining. Rugby is a joke of a sport. Most stop playing smear-the-queer after grade school.

Look at you....

Having to defend football. How pathetic.

I may be a USMNT troll, but I'm not a "soccer is dumb/boring" troll.

My post was less about football, more about Rugby, and nothing about soccer.

Nice try.

Turning on football on a Chiefs board is strange though.

Eh, I bitch about football plenty on here. I loved it 15 years ago, but it's not even the same game these days. I'm here more for the discussion than the Chiefs these days.

how is it strange? the game has changed and while it may be for the masses, the people that want to actually see "football in its purest" form are getting shafted. Football is mostly College ball now with the spread going on. I enjoy it, but not like i used too.

It's still the best thing going by 9 country miles instead of 10 for the whiners....but the world cup is awesome

I was more trying to make a point about the absurdity of this post:

I still love the shit out of football and the Chiefs. Although, I have been a bit jaded by the whole CTE thing.

Rudy did you notice how Bradley was supposed to be marking the German striker who initially got his foot on the ball that led to the rebound goal from Thomas Muller?

That's what I'm sayin'!

No. I disagree here. With headers, if done right, you are delivering a blow to the ball, not the other way around, and there is hardly a real impact to speak of. The real concern is butting heads with a opposing player.

That said, my kid will be taught to never head the ball unless it's a pass, or a shot. Not b/c of concussion concerns(even though it's a valid issue), but b/c most headers are unnecessary, and do little to maintain possession. I hate inexperienced players who head everything that comes their way, even sky rocketing goal kicks from the other half if the field. Stupid. Trap the ball. Get it to your feet, control it, and find your teammates.

Were you the guy heading goal kicks from the other end off the field? Don't do that!

I really don't think most novice players realize the header zone of your head. Top of the forehead. Probably the same area a fighter would use to DELIVER a blow, not share one.

To be fair, when experienced players do it, it's because the ball is coming down in traffic and that is the highest point at which your can influence it. Trying to trap it and get it to your feet means that the defenseman is going to get to it above you and leave you holding your dork.

Yeah, in traffic is fair, but still, go somewhere with it.

I don't think that's possible due to physics.

Good god.

we lose dogs