First Bellichick, and now Harbaugh...

[GRBman]

So earlier this year Cheatin' Bill came out with a plan for additional cameras for better reviews and I had to agree with that one...now John Harbaugh comes out with a PERFECTLY written treatise on why football matters...

The question is asked over and over: Why would anyone want to play football? And why would anyone let their kids play?

Here’s my answer: I believe there’s practically no other place where a young man is held to a higher standard.

Football is hard. It’s tough. It demands discipline. It teaches obedience. It builds character.

Football is a metaphor for life.

Linky

Does this mean I have to like Harbaugh now?

 

[slashsteel]

It is the way it used to be.......................before Goodell.

 

[Drink IRON City]

At first, I thought............................ Each were caught taking it in the @ss from the "rog" that's how they get away with everything.



Salute the nation

 

[stillwright]

**** Harbaugh!!!!

 

[ark steel]

**** Harbaugh!!!!

and Bellicheck

 

[steelhurt]

My two favorite coaches to dislike. One's a cheater uke2: the other the consummate whiner. ::'

 

[SteelerSask2]

My son starts his spring tackle season next week. I'm concerned about him. If you are not, your probably a liar. however, I agree with Harbaugh here and would add that in a world where the gold stars are handed out to everyone and many are afraid of every scraped knee, this sport will make a traditional man out of you, and I don't give two ***** about the PC world. Being a man still means something in my books. And in the future those who are will have a distinct advantage as the pussified rest of the world cowers in the corner.

 

[keslerclan]

My biggest issue (though both of my boys played FB starting at age 7) is that with our lab created foods and diets these days, I saw a lot more 150-200# 10yr olds than I remember from my days.

Kinda scary that kids are allowed to get so big. Usually not a problem though. Just seems a bit unfair to the normal sized kids. What gets the kids hurt more often is starting too late and not knowing how to either 'take' or deliver a hit. I never saw a collarbone injury in 12 years of playing. I saw 6 in one year when my boy was a freshman.

 

[Troglodyte]

My biggest issue (though both of my boys played FB starting at age 7) is that with our lab created foods and diets these days, I saw a lot more 150-200# 10yr olds than I remember from my days..

200lbs? Unless they're seriously morbidly obese, I seriously doubt that. My son has always been in the 95th percentile for height and weight and he was about 5'2" 110lbs as a 10 year old. Hell, the weight limit for his 11-12 year old team is 138 lbs.

 

[SteelerInLebanon]

My biggest issue (though both of my boys played FB starting at age 7) is that with our lab created foods and diets these days, I saw a lot more 150-200# 10yr olds than I remember from my days.

Kinda scary that kids are allowed to get so big. Usually not a problem though. Just seems a bit unfair to the normal sized kids. What gets the kids hurt more often is starting too late and not knowing how to either 'take' or deliver a hit. I never saw a collarbone injury in 12 years of playing. I saw 6 in one year when my boy was a freshman.

I think starting to early is a bigger problem. The kids are mostly being coached by morons who don't have a freaking clue how to teach football. These parents who coach want to win at all costs at too early an age and don't have the first ******* clue how to teach proper technique or sportsmanship. Even when my son started playing in 6th grade I wanted to scream at the coaches. Parents should not coach their own kids in sports. It rarely is a healthy relationship for the kid or parent and is always abused to make Johnny the star.

 

[Wingman]

200lbs? Unless they're seriously morbidly obese, I seriously doubt that. My son has always been in the 95th percentile for height and weight and he was about 5'2" 110lbs as a 10 year old. Hell, the weight limit for his 11-12 year old team is 138 lbs.

My son was a bit larger than that although he was not fat. He went on to have a great time playing football as an offensive and defensive lineman. Interestingly when we moved to Texas he was in the 5th grade and after a couple of days he told me he was at the field house working out after school with the high school kids. He also asked me not to say anything because they thought he was in high school. in second grade he wrestled and won the heavy weight class in pee wee wrestling he was over 126 lbs then.

Some kids hit growth spurts at different times and there are some real big kids out there.

 

[RollRed]

Kids are bigger because they don't grow up outside riding bikes and playing ball like we did. The helicopter parents that never let their kids leave their sight have to be the biggest contributing factor to the epidemic of childhood obesity . We ate candy and drank pop like crazy, but none of us were fat because we burned it off riding bikes and climbing trees... and yes sometimes we got hurt... but amazingly we survived.

 

[keslerclan]

200lbs? Unless they're seriously morbidly obese, I seriously doubt that. My son has always been in the 95th percentile for height and weight and he was about 5'2" 110lbs as a 10 year old. Hell, the weight limit for his 11-12 year old team is 138 lbs.

My youngest "played up" last year for the SYFL league (alternate to Pop Warner). They don't have weight limits only a metric for larger kids who are only allowed to play Lineman positions and not 'skilled' positions where they might carry the ball.

He was just turning 10 and all the other kids were 11-12 (5th-6th grade). While most teams had 20-25 players and 6-8 'X-Men', one team only had 16 players (league minimum) and all but 3 were X-men. We had 4 kids in the league over 200# (Somoan/down islanders/Am. indians). Our team had 1 kid over 156# (X-man weight at this level). The team I mentioned with 13 X-men was given a waiver to play with their 'lighter X-men' in skill positions. One of them was a 180# female X-woman. The boys were plenty intimidated.

I can only remember 1 kid (on my 8th grade team, thankfully) who was really big. He was 6' - 248# in 8th grade. we called him Diddyroll. He was a sloppy 248# too. You could get swallowed up by his subcutaneous fat bunch around his waist!