The Scripps Howard News Service turned this great story just in time for Super Bowl weekend:
The amazing athletes
of the National Football League -- bigger and stronger than ever before --
are dying young at a rate experts find alarming, and many of the
players are succumbing to ailments typically related to weight.
The heaviest athletes
are more than twice as likely to die before their 50th birthday than
their teammates, according to a Scripps Howard News Service study of
3,850 professional football players who have died in the last century.
Most of the 130
players born since 1955 who have died were among the heaviest athletes
in sports history, according to the study. One-fifth died of heart
diseases, and 77 were so overweight that doctors would have classified
them as obese, the study found.
The bone-crushing
competitiveness of professional football is spawning hundreds of these
behemoths, many of whom top the scales at 300 pounds or more and the
pressure to super-size now extends to younger players in college and
even high school.
As America
anticipates Sunday's Super Bowl the annual orgy of admiration for
the NFL and its athletes, physicians are increasingly questioning
whether, by bulking up for their shot at fame and fortune, players are
sacrificing their health later in life.
"Clearly, these big, fat guys are having coronaries," said Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor of health policy and sport science.
This tends to start
young. I have, over the years, addressed this emerging trend toward
super-sized high-school and college athletes who, after they complete
their short sports careers, are still huge -- and trying to lead a regular
life.
Last year, just before the Super Bowl, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review produced a fascinating investigation on the disturbing number of injuries pro players suffer on the job.
The investigation found:
- In
the 2000 through the 2003 seasons, NFL players racked up 6,558
injuries. More than half the athletes are hurt annually, with the
number spiking at 68 percent in 2003-04, according to the NFL's weekly
injury reports.
- Defenders are injured more than their foes on the offense.
A defensive back alone is 30 percent more likely to get hurt than a
quarterback, even though a passer touches the ball on every possession.
Two out of three cornerbacks and safeties suffer injuries in the NFL
annually, and half of those will suffer a second, unrelated injury
before the Super Bowl.
- Quarterbacks,
tight ends, wide receivers, safeties and cornerbacks routinely suffer
high rates of brain concussions and spine injuries that could trigger
paralysis, dementia, depression, and other ailments later in life.
During typical four-year careers, one of every 10 NFL receivers
experiences a concussion. On average, seven pro football players a week
face potentially life-altering head, spine, or neck trauma.
- Over
the past six decades, the typical NFL player has super-sized his body
mass by 25 percent. With the weight of a modern lineman far above 300
pounds, and running backs, linebackers and tight ends only 50 pounds
lighter, at no time in the league have players been as big, strong or
fast as they are today -- making collisions on the field that much more
devastating.
Here are some organizations that deal with sports-related injuries. You might find them helpful:
Kids Doing Charity Work
A new study says that young people are doing an amazing amount of charity work these days. The Austin American-Statesman reported:
Young people have
been doing charity work for years: think hospital candy-stripers,
nursing-home carolers and National Honor Society service projects. But
these days, nonprofits and educators are paying more attention to young
volunteers.
A federal study recently reported that 55 percent of American teenagers volunteered in 2004, a number nearly double that of adults.
The study -- conducted in early 2005 by the federal government's Corporation for National and Community Service
in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and Independent Sector, a
coalition of nonprofit philanthropy groups -- found that 15.5 million
teenagers volunteered in 2004, contributing more than 1.3 billion hours of service.
Most kids do charity work through their churches, schools or youth leadership clubs. Those with family members who volunteer are twice as likely to volunteer as those who don't.
Remember, too, that some high schools require students to volunteer a certain number of hours in order to graduate.
Oiling the State of the Union
I got to thinking
while I was listening to President Bush the other night. It seemed to
me that I have been hearing politicians promising to do something about
America's dependence on foreign oil for a long time. A quick search reminded me why it seemed that way.
I found several presidents saying such things in State of the Union speeches over the years.
High Hay Prices
In some parts of the
country, it is dry weather that's causing it; in other parts of the country, it's that hay
fields are being gobbled up by development. For many reasons, the prices that horse and cattle farmers are paying for bales of hay in some parts of the country are through the roof. You can check, state by state, on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Web site.
Stealing Manhole Covers
From Milwaukee, Wis. to Richmond, Va. to Indianapolis, public works department are reporting that people are stealing manhole covers -- apparently to sell them as scrap metal. WTHR-TV in Indianapolis says that, in the last week alone, thieves made off with 37 manhole covers.
Airport Valet
USA Today says valet parking, often three times more expensive than regular parking, is growing in popularity.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a
compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a
variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When
the information comes directly from another source, it will be
attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible.
