OK, “hate” is too strong a word. But I fundamentally do not get sports. Playing them, yes, fine. But knowing players’ names, arguing that this one guy is better than that other guy, keeping a little Excel sheet of strikes and yards and rebounds in my head? Baffling. But that doesn’t mean, as it turns […]
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Posted inEditor's Pick
A Parent’s Dilemma: Should You Let Your Kid Play Football?
Hruby talks to families and those involved with youth sports to find out what’s changed—and what hasn’t changed—since the revelations around concussions and CTE: Earlier that season, Parker had leveled another boy. He earned a personal foul. Monet remembered the moment, how proud she felt as her son skipped back to the sideline. Mommy! Mommy! […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
An Excerpt From the Book the NFL Doesn’t Want You to Read
An excerpt adapted from League of Denial, about the National Football League’s long denial about the connection between football and brain damage: “Nine months later came yet another NFL study in Neurosurgery. This one dealt with repeat concussions. Numerous previous studies had shown that one concussion left the brain vulnerable to another concussion if the […]
Posted inGuest Pick, Nonfiction
Sasha Belenky on Jeanne Marie Laskas's 'The People V. Football'
Sasha Belenky is a senior editor at The Huffington Post. Whether it’s negotiating murder-for-hire with a fake hit man or visiting old stomping grounds with the vice president of the United States, if you’re in the car with Jeanne Marie Laskas, you’re pretty much guaranteed that the story will be good. I’ve found myself most […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How Far We're Going to Save Youth Football
“You’re talking about putting accelerometers in equipment. Equipment specialists to outfit our children. Having independent observers of coaches on the sidelines at practices and games to monitor what’s going on. At what point are we kidding ourselves about youth football, that this is not a sensible proposition when you need this superstructure for every game […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List, Top 5
Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle and Readmill users, you can also get them as a Readlist. Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox. *** 1. Sinners in the Hands Sonia Smith | Texas Monthly | January 27, 2014 | 35 minutes (8,773 words) The town of Wells, […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List, Top 5
Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle and Readmill users, you can also get them as a Readlist. Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox. *** 1. Sinners in the Hands Sonia Smith | Texas Monthly | January 27, 2014 | 35 minutes (8,773 words) The town of Wells, […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Did Football Kill Austin Trenum?
[Not single-page] A young football player kills himself after he sustained a concussion on the field: Heading home, the Trenums stopped at the Chuck Wagon, a restaurant around the corner from their house, where the Brentsville High players gathered after games. Austin’s teammates recounted his sideline exchange with Scavongelli. Scavongelli: “Do you know where you […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Siege of September 13
A moment-by-moment reconstruction of last year’s U.S. embassy attack in Kabul: “In an image that remained strangely fixed in her mind afterward, Howell watched as he slowly peeled the skin off. As he was peeling off the very last bit, there came a heart-stopping screech and then the bang and shock of an impact. Something […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Fragile Teenage Brain
What helmets can’t fix when it comes to concussions and high school football: “Because of its national reputation — and extremely well-funded athletic department — Mater Dei has been on the leading edge of concussion prevention and treatment for high school football players. The coaches are vigilant; the equipment is top of the line; the […]
