By Ken Reed
What Was Liberty Thinking?
I was surprised that Liberty University hired former Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw as the school’s new athletic director.
I was shocked they chose to not even mention or address the fact that McCaw was suspended by Baylor for his “failure to adequately respond to multiple reports of sexual assault by football players.” McCaw’s background never even came up at the press conference announcing his hiring!
Moreover, as reported by Chris Norman of USA Today’s For the Win, Baylor reported that:
“[McCaw] and former football coach Art Briles had been informed about an allegation from a student-athlete that she’d been gang raped by football players. Baylor says McCaw and Briles failed to report any of that to judicial affairs.”
Apparently, this stuff doesn’t bother Liberty’s administrators.
“You look at what Baylor was able to do during his tenure, it fits perfectly with where we see our sports programs going,” said Liberty honcho Jerry Falwell, Jr. “This is an exciting time for us.”
Nice. Nothing like a win-at-all-costs (WAAC) outlook on life — especially for an institution that calls itself a “Christian” school.
“I’m a long way removed from my Sunday school days, but remain somewhat certain that most Christians consider properly dealing with — and thereby helping to prevent — sexual assault a more important goal than, say, claiming the Big South title in golf,” concluded Norman in his article.
New Blood Test Could Be Breakthrough for Concussion Diagnosis
A soon-to-be-released paper by researchers at the National Institute of Health gives hope that concussions will soon be as easily diagnosed through a blood sample as high cholesterol is today.
The news of the promising concussion blood test comes as sad stories continue to roll in regarding former NFL players who suffered — and died — with the crippling effects of CTE, a brain disease brought on by repetitive blows to the head.
A month or so ago, researchers at Boston University announced that Kevin Turner, a former NFL player, died at age 46 from a motor neuron disease brought on by CTE. Turner had been suffering from CTE symptoms since at least 2010. He was the lead plaintiff in a class-action case with the NFL that has yet to be settled through the legal system.
Research is now showing that repetitive subconcussive blows to the head may be as damaging over the long-term — if not more so — than full-blown concussions.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, a recent study from Robert Stern, a neuropsychologist at Boston University’s School of Medicine, the risk of cognitive impairment, depression, apathy or other behavioral disorders later in life increased steadily every 1,000 impacts, whether or not concussions were involved.
NFL TV Ratings Are Sinking; Many Theories As to Why
The NFL is losing its massive grip on us. For whatever reason, we aren’t enthralled with “America’s Game” anymore.
Through seven weeks, NFL ratings were way off for Sunday Night Football (down 19 %), Monday Night Football (down 24%), and Thursday Night Football (down 18%). A World Series game between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians crushed a Sunday Night thriller between the Dallas Cowboys (formerly known as “America’s Team”) and the Philadelphia Eagles. It was the first time since 2011 that a World Series game had actually beaten Sunday Night Football.
Speculation as to why the ratings have dropped to such a degree are all over the board: from the contentious election season, to the constant interruptions by commercials and referees’ penalties, to Colin Kaepernick’s protest, to the concussion issue, to the plethora of mediocre teams, to the NFL’s incessant marketing of its brand.
I suspect it’s a lot simpler than all of that. I think the primary reason ratings are down is because the NFL is just increasingly boring.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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