Let’s Hear It For Football Season! Just Stop the Targeting!

Okay everyone, I’m back.  My feet aren’t wrinkled anymore and Lisa’s not worried.  My internist prescribed a mild water pill (diuretic) for me.  Those dress shoes I couldn’t slip my feet into now fit like a glove, and all is well in my world.  Especially now that football season is underway, everything’s looking up.

Imagine, at 101 years of age, I can say everything’s looking up!  In our home, we’re keeping track of the college football season with great delight.  Being in the healthcare business, SOUL SHERPA® has been paying special attention to player safety and new rules that have been instituted in an effort to keep the game’s players safe, especially from head injuries.  After experiencing brain surgery in 2007, Lisa knows first-hand about brain injury.  While she’s a big fan of the game, she agrees keeping it safe is vital.  And we both agree the game can still be exciting to watch.

So imagine Lisa’s horror on Saturday, when watching her nationally ranked Stanford Cardinal (#5 — wow!) run circles around Arizona State University’s Sun Devils, a smart Stanford player (an All American player) is ejected from the game for targeting.  That’s right, one of those brainy, nerd athletes actually lowered his head and hit Arizona State’s quarterback in the helmet.  Well, that Stanford player was immediately thrown out of the game for intentionally hitting his opponent in a dangerous way.  No one but the offending player can explain his behavior, but Stanford Coach David Shaw agreed with the penalty.

And how could anyone not agree with David Shaw?  He’s one of those few great coaches who behaves like an intelligent, composed professional while doing his job on the sideline.  No theatrics, no foul language.  No worries about being afraid to read his lips after a call is made against his team.  The guy is all class, and coaches his team that way.  All the more reason Lisa was astounded when a Stanford player targeted one of his opponents.

Being a brain injury survivor of trigeminal neuralgia, Lisa appreciates the physical and emotional pain and agony that come with that territory.  And with the relationship between brain injuries and serious physical and emotional illnesses being explored by the National Football League, SOUL SHERPA® believes the incredible game that is football should protect its players.  No targeting, not ever.  Just once and your ejected.  The way it should be.

Healthcare and life care are serious issues.  Whether an athlete or couch potato, take them that way.  It’s your life.  Respect it.  (And couch potatoes, get moving!)