Sorry to continue on football, but why is it a good thing to teach young men to find legal ways to hurt their opponents, because when he becomes afraid of you he'll get out of your way? What are we training them for?

There are a lot of good things in football. Teamwork, determination, body building, goal setting, brotherhood. But every year my boys learn how to break their arms and legs, tear their ligaments, bear up under surgery, and how to limp the rest of their lives, or to change their pencil grip after breaking their fingers. It definitely has a down side. It is thrilling to watch a long pass or a breakaway run isn't it? Why do we like that?

A separate blog for a political subject follows.