FOOTBALL

Since I was a young child, I have loved football and I have never gotten enough of it. My earliest memories about football are of following the New York Giants every Sunday. I couldn't wait to sit in front of our black and white TV and watch Y.A. Tittle connect a long bomb pass to his favorite receiver Del Shofner. The way that Sam Huff would tackle his oppnents was legendry. Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch who played for the Los Angeles Rams was another one of my heroes. Who can forget Lou "The Toe" Groza and, the greatest of them all, Jim Brown. Over the years I have loved every minute of it. My love of the game has never diminished and, during the fall and winter months, Sundays have been reserved for enjoying my favorite sport. Luckily, I have a wife who shares my enthusiasm.

Despite my love affair with the game, I am taken back by the after-effects of football among those who have played the game. Every day it seems there are veterans of this sport coming forward with stories of dementia, violent behavior, alcohol and drug abuse and other physical and behavioral problems caused by the many concussions that they have experienced in high school, college and professsional football.

The injury thing has me in a moral dilemma.

How far have we really come as a society if we subject our fellow human beings to the punishing consequences of this sport?

As a result of this moral dilemma, I am swearing off football forever. I will replace my viewing time with wholesome, non-violent, educational programming. In looking at the programming lineup, there are a number of possibilities: Masterpiece Theater, The Actors Studio, NOVA, Bill Nye the Science Guy and BBC News.

But, then again, the NFL playoffs start next week. Let me rethink this.

Readers, enjoy your day.