Suggs out for year

[ausbacker]

Ian Rapoport jumps on the "let them play basketball" bandwagon:

It’s time for teams to stop caring whether their players are playing offseason hoops… - NFL.com

Rapoport has written the article from the perspective of someone not dishing out one hundred odd million on player investment every season.

 

[patchick]

Rapoport has written the article from the perspective of someone not dishing out one hundred odd million on player investment every season.

How so? It seems to me that he's simply arguing that the risks are overblown and the benefits underappreciated. E.g.:

Basketball players work on and thrive on similar skills as are emphasized in football conditioning workouts — quickness, agility, eye-hand coordination, fitness

it probably has helped hone the skills that so many teams appreciate from their players. And think about how many thousands of hours of basketball Suggs has played before getting this freak injury.

That seems relevant whoever's paying the bills, no? :confused2:

 

[ausbacker]

How so? It seems to me that he's simply arguing that the risks are overblown and the benefits underappreciated. E.g.:

That seems relevant whoever's paying the bills, no? :confused2:

It's evident in his writing patchick. This was the comment that demomstrated it to me;

So what if he injured his Achilles playing basketball? Who cares whether it popped because he was breaking down a defender off the bounce (hip hoops term alert!) or if he was doing a three-cone drill on a field?

So what? There's a slight difference in risk assessment where you injure yourself performing your duties as a professional sportsman opposed to injuring yourself following a leisure pursuit.

I can assure you, the Ravens very much care. Suggs must have cared a hell of a lot in his attempt to cover up the source of his injury knowing the trail that would follow him once it was reported.

 

[patchick]

IThere's a slight difference in risk assessment where you injure yourself performing your duties as a professional sportsman opposed to injuring yourself following a leisure pursuit.

I think the phrase in bold is the key. Rappaport is explicitly rejecting the idea that playing basketball is just "a leisure pursuit" unrelated to football. He's claiming that it's a legitimate and relatively low-risk part of how football players stay in shape and hone skills like agility and hand-eye coordination.

I'm not saying he's right, just that he's not being totally cavalier about other people's investments.

 

[ausbacker]

I think the phrase in bold is the key. Rappaport is explicitly rejecting the idea that playing basketball is just "a leisure pursuit" unrelated to football. He's claiming that it's a legitimate and relatively low-risk part of how football players stay in shape and hone skills like agility and hand-eye coordination.

I'm not saying he's right, just that he's not being totally cavalier about other people's investments.

That's why he's writing from the perspective of someone not dishing out the cheques. If he can't distinguish the difference between playing basketball as a leisure pursuit and performing the same activities in a conditioning program then he'll never understand it.

 

[patchick]

That's why he's writing from the perspective of someone not dishing out the cheques. If he can't distinguish the difference between playing basketball as a leisure pursuit and performing the same activities in a conditioning program then he'll never understand it.

Fair enough. But are you saying that a game of basketball is inherently a leisure pursuit for NFL players, and not a legitimate part of fitness/cross-training? Or is it a matter of the setting? Because some NFL teams -- including the Ravens -- see basketball as enough of a positive for their players that they've actually installed courts at their training facilities:

Baltimore Ravens | About | Training Facility

 

[ausbacker]

Fair enough. But are you saying that a game of basketball is inherently a leisure pursuit for NFL players, and not a legitimate part of fitness/cross-training? Or is it a matter of the setting? Because some NFL teams -- including the Ravens -- see basketball as enough of a positive for their players that they've actually installed courts at their training facilities:

Baltimore Ravens | About | Training Facility

Not at all, I'm saying basketball activities could be written into an off-season conditioning program authorized by the staff or it could be a downtime leisure pursuit done for pure enjoyment (other example include golf, Squash etc). In Suggs instance, it appears to be a leisure pursuit (as demonstrated by his attempted cover up).

I've no issue with professional athletes doing what they want in their down time. The issue becomes their proficiency in risk assessment and how those activities may impact their ability to earn. In this instance, Suggs blowing out his achilles is going to negatively affect the Ravens given his position and importance to their team. Rapoport doesn't get that.

 

[patchick]

In this instance, Suggs blowing out his achilles is going to negatively affect the Ravens given his position and importance to their team. Rapoport doesn't get that.

Ok, we'll just have to disagree on that one. Personally, I don't see any sign that Rappaport is ignoring risk evaluation or doesn't appreciate the impact of the injury.

But on a broader basis, I'm very curious whether basketball actually is a risky activity vs. other offseason training regimens. Given that it seems to be THE offseason game of choice for NFL players, the injury rate seems pretty low...but then again, a lot of "training injuries" may actually be of the Suggs variety!

All the so-called "injury rate" stats I can find aren't about rates at all but total numbers, with no indication of the number of people who participate in the activity and how often.

 

[ausbacker]

Ok, we'll just have to disagree on that one. Personally, I don't see any sign that Rappaport is ignoring risk evaluation or doesn't appreciate the impact of the injury.

But on a broader basis, I'm very curious whether basketball actually is a risky activity vs. other offseason training regimens. Given that it seems to be THE offseason game of choice for NFL players, the injury rate seems pretty low...but then again, a lot of "training injuries" may actually be of the Suggs variety!

All the so-called "injury rate" stats I can find aren't about rates at all but total numbers, with no indication of the number of people who participate in the activity and how often.

It's a ballistic sport by nature. There's more risk in playing a game of social basketball then playing a game of social darts.

Either way, it comes down to the choices the athlete makes.

 

[Delicate Genius]