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"Upton on Sports" Blog by Larry Upton

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Recent articles...

The Dwyane Wade - " COOL?"..............
05/19/2012 @ 06:24 AM
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade throw tantrum during Game 3 nd it's all caught on national television....

The "Clemens & Sleeping Juror's".................................
05/15/2012 @ 09:53 AM
The Judge dismissed a second juror for sleeping....

The "BASEBALL in IRELAND?".................
05/13/2012 @ 08:55 AM
Did you know there's an organized baseball league in Ireland? I never did and the American games spreading across the Irish Nation.

The "Let's Go To The Game!"...................
05/11/2012 @ 10:11 AM
Taking your kids to a pro game these days near impossible for the average working stiff......

The "Defining Seasons"" ............................
05/10/2012 @ 07:27 AM
In my generation there was a time when you could tell the change of seasons by what sport was playing...now, forget it....

The '"God Protect's Fool's and Drunk's!"................
05/09/2012 @ 07:12 AM
That expression most of us have heard before certainly can be applied to baseball's Josh Hamilton.....

The "WHO CAN PITCH?"......................
05/07/2012 @ 07:48 AM
The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles played 17 innings of baseball last night and both managers stood in their dugouts and shouted, "who the hell can pitch?"

The "JUNIOR, WHY YOU NEVER TELL ME?"....................................
05/05/2012 @ 07:04 AM
The suicide of NFL's most dominant linebacker Junior Seau once again puts the spotlight on suicide's of our pro athletes.

The Mariano Rivera - "tough act to follow".........
05/04/2012 @ 07:50 AM
New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera may be out for the rest of the season. Shagging fly balls prior to last nights game in Kansas City, Rivera suffered a torn ACL to his right knee.

The "STOP THE MADNESS" .........................
05/03/2012 @ 07:29 AM
Former MLB great Roger Clemens is back in court with his pal Andy Pettitte being used by Federal prosecutors to "hang" his baseball friend. Stop the "charade."


The "NFL" - "something to cheer about!"........

Posted on 02/01/2012 @ 07:26 AM


The football world, and fans are focused on Super Bowl XLVI being played Sunday in Indianapolis. The hype, spotlights, are trained on the week-long love fest between the NFL and loyal fans, but, far more "serious drama" involving the NFL is playing out in our Nation's courtrooms. Ex-NFL players have filed lawsuits against the league, claiming league officials "hid evidence" linking concussions to permanent brain injuries. These are serious charges leveled at the league. Ex-players are seeking millions in compensation.

At least eight related lawsuits have been filed in New York, New Jersey, Georgia, and Florida. Yesterday a panel of Federal Judges agreed to consolidate four concussion-related cases into one massive pretrial case - and is expected to soon do the same with at least 16 related suits, including two recently filed in Miami. Yesterdays ruling in Philadelphia now sets the stage for a legal showdown between the NFL and former players. Another major player in the lawsuit's involves equipment-maker Riddell, the league's official helmet provider. Riddell doesn't want to be linked to the NFL suits, they asked the court to be considered separately.

More than 600 ex-players and their wives have sued the league, alleging that repeated head injuries suffered while playing in the NFL led to serious health issues later in life. Issues such as memory loss, migraine headaches, severe depression, even "SUICIDE." Over the years there have been a number of studies conducted about NFL head injuries. One study in 2000 surveyed 1,090 former NFL players. More than 60% had suffered at least one concussion in their careers. 26% had 3 or more concussions. A 2007 study by the University of North Carolina of the 595 retired NFL players who sustained 3 or more concussions, 20.2% said they had been found to have deep depression issues. That's 3 times the rate of players who had not sustained concussions.

Think about this. The average playing career in the NFL is 3.3 years. Running back's have the shortest careers, 2.57 years. Wide receivers 2.81, Quarterbacks 4.4 years. Players who get hit the most have the shortest careers. That makes sense. Sadly, most of these ex-players develop the most serious medical problems. Many end up as cripples by age 40, others with severe depression end up suicide victims. NFL injury problems have been serious issue's for years and may become a much bigger story than Super Bowl week or the Super Bowl game. For the first time in league history, the NFL will use Sunday's game to "SPIN" their own story about "player safety". They spent several million dollars putting together a .60 second commercial to artfully portray the NFL as having been concerned about player safety for "decades," and doing all it can to "protect players." An attorney representing several ex-players in their lawsuits called the commercial, "PURE BS," "OBSCURING THE REALITY!" The commercial's scheduled to run during the final commercial break of the third quarter. Many NFL officials when told about the commercial met the announcement with skepticism and concern. The idea was supported by the two owners who's team's are playing Sunday. John Mara of the New York Giants, and Robert Kraft of the Patriots. Critics of the commercial say the NFL would have been served better if they spent the 3 million dollars paying medical bills of the ex-players who made pro-football what it is today. Men like former offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings, Brent Boyd, already diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease known as CTE. Or pay the medical bills of two-time Super Bowl champion Jim McMahon and hundreds of other players affected with memory loss, severe depression, CTE and other brain-related problems. Sunday's NFL "spin" commercial could backfire on the league.

Brent Boyd started an organization called, "DIGNITY AFTER FOOTBALL" to help retired players who are disabled or lack league pensions. The time is long-overdue for the NFL to take care of the men who have given so much of their lives to the game of football. Ex-players with medical problems should be first in line to share in the revenue generated by "Super Bowl Sunday." If the NFL ran a commercial Sunday announcing that new policy, every football fan in America would stand-up and cheer, lawsuits would vanish, and the "greatest sport event" in America's history would take on new meaning, new importance.
Now that's "something to cheer about!".....

Larry Upton
"Upton on Sports"-source:foxnews/nytimes/miamiherald/