Un avenir sombre pour le football américain (Bob Costas)

Le football est cher aux Américains et nous avons souvent l'impression que ce sport est dans l'ADN de nos voisins du sud. Si je me m'y intéresse depuis mon adolescence, je suis troublé par les études scientifiques qui démontrent que les contacts violents inhérents à la pratique de ce sport provoquent des dommages irréversibles au cerveau. Le commentateur sportif Bob Costas s'exprimait hier sur le sujet à l'Université du Maryland. Sa réflexion sur l'avenir d'une sport qu'il affectionne et dont il commente les matchs depuis longtemps à la télévision est sombre. Costas a également eu des mots durs pour certains médias de droite qui affirment que études qui établissent un lien entre football et dégénérescence du cerveau résultent d'un complot progressiste...

 "But CTE, as Costas pointed out, isn’t just a scandal sweeping through the league — it calls into question the very basics of the game.

A neurodegenerative brain disease caused by repeated head traumas, the condition results from an abnormal buildup of protein in the brain that blocks neuropathways. Memory loss, aggression, depression and suicidal urges have all been linked to the condition.

Since CTE was first tracked in the early 2000s by Pennsylvania coroner Bennet Omalu, the league has begrudgingly moved forward with stronger concussion protocols for injured players. Earlier this year, the league signed a $1 billion settlement with former players suffering neurocognitive disorders related to their playing days.

The science behind the condition, however, has only grown. This summer researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine and VA Boston Healthcare System published a study finding CTE in 99 percent of the brains of former NFL players donated by their families, The Washington Post reported in July. A Washington Post-University of Massachusetts at Lowell poll published in September showed that 83 percent of fans believed it was “certainly true” or “probably true” that CTE was the result of the game."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/11/09/bob-costas-says-footballs-future-is-grim-this-game-destroys-peoples-brains/?hpid=hp_hp-morning-mix_mm-costas%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.9af9fcf9f8fb