The demise of Football in the U.S.A.

As y'all know, I took the year off of Football, and a merry time was had by me, with plenty of snarky comments, holier-than-thou-ness, and some serious free time on weekends that was appropriately used to not just spend quality time with the Fabulous Nicole, but also get some serious weekend traveling done. 

All good stuff.

And then along come Tyler Cowen and Kevin Grier presenting "What Would the End of Football Look Like - An economic perspective on CTE and the concussion crisis".  Its a fairly compelling take on the future of football here - or the lack thereof - based on concussions and the concomitant concerns (hey, I can alliterate too!)
As they put it

The most plausible route to the death of football starts with liability suits.¹ Precollegiate football is already sustaining 90,000 or more concussions each year. If ex-players start winning judgments, insurance companies might cease to insure colleges and high schools against football-related lawsuits. Coaches, team physicians, and referees would become increasingly nervous about their financial exposure in our litigious society. If you are coaching a high school football team, or refereeing a game as a volunteer, it is sobering to think that you could be hit with a $2 million lawsuit at any point in time. A lot of people will see it as easier to just stay away. More and more modern parents will keep their kids out of playing football, and there tends to be a "contagion effect" with such decisions; once some parents have second thoughts, many others follow suit.

[...] It may not matter that the losses from these lawsuits are much smaller than the total revenue from the sport as a whole. As our broader health care sector indicates (try buying private insurance when you have a history of cancer treatment), insurers don't like to go where they know they will take a beating. That means just about everyone could be exposed to fear of legal action.

Its not all that implausible - in fact I'd say its quite probable at that.  Concern about concussions is certainly rising, and barring some significant rule changes akin to converting the NFL to the NFFL (National Flag Football League), there really isn't much of a chance of solving this problem with "better equipment".  And before you go there, certain risks just can't be signed away with a contract - "Yup, its ok to hit me upside the head with a 2x4, I give you permission" Just Doesn't Work in our society.  Foxconn maybe, but here, not so much. (I know.  Cheap Apple shot.  But its so easy...)

Size, of course, is no protection.  Nokia, RIM, and Nortel are just three examples from our recent past that have either vanished, are on a surprisingly short slope to irrelevancy.

So heres to the end of Football - may more of you be like me :-)