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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

ThoughtsOnTheLawsOfPhysics



(NOTE: before you view above video pause music player at the bottom of blog)

physics...never changes...it is a law of nature...my father was a equipment manager for the Long Island Bulls, a farm club team[back then] of the New York Giants NFL team...he gave me my 1 and only full cage facemask...i lent it to a friend who played little league football...when he returned it it was cracked...broken...we're talking little league football...in the entertainment field of professional sports we forget, sometimes that we're being entertained and get caught in the flow of the action...but that action is ruled by the laws of physics...talking inertia and all that...talking impact and all that...in a car we're told about inertia...about how a car traveling at 90 mph has also its passengers traveling at 90 mph...when that car suddenly stops because of impact to 0 mph, the passengers still are travelling at 90 mph until they too hit 0 mph...that's why seat belts were introduced as well as now, air bags...laws of physics are why martial artists can break wooden boards and concrete blocks and bricks with their bare feets and hands...in professional sports, football in particular, size has changed...players are bigger, stronger, faster...inertia is greater...impact is greater...its also about technique...that approach to skill factor in applying a tackle...certain techniques have been outlawed by the NFL: TheClotheslineTackle(remember FredWilliamson aka TheHammer?)---TheHorseCollar(remember the images of RayNitschke, DickButkus, MikeCurtis(TheStork), JackLambert ? )....my favorite LB WillieLanier used to lead with his head ALL the time and developed headaches to the point of having special padding placed on the OUTSIDE of his helmet hence "spearing" became an outlawed technique---TheCrackBack---remember GaleSayers[ouch]?...and there are the images of improper Technique vs. TheAccidents...remember JackTatum vs Daryl Stingley...REMEMBER GaleSayers vs. the 49ers[the BadTechniques]..remember LawrenceTaylor vs. JoeThiesman [TheAccidents](i vividly remember LT's reaction immediately AFTER mangling JoeThiesman's leg)...but the law of physics remains the same...football equipment has evolved from leather helmets and little to no padding to high impact, high tech plastic helmets and shoulder pads all of which adds to the total weight of the player...adding to inertia and impact...i remember when a football player for the Detroit Lions died on the football field [do to a pre existing physical condition]...i remember when a baseball player was hit by a pitch in the head leading to helmets being worn...i remember when a boxer died in the ring from the results of physics...remember Dale Earnhardt dying from the physics of auto racing...remember a well known boxer dying while crossing a race track during a race due to physics...remember when pro hockey didn't have helmets and facemasks but due to respect of physics now do...boxing has long respected physics and concussions and placed time outs between matches so the brain could recuperate and now pro football is implementing rules regarding concussions...bringing me to the point of all of this...pro football has had voices of reasoning step in and say that it will now address, in a roundabout way, the law of physics in dealing with the recent injuries in regard to inertia and impact and there are those who seem to have a problem accepting the the rationale of this decision...evidently they seem to have a problem remembering...the laws of physics...................

[NOTE: seems this video doesn't quite fit within the borders of this blog so here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5xYeqH200Q there are also some other videos in the right sidebar of this link as well]

2 b continued

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very well written comment about inertia and law of physics. I for one don't find football or high impact sports fascinating but taken into consideration your post and video, I can see why so many people are enthralled by this sport. Good example about the car and mph..