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Ed Cunningham Abruptly Resigns From ESPN


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8 hours ago, dvdcrr said:

There are rapid changes going on in urban America and they are hard to understand for a rural kid.  If you think football is too dangerous for you or your kid, consider this.  

Me and my family are from the Sandhills where we do not farm: we ranch out there.  A young boy is usually first put on a horse at 5 years old to ride.  No helmet.  No pads.   A 6ft. tall 1000 lb animal.  They do this because when you start early you grow to be a better cowboy.  Every boy who rides gets bucked off.  Sometimes your horse is spooked or has a sandbur under the saddle blanket. Sometimes it steps in a hole or gets a hoof caught on an unseen wire. A good rider as a young man can get extra money breaking horses.  That is where you start with a wild horse and ride it until it is broke.  It is you against the horse.  And your will has to dominate. You will get bucked off, smashed into panels, kicked and bitten.  Yes horses can bite.  

But we dont cry CTE and run to mama.  Instead we celebrate and make a sport out of it.  And if you think football is hard on a body try bareback riding.  My great uncle, and grandpa were NSRA state champions.  They did that after serving in the Armed forces, growing up in the depression, AND while raising families. 

I remember a story my dad got caught in a blizzard on his horse and he was getting attacked by a stallion that only cared about his mare he was only 11 years old.  I remember the time he got knocked off his horse directly under two fighting bulls.

My friends grandpa when he was teaching them to bulldog ( steer wrestle) if they wouldnt jump off their running horse, he would reach over and jerk them off.  By God, you are getting down on that steer whether you want to or not son!  You don't get to be that tough by playing lacrosse and eating yogurt at the mall 

Quite honestly, I have many more stories, but the harsh reality of that way of life would just sound like hyperbole to eastern ears.

 

As kids we would wrestle about 800 kicking calves a year spread out across about 12 brandings.  And when we could we played tackle football, no pads.  Somebody got hurt almost every time.  But we sucked it up.  We raced each other on horses, motorcycles, three wheelers and four wheelers.  On one of my friends ranch if you get caught walking through the yard, you get run over by an ATV by an ornery brother so you better be fast or tough.

All I can say is if you can't handle football you had better keep your pansy ass away from Mullen, or Gordon NE.

That's an awesome environment to grow up in and it's too bad more kids can't experience it.  Those who do are much tougher than city kids.  Football is a easy break from a somewhat brutal way of life.  I love the sandhills and try to make an excuse to venture up there whenever I'm back in Nebraska.

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I too grew up in a farm/ranch life and experienced all of the above.  As kids, we did lots of more "dangerous' things than play tackle football in the back yard or the park without any pads, helmets, etc at all.  We swam in swift moving current of irrigation canals and slid down the dam in the river like a big water slide, and made rope swings from big trees to land in the pond, etc.  We used inner tubes to 'raft' down the rushing flood waters of area creeks and rivers after the big torrential rain storms.   No life jackets, etc.  Just kids being real world kids.  I boxed and though we used enormous 16 oz gloves, we had no head gear or other protections.  We drove around all the time without seat belts or car seats or air bags or whatever in our 50s and 60s model vintage cars doing things like drag racing, donuts and all other sorts of 'stunt' driving that you may only see on TV in the movies today.      Funny thing is I don't remember anyone ever having serious health issues or injuries or other things of the sort at all.   I have always felt bad for my kids and grand kids who missed out on those sorts of experiences.   Now, kids are being sheltered and pampered and treated like they are fragile as thin glass.

 

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There's a lot going on in this thread, so I'll just start with the original topic: Ed stepping down.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I could not stand Ed Cunningham. And it wasn't just because I'm a Nebraska fan. I'm a B1G fan. I watch a lot of Big Ten football. Ed pulled the same sh#t in every game he commentated. And it's not just interjecting his opinion on whether a play was dirty, or dangerous, or whatever his view was. It's the fact that he didn't let that sh#t go. He'd make a comment about it every other play for the rest of the game, and would probably bring it up again the next game he casted. 

 

As for youths playing football. Again, I feel like everyone is entitled to their opinions. If you don't think it's right for kids to play full-contact football prior to a certain age, more power to you. Feel free to ensure your kids follow those guidelines. But if you don't have kids, or you're specifically referring to someone else's children, you should realize that unless you can get a general consensus to agree with you, your opinion doesn't matter.

 

I played full-contact football at age 9. Prior to that, I played a lot of full-contact back-yard football with my neighbors. I helped coach it throughout high school and college. So I have a lot of experience with it. But the truth is, the amount of injuries at that level is extremely low during games. Kids typically get injured in practice due to dumbass coaches setting up ridiculous drills where they have kids run at eachother full speed for head-on collisions. That's not what happens during youth games and I've personally got in the face of a coach who setup such a drill just because he got off to seeing kids hit eachother. That's not what youth football is about. It's about fullfilling kids love for the game and teaching them the fundamentals early so they are prepared.

 

As for reducing the number of players on the field, I'd advocate the opposite if you want to reduce injuries. The more kids on the field, the harder it is for them to pick up speed for those big collisions.

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I love football.  That said, I have a 15 year old son who as a sophomore is serving as a trainer for the Ankeny Centennial varsity football team and as injury prone as that kid is, i'm glad he's doing that than playing football.

 

Ed Cunningham has got his right to voice his opinion, he's got no fans in Nebraska or in Iowa after this article ran yesterday in the Des Moines Register and i'm glad I won't have to hear his voice this fall:  http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa/football/2017/09/01/ed-cunningham-iowa-hawkeyes-football-mike-and-mike-espn-radio/624394001/
 

 

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14 hours ago, dvdcrr said:

There are rapid changes going on in urban America and they are hard to understand for a rural kid.  If you think football is too dangerous for you or your kid, consider this.  

Me and my family are from the Sandhills where we do not farm: we ranch out there.  A young boy is usually first put on a horse at 5 years old to ride.  No helmet.  No pads.   A 6ft. tall 1000 lb animal.  They do this because when you start early you grow to be a better cowboy.  Every boy who rides gets bucked off.  Sometimes your horse is spooked or has a sandbur under the saddle blanket. Sometimes it steps in a hole or gets a hoof caught on an unseen wire. A good rider as a young man can get extra money breaking horses.  That is where you start with a wild horse and ride it until it is broke.  It is you against the horse.  And your will has to dominate. You will get bucked off, smashed into panels, kicked and bitten.  Yes horses can bite.  

But we dont cry CTE and run to mama.  Instead we celebrate and make a sport out of it.  And if you think football is hard on a body try bareback riding.  My great uncle, and grandpa were NSRA state champions.  They did that after serving in the Armed forces, growing up in the depression, AND while raising families. 

I remember a story my dad got caught in a blizzard on his horse and he was getting attacked by a stallion that only cared about his mare he was only 11 years old.  I remember the time he got knocked off his horse directly under two fighting bulls.

My friends grandpa when he was teaching them to bulldog ( steer wrestle) if they wouldnt jump off their running horse, he would reach over and jerk them off.  By God, you are getting down on that steer whether you want to or not son!  You don't get to be that tough by playing lacrosse and eating yogurt at the mall 

Quite honestly, I have many more stories, but the harsh reality of that way of life would just sound like hyperbole to eastern ears.

 

As kids we would wrestle about 800 kicking calves a year spread out across about 12 brandings.  And when we could we played tackle football, no pads.  Somebody got hurt almost every time.  But we sucked it up.  We raced each other on horses, motorcycles, three wheelers and four wheelers.  On one of my friends ranch if you get caught walking through the yard, you get run over by an ATV by an ornery brother so you better be fast or tough.

All I can say is if you can't handle football you had better keep your pansy ass away from Mullen, or Gordon NE.

As someone who grew up breaking horses, team roping and helping at brandings.....I appreciated this post. 

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15 hours ago, dvdcrr said:

There are rapid changes going on in urban America and they are hard to understand for a rural kid.  If you think football is too dangerous for you or your kid, consider this.  

Me and my family are from the Sandhills where we do not farm: we ranch out there.  A young boy is usually first put on a horse at 5 years old to ride.  No helmet.  No pads.   A 6ft. tall 1000 lb animal.  They do this because when you start early you grow to be a better cowboy.  Every boy who rides gets bucked off.  Sometimes your horse is spooked or has a sandbur under the saddle blanket. Sometimes it steps in a hole or gets a hoof caught on an unseen wire. A good rider as a young man can get extra money breaking horses.  That is where you start with a wild horse and ride it until it is broke.  It is you against the horse.  And your will has to dominate. You will get bucked off, smashed into panels, kicked and bitten.  Yes horses can bite.  

But we dont cry CTE and run to mama.  Instead we celebrate and make a sport out of it.  And if you think football is hard on a body try bareback riding.  My great uncle, and grandpa were NSRA state champions.  They did that after serving in the Armed forces, growing up in the depression, AND while raising families. 

I remember a story my dad got caught in a blizzard on his horse and he was getting attacked by a stallion that only cared about his mare he was only 11 years old.  I remember the time he got knocked off his horse directly under two fighting bulls.

My friends grandpa when he was teaching them to bulldog ( steer wrestle) if they wouldnt jump off their running horse, he would reach over and jerk them off.  By God, you are getting down on that steer whether you want to or not son!  You don't get to be that tough by playing lacrosse and eating yogurt at the mall 

Quite honestly, I have many more stories, but the harsh reality of that way of life would just sound like hyperbole to eastern ears.

 

As kids we would wrestle about 800 kicking calves a year spread out across about 12 brandings.  And when we could we played tackle football, no pads.  Somebody got hurt almost every time.  But we sucked it up.  We raced each other on horses, motorcycles, three wheelers and four wheelers.  On one of my friends ranch if you get caught walking through the yard, you get run over by an ATV by an ornery brother so you better be fast or tough.

All I can say is if you can't handle football you had better keep your pansy ass away from Mullen, or Gordon NE.

unfortunate sentence construction.

  • Plus1 1
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Ed was always a giant anus who had no business calling football games.   It's easy to publicly deride these guys for helmet-to-helmet contact with the benefit of super slow motion replay, in HD!   In real time it's near impossible to react to a ball carrier dipping there head at the last fraction of a second. 

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On 8/30/2017 at 2:23 PM, NUinID said:

 

 

See, I am the complete opposite I pay so little attention to who is announcing a football game that it really doesn't matter to me.  

I'm in this boat which is why I hated Ed so much. He was so annoying it was hard to ignore him. 

 

Outside of Neb. making the playoff, this is the most welcome development in all of CFB this year. Please don't ever come back Ed. Glad you were able to profit off of this horrible game long enough to assure your financial future. 

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On 9/2/2017 at 0:08 PM, garn said:

I love football.  That said, I have a 15 year old son who as a sophomore is serving as a trainer for the Ankeny Centennial varsity football team and as injury prone as that kid is, i'm glad he's doing that than playing football.

 

Ed Cunningham has got his right to voice his opinion, he's got no fans in Nebraska or in Iowa after this article ran yesterday in the Des Moines Register and i'm glad I won't have to hear his voice this fall:  http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa/football/2017/09/01/ed-cunningham-iowa-hawkeyes-football-mike-and-mike-espn-radio/624394001/
 

 

God, he's such a whiny baby. Also boo ankeny centennial ;)

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