Dave Duerson, former NFL and college star, dies by suicide, OR Should American football be legal?

This is not a sports story, not in the usual sense. It's not even a story about Duerson primarily. It's a story about American football as a workplace.

In an earlier story about the coming NFL lockout, which included an interview with The Nation's sports reporter Dave Zirin, we noted:

▪ The typical player lasts 3.4 years, comes from a poor (and I would add, under-educated) background, and dies 22 years before the average American male.

▪ Zirin's point (at 4:05 in the interview) that the players are both the labor and the product, both the chef and the steak being served, is striking. I've never seen that said before, and I think he's right. Note that the steak is consumed.

Now comes Duerson, who leaves us in unusual circumstances. Up until a few years ago, Dave Duerson's life was a real success. From Irish Sports Report (subscription needed; my emphasis throughout):

Duerson, 50, played at [Notre Dame] from 1979–82. He earned team MVP honors in 1982 and was a first-team All-America pick that season. The Bears selected him in the third round of the 1983 draft.

After winning two Super Bowl rings with the Bears in 1986 and the New York Giants in 1991, Duerson served on Notre Dame's Board of Trustees and was President of the Monogram Club.

This is not your bad boy of sports. Things started going wrong for him beginning about five years ago, which led to his suicide. Now note this:

The New York times reported that Duerson sent text messages to his family asking that his brain be examined for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease linked to depression, dementia and suicide.

According to an AP report, Duerson's brain was expected to undergo studies looking for any disease or abnormality but would focus on CTE, which as been found in a number of former athletes.

Here's more from that NY Times story referenced above:

As a longtime force in the N.F.L. players union, Duerson, 50, was keenly aware of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease linked to depression, dementia and occasionally suicide among more than a dozen deceased players. He had expressed concern in recent months that he might have had the condition, said one person close to him who spoke on condition of anonymity. ...

Duerson’s request to have his brain examined for C.T.E., first reported by The Chicago Tribune, indicates how much acceptance of the disease has changed since it first made headlines in January 2007. That month, it was found in the brain tissue of the former Philadelphia Eagles player Andre Waters, who also had committed suicide.

Lou Somogyi, senior editor at Blue & Gold Illustrated, a Notre Dame sports publication, notes (hard-copy only):

Gradually, though, in the last several years he became agitated and frustrated with blurred vision, headaches, memory lapses, and he spoke to friends specifically about a pain on the left side of his brain. ... Suddenly [he] could not spell the simplest of words or recall an elementary detail, according to a Feb. 26 Chicago Tribune report.

Duerson must have known what was ahead for him. It's not lost on those who knew him that he put the fatal bullet in his chest, not his head. CTE can only be tested posthumously, by studying brain tissue.

To which LA Times writer Bill Dwyre adds simply:

Dave Duerson's suicide could be a turning point for NFL

Listen again to Sam Seder's interview with Dave Zirin, linked above, and keep in mind, again, that NFL players earn football money for less than four years. In addition, they die 22 years earlier, on average, than the rest of American males. Duerson was 50.

I've been a football fan my whole life, but I would never let my children play the game, at any level. It pains me to ask this, but I must — Should American football be legal?

God bless you, sir.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Recall signatures almost there for WI GOP senator

In his last election, Wisconsin state senator Randy Hopper barely squeaked by with 50.5% of the vote. Between his anti-union vote plus the stories of his alleged girlfriend receiving a healthy pay raise during what is supposed to be an economic crisis, he may not be as lucky at the polls the next time. Read the rest of this post...

Al Jazeera reports 2 dead, 100 injured in Jordan

Jordan hardly seems like an extreme regime but in these times, the status quo is not what anyone wants. Al Jazeera:

Two persons are reported to have been killed after being beaten to death by riot police and pro-government loyalists in the Jordanian capital of Amman, Al Jazeera has learned.

More than 100 people, including policemen, were injured in the clashes, a medical source at the scene said.

Anti-riot police also broke up a protest camp for students and arrested several of them, a security official told AFP news agency.

The clashes erupted after around 200 government supporters hurled large stones at more than 2,000 young demonstrators from different movements calling for reforms to the current leadership and more efforts to fight corruption, an AFP journalist reported.

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Wisconsin anti-union law is 'published' despite court order blocking it

More Republican power-politics and bullying in Wisconsin. Normally, when a bill passes, it's published by the "nonpartisan" Legislative Reference Bureau and then implemented as law. In the case of the radical Republican union-stripping law, however, a court has stayed implementation and publication.

But that violates Republican Law RL-1: When you have the power, use it.

In this case, as the following AP story makes clear, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald got that "nonpartisan" Reference Bureau to publish it anyway, and now claims it's law, despite the court order.

Here's part of the story (via Politico; my emphasis):

The saga surrounding Gov. Scott Walker’s push to strip most public employees of nearly all of their collective bargaining rights took another unexpected, and confusing, turn Friday when the Legislative Reference Bureau posted the law online, despite a court order blocking its publication while challenges to the law are considered.

That order specifically bars Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law, which is the last step before a law takes effect. This is typically done by the Reference Bureau within 10 working days after it’s signed by the governor, on a date set by the secretary of state. ... [A]fter the restraining order was issued, La Follette notified the Reference Bureau that he was rescinding that publication date. ...

But Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who said he went to the Reference Bureau with the idea, wasted no time in saying that the law’s online publication meant it would take effect Saturday.

When you have the power, use it. Odd that the "nonpartisan" guy who must have published the law at Fitzgerald's request, disagrees that this means it's law.

Steve Miller, the Reference Bureau’s director, disagreed, insisting that posting the law online was simply a procedural step and that the law wouldn’t take effect until La Follette orders it published in a newspaper.

“It’s not implementation at all,” Miller said. “It’s simply a matter of forwarding an official copy to the secretary of state.”

If he disagrees, why did he publish it despite the court order? Maybe nonpartisan doesn't mean what I think it means. Ah, Republicans; I forget, they always play to win. Maybe we should try that.

By the way, what is it with names in Republi-consin land? Scott Fitzgerald? Randy Hopper? Randy's the guy whose wife told a Fond du Lac news crew he's shacked up with a cute little (slightly overpaid) Twenty-Something in Madison. Randy Hopper — nice.

If there's a group writing stage names for these guys, I want in on it.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Geraldine Ferraro dies at 75

She died of complications from blood cancer. It's a developing story.

Mike Allen at Politico reports via Twitter that: "The cause of death was complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that she had battled for twelve years... Ferraro passed away at Mass. General Hospital, surrounded by her loved ones ... survived by her husband of 50 years, John A. Zaccaro."

Imagine that Ferraro was nominated over 25 years ago. And who did the Republicans finally find to nominate as their female VP nearly a quarter of a century later? An idiot who can't even speak proper English - something Ferraro most certainly was not. For all our problems, at least the Democrats neither fear brains nor fetishize stupid.

Here is her Wikipedia entry.
Ferraro on C-SPAN. Read the rest of this post...

Radioactive material well above standards in sea water near reactor

That region of Japan is in serious trouble for quite a long time. The sea in this area had previously been an important location for aquaculture but with radioactivity spreading, who would want to consume products from there? Sea life does move around, which is an even scarier thought. It's not unlike seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, in that they are saying it's fine for humans to eat, but it still sounds questionable.

According to the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, radioactive iodine-131 at a concentration 1,250.8 times the legal limit was detected Friday morning in a seawater sample taken around 330 meters south of the plant, near the drain outlets of its troubled four reactors.

The level rose to its highest so far in the survey begun this week, after staying around levels 100 times over the legal limit. It is highly likely that radioactive water in the plant has disembogued into the sea, Tokyo Electric Power Co said.

The radiation levels in seawater do not pose an immediate risk to human health, government officials said. But they are well above normal levels and fan concerns over fishery products in northeastern Japan as highly radioactive water has been found leaking near all four troubled reactor units at the plant.

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Ivory Coast on verge of complete chaos as war looms

The African Union was against the war in Libya, but will they let the situation in the Ivory Coast to collapse into war? Al Jazeera:

Up to one million people have fled Ivory Coast to safer areas amid fears of an all-out civil war, the UN refugee agency has said.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other aid agencies said they have been unable to access the country's west due to the fighting in the capital and other areas.

It cited estimates of between 700,000 and one million people displaced, largely from the city of Abidjan, including the heavily-populated districts of Abobo, Adjamame, Williamsville and Yopougon.

"The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere is being fuelled by fears of all-out war," Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, on Friday said in Geneva.

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The Faces - I'm Losing You

Without a doubt one of the better songs by those guys. Ronnie Wood's guitar had such a great sound.

It's been almost perfect weather over this way. Sunshine, hardly a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the 60-65 range during the week. I took advantage of the weather to slip in a few kilometers along the Marne and can't believe that the daffodils are past their peak and a few tulips are even in bloom. I even saw two dogwood trees in full bloom.

What I really love seeing is the number of retirees out on the bike path. During the winter, it's a pretty small group and you recognize everyone. (Oh look, there's another idiot who rides in this cold.) Now with the better weather, I've lost count of the seasonal cyclists. Either way, it's nice to see 70-somethings and 80-somethings out there getting the exercise. I hope to be so lucky when I'm that age. Read the rest of this post...

Portugal's borrowing costs spike again as bailout nears

It appears that Portugal has a date with destiny. Avoiding a bailout is even less likely following the increase in borrowing costs. Once the bailout money is passed, what then? Before the economy crashed there had been a sense of real progress in Portugal, who used to be known as one of the poorer countries of Europe. While that sense of prosperity was linked to increased credit, people still felt that there was an improvement. Nobody ever likes go from feeling prosperous to being a beggar. Whether it's in Portugal or even the US where credit was even more excessive, there is a lot more to come. The Guardian:

Portugal's efforts to avoid joining Ireland and Greece in accessing EU bailout funds appears doomed after investors sent the cost of Portuguese borrowing to a new record on the bond markets.

The resignation of the country's prime minister and a downgrade by Standard & Poor's sent the yield on 10-year Portuguese government bonds to a new high of more than 8%. With EU and IMF funds available for between 5% and 7%, there were growing calls for the government to end months of speculation and agree a bailout.

After a downgrade by Fitch on Thursday, S&P; cut Portugal's debt rating by two notches to BBB and kept it on negative watch, warning it could lower the rating a notch once the details of the European Union's permanent bailout fund are announced.

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