I really enjoy watching most professional sports. I love the sense of pride, enthusiasm and community you see in teams with great home fans: Raptors, TFC, Golden State Warriors, all of Premier League Socer, Seahawks, every NFL tailgate I've been to, etc.
I also enjoy the strategy in sports, and can nerd out watching a perfectly executed pick play, or the intricacies of NFL linemen play. Watching the San Antonio Spurs pass the ball to create the perfect shot is essentially my current sports nirvana.
I love the way Fantasy sports keeps me loosely connected to people I have met throughout the years, in friendly competition. Also the way that it feels like a personal challenge for me to demonstrate that I know something about the sports I play fantasy in.
But wow, is it hard to be a fan of the NFL these days. They have two major strikes again me, and I don't know how to continue holding three thoughts in my head:
1) Playing football kills people. From High School to professional, head and neck injuries are killing people. Sustained playing careers, or short ones, cause something called "CTE" which kills people. Football is really bad for you.
2) The NFL has a problem with players committing violence and not being held accountable. Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson are three recent high profile examples of athletes who beat up a woman or child and received arbitrary, unpredictable, inconsistent consequences from their team and the league. Greg Hardy has yet to even offer basic remorse for his actions. Two of the three are still playing in the league.
3) I enjoy watching the game.
I know many people who stop watching. I know some who shrug and essentially ignore the problem. I haven't actually heard of a third solution: So...any of you out there find a way to resolve knowing these three things?
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