Cleats by Bill Hinds for June 30, 2024

why compete for second to last? Is it a drinking contest to see who passess out last?

But the Darwin Awards are so very entertaining.

Bah, it’s controlled violence. Violence has been a part of life for millennia, and it’s been wild and horrifyingly tragic. Two guys wearing protective gear, pummeling each other in a cage, that’s nothing. But it isn’t for kids. Even with the fake “pro wrestling,” there’s stuff that’s not kid-friendly, and at a minimum an adult should explain about such things, so kids don’t imitate them and get hurt.

Edith isn’t one for watching people beat each other up. She’d much rather partake in reading classic literature and practice her fencing techniques. Plus, she can just imagine the violence in some of her books.

“Of the 170 active fighters recently surveyed by The Athletic [2020 article], 55.3 percent said that they expect their post-competition life to be affected by injuries sustained during their MMA career. Another 12.9 percent allowed for the possibility that may happen….Currently, 41.8 percent admit that training or their regular lives are limited because of injuries they already sustained in the sport. … More than 1 in 5 fighters, most of whom were in their 30s, noted discernible differences in the function of their brain.”