GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

Letters/My View

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE CHANGES IN POLICY: Commenters are required to have a username with a valid and verified email address. Gloucestertimes.com reserves the right to ban the IP address of any commenter (person) found using multiple aliases under multiple e-mail addresses in a deceptive manner. Posts that do not meet site standards, which can be found here, will be removed.


If you are experiencing problems logging in or posting comments, please contact Disqus' help center by clicking here.
comments powered by Disqus
February 11, 2013

Letter: Ridley hit was enough football for me

Gloucester Daily Times

To the editor:

I love football, and am very lucky to have the Patriots to cheer for and to have seen the likes of Junior Seau and Ted Johnson play for them.

I always believed football was a game of skill and strategy, not a blood sport like those practiced back in the days of the Roman Empire.

But right there in the second half of the AFC Championship game, I watched the Patriots’ running back Stevan Ridley get knocked out by a helmet-to-helmet hit put on him by one of the players on Baltimore’s defensive line.

As Ridley lay there unconscious, the ball fell from his helpless arms. The refs hesitated, and it seemed like a long time before making the call — a fumble and recovery by Baltimore. I would have thought it should have been called a personal foul for the helmet-to-helmet hit.

But no, the rules instituted to safeguard players’ safety didn’t apply in this particular case.

As they carried Ridley’s body off the field and awarded Baltimore the ball, I clicked off the TV.

It might be the last time I watch an NFL game. It really should be.

BRUCE PARKS

Byfield

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Letters/My View

NDN Video
Rihanna Hits Fan With Microphone Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions Exclusive: Locklear & Seymour Lock Lips Miami Heat Wins in Overtime Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles Fists, chairs fly in restaurant brawl Journalist Michael Hastings Dies in Fiery Hollywood Crash Hairy Leg Stockings Aim to Deflect Male Attention Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor Three Charged for Enslaving Mother and Daughter Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park Spurs' Popovich has no problem with Spurs' intensity RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent' WATCH IT: Lil Wayne tramples American flag Mariah Carey Looks Beautiful in a Tiny Cut-Out Swimsuit Out of Control Boat Throws Passengers Overboard