Is football too dangerous for kids? (revisited)

Wisest statement I've heard in a long time, from Chris Nowinski, president of the Sports Legacy Institute. Nowinski spoke about kids and sports concussions yesterday on NPR's Fresh Air.

"There is no such thing as informed consent for children on this issue. We have to give them a chance by educating them and forcing them to adhere to responsible medical practices by sitting out while their brains recover.

"And separating the kids' game of football from the adult game of football is something we need to do going forward. When you step back and hear old baseball players say they're lucky that they're adults getting to play a kids' game - I think of football the opposite way. We have kids playing an adults' game. You can't throw away kids' futures just to have a little fun after school and on the weekend."

Job One: Getting to a child's game

Here's my latest post on BusinessWeek's "Working Parents" blog. I'm writing about the great escapes that parents make from their jobs - slipping away at 5 o'clock, cutting short a business trip - to attend their kids' sports games. I mention my own dad and the amusing things he did to get to the Little League field on time. Check out the NPR story referred to in the post, in which I interview my dad about the years in which he dashed from work to play.