Big Turk Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 I have thought about this a few times and am just wondering if anyone thinks the same...that athletes seem to have a disproportionately high rate of children with serious diseases or disabilities. Kelly, Esiason, etc...it just seems that there are many more professional athletes who have this burden placed on them than people outside of professional sports. I have often wondered if this is life's way of balancing things out---to give one person great abundance in certain areas, but then take away from other areas, almost like a check and balance system. On one hand athletes are given fame, fortune and glory, but on the other hand they are forced to carry the burden of having children or loved ones with many different issues, sometimes fatal at an early age. It just seems with all the stories about various athletes dealing with these type of issues there could be no way possible these type of things happen at that rate in the general public. I am wondering if there are other contributing factors to this other than what I would call Gods way of ensuring some sort of equality in life. I know it may be strange to think of it this way, but I have often wondered if this is the case---it just seems much too coincidental that I have almost never heard of anyone growing up or around me in any of my schools having any sort of issues like this with young children, but in a sample size that is likely smaller, professional athletes have many, many more times the rate of occurrence....it came to my mind again reading about how Aaron Smith is forced to deal with a young child battling leukemia...very sad, but perhaps it is Gods way to ensure that all people are forced to carry some type of great burden....
The Big Cat Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 I have thought about this a few times and am just wondering if anyone thinks the same...that athletes seem to have a disproportionately high rate of children with serious diseases or disabilities. Kelly, Esiason, etc...it just seems that there are many more professional athletes who have this burden placed on them than people outside of professional sports. I have often wondered if this is life's way of balancing things out---to give one person great abundance in certain areas, but then take away from other areas, almost like a check and balance system. On one hand athletes are given fame, fortune and glory, but on the other hand they are forced to carry the burden of having children or loved ones with many different issues, sometimes fatal at an early age. It just seems with all the stories about various athletes dealing with these type of issues there could be no way possible these type of things happen at that rate in the general public. I am wondering if there are other contributing factors to this other than what I would call Gods way of ensuring some sort of equality in life. I know it may be strange to think of it this way, but I have often wondered if this is the case---it just seems much too coincidental that I have almost never heard of anyone growing up or around me in any of my schools having any sort of issues like this with young children, but in a sample size that is likely smaller, professional athletes have many, many more times the rate of occurrence....it came to my mind again reading about how Aaron Smith is forced to deal with a young child battling leukemia...very sad, but perhaps it is Gods way to ensure that all people are forced to carry some type of great burden.... I heard once that the high prevalence of quarterbacks with diseased children results from quarterbacks licking grass-treatment off their fingers between plays.
BuffaloBill Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 I heard once that the high prevalence of quarterbacks with diseased children results from quarterbacks licking grass-treatment off their fingers between plays. I always thought they were licking center butt sweat off their fingers
The Big Cat Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 I always thought they were licking center butt sweat off their fingers Speaking of toxicity..
Jim in Anchorage Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Its because you hear about it. Many other people have the same problems,but its not covered on ESPN.
Captain Quint Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Its because you hear about it. Many other people have the same problems,but its not covered on ESPN. I think this is probably the correct answer. These things happen all over the place, but nobody hears about them. Actually, I'm more shocked when I talk to somebody who I've known for some time and find out that they have an autistic child or had a child die at a young age.
WVUFootball29 Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 to truthfully obtain this answer you would have to come up with a percentage of non athlete parents with disabled/sick kids and then compare it to the percentage of pro athletes with sick/disabled kids. I bet the proportions are close to equal.
Ramius Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Its because you hear about it. Many other people have the same problems,but its not covered on ESPN. Yup. This post sums it up. They are in the spotlight, so you hear about everything. No one is going to report when your landscaper neighbor Joe's kid has autism. But they will if Joe happens to play a professional sport.
eSJayDee Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 I'll propose a theory, not that I necessarily believe it. Bear in mind, I have no background in either genetics or biology in general, not even in HS. Athletes are, well, more athletic than the general population, which at least in one way makes them genetically superior (Some positions - QB, & OL come to mind are also at least as mentally gifted as the general population on avg). I believe the way genetic selection works is there's a dominant & a recessive gene. When determining a simple characteristic, one parent supplies one possible outcome & the other another. If they're both the same, obvious results. If they're diff, the dominant one wins. Only when 2 recessive genes match is that characteristic inherited. I'll interject that w/ less specific binary decisions (i.e. IQ level) it's possible that the "roll of the dice" isn't as simple as that. As athletes are atypical, they presumably carry (more) atypical genes as well. Thereby giving them a better chance of producing atypical offspring. It's also possible that their genes are more "dominant" and therefore will also contribute to a less balanced genetic profile in their offspring, i.e. even their "bad" genes are more likely to "win out" relative to a parent w/ a more avg profile. Just a (possibly inane) theory. Sincerely Yours, Cliff Claven Also WRT the baldness that's explainable. Athletes have more testosterone than the avg guy. Male Pattern Baldness is caused by some sort of faulty conversion/process of Testosterone. The more you have, the more likely you are to be (more) bald.
Chandler#81 Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Also WRT the baldness that's explainable. Athletes have more testosterone than the avg guy. Male Pattern Baldness is caused by some sort of faulty conversion/process of Testosterone. The more you have, the more likely you are to be (more) bald. COOL! A rare positive comment on my 'disease'. I'm one macho-testosterone MoFo!
Captain Quint Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Also WRT the baldness that's explainable. Athletes have more testosterone than the avg guy. Male Pattern Baldness is caused by some sort of faulty conversion/process of Testosterone. The more you have, the more likely you are to be (more) bald. Damn... I'm just another pu$$y with hair.
KD in CA Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Damn... I'm just another pu$$y with hair. Have you considered going Brazilian?
ieatcrayonz Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 to truthfully obtain this answer you would have to come up with a percentage of non athlete parents with disabled/sick kids and then compare it to the percentage of pro athletes with sick/disabled kids. I bet the proportions are close to equal. 3.5
merlin Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 I noticed a lot of bald QB's I think it's from the radio waves in the helmets they wear ....
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