Boxing, Football, and Gladiator Games

• Buzz Bissinger, Wall Street Journal: Why College Football Should Be Banned - the costs are high, the benefits to students are low, and academics pay the price.
  
  
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic: Junior Seau is Dead, and I'm Out
  
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic: Kurt Warner prefers his sons not play football
  
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic: Art Schlichter's brain damage
  
  
• Josh Tinley, MidwestSportsFans.com: Junior Seau, Ray Easterling, SpongeBob, and the Morality of Watching Football. I especially appreciate his point that no adult chooses to start playing football - they're culturally normed funneled into the system before the age of consent.
  
  
• The Pittsburgh Marathon runs today.
  • Participants wearing helmets: none.
  • Brain injuries expected: zero.
  
  
  
  
• The Giro d’Italia runs today, with American Taylor Phinney in the maglia rosa.
  • Participants wearing helmets: 100%
  • Brain injuries expected: zero.