The most dangerous sports in America

[Argos]

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiol..._injuries.html

And Golf is more dangerous than roller skating (!!)

[Swift]

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiol..._injuries.html

And Golf is more dangerous than roller skating (!!)

As best as I can tell, the numbers are just counts and are not adjusted for number of participants or hours spent playing the sport. I suspect the golf-roller skating difference is just numbers of people who play golf.

[farmerjumperdon]

Agreed. Looks like they are just counting the number of injuries, which means it most likely just reflects the popularity of participation, not the relative danger of the sport.

Though I must say, basketball has been the most damaging sport to my body. All that pounding from jumping as high as you can, the quick stops and starts, direction changes, etc.

I rough guess that in a typical parks and rec league game, I made about 100 each of jumps, stops, & starts; and at least double that number of fast direction changes.

Tougher on the body than any other sport I've done, including downhill skiing, rugby, or skydiving.

[Maksutov]

I'd have to say televised poker. Anybody watching one of those shows runs the risk of being bored to death.

[farmerjumperdon]

I do find it very strange that there are enough people interested enough to watch others play poker, . . . on TV no less.

Next will be the grass growing and paint drying channel. Oh, that's right, we already have that - HGTV.

[Jim]

Mak, Don... don't get too excited about this, but there are plans to broadcast a major poker tournament... on radio!

Try to control your exuberance.

[Big Brother Dunk]

I've had a few injuries from golf, however the most severe have been to my psyche.

[darkhunter]

They've left off motorsports, bull riding (as well as other rodeo events), parachuting,...

I wonder what the list would look like when broken down by the percentage of participants injured and the severity of the injuries.

[Maksutov]

Mak, Don... don't get too excited about this, but there are plans to broadcast a major poker tournament... on radio!

Try to control your exuberance.

I can't wait. Looking forward to the first time the announcer cues in the crowd noise. "Full house!" ROAAAAAAAAAAAR!

I wonder if that's Sirius radio, or just the usuall Goofy stuff?



If it were on TV I might tune in just to see this one scene:

(fat kid with beanie walks up to game table)

Flounder: You guys playing cards?

[publiusr]

I would have put this at the top of the list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jai_alai

[TheBlackCat]

I would have put this at the top of the list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jai_alai

It is also supposed to be the most corrupt sport in the world, from what I have heard.

"So ferocious had the game become that during the football season of 1905 at least 19 players died in college and high school contests"
-Isaac Asimov's book of facts

[jkmccrann]

I do find it very strange that there are enough people interested enough to watch others play poker, . . . on TV no less.

Next will be the grass growing and paint drying channel. Oh, that's right, we already have that - HGTV.

I am someone who doesn't have a problem watching poker. The explosion in interest in Texas-Holdem is a worldwide phenomenon. Until recently I was a relative novice on the various intricacies upon how to extract the best value from any given hand, watching professionals play has helped me gain a pretty good understanding of this type of thing - as well as having a decent mind for stats and probabilities in general.

But watching these tourneys has definitely assisted in understanding the psychologies of how various people react to various hands of differing value, and how they play them out. Certainly on my trips to the casino the fact I've yet to actually walk out of the place with a lighter wallet attests to the fact that as well as being enjoyable, it can be quite a profitable sideline to indulge in.

Actually, the first mate of mine who really got into it is a Quantum Physics Graduate friend of mine, he got plucked out of Australia and given a multi-year scholarship to go over to Caltech (Any Caltechies here?), and within 6 months he was hooked on poker and raking in $10K a month tax-free on the Internet playing poker (playing 5 games at once, and playing them well is something he's particularly adept at).

That was around 2 years ago, so I'm guessing he's raking in more than that these days, but I would definitely consider watching poker as a good learning tool for playing it, and certainly not boring nor a waste of time.

[Ronald Brak]

No one appears to have mentioned fishing. That seems to be the biggest killer around here. Rock fishing is especially dangerous. Send enough hours standing on a rock with a rod in front of pounding surf and sooner or later a freak wave will pull you in. Then there is the combination of fishing and alcohol. Aparently many drowned male recreational fishers are found with their flies down as they went to urinate and fell in.

[Māori]

The Top 15:

Basketball: 512,213
Bicycling: 485,669
Football: 418,260
Soccer: 174,686
Baseball: 155,898 (bird victims ?)
Skateboards: 112,544
Trampolines: 108,029
Softball: 106,884
Swimming/Diving: 82,354
Horseback riding: 73,576
Weightlifting: 65,716
Volleyball: 52,091
Golf: 47,360
Roller skating: 35,003
Wrestling: 33,734

I feel sorry for those birds, too.

[TheBlackCat]

No one appears to have mentioned fishing. That seems to be the biggest killer around here. Rock fishing is especially dangerous. Send enough hours standing on a rock with a rod in front of pounding surf and sooner or later a freak wave will pull you in. Then there is the combination of fishing and alcohol. Aparently many drowned male recreational fishers are found with their flies down as they went to urinate and fell in.

Don't forget you have to tack on the inherent dangers of boating for a significant fraction of fishing.

[Māori]

No one appears to have mentioned fishing. That seems to be the biggest killer around here. Rock fishing is especially dangerous. Send enough hours standing on a rock with a rod in front of pounding surf and sooner or later a freak wave will pull you in. Then there is the combination of fishing and alcohol. Aparently many drowned male recreational fishers are found with their flies down as they went to urinate and fell in.

Aren't their flies supposed to be down?

[Ronald Brak]

Aren't their flies supposed to be down?

It's just interesting that urinating is aparently one of the most dangerous things you can do while fishing. However, I suspect that not urinating may be even more dangerous for your health.

[Māori]

It's just interesting that urinating is aparently one of the most dangerous things you can do while fishing. However, I suspect that not urinating may be even more dangerous for your health.

Why are men so fixated on their bodily functions? My dad just went for his annual colonoscopy. He's not in a good mood today or yesterday or the day before.

[Ronald Brak]

Why are men so fixated on their bodily functions? My dad just went for his annual colonoscopy. He's not in a good mood today.

It's healthier than being fixated on other people's bodily functions. (I'd put a smily here, but I don't know how to do that.)

[Māori]

It's healthier than being fixated on other people's bodily functions. (I'd put a smily here, but I don't know how to do that.)

Frog march started this thread for where are the smilies? Just follow the directions and you will have smilies.