Siri: What’s football’s future?

Will football someday become the world’s first virtual professional sport? With the NFL’s preseason underway, high school and college players back on the practice fields, and tens of thousands of fantasy leagues conducting their annual drafts, let’s put the question another way:

Which will happen first: the collapse of the NFL due to a shortage of players willing to risk injury? Or the development of computer-based football so compelling and unpredictable that it actually replaces the pro game loved by millions of fans?

For now, both scenarios seem farfetched — but something’s gotta give. Football is being jolted as never before by both scientific and anecdotal evidence about the effects of repeated blows to the head.

What could the long-term future possibly be for a sport in which, for example, 40 former pros conduct a charity golf tournament (in California this summer) to raise money for research on traumatic brain injuries? For a game in which more than 2,000 women turn to a Facebook page devoted to the health consequences faced by their loved ones employed as pro players?

The Federation of State High School Associations tabulates that participation in football has fallen for the fourth straight year — with the latest seasonal drop totaling roughly 26,000 players. If the pipeline of human pro players eventually dries up, perhaps replacements will emerge from computer labs.

In fact, pro football has been inching toward “virtual” status for over three decades. The crude computer efforts of the early 1980s, developed by companies such as Nintendo, have evolved into modern, high-definition versions so life-like that they are played by many NFL pros in their spare time.

The NFL has enthusiastically supported this — in large part because of the PETER FUNT license fees, but also, I believe, with an eye toward the future. The league also backs fantasy football, which continues to grow in popularity as more and more fans create and manage their own teams in computer-based leagues.

The problem, of course, is that computer games and fantasy leagues depend, at least for now, on real players and real on-field results. But that might someday change.

Consider what two of my acquaintances, one a former pro player, the other an armchair fanatic, say when asked about the state of football today.

The fan explains that he never goes to games anymore — they’re too expensive, too rowdy and, moreover, not as enjoyable as watching on a large-screen, high-def television. He prefers a comfy chair, with reasonably-priced snacks at hand and a computer propped on his lap to track multiple fantasy squads.

The former pro explains that if the average fan were ever to stand on the field during an NFL game he would be so sickened by the sounds of collisions and screams of pain that he would cease loving the sport. What you see on TV, he adds, are guys in helmets and pads looking very much like avatars in a video game. Football is the Staff graphic

Of the readers who responded to our most recent poll about the football season, 65 percent said they expect Georgia to have a better year, 27 percent voted for Georgia Tech, 2 percent chose Georgia State and 6 percent Georgia Southern. Poll results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate. only sport in which you can watch a player for several seasons yet very possibly have no clue whatsoever about what he looks like in person.

To my mind, these two insightful fellows are describing the foundation for totally virtual football.

The NFL could control it, the networks would cover it, and gamblers might even support it.

Given the pace at which computer science is advancing, a truly equivalent virtual game can likely be crafted in a decade’s time.

Personally, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to rationalize my passion for a sport that is so clearly proving to cause lifelong suffering for its participants. I’m tired of all the dirty looks from my wife as she wonders why I so stubbornly support this game.

I’ve grown used to getting the scores and stats from Siri and Alexa. I suppose I’d be willing to have their colleagues play the game as well. Coroner: Man dies from head trauma after tree falls on him 2 West Nile cases, 1 death confirmed in Northwest Georgia Police seeking 2 suspects in home invasion in Polk County Rome woman sentenced to 20 years in prison in robbery, killing Catoosa sheriff’s officer had ‘inappropriate’ relations with witness Report: Beer theft trip nets 2 local teen lifetime bans from Walmart Update on bus wreck, one transported to Erlanger Man arrested after 70 dogs found on foreclosed Aragon property Laurie Atkins announced as new Polk superintendent Polk Drug Task Force bust nets firearms, marijuana and cocaine 11,677 views 9,035 views 6,343 views 6,188 views 4,780 views 3,175 views 2,569 views 2,059 views 2,039 views 2,016 views ow do these things get started? It’s a question I ask often when the local rumor mill delivers a doozy.

Last week, on social media, I witnessed the birth, life and death of a small-town rumor — all within a matter of hours.

I will share with you, my reader, how this rumor started, so we can analyze how such fabrications spring to life.

Here are the rumor’s ingredients:

Ingredient No. 1: Thursday, two inmates escaped from a work detail in Mitchell County.

Ingredient No. 2: Thursday night, a high-speed chase ended in northern Clinch County, with the suspect in the car leaving the car after a collision and escaping by foot into the woods.

The K-9 unit was brought in to search for the suspect. He was arrested the next day.

Ingredient No. 3: Friday morning, a train passing through town had mechanical problems. It had to stop right in the middle of Homerville. This led to three of the four railroad crossings in Homerville being blocked for about an hour or so. This created absolute bedlam and panic in our community for much of the morning. People in small towns aren’t accustomed to having to wait in traffic.

The train situation brought a Georgia State Patrol trooper into town to help with the traffic complications, and avoid a riot from impatient motorists. Stir in the ingredients: Mix two inmates escaping from a work detail over a hundred miles away + a K-9 unit hunting for someone in the woods + a Georgia State Trooper =

The rumor: A death row inmate has escaped a work detail and is on the loose in Homerville. Lock up your children!

People chimed in with details: K-9 unit is looking for the death row inmate now. GSP is in town looking for the inmate. Received a call that this is true — stay in your homes! Our town is falling to pieces! When I was growing up in Homerville, this type of thing never happened!

Fortunately, this thread happened on our Facebook feed. A quick call to the Sheriff’s Department was in order.

“Is there a death row inmate on the loose in the area?”

Chuckles, then “no. Where did you hear that?”

I then inquired if there were any inmates on the lam in the area, and explained what was being spread via the Interwebs rumor mill. No, they responded, there was nothing remotely similar to that going on.

I then posted on our newspaper Facebook page: “There’s a rumor circulating on social media that a ‘death row inmate’ has escaped, and is being hunted in Clinch County today. That is not true, according to local law enforcement. Just wanted to clarify that.”

“How do these things get started?”

This is how — by accepting unverified accounts on social media as legitimate.

And that’s, in part, why we’re here. Newspapers not only deliver the “real” news, they also dispel the “fake” — which is needed now, more than ever.