stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1

WASHINGTON - Leonard Marshall endured thousands of brain-rattling hits during his football career, the legacy of which includes a damaged frontal lobe, a broken marriage, mood swings, depression and the suicide of a former teammate.The Super Bowl? Of course hell be watching. Ditto Mondays first-ever college football final.I watch as a fan, says the now-retired defensive lineman.I watched the LSU game... I watched Alabama-Ohio State which I thought was a great ball game. I watched a little bit of (the lopsided) Oregon-Florida State until I couldnt take it anymore, and had to turn the TV off.Despite the toll taken by 12 seasons in the National Football League, most of them with the New York Giants, Marshall still loves a good football game.Hes not alone: even in this annus horribilis for the sport off the field, America cant quit football, either.In a season marked by domestic-violence scandals, coverup accusations, the suicide of a concussion-suffering college player and a potential US$1 billion brain-injury settlement process between the NFL and former players (Marshall is among the plaintiffs), football is smashing ratings records:— College games twice set records for American cable-TV viewership — both in the same day. A pair of Jan. 1 bowl games each drew more than 28 million viewers, about 40 times the typical audience for Canadas university final, the Vanier Cup. Even more are expected for Mondays inaugural final, featuring Oregon and Ohio State.— The 2014 Super Bowl had the biggest-ever network audience in U.S. TV history, with more than 111 million viewers. The biggest audience in Canada for a Stanley Cup game was in 2011, when the Vancouver Canucks faced the Boston Bruins: 8.76 million.Its a full-fledged cultural phenomenon that extends beyond sport itself.Tailgate parties arent just full-day affairs that prompt people to carry generators to stadium parking lots so that they can power their sound systems and TV screens. Theyve even evolved into a cuisine genre, as immortalized in the Food Networks Tailgate Warriors show.The pulsing heart of Americas love affair beats mightily in Texas high schools, as famously documented by the book, film, and TV series about Texas high schools in Friday Night Lights.There were more than 52,000 people at one of the Lonestar States high-school championship games this year — still short of last years record 54,347.The passion is also palpable in big eastern cities, including the toniest tracts of the U.S. capital. One night last spring, in the midst of the hockey and basketball playoffs, the noisiest crowds at a sports bar near Capitol Hill huddled around screens showing the NFL draft; fans of other sports discreetly took in their own playoff games in quieter corners of the bar.Try striking up a conversation about most sports and youll get a polite response at a barber shop on 18th Street. But bring up football, and the shop springs to life with the sound of barbers bantering with cape-clad customers.Many still remember Marshall for the sternum-bruising smash that helped end Joe Montanas legendary stint with the San Francisco 49ers.These days, however, Marshall wants the game to change.I was told as a kid, Hit what you see and see what you hit.... Plant that (helmet) in the centre of his chest. And if you rupture his spleen or you rupture his chest as a result, oh well, thats part of the game, said the two-time Super Bowl champ.And if you see the brown spots and things seem to start moving a lot slower for you, just rub a little dirt on it and get back in there.Hes spoken with many retired players about the cognitive and emotional problems theyve been having: Its your ability to recall. Its your ability to make good decisions. It controls your emotions — or lack of emotions. Your mood swings. Your inability to sleep... Depression. Anger. A short fuse. You hate feeling like this. One of the people he talked to was a former teammate, Dave Duerson. Duerson later took his own life by shooting himself in the chest and leaving a suicide note requesting that his brain be sent to a lab for analysis.Duerson was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Marshall has since been diagnosed, too. Suicidal thoughts are a rampant problem for former players suffering from CTE, he says.Marshall now works with a new organization, Brain Unity Trust — co-founded with Pittsburgh lawyer Jason Luckasevich after the pair met through their landmark class-action suit against the NFL, now being settled out of court. He hopes to educate young players, coaches, and researchers about new approaches to tackling and head injuries. Luckasevich describes how he had to keep repeating himself in a recent conversation with a forgetful ex-player. He tells the story of two others who got into trouble because they forgot they were carrying guns — one on the grounds of a school.And he marvels at their devotion to the sport that has dealt them such damage.These guys get so hostile and talk about how their team let them down, and their union let them down, and the NFL let them down, he said. And the next thing you know, theyre like, Oh, Ive got a Hall of Fame meeting Ive got to go to. Despite the fervour, there are signs that footballs problems in the U.S. are beginning to take a toll.Attendance has dipped in recent years — not only in the pros, but at the college level too. Youth entitlement has also seen a decline these last few years, with fewer kids playing in Pop Warner leagues.The question of whether to register a kid for football is the theme of The United States of Football, a documentary directed by Sean Pamphilon, a big fan who also happens to be a dad.In the end, Pamphilons son opted instead for baseball and guitar lessons. But his father still cant shake the habit.I feel like a complete hypocrite when it comes to this, Pamphilon said in an interview with SB Nation following the films 2013 release. Because Ive been exposed to an incredible amount of human suffering... But then I went to Seahawks training camp. And I saw Russell Wilson and it was, like, pretty much love at first pass. Nike Air Max Wholesale Australia .com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills. Nike Air Max On Sale Australia . The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. http://www.wholesaleaustraliaairmax.com/ .One day after winning her record 63rd World Cup race, Vonn posted to her Facebook account Tuesday that she was happy Woods surprised her by coming to the race, and that she felt terrible that his tooth got knocked out. Wholesale Air Max Australia . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena. Cheapest Air Max Shoes Australia . Both sides of the deal have formally announced acquisitions: TFC introduced Jozy Altidore as a designated player on Friday, while their counterparts announced a three-and-a-half-year deal with Jermain Defoe.LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Raymond Floyd is returning to the Ryder Cup as an assistant captain for the second time in the past three matches. U.S. captain Tom Watson said Tuesday that Floyd would be one of his assistants. The Ryder Cup will be played Sept. 26-28 at Gleneagles and Scotland. The Americans have not won the cup since 2008 — Floyd was an assistant on that team. They havve not won on European soil since 1993.dddddddddddd Watson previously said Andy North would be an assistant. Floyd was the Ryder Cup captain in 1989 when Europe retained the cup with a tie. Watson was on that 89 team. Watson was captain in 1993 and took Floyd as one of his wild-card picks. European captain Paul McGinley is expected to announce his assistants soon. ' ' '