sport safety

As long as it is considered "manly" to risk injury and be injured "playing games", injuries will not decrease. Almost every "sport injury" can be reduced by taking measures to prevent the injury. Protect the pitcher: A "simple" example might be the problem of baseballs hit back at the pitcher, who sometimes makes an amazing catch, sometimes deflects the ball, sometimes dodges it, and sometimes is destroyed by the ball (severe injury or even death). Modern technology is capable of sensing where the baseball is- even moreso if the ball were changed slightly. A device between the batter and pitcher could thus know when the ball is returning at HIGH rates of speed (not bunts) toward the pitcher. A deflector can be launched (rapidly) to deflect the hit ball upwards, allowing it to stay in play but not allowing it to hit the pitcher. The WALL in baseball: The continuing problem of "the wall" has been addressed repeatedly over the past decades. A less rigid wall. Padded wall. Warning track. But even so, injuries occur regularly. Technology exists to add sensors to the wall and have them turn into an airbag-like buffer if struck with enough force. In major leagues, there are tons of money to do this and the huge salaries would seem to justify the expense. HOCKEY FIGHTS!! Make them more entertaining! In hockey, the problem of injuries related to "fighting" does not seem to be amenable to rules, or penalties- so why not address the problem by giving the referees TASERS. Guys want to fight- let them fight. The referee skates over as quickly as possible and ZAP- so much for that fight. And the FANS WOULD LOVE IT (well, some of the fans would love it- depending on team affiliation). Both fighters might deserve being tased, so the entertainment would persist beyond dropping the first fighter... the referee could try to chase down and tase the other fighter unless he was clearly NOT the guilty party. Better Refereeing!! With better video replay, unseen referees could inform the zebras on the ice when a player commits an unrecognized infraction (like elbowing or spitting), which also would deserve some electrical stimulation as soon as the zebra could get to the offending player. A separate enforcer referee might be necessary, so enforcement of the rules would not suffer. In praise of Tase: OK, so it isn't lions eating Christian martyrs... but even so it would provide a lot more fan enjoyment, don't you think?