Consider if you will this quote from ACSM, (C) 1971 The American College of Sports Medicine. “Real-time head acceleration of football players during competition has been recorded by the use of a telemetry system. The individual players carry battery driven transmitters, which are concealed, on their equipment, while the receivers are located along the sidelines. Peak linear accelerations in excess of 1000 G's were recorded several times on individual players during one game without apparent injury.”
1000 g’s, wow, 1000 times the force of gravity. Do you know how much energy that is? Although having no scientific scruples in any part of my cranium that seems to me quite incredible.
Studies through NASA have shown that astronauts are said to have experienced 10 G’s at take off, on any given mission, with the norm being 3 or 4. Pilots tend to black out at the force of 20 G’s. So 1000 G’s to me is not within comprehension for the impact of athletes banging into each other.
According to Paul Zimmerman, author of “A thinking man’s guide to pro football”, a 240 pound lineman capable of running 100 yards in 11 seconds, colliding with a 240 pound running back capable of the same distance in 10 seconds; yields enough kinetic energy to move 66,000 pounds one inch. Just think that is 33 tons.
With my deficiency of scientific skills the best way for me to describe this is by telling you about the “blows” I recently suffered from Patrick and Mike in a recent knock down drag out competition in the professional sport of “Whirly Ball”. Meeting these offensive steam engines head on at half court after they had rebounded and picked up steam heading toward the other goal is worth about 2500 G’s, at least based on the findings of the ACSM report. At least that’s the way it felt on impact. If you don’t believe me just ask Taylor or David.
But seeing all the mumbling, stumbling players stagger off the field crowned by a thousand G’s, it is a small wonder that at various levels of football, about 28 players a year will die.
But I have been thinking about kinetic energy; that is energy that a body possesses by virtue of being in motion. My mind runs wild with trying to figure out how much energy goes into just one professional football, baseball, basketball, soccer or hockey game. Think of all the people involved in trying to pull just one game together. Of course you must include the promotional, TV, media, lighting people, camera, vendors etc. Can you just imagine how much energy is involved in such a venture, not to mention all the G force in the playing arenas? Adding together the number of events around the nation any given week, how much energy would be exerted? It stifles the mind doesn’t it?
Then, think of how many athletes, and professionals we have right here in the midst of our Ginger Creek Renegades. Just think how much energy we would produce if we could bottle up say 1% of all the energy it would take to run that one professional athletic event.
I wonder if there would be enough stored up energy or G-force to equal one month of prayer and Bible study around the kitchen table with your family or in your triad. Or how about prayer and devotions daily, or seeking out new men to come out to our morning breakfast; or maybe influencing new men attending the breakfast to become a part of our team or joining in a triad. At least, with this kind of G force we wouldn’t have to worry about being carried out on a stretcher. Are you willing to accept the challenge as an individual GC Renegade, or working within your triad to put out a few more G’s in strengthening the Kingdom?
Dock Caton 04/05/2011
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