It occurs to me, also, that they may be playing more often unfit

The pressures of performing and retaining ones place, etc.

I remember a documentary many years ago about American football injuries - basically 100% (1) of American footballers retired with an injury of some sort and many were effectively crippled by it (I remember one late 30s guy who could barely walk around his house because his knees had gone). If I recall correctly, they were nearly all bone and cartilage related. Anyway, they attributed it to players playing unfit - either not telling the coach about minor tweaks or taking injections to get through a game (and in many cases, lots of games) - all because of the fear of being cut by ruthless teams.

Posted By: BerlinCanary, Feb 3, 20:01:47