Parents, grandparents, boyfriends and girlfriends sit in the stands and bleachers and watch their loved ones run up and down the court or field or the diamond. We understand the physical dangers that our athletes face and the definite benefits that come from good, safe and healthy competition. But what person would think up a game as inherently dangerous as football. Or baseball where we let one person throw a large rock at 70 to 80 miles an hour toward someone they love.

Let’s take a look at the inventors and history of some of these games and maybe what they were thinking when they tho...