The NFL has just approved, by a majority of the owners, to allow the altered percentage rate to be 7%. SEVEN?!? The percent range for sentient status is 5! So, what the NFL has just done is force players to alter their genome up to 7% divergence from original markers, as only originals are allowed to play currently, and thereby endangering there status as member of a sentient species!

Now, I suppose there is some dispute as to what this really means. Rich people are, and have always been, above the law. Sentient status is really only relevant for acquiring medical benefits, some legal questions, exact legal rights, etc etc. Of course, if you are altered beyond 10% you have to register, but that’s not what’s going on here. The NFL will never question that range I can assure you. Above 5% and below 10% you are still technically a member of your species just sub classified as an “altered”.

Still, why the NFL would raise this is a mystery to me. Ok, it’s honestly not. 7% altered’s are 2% stronger, faster, bigger or tougher than 5% altered’s. That means harder hits, faster runners, bigger linebackers, etc etc etc. All of that means better ratings and of course the owners want better ratings. Though this will mean that every player on every team will run out and get augmentations. That means every player on every team will have to surrender their full sentient citizen status for the lesser altered status. Is that really fair? They will have to do it because they just won’t be able to compete with anyone that is at 7%. It’s just not even a contest. A 2% change to the genome and body is a huge amount. Even 5% is a huge amount but honestly, harmless body sculpting is really not that big of a deal. I’ve seen people with 5% body sculpting before, they are incredible to look at.

I, of course, will still watch the NFL and root for the Skins, but i’ll still feel bad for the players. They take and take and take from these guys, force them to do things they probably shouldn’t be doing and for what? It was supposed to be just a game not an experiment in potential new species. Greed never dies, even in the 24th century it seems.

Imagine you are sitting somewhere in the Mojave desert. You’ve just strapped on a space suit, kissed your girlfriend and waved to a throng of like minded morons. Now, you are waiting for the inevitable. You wonder how you’ll do. Will your equipment malfunction and you burn? Or will you ride the atmosphere for 60 miles straight down?

A lab coat wearing smart guy waves to you. You stand up, brush yourself off, and walk over to your on personal rocket ride to lower earth orbit. You buckle up, take a deep breath, wait for your green go light, as do your three competitors, and pray. One, two, three, GO. Your pod engine, and yes that is all it is, a capsule sitting on a rocket, blasts off and you get pushed back into your seat with several gravities worth of force.

In just a few minutes you reach low earth orbit at around 60 miles. Your rocket detaches and falls back to earth to burn up in the atmosphere. A sight that you will get to enjoy watching. Your pod seams crack, explosive bolts fire, the sides of your cocoon fall away and there you are, floating in space, with a space suit and a atmosboard.

You’ll hover there for a few minutes. I have to admit, I’ve seen the vids and virtuals, it’s a hell of a view. Beautiful really. But, you aren’t there to take in the view. Your mic goes off and the refs give the go ahead. You and your fellow fallers are to begin your descent. You have to wonder about a race where you get a prize for surviving.

You spin your board, give it a shot of thruster, point yourself towards the ground and hang on to your ass. At first it’s slow. the earth looms large beneath you but it seems as if you’ll never reach it. And then, the race begins.

Imagine a 60 mile ride through compressed atmospheres causing a fireball with you in the middle of it. If you tilt your board at the wrong angle, you burn. This is not a sport for the feint of heart. Now, I know you are asking the same questions I am, why in god’s name would someone do this? The Borealis effect of course. When fallers reach a certain altitude, I forget what it is, they can release packets from their board of highly charged particles. Those particles interact with the upper atmosphere and create a Borealis effect. And, you guessed, it tilt your board, surf the fireball and you can make your own effects. Oh it’s crazy cool alright, crazy insane too.

Ok, ok, all you die hard fans out there are screaming at your vids right now. No,there hasn’t been a death in this sport in a long time.The suits are safe and can survive the burn on re-entry. Fallers rarely get hurt and most are long time veterans at the sport. Still, on a race by race basis, it is the most deadliest sport on earth. I make that distinction mind you, on earth, there are way more deadlier ones elsewhere in the system for sure.

So, the point of all this is, there is no way a sport as dangerous as orbit jumping will make it into the Olympics.  The fact that they insist and demand inclusion is driving me bonkers. It doesn’t matter how safe you think your sport is, it just isn’t. Yes, it is cool. Yes, it is neat to watch the Borealis effect from multiple fallers. But really, how can this possibly be an Olympic sport? If just one mishap occurred, the Olympics may be shut down for another 50 years just like during the 22nd century. That would truly be a shame. Especially since they just decided to include non-terrestrial governments in the mix. I personally feel that the Spatial Olympics is just fine without orbital jumping. It’s a nice addition to Winter and Summer Olympics and is full of enough of danger to keep things interesting without being too dangerous.

In my opinion, Orbit Jumping should be left to the fringe sports category and not included in the main stream. And all you fallers, jumpers, whatever you call yourselves, stop being so pissy about it. You’ve got your sport, it’s legit, you get respect, you get major time on the vids, virtuals and networks. Why do you want to be in the Olympics anyway? Give it a few decades, keep your safty up, don’t whine so much and maybe you’ll get in.