Andrew Greif has the story in the Oregonian, here:
At least three Oregon Ducks football players were hospitalized after enduring a series of grueling strength and conditioning workouts at UO last week, The Oregonian/OregonLive has learned.
Offensive linemen Doug Brenner and Sam Poutasi and tight end Cam McCormick are in fair condition and remained at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend in Springfield on Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
… “The safety and welfare of all of our student-athletes is paramount in all that we do,” Oregon wrote in a statement on behalf of the entire athletic department. “While we cannot comment on the health of our individual students, we have implemented modifications as we transition back into full training to prevent further occurrences.
Some PR flack says “The safety and welfare of all of our student-athletes is paramount in all that we do” – but that’s not where the money is.
Here’s the contract that AD Rob Mullens just wrote for Coach Taggart. Coach gets $0.00 for promoting safety and welfare. Here are his incentives for winning:
What a disgusting bunch. These are young kids whose health and lives were put at risk by folks trying to earn incentives. Here is the essence:
“Players this week were required to finish the same workouts, which were described by multiple sources as akin to military basic training, with one said to include up to an hour of continuous push-ups and up-downs. An Oregon official disputed a claim that some players had “passed out,” saying the training staff did not see any players faint. Some players later complained of discolored urine, which is a common symptom of rhabdomyolysis. After testing, others were found to have highly elevated levels of creatine kinase, an indicator of the syndrome.”
Rhabdo is no joke. It can lead to kidney failure and hospitalization. If the hospital knows to check for the symptoms, they are very easy to detect and record.
I wish these kids a speedy recovery.
And would love to learn why these over-exertions are necessary when the first game isn’t for another seven months.
You forgot the period after “necessary.”
Where’s the UOM story about the law professor returning to work? Cat got your tongue?
I have two cats, one tongue, and zero information on this latest. Please post what you’ve got.
there is no story here, she was not fired, suspended or dismissed and continues her job as a law professor although certainly in a greatly reduced perceptual capacity which is ultimately her punishment.
Just how stupid is the U of Owe brain trust? In 2011, University of Iowa football coaches decided that their players just were tough enough. So they decided to give them a workout that put several of them in hospital with the same condition as UOwe players.
http://www.thegazette.com/2011/01/06/100-squats-17-minutes-rhadomyolsis
Thing is, for all that, U of I hasn’t performed any much better than prior to the S&C staff going ape shit crazy. But hey, that’s why unis have insurance and undergrads to pass along the cost….
Where are the administrative letters of hasty condemnation? The calls for resignations, which also deny the relevance of intention, due process, and legal rights/protections? The character assassinations by students, colleagues, and administrators? The thou-protestest-too-much expressions of outrage, filled with factual and legal inaccuracies? The internal investigations and retention of expensive external legal counsel?
If you want character assassinations, look at most sports blogs.
Granted, it’s the players themselves who are under fire for being “unable to handle a workout.”
Yes, so much hand-wringing attention to the importance of protecting students from harm (i.e., psychic/emotional, reputational, and academic performance) in the academic case, yet rather tepid-seeming institutional concern for the importance of protecting students from (perhaps permanent physical, and certainly psychic/emotional, reputational, and academic as well as athletic performance) in the athletics case.
One involved individual exercise of civil liberties on political issues and public matters during a private party held in an employee’s own home, as meant to raise awareness and spark discussion among students (and others).
The other involved mandatory on-campus off-season workouts, supervised by multiple employees, that have been likened to “boot camp” as meant to exhaust and therefore strengthen and toughen students.
The coaches actually are being pretty harshly criticized in online and social media.
well that’s pretty much a generic throwaway statement as no examples of harsh criticism were given. Why the moderator allows for throwaway comments to be published is unclear.
Nonetheless, this is a somewhat balanced discussion about football and physical conditioning:
http://a.espncdn.com/ncf/s/2002/0731/1412608.html
Win at any cost.
phil and the masses of “fans” without any connection to UO will be pissed off otherwise.