One thing devastating…one thing sorta’ fun…
Kory Stringer, a Pro Bowl Tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, died of heat stroke yesterday. I know that a lot of you guys are now on the “Fields of Battle”, many getting ready for competitive seasons. Listen to your bodies and take it easy guys…
On a lighter note. Cheyenne Woods, the 10 year old niece of Tiger, is tearing up the junior circuits. She’s won 30 tounaments and usually is hitting in the eighties. Watch out, gang…
I’m surprised that nobody has responded to this post with the all the recent involvement in Coach Davies “warrior-like” Renegade training. Pushing yourself beyond what you thought was your limit is almost a requirement to complete these marathon training sessions. But, using Stringer as an example, when do you know when you’re pushing yourself too far? I found the following quote from one of the news items on this tragedy to be very thought provoking.
“And in one of life’s cruel pranks, the athletes who work hardest, the ones who never quit, who never slow down, who ignore pain and thirst and fatigue to push themselves through another drill — in short, the ones you want on your team — are in the most danger. Lesser men know when to ease off the throttle, when to head for the water barrel, even at the risk of being called lazy for committing the sin of listening to their bodies. The real go-getters never quit, they just die from time to time.” Any thoughts?
use some common sense, if its 100+ degrees out with high humidity, lessen the practice a little. Also pay attention to your players if he throws up 3 times during practice. Have him sit out. The whole organization was grossly negligent, as far i am concerned.
Just workout later in the day when its not so hot out…
Coach Davies answered this question on another forum. He said athletes using his programs gradually build up aerobic and exercise capacity throughout the training year so an athlete is highly conditioned and typically leaner and in better shape then others and thus able to tolerate more.
Regarding Stringer I heard that he actually suffered from heat exhaustion in the prior days practice. Maybe the old practice of throwing deconditioned athletes through brutal summer practices to get them in shape needs to be re-examined. One practice I’ve heard of that makes a lot of sense is having players weigh in each day before practice and after practice. If a player is losing too much weight due to water loss then they need to take some practice time off to rehydrate.
speaking as someone who has suffered a heat stroke and lived to tell about it.
if you are sick at your stomach, dizzy, disoriented, those can be warning signs
IF YOU QUIT SWEATING GET YOUR ASS IN SOME COLD WATER AND INGEST FLUIDS. Your skin will become clammy, your vision will blur, you will pass out, and if your body tempisnt brought down and fluid intake brought up you are asking for serious trouble.
We were running 100 yard sprints, and on my last one I was 40 yards behind the next to last runner and my coach didnt stop me from trying to keep going. That was 20 years ago and I have never forgotten that nite in the ER
The loss of Mr. Stringer is a horrible occurance. Well beyond the context of sport, I pray for his family. I feel very peculiar that his death in anyway may bring attention to myself or my methods. However, as Kelly noted, in risk of being vilified by coaching profession, I spend tremendous amount of time developing my athletes level of conditioning. But again, this is not the avenue to discuss my methods - his passing is a horrible situation that is beyond expression. In faith,
Coach Davies
I worked in the athletic training dept. in college. During the summer, we’d weigh every athlete before and after every practice (like KB suggested), and if they lost more than 8lbs. in a practice they’d have to sit the next one out. Plus, if they showed any signs signs of heat stroke (vomiting, blurred vision, etc.) the had to sit out at least one day, mandatory. We’d also force them to drink during practice and smother them in ice water-dipped towels suring all breaks whether they wanted us to or not. Plus, we’d measure the temp and humidity before every practice and advise the coach if things seemed a little dangerous. I thought that all these safety measures were standard. Guess not. It really was a terribly sad event, made all the worse by the fact that it was so preventable.
in his defense, stringer was a pro-bowler, not some out of shape rookie. It really was the admin. of Minnesota who fucked up here.
the saddest part of his passing is that he was truely a good guy.rest in peace Kory
did he already have a problem with his system that made him susceptible to heat stroke? and if he did, why didn’t the teams medicle staff diagnose this problem earlier.
On the Sringer subject it is the fault of many people. The fat % of lineman these days is getting a bit excesive. But so is the entire continental US, so what can you do. But as an Athletic Trainer and Exercise Physiologist, the entire Vikings administration shoud be beaten. It is horrifying that they ignored the tel tale signs of his dehydration, and didn’t provide adiquate fluids for the team. Secondly, it disgusts me that they let Sringer, who was hospitalized earlier in the week for dehydration, not just practice but never kept a close eye on him to ensure that he was in practice condition. Someone should have kept his history (though it was only a few days before) of dehydration in mind during practice this week, thats the bottom line. This could have easily been avoided.
In response to Ms.Bagget and the Korey Stringer tragedy. Im from Minnesota and am a devout Vikings fan and supporter. However, for a long time I have not supported coach Green. Aside from him not being able to coach and win the “Big” game(ie. 2 NFC championship losses, both quite an emabarrassment) he NEVER takes responsibility for his mistakes! This in my eyes is something that he and his staff have to finally take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for. I would be more understanding if this had happened at the High School level,but these are pros on a PROFESSIONAL team. They have the most resources available to them, they have the facilities, the best team doctors, the best coaches(supposedly), basically the best that money SHOULD buy! You cant tell me they didnt expect it to be that hot! For christ sakes they have the damn weather man there, Ken Barlow, telling them that the heat index is going to be 1oo plus degrees, and thats free info! With all the tools and resources you have today WHY would you have a 6’4 300 plus linemen out busting his ass on the first day or two of camp, common sense tells you that that doesnt add up to a healthy situation!But of course now we are talking about Dennis “The Menace” Green. And dont tell me that Korey wasnt telling anyone of his symptoms,he sat out the first day due to heat problems, and puked several times durring the morning the next day, and showed several other signs of heat exaustion that same day. You would have had to been an idiot not to have realized this. But of course we are talking about Dennis “Wasnt my fault” Green. I live in Los Angeles now, but lived in Minneapolis for all of my 30 years. We are notorious for extreme winters AND summers. The signs will always be there, you just have to open your eyes and look. Coaches have to be more responsible and educated these days, period point blank. I just hope that the Vikes can move on and succeed this year, and I hope that Korey can rest in peace knowing he died doing what he loved most. This must never be forgotten, and the thing that screws me up the most is that HE DIDNT HAVE TO DIE.
ApF.