Post by steveaztec on Sept 25, 2009 19:57:20 GMT -8
I wonder what type of comments would have been brought up about this article if Chuck Long had been the head coach when this happened........compared to what is being said about Brady Hoke in this issue......Hmmm....
Here is the thread from Aztectalk on this issue. I have a feeling (correct me if I'm wrong), that the thread link I provide below would have been much more vile and accusatory of Chuck Long, than it has been for Brady Hoke......Why?
www.aztectalk.com/index.php?topic=1710.0
___________________________________________________
The link above is the comments from Aztectalk. Here is the actual article with the link....
www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/25/sdsu-linemans-dad-hopes-near-tragedy-wake-call/?sports/aztecs&zIndex=171861
SDSU lineman's dad hopes near-tragedy is wake-up call
By Brent Schrotenboer
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. September 25, 2009
Because of his sickle cell condition, the Aztecs' Eric Ikonne collapsed during a spring workout. (SDSU photo) - San Diego State junior defensive lineman Eric Ikonne might never play football again, but it could have been much more tragic for him and the university.
He could have died and almost did in the spring when he collapsed during a football workout on campus.
“I'm lucky to still have my son,” said Ikonne's father, Bernard. “I just hope the school learns from this because this could have been worse.”
Ikonne, 21, who started two games last year for the Aztecs, spent a week in the hospital in April after collapsing because of overexertion. He is on medical leave from the team this season because of leg muscle and nerve problems stemming from his collapse. Asked if he would play football again, head coach Brady Hoke said, “I'm not sure about that.”
Even if he does, Ikonne's father still hopes SDSU and other schools at least will take better precautions with athletes who have sickle cell trait, a genetic condition shared by Ikonne and 1 in 12 African-Americans.
Ikonne's breakdown showed the classic emergency symptoms of “exertional sickling,” the leading cause of death in college football this decade. It's what can happen when an athlete with the trait overexerts himself and doesn't take precautions to avoid a collapse. In Ikonne's case, the coaching staff wasn't aware of Ikonne's condition, Hoke said. If they had been, it's likely Ikonne would be playing this year.
“It was all totally avoidable,” Ikonne's father said. “I hope this will be an eye-opener.”
Coaches generally take their directions from medical staff in matters concerning players' health. Hoke and SDSU Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel previously referred questions about it to SDSU medical staff. However, SDSU medical staff didn't respond to several requests made through a spokesman this week to interview them about SDSU's general precautionary standards for athletes with the trait.
Ikonne declined an interview request through an SDSU spokesman. His father said his son probably doesn't want to talk about it. “He gets very angry watching people play, and he's not playing,” he said.
On June 29, the NCAA sent out a release recommending its member schools test student-athletes to confirm their sickle cell trait status if that information is not already known.
Ikonne's family previously knew he inherited the trait from his mother. It is screened for at birth in the United States. It is a generally benign condition — not to be confused with sickle cell anemia — that many people, including pro athletes, carry without incident throughout life. It's a matter of being aware of it. If not, death can result after overexertion.
At least seven deaths in college football have been linked to the trait this decade. A year before Ikonne collapsed, Central Florida player Ereck Plancher died after a football workout. An autopsy showed that the stress of the workout triggered Plancher's sickle cell trait. His family is suing the university. Other deaths related to the trait include Florida State's Devaughn Darling in 2001 and Rice University's Dale Lloyd II, who lost consciousness and died after a football workout in 2006. Lloyd's family sued Rice and the NCAA, leading to a settlement that includes the NCAA recommending testing for the trait.
“Athletes with sickle cell trait cannot be conditioned out of the trait and coaches pushing these athletes beyond their normal physiological response to stop and recover place these athletes at an increased risk for collapse,” the NCAA's sports medicine handbook says.
Many teams keep lists of athletes who have the trait. The NCAA handbook recommends not pushing these athletes to perform “all-out exertion of any kind beyond two or three minutes without a breather.”
All known related college football deaths happened in workouts, not team practices or games. Such workouts often are much more physically intense with less down time.
When overexerted, athletes with the trait have red blood cells that change from round to a C-shaped or sickle-shaped cell. This can lead to a logjam in blood vessels, triggering collapse from blood-starved muscles. The sickle gene is common in people originating from areas where malaria is widespread because it can help defend against the disease. Ikonne's family is from Nigeria.
After the workout, Ikonne developed kidney trouble and rhabdomyolysis — the rapid breakdown of muscle tissue starved of blood. “Exertional rhabdomyolysis can be life-threatening,” the NCAA handbook says.
The handbook notes that the U.S. Armed Forces also linked the trait to sudden unexplained deaths during basic training. Recruits with the trait were about 30 times more likely to die than other recruits, according to the handbook.
Ikonne, who played at 6-feet and 250 pounds last season, had trouble walking and driving for a while after being released from the hospital. He returned home to Texas a few months ago and wasn't able to drive but he has regained better sensitivity in his lower limbs and now can drive. Therapists have said his nerves were “sleeping but not dead,” according to the father. He said his son has progressed better than expected and still hopes to play football again.
The father wants the NCAA and school to develop better awareness and vigilance.
“Ask or find out, so nobody has to lose their child,” he said.
Here is the thread from Aztectalk on this issue. I have a feeling (correct me if I'm wrong), that the thread link I provide below would have been much more vile and accusatory of Chuck Long, than it has been for Brady Hoke......Why?
www.aztectalk.com/index.php?topic=1710.0
___________________________________________________
The link above is the comments from Aztectalk. Here is the actual article with the link....
www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/25/sdsu-linemans-dad-hopes-near-tragedy-wake-call/?sports/aztecs&zIndex=171861
SDSU lineman's dad hopes near-tragedy is wake-up call
By Brent Schrotenboer
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. September 25, 2009
Because of his sickle cell condition, the Aztecs' Eric Ikonne collapsed during a spring workout. (SDSU photo) - San Diego State junior defensive lineman Eric Ikonne might never play football again, but it could have been much more tragic for him and the university.
He could have died and almost did in the spring when he collapsed during a football workout on campus.
“I'm lucky to still have my son,” said Ikonne's father, Bernard. “I just hope the school learns from this because this could have been worse.”
Ikonne, 21, who started two games last year for the Aztecs, spent a week in the hospital in April after collapsing because of overexertion. He is on medical leave from the team this season because of leg muscle and nerve problems stemming from his collapse. Asked if he would play football again, head coach Brady Hoke said, “I'm not sure about that.”
Even if he does, Ikonne's father still hopes SDSU and other schools at least will take better precautions with athletes who have sickle cell trait, a genetic condition shared by Ikonne and 1 in 12 African-Americans.
Ikonne's breakdown showed the classic emergency symptoms of “exertional sickling,” the leading cause of death in college football this decade. It's what can happen when an athlete with the trait overexerts himself and doesn't take precautions to avoid a collapse. In Ikonne's case, the coaching staff wasn't aware of Ikonne's condition, Hoke said. If they had been, it's likely Ikonne would be playing this year.
“It was all totally avoidable,” Ikonne's father said. “I hope this will be an eye-opener.”
Coaches generally take their directions from medical staff in matters concerning players' health. Hoke and SDSU Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel previously referred questions about it to SDSU medical staff. However, SDSU medical staff didn't respond to several requests made through a spokesman this week to interview them about SDSU's general precautionary standards for athletes with the trait.
Ikonne declined an interview request through an SDSU spokesman. His father said his son probably doesn't want to talk about it. “He gets very angry watching people play, and he's not playing,” he said.
On June 29, the NCAA sent out a release recommending its member schools test student-athletes to confirm their sickle cell trait status if that information is not already known.
Ikonne's family previously knew he inherited the trait from his mother. It is screened for at birth in the United States. It is a generally benign condition — not to be confused with sickle cell anemia — that many people, including pro athletes, carry without incident throughout life. It's a matter of being aware of it. If not, death can result after overexertion.
At least seven deaths in college football have been linked to the trait this decade. A year before Ikonne collapsed, Central Florida player Ereck Plancher died after a football workout. An autopsy showed that the stress of the workout triggered Plancher's sickle cell trait. His family is suing the university. Other deaths related to the trait include Florida State's Devaughn Darling in 2001 and Rice University's Dale Lloyd II, who lost consciousness and died after a football workout in 2006. Lloyd's family sued Rice and the NCAA, leading to a settlement that includes the NCAA recommending testing for the trait.
“Athletes with sickle cell trait cannot be conditioned out of the trait and coaches pushing these athletes beyond their normal physiological response to stop and recover place these athletes at an increased risk for collapse,” the NCAA's sports medicine handbook says.
Many teams keep lists of athletes who have the trait. The NCAA handbook recommends not pushing these athletes to perform “all-out exertion of any kind beyond two or three minutes without a breather.”
All known related college football deaths happened in workouts, not team practices or games. Such workouts often are much more physically intense with less down time.
When overexerted, athletes with the trait have red blood cells that change from round to a C-shaped or sickle-shaped cell. This can lead to a logjam in blood vessels, triggering collapse from blood-starved muscles. The sickle gene is common in people originating from areas where malaria is widespread because it can help defend against the disease. Ikonne's family is from Nigeria.
After the workout, Ikonne developed kidney trouble and rhabdomyolysis — the rapid breakdown of muscle tissue starved of blood. “Exertional rhabdomyolysis can be life-threatening,” the NCAA handbook says.
The handbook notes that the U.S. Armed Forces also linked the trait to sudden unexplained deaths during basic training. Recruits with the trait were about 30 times more likely to die than other recruits, according to the handbook.
Ikonne, who played at 6-feet and 250 pounds last season, had trouble walking and driving for a while after being released from the hospital. He returned home to Texas a few months ago and wasn't able to drive but he has regained better sensitivity in his lower limbs and now can drive. Therapists have said his nerves were “sleeping but not dead,” according to the father. He said his son has progressed better than expected and still hopes to play football again.
The father wants the NCAA and school to develop better awareness and vigilance.
“Ask or find out, so nobody has to lose their child,” he said.
