Joe Schad reporting.....

[tm3308]

At what point did we as a nation become this wuss-i-fied? I'm being serious, was it when the court ruled that dude at McDonalds or wherever that spilled their hot coffee all over themselves should get a bagillion dollars? It's d1 football people, its a workout seriously. Obviously they got pushed a little too far for their capacity on a given day in January 2011, that's the goal of the drill. Obviously the intent is not to put em in the hospital and have some kidney difficulties, but all the guys are fine and seriously it sounds like none of em were ever in danger. You read the sports columnists both state and national and you'd think we had the entire team close to death. The re-donk-u-lous overblowing of this situation is amazing to me. So where I work I have the unenviable position of working with a lot of former iowa state cyclone players, some of whom went on to the nfl, some were all conference big 12 athletes and some of them were just (not meant as a slight) starters for a year or two (huge accomplishment not knocking it). I was talking to one of them friday about this situation and he said though the workout in question sounds "ridiculous" (his words), that they at Iowa State had workouts that would beat them up severely. I asked him flat out, did you have any that put you in bed, unable to move hardly at all for like a whole weekend. He said, "Yes. Sure. A couple times a year." He went on to explain how they would have and he knows Iowa has workouts designed to speed up the process by which you can build muscle, and that starts by shocking your muscular and nervous system which his what this workout was designed to do. ESPN and others have completely overblown this because they have alot of financial reasons to enjoy any big name big ten team losing clout throughout the country. They financially benefit from trashing us, plain and simple. If this was at an SEC school it wouldn't even be reported, just like they don't talk about all the over-recruiting at all the SEC schools, just like Cam Newton is the greatest QB in the history of the world, and a model athlete for how he handled everything this year. Give me a break ESPN, and give me a break everybody that's piling on.

I don't agree with this. The goal is not to push them beyond their capabilities (which happened last week, whether there were other factors or not).

Pat Angerer summed up what is supposed to happen very well when he said that Doyle never pushed him beyond his means. He was just pushed past where he could have gone by himself. THAT'S the goal of any workout that Doyle puts the players through. And there's a big difference between that and pushing them past what they're capable of.

 

[EddyP]

 

[smhawk]

Was Iowa accountable for the medical expenses?

But OT to last post,

The mcdonalds case of spilled coffee...
The lady that had the coffee spilled had to get skin surgery on her lady area. McD's kept their coffee on average 30 degrees hotter than what other restuarants keep it at. They had complaints before but their explanation was that they served customers who had planned to drink it through out their workday, so by the time someone would drink it, it would have cooled.

The lawyers who took the case wanted this case to lead to something such as lowering the temp to what it is today, they sued for the revenue ammount mcd's make nationaly on one day from selling coffee.

 

[sdjones]

If it's on twitter, it must be true.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Was Iowa accountable for the medical expenses?

But OT to last post,

The mcdonalds case of spilled coffee...
The lady that had the coffee spilled had to get skin surgery on her lady area. McD's kept their coffee on average 30 degrees hotter than what other restuarants keep it at. They had complaints before but their explanation was that they served customers who had planned to drink it through out their workday, so by the time someone would drink it, it would have cooled.

The lawyers who took the case wanted this case to lead to something such as lowering the temp to what it is today, they sued for the revenue ammount mcd's make nationaly on one day from selling coffee.

Lady area? Really? Which "lady area" are we talking about? There are a couple points of interest here.

 

[JoeHawki]

I am sure iowa covered the medical costs. If these guys all recover without permanant damage there is no basis for a lawsuit. None of them work for a living, they go to school, and have their education paid for by iowa. Where is the basis for a loss to these guys? None what so ever.

 

[smhawk]

Lady area? Really? Which "lady area" are we talking about? There are a couple points of interest here.

Lower lady area.

Wonder if that effected any sensitivity functionality...

 

[dmShortSaledude]

I cannot see any player filing a lawsuit. They wouldn't be on the team for very long, that is for sure. They would get Wegherized... And I cannot see any attorney, in Iowa, that would file a lawsuit. It would cost their personal lives waaay too much. Doesn't mean some right-wing group from Indiana wouldn't invade our courts tho...

 

[SuperNovaHawk]

Unsolicited contact by a lawyer in circumstances like this is only lawful in Iowa if in writing and not in-person, live on the phone, or in real-time electronic contact. The letters must be kept and filed with the Disciplinary Board with an affidavit about the accuracy, etc. Plus, there are disclosures required in the letter. Jon, I tweeted Schad to see if he could confirm whether he is able to discern whether the lawyer contact he is spouting about was legal or not.. or if he even bothered to ask that point when talking to the parent.

 

[coralville]

trial lawyers = scum of earth. There is just something terribly wrong with most of these guys

 

[Raziel]

Well, we'll know soon if legal action will be taken or not.

I'd assume that if legal action were to be pursued, the parents in question would have to have their child transfer....otherwise I would guess it would hurt their case if they left their child in the care of KF/Doyle for further years. Why would you leave your child in the care of someone who you believe is negligent? If no transfers are announced in the next couple of months, it would stand to reason that there probably won't be a lawsuit, wouldn't it?

 

[kirby]

In other related news: the pope is catholic.

Seriously, it was just a matter of time until this happened. There will also likely be transfers/releases.

 

[hawkjunkie]

Unsolicited contact by a lawyer in circumstances like this is only lawful in Iowa if in writing and not in-person, live on the phone, or in real-time electronic contact. The letters must be kept and filed with the Disciplinary Board with an affidavit about the accuracy, etc. Plus, there are disclosures required in the letter. Jon, I tweeted Schad to see if he could confirm whether he is able to discern whether the lawyer contact he is spouting about was legal or not.. or if he even bothered to ask that point when talking to the parent.

This is fact Nova? If so very Interesting. Looks like Tom Miller better get to work!

He will have a lawsuit, before the lawsuit...

 

[imported_ankle23]

Unsolicited contact by a lawyer in circumstances like this is only lawful in Iowa if in writing and not in-person, live on the phone, or in real-time electronic contact. The letters must be kept and filed with the Disciplinary Board with an affidavit about the accuracy, etc. Plus, there are disclosures required in the letter. Jon, I tweeted Schad to see if he could confirm whether he is able to discern whether the lawyer contact he is spouting about was legal or not.. or if he even bothered to ask that point when talking to the parent.

i agree - this is the 1st thing i thought of - attorneys (at least in iowa) can't solicit. now they can easily get around that, but they themselves can not solicit.

 

[BaryGarta]

I think everyone is missing a key point from the standpoint of the potential plaintiffs. If you have never been deposed it is a miserable process. Not only will everything the theoretical plaintiffs ate and/ or more interestingly drank have to become part of public record, but they will be grilled about their activities during the winter break and what they did leading up to the day of the workout. This would include alcohol ingestion, supplements, or anything else both licit and illicit, they put into their body that may have not been on the list of approved items from the NCAA and The University of Iowa. In other words, if they aren't squeaky clean, they will have a difficult time prevailing. Especially when the U of I could parade over 100 current and former athletes who went through the same workouts without consequences greater than a very tired and sore body. Now if they are squeaky clean then remit the testimony to the courts and let the chips fall where they may. People who think a lawsuit is a quick ticket to easy street (outside the state of Alabama) are often very disappointed. Just my $0.02.

 

[IH8IAST8]

I think everyone is missing a key point from the standpoint of the potential plaintiffs. If you have never been deposed it is a miserable process. Not only will everything the theoretical plaintiffs ate and/ or more interestingly drank have to become part of public record, but they will be grilled about their activities during the winter break and what they did leading up to the day of the workout. This would include alcohol ingestion, supplements, or anything else both licit and illicit, they put into their body that may have not been on the list of approved items from the NCAA and The University of Iowa. In other words, if they aren't squeaky clean, they will have a difficult time prevailing. Especially when the U of I could parade over 100 current and former athletes who went through the same workouts without consequences greater than a very tired and sore body. Now if they are squeaky clean then remit the testimony to the courts and let the chips fall where they may. People who think a lawsuit is a quick ticket to easy street (outside the state of Alabama) are often very disappointed. Just my $0.02.

Not to mention the fact that it was a voluntary workout.

 

[SuperNovaHawk]

That is the law in Iowa. It varies from state to state.. Illinois I know allows for more aggressive solicitation. Again, I don't doubt there are ways lawyers try and get around it but I would be VERY interested to know if the lawyers in question went about things in the appropriate manner.. my main issue is I want to know if Schad even investigated the damn rule or if he even asked the parents that question. It just seems like poor investigation that he wouldn't look into the legal implications behind the stuff he writes.

 

[tweeterhawk]

Threatening to sue or suing in this instance is all about getting settlement money, not necessarily determining what's right or wrong under the law. No way will one of these cases -- if filed -- ever go to court.

 

[Billso]

Was Iowa accountable for the medical expenses?

But OT to last post,

The mcdonalds case of spilled coffee...
The lady that had the coffee spilled had to get skin surgery on her lady area. McD's kept their coffee on average 30 degrees hotter than what other restuarants keep it at. They had complaints before but their explanation was that they served customers who had planned to drink it through out their workday, so by the time someone would drink it, it would have cooled.

The lawyers who took the case wanted this case to lead to something such as lowering the temp to what it is today, they sued for the revenue ammount mcd's make nationaly on one day from selling coffee.

Also, she didn't spill the coffee, it melted through the bottom of the cup and she suffered 3rd-degree burns. And the initial large award (which made all the papers) was dramatically reduced by the judge (which didn't).

The McDonald's case is actually one where the system worked well.

And by the way, Joe Hazelwood wasn't drunk when the Exxon Valdez went aground, he wasn't even at the helm.

There is a LOT of mythology in pop culture. Question what you hear, always.

 

[BaryGarta]

That is the law in Iowa. It varies from state to state.. Illinois I know allows for more aggressive solicitation. Again, I don't doubt there are ways lawyers try and get around it but I would be VERY interested to know if the lawyers in question went about things in the appropriate manner.. my main issue is I want to know if Schad even investigated the damn rule or if he even asked the parents that question. It just seems like poor investigation that he wouldn't look into the legal implications behind the stuff he writes.

I created a post in another thread about the Joel Schad type angle. These writers are not acting necessarily in a journalistic capacity but rather in an opinion/ editorial capacity. In 2011 that is generally what passes for journalism. See MSNBC versus Fox News. Now I am not commenting on either station here, but one has a conservative view point and one has a liberal view point. Whatever drives eyeballs is what they are worried about.

True journalism is dead right now. Soon I predict that a new publication will arise without advertising or editorials which will allow journalists to simply address who, what, where, when, why, and how. I hope it succeeds. Used to be the Christian Science Monitor but even that paper has been skewed by the need for advertising.