Iowa guilty as charged, at least on Twitter
Recommend
comment(7)
email
print
Facebook
rss
Bears QB Jay Cutler, currently awaiting Twitter-trial for multiple charges, including not caring. For more NFL news, go to FOXSports.com's NFL page.
By BRUCE HOOLEY
FOXSportsOhio.com
Jan. 28, 2011
It’s been less than a week since the Twitterverse went postal over Jay Cutler missing most of the second half of the NFC Championship Game, and we’ve learned exactly nothing.
NFL players have pontificated about how it would have taken more than a sprained knee ligament to keep them on the sidelines.
TMZ is following Cutler while he walks (HOW DARE HE!) around a shopping mall in Southern California.
There is still time remaining before Cutler is finished in the rinse cycle of the social network universe, and the spin cycle is yet to come.
That’s where Cutler goes on air with his favorite reputation-restoring journalist – be it Jim Rome, Oprah, Piers Morgan or Charlie Rose – to tell us why he couldn’t play Sunday in Chicago and make us love him again.
Maybe Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will get there some day, too.
Perhaps he’ll be lucky enough once again to be known for coaching the Hawkeyes better than they’ve been coached in decades and consistently elevating them above the ceiling of the program’s talent, facilities and resources.
But right now, Kirk Ferentz is a long way from who he’s always been.
That’s because Ferentz has taken Cutler’s place as the new guy at the bottom of the instant-judgment washing machine.
Hold your breath, Kirk.
You won’t be allowed up for air quite yet.
First, we must vilify you for being on the road recruiting when 13 Iowa players came down with a mysterious kidney ailment after starting winter conditioning workouts.
Then we get to trash you as a barbaric cretin for allowing strength coaches to design such a demanding workout regimen.
And we need a few days to brand you as a coach who cares more about the players you’re recruiting than the ones on your roster because you didn’t return to Iowa City right away.
It doesn’t matter that:
— Iowa players have done this same workout in previous seasons without so much as one suffering an outbreak of rhabdomyolysis.
— Ample fluids were present at the time of the workouts to flush the body of toxins that cause the condition.
— Ferentz called his players from the road and was due back on campus Thursday (Jan. 27) night to visit with them personally.
We don’t want to know that. We don’t need to know that to assassinate Ferentz’s character and tarnish his reputation in 140 characters or less.
If Iowa had delivered on preseason expectations, had won the Big Ten and won a second straight BCS bowl, we would be too busy lauding Ferentz for once again doing more with less.
But the Hawkeyes lost five games this past year because their defense broke down in the fourth quarter and an anticipated trip to the Rose Bowl deteriorated into a berth in the Insight Bowl.
Between the end of the regular season and the win over Missouri, Iowa receiver Darrell Johnson-Koulianos was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana and operating a drug house.
He didn’t make the bowl trip, and neither did leading rusher Adam Robinson after he was arrested for marijuana possession while a passenger in a car that had no front license plates.
Losing, drugs and now this.
Kirk Ferentz must pay for all of it.
So let’s obTwitterate him.
It wouldn’t do to pause for some perspective, would it?
Admittedly, no one wants any hint of illegal drugs in any football program or on any college campus, but it’s foolish to assume this is solely an Iowa problem.
Prosecutors dropped all charges except marijuana possession against Johnson-Koulianos, for which he received a deferred judgment – basically nothing. Turns out, instead of being a pusher, he was instead just like thousands of other dumb college kids who smoke weed from time to time.
Robinson, whom Ferentz had already dropped from the bowl trip for academic issues, thinks his head coach is such a bad guy he’s begging to be given the chance to atone for his mistakes and earn his way back onto the team.
Clearly, Robinson must not have Internet access.
He must not know that Kirk Ferentz is an incompetent, uncaring, win-at-all-costs rock head.
Because those who’ve never played for him, coached with him, spoken to him or talked to anyone who has obviously know the real Kirk Ferentz.
They wouldn’t want to pay attention to Biff Poggi, whose son, Jim, is one of the hospitalized Iowa players.
The elder Poggi is a high school coach of note in Maryland. He knows how this works when players get three weeks off after a bowl game.
“I could tell you (Jim) didn’t do anything except eat a lot and lay around,†he said. And then (winter conditioning starts), and the first day back, it’s a lot of work.
“This type of rigorous workout is the same everywhere. I’ve sent kids, who have played for me, everywhere in the country. These kinds of workouts are what happens.â€
Of course they do, because strength coaches, particularly those whose teams have experienced disappointing seasons, want to set a tone the first week back. And the tone isn’t, “Now be careful, fellas. Don’t go too hard. You might strain something.â€
That’s not the real world of big-boy college football. That’s not how Robert Gallery showed up at Iowa as a 230-pound tight end and left as a 323-pound offensive tackle and No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.
You don’t make that transition by drinking protein shakes and doing push-ups. You do it by pushing your body to the point where it feels like it can’t be pushed any more, then pushing it well beyond.
Scores of Iowa three-star recruits have done it and now are cashing paychecks in the NFL. It’s how guys like Dallas Clark go from being walk-ons to being Pro Bowl players.
Ferentz was once the savant who saw professional ability where other coaches saw only collegiate backups, but now he’s just a callous, uncaring boob subjecting innocent kids to inhumane workouts en route to his $3.7 million annual salary.
Seriously?
What exactly was Ferentz supposed to say had he attended the news conference Iowa called on Wednesday? Everyone there was all but gagged by the federal statute that prohibits any disclosure of a person’s health information.
Would Ferentz have looked any better, would he have shown sufficient compassion had he sat there and no-commented through every question?
Sure, it would have been great to have some of Iowa’s strength coaches there to answer questions, but the university’s lawyers were never going to allow that.
They know a lawsuit is coming from some quarter over this, which is everyone’s right and privilege if anything untoward or unsafe occurred.
The absence worthy of criticism was that of Iowa athletic director Gary Barta. As the boss of the department, he should have been there to give an official response and promise no cover-up will take place. He shouldn’t have been off somewhere glad-handing alums at a fundraiser.
But sometimes, even though it stinks, the answers don’t come as fast as the questions.
It would be great if a root cause for the hospitalizations could be identified quickly, but that’s not reality and here’s why:
With players having three weeks off, it’s entirely possible some or all of those affected found their way to the latest hot supplement on the market. The mentality of, “Hey, if one is good, two’s gotta be better, right?†could have contributed to the outbreak.
We just don’t know, and we might not know until Iowa’s Board of Regents completes the 90-day inquiry it announced Thursday.
Ferentz will twist in the wind, a convenient target for criticism, until the probe is over.
But Biff Poggi, the guy who sent his son to play for Iowa, doesn’t need that long to exonerate the head coach.
“As a high school coach, I’ve sent over 80-some kids to play Division I football, and I do not trust anyone more than I trust Kirk Ferentz,†he said. “My son had the chance to go to Texas and Ohio State. They were the last (programs he considered). He came to Iowa because of the character of Kirk and his people. To me, that is rock solid.â€
Why doesn’t someone Tweet that?
Follow Bruce Hooley on Twitter @BHOOLZ
Tags: Big Ten football, Bruce Hooley
Recommend
Facebook rss
Bears QB Jay Cutler, currently awaiting Twitter-trial for multiple charges, including not caring. For more NFL news, go to FOXSports.com's NFL page.
By BRUCE HOOLEY
FOXSportsOhio.com
Jan. 28, 2011
It’s been less than a week since the Twitterverse went postal over Jay Cutler missing most of the second half of the NFC Championship Game, and we’ve learned exactly nothing.
NFL players have pontificated about how it would have taken more than a sprained knee ligament to keep them on the sidelines.
TMZ is following Cutler while he walks (HOW DARE HE!) around a shopping mall in Southern California.
There is still time remaining before Cutler is finished in the rinse cycle of the social network universe, and the spin cycle is yet to come.
That’s where Cutler goes on air with his favorite reputation-restoring journalist – be it Jim Rome, Oprah, Piers Morgan or Charlie Rose – to tell us why he couldn’t play Sunday in Chicago and make us love him again.
Maybe Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will get there some day, too.
Perhaps he’ll be lucky enough once again to be known for coaching the Hawkeyes better than they’ve been coached in decades and consistently elevating them above the ceiling of the program’s talent, facilities and resources.
But right now, Kirk Ferentz is a long way from who he’s always been.
That’s because Ferentz has taken Cutler’s place as the new guy at the bottom of the instant-judgment washing machine.
Hold your breath, Kirk.
You won’t be allowed up for air quite yet.
First, we must vilify you for being on the road recruiting when 13 Iowa players came down with a mysterious kidney ailment after starting winter conditioning workouts.
Then we get to trash you as a barbaric cretin for allowing strength coaches to design such a demanding workout regimen.
And we need a few days to brand you as a coach who cares more about the players you’re recruiting than the ones on your roster because you didn’t return to Iowa City right away.
It doesn’t matter that:
— Iowa players have done this same workout in previous seasons without so much as one suffering an outbreak of rhabdomyolysis.
— Ample fluids were present at the time of the workouts to flush the body of toxins that cause the condition.
— Ferentz called his players from the road and was due back on campus Thursday (Jan. 27) night to visit with them personally.
We don’t want to know that. We don’t need to know that to assassinate Ferentz’s character and tarnish his reputation in 140 characters or less.
If Iowa had delivered on preseason expectations, had won the Big Ten and won a second straight BCS bowl, we would be too busy lauding Ferentz for once again doing more with less.
But the Hawkeyes lost five games this past year because their defense broke down in the fourth quarter and an anticipated trip to the Rose Bowl deteriorated into a berth in the Insight Bowl.
Between the end of the regular season and the win over Missouri, Iowa receiver Darrell Johnson-Koulianos was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana and operating a drug house.
He didn’t make the bowl trip, and neither did leading rusher Adam Robinson after he was arrested for marijuana possession while a passenger in a car that had no front license plates.
Losing, drugs and now this.
Kirk Ferentz must pay for all of it.
So let’s obTwitterate him.
It wouldn’t do to pause for some perspective, would it?
Admittedly, no one wants any hint of illegal drugs in any football program or on any college campus, but it’s foolish to assume this is solely an Iowa problem.
Prosecutors dropped all charges except marijuana possession against Johnson-Koulianos, for which he received a deferred judgment – basically nothing. Turns out, instead of being a pusher, he was instead just like thousands of other dumb college kids who smoke weed from time to time.
Robinson, whom Ferentz had already dropped from the bowl trip for academic issues, thinks his head coach is such a bad guy he’s begging to be given the chance to atone for his mistakes and earn his way back onto the team.
Clearly, Robinson must not have Internet access.
He must not know that Kirk Ferentz is an incompetent, uncaring, win-at-all-costs rock head.
Because those who’ve never played for him, coached with him, spoken to him or talked to anyone who has obviously know the real Kirk Ferentz.
They wouldn’t want to pay attention to Biff Poggi, whose son, Jim, is one of the hospitalized Iowa players.
The elder Poggi is a high school coach of note in Maryland. He knows how this works when players get three weeks off after a bowl game.
“I could tell you (Jim) didn’t do anything except eat a lot and lay around,†he said. And then (winter conditioning starts), and the first day back, it’s a lot of work.
“This type of rigorous workout is the same everywhere. I’ve sent kids, who have played for me, everywhere in the country. These kinds of workouts are what happens.â€
Of course they do, because strength coaches, particularly those whose teams have experienced disappointing seasons, want to set a tone the first week back. And the tone isn’t, “Now be careful, fellas. Don’t go too hard. You might strain something.â€
That’s not the real world of big-boy college football. That’s not how Robert Gallery showed up at Iowa as a 230-pound tight end and left as a 323-pound offensive tackle and No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.
You don’t make that transition by drinking protein shakes and doing push-ups. You do it by pushing your body to the point where it feels like it can’t be pushed any more, then pushing it well beyond.
Scores of Iowa three-star recruits have done it and now are cashing paychecks in the NFL. It’s how guys like Dallas Clark go from being walk-ons to being Pro Bowl players.
Ferentz was once the savant who saw professional ability where other coaches saw only collegiate backups, but now he’s just a callous, uncaring boob subjecting innocent kids to inhumane workouts en route to his $3.7 million annual salary.
Seriously?
What exactly was Ferentz supposed to say had he attended the news conference Iowa called on Wednesday? Everyone there was all but gagged by the federal statute that prohibits any disclosure of a person’s health information.
Would Ferentz have looked any better, would he have shown sufficient compassion had he sat there and no-commented through every question?
Sure, it would have been great to have some of Iowa’s strength coaches there to answer questions, but the university’s lawyers were never going to allow that.
They know a lawsuit is coming from some quarter over this, which is everyone’s right and privilege if anything untoward or unsafe occurred.
The absence worthy of criticism was that of Iowa athletic director Gary Barta. As the boss of the department, he should have been there to give an official response and promise no cover-up will take place. He shouldn’t have been off somewhere glad-handing alums at a fundraiser.
But sometimes, even though it stinks, the answers don’t come as fast as the questions.
It would be great if a root cause for the hospitalizations could be identified quickly, but that’s not reality and here’s why:
With players having three weeks off, it’s entirely possible some or all of those affected found their way to the latest hot supplement on the market. The mentality of, “Hey, if one is good, two’s gotta be better, right?†could have contributed to the outbreak.
We just don’t know, and we might not know until Iowa’s Board of Regents completes the 90-day inquiry it announced Thursday.
Ferentz will twist in the wind, a convenient target for criticism, until the probe is over.
But Biff Poggi, the guy who sent his son to play for Iowa, doesn’t need that long to exonerate the head coach.
“As a high school coach, I’ve sent over 80-some kids to play Division I football, and I do not trust anyone more than I trust Kirk Ferentz,†he said. “My son had the chance to go to Texas and Ohio State. They were the last (programs he considered). He came to Iowa because of the character of Kirk and his people. To me, that is rock solid.â€
Why doesn’t someone Tweet that?
Follow Bruce Hooley on Twitter @BHOOLZ
Tags: Big Ten football, Bruce Hooley
