This is over a week old...

[SheagleHawk]

...but did anyone read this? At times it's almost comical.

Iowa Hawkeyes Football: Hospitals, Drugs and Dark Days in the Corn Belt | Bleacher Report

 

[jameskalina]

So, in the case of Wegher, he left for "personal reasons", and as Symmonds said, it's none of the fans business!

But in the case of the 13 hospitalized players, it's suppose to be everybody's business!

It's stuff like this that really riles me.

Here's what I've been told by several people. Wegher left the team because he got two women pregnant; his girl friend and another woman. If this is not the case someone please correct me.

No matter what his "personal reasons" are, Wehger is responsible for his actions.

Not so much for the hospitalized players. They were taking care of business by training but became ill.

I believe Wehger is running from his problems and in doing so the Iowa football program becomes the scapegoat.

 

[MNHawkeyeFreak]

Was this written by someone in high school? It was idiotic.

 

[edr247]

You guys do realize it's Bleacher Report, right?

Anyway, in the comments, the author states that the issues (minus transfers) warrant questions. To be fair, he is right. DJK and Robinson were likely isolated cases, but KF and Barta didn't exactly quell rumors of wider drug use, when they admitted that the drug testing at Iowa, while rigorous, was possibly flawed. And too be honest, while Wegher's transfer wasn't unexpected, Hampton's was, seeing as he hadn't been talked about much during the season, and didn't seem to be in trouble. That both transferred out within a week of the whole drug issue didn't help.

And then of course we were barely a week or two out from a bowl game (thankfully, it was a win), and we were hit with Rhabdo-gate. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it's highly likely that this was due to simple exertion, and was merely an accident. One or two guys presented with symptoms, went to the trainers, who then went back and had the rest checked out. Having 13 players hospitalized for 3-6 days is strange, but NOT unprecedented. Is it possible that there were other, perhaps sinister causes for this? Well...yeah, it's possible, but we have no evidence for that yet, so perhaps the simpler explanation would be the best to stick with?

That being said, the whole thing was poorly handled by the Iowa PR folks. First, they should have told Kirk and Barta to get back to Iowa City (or I suppose in KF's case, stay in Iowa City). Then, if they were going to hold a conference, have KF say more or less exactly what he said in his later presser. OR they could have had an initial statement saying that Kirk and his staff, along with the AD would be talking to the S&C coaches and the players, and would hold a presser soon when they knew more about what happened.

I do believe that these are all isolated cases, but you have to admit...when all of it happens within the span of a month, and after a disappointing season, questions about whether the coaches are running the team properly will be asked. What I want to know, however, is are the coaches going to learn from this? How about the athletic department and their PR crew?