 Marc MorehouseHi, I'm Marc Morehouse. I've covered sports for more than 15 years, mostly in Eastern Iowa. I've had Hayden Fry [...] |
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UI: All 13 players released for UIHC (Ferentz, Barta statements)
Iowa defensive back Amari Spievey (19) hugs Head Coach Kirk Ferentz following their Orange Bowl victory over Georgia Tech Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010 at Land Shark Stadium in Miami, FL. Ferentz and Iowa athletics director Gary Barta released a statement Sunday night that said all 13 Iowa players who were hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis had been released from UIHC. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — After nearly a week, all 13 University of Iowa football players who had been hospitalized with symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, a muscular syndrome, have been released from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
The news was announced in a Sunday night release that also included statements from head football coach Kirk Ferentz and UI athletics director Gary Barta.
Their statements were the strongest yet since the UI revealed last Tuesday that the players were in the hospital because of a workout-related illness.
“Getting all 13 student-athletes healthy and out of the hospital has been priority number one all along, so I’m very happy that they all are now back home and resuming their lives,” Ferentz said.
“These young men and their families have been through a difficult and trying time. They are under my supervision and watch, and I am truly sorry for what they’ve experienced. They trained extremely hard and ended up in the hospital, and there is no indication they did anything wrong. So, I’m pleased they are progressing well and I look forward to seeing all of them being back to normal.”
Five players have been identified — senior defensive backs Jordan Bernstine, Willie Lowe and Tom Donatell, sophomore linebacker Shane DiBona and freshman linebacker Jim Poggi.
Iowa players began their on winter workouts on Jan. 20 with a workload that included a timed 100 squats drill with a certain percentage of maximum weight and then 20-yard sled pushes. The next day was an upper body workout. After a weekend off, workouts continued Monday with, according to Biff Poggi, Jim’s dad, some leaping drills.
The UI released last Tuesday that 12 players were in the UIHC. The Gazette reported that night that players showed symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, a muscle injury syndrome that stresses the kidneys. The UI acknowledged that during a news conference last Wednesday.
In a joint release last Thursday, the Iowa Board of Regents and UI president Sally Mason announced that a 90-day investigation had already been launched on what landed the 13 players in the hospital.
In a Friday statements, the UI said five players were released Friday. According to Sunday’s release, six more were discharged on Saturday with the final two released Sunday.
The rhabdomyolysis outbreak and the silence of Ferentz and Barta drew a barrage of criticism from national media outlets this week, including ESPN.com and CBSSports.com. Ferentz was accused of not caring about his players. Iowa had its accountability challenged.
Sunday’s statement from Ferentz and Barta included a bit of a rebuke.
“Now that these students are out of the hospital and on the road to recovery, we can devote our full attention to determining what happened, and making sure it does not happen again,” Ferentz said. “There has been a lot of speculation by those who don’t have the facts and it is unfair and inappropriate for anyone to make wild guesses about what happened.”
Last Wednesday’s news conference included director of football operations Paul Federici, Dr. John Stokes, an internist at UIHC who wasn’t directly involved with the athletes, and Biff Poggi, who gave a parent’s perspective.
What Ferentz and Barta were told about the illnesses is unknown. Barta was in Florida for a UI fundraiser. Ferentz was on a recruiting trip through Ohio. The logistics of their travel are unknown. Federici said Ferentz would be back in town Wednesday night. Barta was back Thursday.
“We obviously are extremely pleased all of our student-athletes have been released from the hospital and can begin the return to their academic, athletic, and personal lives,” Barta said. ”We now can focus exclusively on discovering the root cause of this situation, and I’m anxious to work with President Mason’s group to this end.
“We will review every aspect of the workouts and talk with everyone involved. The staff and coaches who work with these young men are highly respected professionals who are dedicated and care deeply about our student-athletes. I hope those who follow our program will respect this process moving forward and refrain from any further unproductive rush to judgment.”
ALL 13 UNIVERSITY OF IOWA STUDENT-ATHLETES RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL
IOWA CITY, Iowa — All 13 of the University of Iowa football players who had been hospitalized with symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, a muscular syndrome, have been released from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
“Getting all 13 student-athletes healthy and out of the hospital has been priority number one all along, so I’m very happy that they all are now back home and resuming their lives,” said Kirk Ferentz, the UI’s head football coach.
“These young men and their families have been through a difficult and trying time. They are under my supervision and watch, and I am truly sorry for what they’ve experienced. They trained extremely hard and ended up in the hospital, and there is no indication they did anything wrong. So I’m pleased they are progressing well and I look forward to seeing all of them being back to normal.”
The University’s athletics department earlier had confirmed the release of five student-athletes Friday. Six more were discharged on Saturday, and the final two were sent home on Sunday.
“Now that these students are out of the hospital and on the road to recovery, we can devote our full attention to determining what happened, and making sure it does not happen again,” said Ferentz. “There has been a lot of speculation by those who don’t have the facts and it is unfair and inappropriate for anyone to make wild guesses about what happened.”
“We obviously are extremely pleased all of our student-athletes have been released from the hospital and can begin the return to their academic, athletic, and personal lives,” said Gary Barta, the UI’s director of athletics.
“We now can focus exclusively on discovering the root cause of this situation, and I’m anxious to work with President Mason’s group to this end. We will review every aspect of the workouts and talk with everyone involved. The staff and coaches who work with these young men are highly respected professionals who are dedicated and care deeply about our student-athletes. I hope those who follow our program will respect this process moving forward and refrain from any further unproductive rush to judgment.”
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This is good news.
Yes, good news. It’s to bad we in CR had so much “sky is falling” reporting on this. I think the Des Moines Register did a better job … good articles in todays paper.
Its terrific…..we have been praying diligently for the all week. I hope they can trace a trigger and learn from it for sure. I’m also sad to see the amount of vitriol and rush to judgment in our own fan base and nationally.
Chad
Good to hear. Hopefully now this story will disappear in the wake of signing day, and all players can resume their careers.
I know I’m late to the party, but I’ve got a comment or two about all the national pundits and their two cents on this ordeal. These guys are paid to make comments like this. I don’t think its piling on or any vendetta they have against Iowa or Ferentz, its just what they do. They’ll do it to the next program that has some ‘scandal’. Its about getting readers. I don’t like it but its how it works. The problem I have is when these media outbursts trigger those in charge to do something stupid. Like firing or publicly reprimanding people just to look good or save face in the media/public eye. We shouldn’t care what jokers like Forde and the like think; and hopefully neither do Barta or Mason.
I can respect your viewpoint Garth that the pundits and self-proclaimed “experts” have a job to do and that is to write a story that gets readers. That out of the way, I am a firm believer that if you are a true journalist you can write about a story without throwing your personal opinion and/or bias in. There needs to be some education about what the role of a news story is versus the intention of a blog.
Blogs are not unbiased reporting. They are laced with opinion from the blogger as well as the commenters. This is not a bad thing but it must be understood. If you get your news (and unabridged facts) from these sources you are truly doing yourself an disservice unless you also seek out news stories to fill in the gaps in the story. If you want to debate an issue, then a blog is a wonderful tool to do that. Just make sure you have all your facts before you begin commenting on a blog lest you open your mouth and insert your foot.
I would also hope that Barta and the powers that be will not be influenced by outside forces in this matter. I also feel compelled to reiterate my utmost confidence in Ferentz and the staff (including the strength coaches). While I don’t know them personally, they have earned the benefit of the doubt in my mind and I am sure they will figure out the problem. I can guarantee that Ferentz does not want this to ever happen again.
Good points. What I hear you saying is that as a reader one must decipher if they are reading fact or opinion. And I realize sometimes that’s difficult.
I think its even predates blogs though, as newspapers have had reporters and columnists even before the internet boom, the later being the ones who are paid to share their opinions. Those lines do seem to be more blurred. It almost feels like the only articles you can read that are purely fact are the ones put out by the AP, and those are often bland and boring.
I agree with your sentiment on the lines being blurred. It is unfortunate that what was once the opinion page has spilled over to the front page although I understand the role of columnists as well. Alas, the internet has caused a lot of these problems as there is no true “front page”.
I think you struck on the most important component as to why columnists and pundits get the attention they do. The bland and boring AP articles just don’t get readers. Ratings, site hits, Q scores and such are all that really matter in TV and internet news.
The other lament I would have is that true investigative journalism has given way to sound bytes. I should know about this, I used to work in television broadcasting. Murrow would be rolling over in his grave if he could see what little news we actually get these days. I sound like an old man don’t I? Sheesh! Time for me to get off my soap box and quit waxing poetically about the bygone days (in fact I am not even old enough to have watched the news that far back; I’m only 37).