College Football 2010: So it begins

[Tuberski]

I wasn't actually going for anything, just being a smartass.

ACK!

[Solomwi]

That's what I meant.

[SlowwHand]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton will skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft after leading Auburn to a national championship and drawing nearly as much attention for a pay-for-play scandal as for his dynamic performances.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/news/story?id=6019964

For him, I think it's the thing to do.

[rah]

Yeah, especially when a few years from now they strip Auburn of the national championship because of additional evidence that they find, it will be one less year's record to remove.

[SlowwHand]

Exactly. Get out while the getting's good.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, you win the Heisman and National Championship, so why stay when you are already at the top? Add to that the scandel and its a no brainer.

[Tupac Shakur]

It would be appropriate if he ended up with the Seahawks.

[Guynemer]

Indeed.

[Lord Avalon]

While I was not so excited about U-M hiring Brady Hoke, at least he has gotten Greg Mattison to leave the Ravens and return to U-M as DC, about which I feel much better.

I don't know how much improvement will happen in the first year (just being average would be quite an improvement), but I hope in a couple years we'll have a tough D.

[Tupac Shakur]

I hope in a couple years we'll have a tough D.

Hopefully just in time to cover for an awful offense.

[Guynemer]

Be honest, Drake: how well do you think the Huskers will do in the inaugural year of the Legends Division?

[Al B. Sure!]

At Iowa, they try to kill their players... 12 players hospitalized.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigten/2011-01-25-iowa-football-players-hospitalized_N.htm

Two members of the Iowa football team indicated they underwent exceptionally strenuous workouts, days before they and 10 teammates were hospitalized.

The university indicated Tuesday that all of the players are out of immediate medical danger but confirmed the need for treatment was "likely related" to offseason drills.

The text from Fiedorowicz and a short-hand message on Poggi's Facebook page — "in the hospital ... turns out its bad news bears wen ur wizz is brown" — raised medical questions and concerns.

One possible explanation for the problem — given the acknowledgement that the problems related to offseason conditioning — is that the players could have developed myoglobinuria, a condition caused by muscle breakdown resulting from reasons that include excessive, strenuous workouts.

Myoglobinuria, according to the website eMedicine.com, occurs when muscles begin to break down and Myoglobin, a dark red protein, seeps into the urine.

Physicians are trained to respond to the condition by initiating aggressive hydration to prevent acute kidney injury.

Looks like a case of exercise-induced Rhabdomyolysis. Word is they were doing a set of 100 timed squats at 240lbs and then a 100 yard sled drag at an undisclosed weight.

100 straight squats at any weight


Former Eagles and Chiefs O-lineman John Welbourn explains (he has nothing to do with the Iowa program but I saw an article he wrote about it)

Just to provide some background for those who were not involved in college football, the end of January is the beginning of winter conditioning. School began two weeks ago and this is the first week of team organized training. Most players are expected to lift and run during their winter break and are asked to show up in shape. The first week of conditioning is more a test to see who worked out and wanted to improve upon last year’s 8-2 season.

Knowing all this, what was the major breakdown?

Did the coaches safely ramp up volume?

During the first week of training were these athletes prepared for this volume of work?

Had they prepared their athletes for a workout consisting of 100 back squats at 240 lbs and a 100 yard sled drag done as quick as possible?

I guess not, as rhabo usually follows a dramatic increase in volume.

Maybe many of these young athletes did not train during their winter break. They might have shown up to conditioning out of shape, and their football coaches and strength coaches wanted to give them a gut check workout; find out who was training and whom they can depend on. So they programmed something they felt “should” be doable for an 18-22 year old Division One collegiate football player who had been training since high school and had followed the Christmas break training program. (Just for reference, every strength coach I have ever had from college and NFL, provided every athlete program to follow when they were away from the facility.)

The problem is, these athletes might not have been ready to handle this workload and the coaches should have realized it. Many times as a coach you design something that looks great on paper only to change it dramatically once the workout starts.

[Al B. Sure!]

Oh and if you're not familiar with rhabdomyolysis, here's the physical causes:

Recognized physical causes for rhabdomyolysis:[1]
Traumatic compression of muscles: crush syndrome (e.g., in earthquakes), car accident, confinement in a fixed position (e.g. after a stroke, due to drunkenness or in prolonged surgery), physical torture or abuse

Obstruction of blood supply to muscles: arterial thrombosis (blood clots forming locally) or embolism (clots or other debris from elsewhere in the body), clamping of an artery during surgery, generally reduced blood supply in shock or sepsis (due to any cause)

Excessive muscle strain or activity: extreme physical exercise (particularly when poorly hydrated), delirium tremens (alcohol withdrawal), tetanus, prolonged seizures or status epilepticus

Electrical: lightning, high-voltage electric shock, including electroshock weapon injuries[5]

[Tupac Shakur]

Sounds like they were doing some retarded Crossfit-like training...

[MRT144]

They shoulda had whey drips.