Great GoAUpher blog on media's reaction to Coach Kill's seizures

Donate To GopherHole
Grant said:
There are some jobs and duties that really can't be performed by a person who often has seizures (especially if they are brought on by job duties), right? The question is if football coach is one of them. I think we will find out in the next 12 months that this disorder just doesn't allow Kill to remain head coach at Minnesota. It really sucks but I am afraid it is heading in that direction.
Click to expand...

Why would anyone be surpised that Jerry Kill had a seizure again? He has Epilepsy and he is going to have another episode during a game again, so what!

This Souhan column and the reaction by some fans is sickening. The willingness to make assertions about the impact and cause of the seizures by some, who know nothing about the affliction, is getting tiresome.

Souhan and others like him may just as well write the Jerry Kill columns now, and file them away, since more seizures are inevitable. and not really very important.

Add Cory Cove to the list of Idiots, I heard him trying to backpedal a bit around 7:50 this morning after making what must have been more of the same ill informed points an hour earlier. (oh it is so hard for the fans in the stadium to take this, Oh poor Jerry is going to die because of the Seizures, Oh Poor Rebecca,..... All BS)

Jerry Kill has some of the best doctors you can find on this, and operationally there are plans to deal with any game day seizures. Get over it
 

Let's put something in perspective people have been throwing out the fact that Kill has a lifetime 1 in 150 chance of dying from a seizure. That is lower then the chance of dying in a car accident and approximately the same as dying from an accidental fall. Would you replace a coach that had to go to the hospital due to heart palpitations? The life time chance of dying from heart disease is 1 in 7? The whole argument boils down to, people don't like to see it! get over it! it's life!
 

The media seems to be kicking a hornets nest on this one, and are surprised that they are getting stung this time.
 

oak_street1981 said:
Jerry Kill has some of the best doctors you can find on this, and operationally there are plans to deal with any game day seizures. Get over it
Click to expand...

And it's apparent they still don't have a handle on controlling it when stress is high. Which is easier to figure out and adjust after all this time?
 

oak_street1981 said:
Why would anyone be surpised that Jerry Kill had a seizure again? He has Epilepsy and he is going to have another episode during a game again, so what!

This Souhan column and the reaction by some fans is sickening. The willingness to make assertions about the impact and cause of the seizures by some, who know nothing about the affliction, is getting tiresome.

Souhan and others like him may just as well write the Jerry Kill columns now, and file them away, since more seizures are inevitable. and not really very important.

Add Cory Cove to the list of Idiots, I heard him trying to backpedal a bit around 7:50 this morning after making what must have been more of the same ill informed points an hour earlier. (oh it is so hard for the fans in the stadium to take this, Oh poor Jerry is going to die because of the Seizures, Oh Poor Rebecca,..... All BS)

Jerry Kill has some of the best doctors you can find on this, and operationally there are plans to deal with any game day seizures. Get over it
Click to expand...

Not if you ask Gopher Warrior. He's all but said that Kill is going to drop dead on the field and should be forced to resign immediately so he doesn't die. He's also a genius on the topic if you look at his tweets on the subject. @JBBauer612
 


GophersInIowa said:
It's one thing to be concerned. It's another to write some of the things Souhan did. He could have delivered his message in a much better way. That's the biggest reason people are upset.
Click to expand...

Agree wholeheartedly on most of the anger directed at Souhon's column. That one crossed the line a bit.

As far as Kill, I'd throw out this analogy- lets say you have an intramural basketball team and your best player has some form of lung disease. He's been fine playing the past 5 years and this year you decided to play in a higher league. More games, better competition, longer games.

You get a call from your players' doctor saying he continues playing for your team his condition will get worse and his chance of death is increased.

He, however, is adamant he is fine. He can play and he can beat his condition.

Do you let him play because he has continued good results and he says he can? Or do you take the advice of his doctor and tell him no more? How would you react if you let him play and he did end up in a much more serious condition he may not have otherwise?

That is the situation the University is/could be faced with.

I don't really care myself if he misses games, practices, has seizures on game day, etc. my concern is will coaching at the University of Minnesota worsen his condition and possibly make his death more likely?

I want to see Jerry the human being around for as long as possible and I would not want the school I love to be any part of the reason he wouldn't be.
 

Now we have Scher mouthing off again comparing a seizure disorder with heart problems. The modern medical field is being run by GH commentors all of whom barely passed High School Biology.
 

Grant said:
Missing the games is a big issue. Impact on the coach's credibility is a big issue. His desire to continue in the face of the disorder (does the job make it worse) is a big issue. These are all negatives. Are they enough to end his time as coach? To date they haven't been. But which direction do we seem to be heading is the question. I really hope he never has another seizure and has to leave a game and stays our coach for 10 more years but I feel like this is becoming a less likely outcome of all this each time he has to leave a game.
Click to expand...

How does Coach Kill's epilepsy affect his credibility?
 

scher215 said:
You get a call from your players' doctor saying he continues playing for your team his condition will get worse and his chance of death is increased.

He, however, is adamant he is fine. He can play and he can beat his condition.

Do you let him play because he has continued good results and he says he can? Or do you take the advice of his doctor and tell him no more? How would you react if you let him play and he did end up in a much more serious condition he may not have otherwise?
Click to expand...

Apparently, we ignore the advice of the doctor, and instead take the advice of sports writers.
 



scher215 said:
You get a call from your players' doctor saying he continues playing for your team his condition will get worse and his chance of death is increased.

He, however, is adamant he is fine. He can play and he can beat his condition.

Do you let him play because he has continued good results and he says he can? Or do you take the advice of his doctor and tell him no more? How would you react if you let him play and he did end up in a much more serious condition he may not have otherwise?
Click to expand...

The problem with your analogy is that doctor's have not said this. Sportswriters have.

I have witnessed countless seizures, and no deaths. That's not to say it cannot happen, but the odds that are being referenced do not warrant wholesale changes.
 

scher215 said:
Agree wholeheartedly on most of the anger directed at Souhon's column. That one crossed the line a bit.

As far as Kill, I'd throw out this analogy- lets say you have an intramural basketball team and your best player has some form of lung disease. He's been fine playing the past 5 years and this year you decided to play in a higher league. More games, better competition, longer games.

You get a call from your players' doctor saying he continues playing for your team his condition will get worse and his chance of death is increased.

He, however, is adamant he is fine. He can play and he can beat his condition.

Do you let him play because he has continued good results and he says he can? Or do you take the advice of his doctor and tell him no more? How would you react if you let him play and he did end up in a much more serious condition he may not have otherwise?

That is the situation the University is/could be faced with.

I don't really care myself if he misses games, practices, has seizures on game day, etc. my concern is will coaching at the University of Minnesota worsen his condition and possibly make his death more likely?

I want to see Jerry the human being around for as long as possible and I would not want the school I love to be any part of the reason he wouldn't be.
Click to expand...

I respect your thoughts on this, but it is a poor analogy. Stressing a heart may or not make a heart condition worse. Depends on the condition and the person's general health. My sister has combated a heart condition with more exercise, not less. Of course, having a heart attack increases your chances of having another.

Having seizures does not make you have more seizures. Having seizures doesn't make future seizures worse. It's apples and oranges.

This is ALL about comfort and bigotry, plain and simple. It's a mysterious brain disorder that scares people with it's manifestations. They don't want to see it. It's like people in wheelchairs, kids with Down, going to a retirement home. Its makes us uncomfortable.

Does it directly affect us? Not really.

That's why I call it bigotry. I don't understand it, so I don't like it.

Lastly, if the doctor told Jerry he had to quit, he would quit. Who wouldn't listen to Jerry doing a little color commentary on Saturdays? He'd be great.
 

Sher, please, please, could you give it a rest on your analogies? My gosh. Where do you come up with these? Seriously?
 




scher215 said:
Sorry about that.

Go coach Kill! Go Gophers! I have no opinions! Go everyone go!

Better?
Click to expand...
No man, you're a good poster who has a deep love for the Gophers. I'm being too harsh. You, of course, have a right to your opinion and my response was out of line. My apology.
 

A girl in my grade back in the day suddenly developed a seizure condition out of nowhere. She fell over and was seizing on the lunchroom floor in front of everyone. Of course most of us laughed about it and teased her behind her back. I think that's expected and understandable - we were all 11 or 12 years old at the time.

Virtually everyone posting here is an adult (at least in terms of calendar years). We should be mature enough to be past the "point and laugh" stage. That's really what this is about - people who don't like Kill using his condition as an excuse to want him terminated/forced to resign so they can continue to point and laugh at him.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
No man, you're a good poster who has a deep love for the Gophers. I'm being too harsh. You, of course, have a right to your opinion and my response was out of line. My apology.
Click to expand...

No problem and thank you for that response. I have made my opinion fairly clear I think, and maybe went a bit over board there as well. No worries.
 

scher215 said:
Agree wholeheartedly on most of the anger directed at Souhon's column. That one crossed the line a bit.

As far as Kill, I'd throw out this analogy- lets say you have an intramural basketball team and your best player has some form of lung disease. He's been fine playing the past 5 years and this year you decided to play in a higher league. More games, better competition, longer games.

You get a call from your players' doctor saying he continues playing for your team his condition will get worse and his chance of death is increased.

He, however, is adamant he is fine. He can play and he can beat his condition.

Do you let him play because he has continued good results and he says he can? Or do you take the advice of his doctor and tell him no more? How would you react if you let him play and he did end up in a much more serious condition he may not have otherwise?

That is the situation the University is/could be faced with.

I don't really care myself if he misses games, practices, has seizures on game day, etc. my concern is will coaching at the University of Minnesota worsen his condition and possibly make his death more likely?

I want to see Jerry the human being around for as long as possible and I would not want the school I love to be any part of the reason he wouldn't be.
Click to expand...

Do you know that Kill's doctor has said this? Otherwise it pretty much voids your entire analogy.
 

When gardy gets thrown out of 20 games a year... do they make adjustments on who is in charge sure do.... do I hear anyone talking about that nope. My god they have a process and the process works.. What recruits did not come to Minnesota because jerry might have another seizure please list them?
 

Glen Perkins just stated on 1500 that the recruiting angle is irrelevant because the only reason recruits come to MN is because the have nowhere else to go.
 

positively4thstreet said:
Do you know that Kill's doctor has said this? Otherwise it pretty much voids your entire analogy.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And no I don't know that his doctor has said exactly that. I also don't think they have said the contrary either though. I think it is a fairly reasonable conclusion to draw, but one none of us know. Which is why I'm not running around screaming fire Kill.

My only point throughout has been, if coaching makes the seizures more common and/or more severe and doctors recommend he stop coaching that the school has an obligation to honor what the doctors say.

I don't care if he has seizures at the games or misses all of the games to go golfing (assuming they are still winning). I just would never want him to continue coaching or the school to allow him to continue if they knew it was making things worse.

I hope that's how they would act, but I am perhaps a little jaded from all of the scandals and corruption we have seen to think there is a chance they wouldn't. Have seen enough athletes "play through pain", just demands a shot, prescription drug abuse, etc. to know that isn't always the case. I'd hope in a life or death situation like epilepsy can be the doctors have the most and complete control.
 

station19 said:
Glen Perkins just stated on 1500 that the recruiting angle is irrelevant because the only reason recruits come to MN is because the have nowhere else to go.
Click to expand...

Was he serious??? Lol

I don't buy the recruiting angle either, think that's a bit of a reach. If they are winning an getting decent classes, recruiting obviously isn't an issue.
 

I have a part-time job taking care of vulnerable adults, many of whom have epilepsy. Once a year I have to sit through a training video on how to deal/treat a client that has a seizure. You know what you are supposed to do? Pretty much nothing. Make sure they are not around anything that they can trash into and get hurt, make sure are not a danger to themselves or others and then wait. You are only supposed to go to the hospital if the seizing is over 5 minutes or happens again and again and again. The carting off the field and going to the hospital for Kill is more of a precaution by the University for liability purposes than for Kill's benefit.

Bottom line....people are scared of what they do not know.
 

GW's a wannabee journalist of course he's gonna suck up to someone who is shockingly mad that Teague didn't call a press conference to make his job easier (not that he would've been there) it 's amazing how entitled these types truly are.
 

scher215 said:
Was he serious??? Lol

I don't buy the recruiting angle either, think that's a bit of a reach. If they are winning an getting decent classes, recruiting obviously isn't an issue.
Click to expand...

If he was serious then that's about as misinformed as all the reporters.
 

The good news is I'm learning how to use the ignore/block function of this board for the first time. So many ignorant and juvenile responses. It really is disheartening at how many have reacted to this subject.

I concur with those who primarily have Coach's health in mind. That's the first priority for me too. But to presume that ANYONE outside of Jerry Kill, his doctors, and maybe a few select UMN leaders know what he should or should not be doing is nothing but arrogance and speculation. There is NO place for it because (like me) YOU DON'T KNOW!

We must trust the doctors are doing their job and doing right by Coach Kill. We must trust that Coach Kill would put his long term health above his job, and even the long term viability of the program. From what I've seen thusfar from Coach Kill, I'm willing to give him that. I believe him to be a man of honor and integrity. I believe he ultimately will do what he believes is best for the program. And IF it gets to the point where he believes he cannot lead the program because of the epilepsy, I believe he would make that very difficult decision.
 

GophersInIowa said:
If he was serious then that's about as misinformed as all the reporters.
Click to expand...

I don't know whether you're on Twitter, but he and I have had a fairly lengthy back-and-forth about his comment. While I think he now understands that it was false, he doesn't seem to get that making sh1t up (negative at that) as a prominent alumnus does nothing to help the cause. It might not be destructive, but it certainly isn't constructive.
 

Great response to Souhan's garbage. This reminds me of when all the sports writers were saying that Sean Elliot shouldn't have been allowed to play in the NBA because of his kidney trasplant. A friend of mine who had a heart transplant went nuts and asked me the question - do you know how many kidneys Sean Elliot has? I said no. He said neither do ANY of the people saying he shouldn't play. And as much as he respected their amateur medical opinion (ha ha), once Sean Elliot's docs gave him the green light, they should leave it be.

It's the same here. As long as Kill's docs say he's ok to coach, I'll trust the PROFESSIONAL medical experts rather than Souhan, etc.

By the way, the answer to Sean Elliot? According to my buddy who talked to his transplant doctor about it, three. They did not remove either of his existing kidneys, which was a big part of why it wasn't carreer ending (removal is actually the more traumatic part). I legitimately believe not a single columnist back in the day would have gotten that right with two guesses. And none of the columnists today know anything more about epilepsy than they did then about kidney transplants.
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
I have a part-time job taking care of vulnerable adults, many of whom have epilepsy. Once a year I have to sit through a training video on how to deal/treat a client that has a seizure. You know what you are supposed to do? Pretty much nothing. Make sure they are not around anything that they can trash into and get hurt, make sure are not a danger to themselves or others and then wait. You are only supposed to go to the hospital if the seizing is over 5 minutes or happens again and again and again. The carting off the field and going to the hospital for Kill is more of a precaution by the University for liability purposes than for Kill's benefit.

Bottom line....people are scared of what they do not know.
Click to expand...

This.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom