On 620 AM, they're talking about heat-related deaths in football

[HammerOfTheDogs]

I wish this way of thinking was around when I was playing football. Back when I was at Meridian High, our coaches were from the "water makes you weak" school. We did have water breaks, but only for a cup in mid-practice. If we tried to sneak water, we had to run stadium steps. When Bear Bryant took all those Texas A & M players out into Junction in 1954, they'd have practice 11 hours a day without a water break.

In spite of this, no one died and only one player got heat stroke.</p>

There weren't as many heat-related deaths back then. One reason could be that more kids were closer to their natural body weight back then, and not heavier either because of being fat and out of shape, nor having more muscle because of the year-round weight training. More people were aerobically prepared to go through a grueling hot summer practice.</p>

 

[graddawg]

I think it boils down to kids sitting their *** inside all summer playing Wii/Xbox/PlayStation all day and not doing anything in the heat until they show up for two-a-days. It's only been 10 years since I played HS football and you could tell then who had spent their summer doing manual labor and who hadn't and it's getting worse.

 

[BigMotherTucker]

you practiced football uphill... Both ways...

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

you practiced football uphill... Both ways...

</p>100 degree heat and driving snowstorms.

 

[futaba.79]

We'd practice from 4 to 7 or so with one water break and I don't think we had a single heat problem. And it was hot back in the late 70s. </p>

 

[RebelBruiser]

I think it boils down to kids sitting their *** inside all summer playing Wii/Xbox/PlayStation all day and not doing anything in the heat until they show up
for two-a-days. It's only been 10 years since I played HS football and you could tell then who had spent their summer doing manual labor and who
hadn't and it's getting worse.

</p>

Plus, like Mutt said, we're a fatter country now. We're just not as healthy overall. The video games are part of the reason, but back when the whole Junction Boys thing happened, a 220 pound lineman was big. You don't hear of too many 220 pound guys dying from heat related incidents. It's usually the bigger guys.

 

[BigMotherTucker]

I think it boils down to kids sitting their *** inside all summer playing Wii/Xbox/PlayStation all day and not doing anything in the heat until they show up
for two-a-days. It's only been 10 years since I played HS football and you could tell then who had spent their summer doing manual labor and who
hadn't and it's getting worse.

Plus, like Mutt said, we're a fatter country now. We're just not as healthy overall. The video games are part of the reason, but back when the whole Junction Boys thing happened, a 220 pound lineman was big. You don't hear of too many 220 pound guys dying from heat related incidents. It's usually the bigger guys.

Which is exactly why I keep my big *** indoors. Its hotter than a puerto rican's credit card outside.</p>

 

[cowbell9]

...all we got in my day was amonia towels, salt tablets and Jungle Juice.

 

[Temple of the Dawg]

according to the opening of this article, heat related deaths were just as prevalent in the past as they are now.

According to a news release from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 2006, heat related deaths among football players reached their highest total since 1972.

Seven football players died from heat stroke in 1972, compared to five football players dying from heat stroke in 2006. In addition to the five football players who died from heat stroke, seven more football players died from "heart-related deaths that may or may not have been related to heat or exertion."

The difference is that such stories today make national news a lot quicker. Also, the current media loves to dramatize everything possible in order to try to gain viewership. I'm not making light of a football player dying or saying that it isn't tragic or dramatic. However, the manner in which news is presented today is far different than even ten years ago, much less 30 ago or more. Add on top of that the ease of news spreading at warp speed due to the internet as well and it seems that it happens much more than it used to.

 

[patdog]

<div class="scrolling"> I do agree that players (and just people in general) back then were more acclimated to the heat. But how do you know there were fewer heat-related deaths back then? You'd have never heard of one that happened in another state and might not have even heard of one that happened in this state. With today's news coverage, if a high school player dies, it gets national coverage.

Actually, I see that CowtownDawg has made my exact point, and backed it up with statistics. I would add though that even the documented 7 players dying in 1972 is probably an undercount, simply because it would be a lot easier for heat-related deaths back then to not be reported as such. </div>

 

[Temple of the Dawg]

I was doing a little more research into the topic after posting, and most of the facts and figures vary pretty widely from story to story. I saw anywhere from 19 to 31 deaths from 95-06 that are claimed as heat related deaths. One interesting fact that all the stories agreed on (at least the ones I read) was that the problem was virtually non-existent in the 1980ish to 1994-95 time frame. Also, all the stories seemed to agree that it was a pretty widespread problem in the 60's & 70's.

I'm going to hazard a guess that most posters here that played football in high school played in the 1980ish to 1994-95 time frame. Most posters here talk about how tough it was (few breaks, little to no water, etc.), but this is the time frame where the problem was virtually non-existent. I find that kind of interesting.

 

[patdog]

By about 1980, people had for the most part figured out that water breaks were a good thing and practicing for 8 hours in the heat with no water breaks was a bad idea. But kids were still pretty well acclimated to playing and working in the heat, so there really wasn't much danger during those years. By the mid-90s, the nation had become more of a nation of an overweight, couch potato, video-game playing kids who didn't play outside as much. Since they weren't acclimated to the heat any more, practices became more dangerous again (even with water breaks). Remember, even as late as 1990, a 250 lb high school lineman was a pretty big player. Now 300 lb linemen are pretty common.

 

[captaindawg]

Iraq we were told that not only would the temperture be unreal but that it would take a while for our bodies to get adjusted because of the central air systems that are used today. These systems, as opposed to the old window units or just keeping the windows open and the air flowing with box fans, keep the inside of a house/ building at a constant temperature throughout.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

When I went to Army Basic Training, it was a total 180 from the when I played football. Even when the Drill Sergeants were smoking our asses, we could drink as much as we wanted. As a matter of fact, there were times they force-fed us water. "IF YOU ARE PISSING YELLOW, YOU....ARE.....WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[SLUdog]

get cool at night? I understand that it is generally very hot there in the summer. To make it sport related: did y'all have a chance to watch sports there at all? Edited to add: Thanks for you service.

 

[thelaw]

I think everyone has missed the point: GLOBAL WARMING is causing all these incidents! (sarcasm) haha

 

[Eureka Dog]

high school had figured it out. They gave the players plenty of water breaks. Besides, with the school being a small school, they couldn't afford to lose any players.

Then the coaches realized that NONE of their games would be played in the middle of the day, so they switched to 7AM practices and 7PM practices during two-a-days.

 

[Eureka Dog]

trepidation since too many of today's "scientists" don't remember the role that the Scientific Method is supposed to play in research projects.) say that it takes most people approximately 10 days to adjust to a climate hotter than what they're used to.

Again, I have no idea if that's true of not, but while scouting cotton in the summer of 1979, it got to the point that I found 90 degrees F to be fairly cool. That was one of the jobs that confirmed my decision to get a college degree. ... That and serving as a flagman for a paving crew for a couple of months.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

We played down in Biloxi in late August, and the temp was still around 90 degrees at kickoff. We had one guy cramp up, while Biloxi had 10-12. We were simply the better-conditioned team.

Would I go back to not giving out water breaks? HELL NO! Even the guys who work out all the time and stay in shape are carrying around 30-50 lbs. more than their natural weight..but it's all in muscle. They don't have as much endurance as the players did yesteryear. Football is a game of quick bursts now, with players coming out in certain situations and more "packages" being used.</p>

 

[Stansfield]

News never travelled so fast as it does today. Someone sneezes in Bangkok and you hear on your local news about the imminent threat of a killer virus spreading in southeast Asia and heading to your backyard before the snot even hits the floor.