Risk factors for heart disease: age, heredity, stress...(Photo by sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
As the "temporary leave" taken by Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun lingers on, and questions remain about the return of Florida football coach Urban Meyer from his own "indefinite leave of absence", sports fans might be starting to wonder if or when their favorite coach might end up in the same boat.
Calhoun is no stranger to health problems, as he recently emerged victorious from his third bout with cancer. The most recent issue is said to be "stress-related", but the fact that his father died of a heart attack when he was 15 probably causes him to be more cautious with these types of issues than most. As for Meyer, he has suffered for years from headaches caused by an arachnoid cyst, and his trip to the hospital to treat dehydration following the SEC championship game was brought on by a lifestyle that Meyer admits is "self-destructive".
It is well known that coaching a big-time college football team can be highly stressful. At a place like Ohio State, the pressure from alumni and fans of the program magnifies the perception of success or failure. Having a storied history and a winning tradition makes recruiting easier, but it also means that the expectations are high and every loss can be the cause of sleepless nights and meetings with the AD. Jim Tressel is already older than his father Lee Tressel was when he died of lung cancer. The younger Tressel seems to take pretty good care of himself, but the 16-hour days and endless recruiting season takes its toll.
Ohio State is mostly known as a football school, and so the pressure on Tressel will be heavier than what basketball coach Thad Matta deals with. But coaching basketball has an extra element of stress because the coach is expected to "work the officials" in addition to calling time-outs and drawing up plays. Officiating is much more critical to success in basketball and being on the wrong side of it in any given game can be the difference between victory and defeat. Coach Matta is known to get pretty animated on the sidelines, which will no doubt take its toll if repeated over time.
So what do you think? Are you concerned about the health of your favorite coaches? The case of Meyer is especially troubling to me, since he and I are the same age. Is it possible that we (i.e. fans and obsessive bloggers) are driving these guys to an early grave?
Comments
Seeing how Tress interacts with the press and fans, and HAS OTHER INTERESTS I think he'll be alright.
Sure it is a stressful lifestyle and the expectations at higher-profile schools add to that stress, but these coaches are also well-compensated and always have the option to retire at a younger age than your average "joe lunch box" and live quite comfortably.
It is a trade-off and some seem to handle it much better than others.
As for Urban's situation, if he were really so sick he would actually take a leave of absence or step down. He's done neither which makes me think one of two things; either he's so driven/self-centered that he's ignoring the advice of doctors and his family's wishes to take a step back or he's trumping up the severity of his ailment for some reason (firing up the team this year prior to the Sugar Bowl, softening expectations for next year's team, keeping his name in the news, etc.).
Urban Meyer doesn't need to watch out for his health. God will do that for him.
By God do you mean Tim Tebow of Nazareth?!
Well, the good news for Herban is that if he dies, Tebow Christ can bring him back from the dead just like Lazarus (not the dept store)
Herban is a miracle worker sent from God to keep the SEC in prominence. Don't believe me? I saw him turn a regular pair of jeans into jorts, WITHOUT SCISSORS! I'm talking about the kind of jorts that are cut so high-up, that you can see the pockets sticking out!
praise the lorddaaaaahhhh!
nice... what else can be said other then god texted me told me there was saome good post on 11w
You didn't mention here that Urban has a defective heart valve. That's not necessarily something that comes about due to stress. Stress has caused it to be a problem, but he's probably had it for most of his life, if not for its entirety.
As far as Tressel goes, if the guy is stressed, he'd never let you know it. He's no Pete-Carroll in his whimsy, but he definitely keeps a level head no matter the situation. Urban and Calhoun look and talk angry all the time.
Tress knows that ultimately football is just game. Is it important to him and to us and the rest of Buckeye Nation? Yes, very, but there are more important things in life. Tress knows that helping mold young men and making a good living to take care of his family and spreading his faith are just as important and doesn't let the game consume him like it does a lot of coaches in all sports.
I don't think the bloggers are driving coaches to the grave. I think that the job and requirements of a coach like Tressel ARE. Tressel has aged a great deal since taking the job. I can't imagine the work that goes into running a program like ours these days. It was big time back in the 80's when I went there. Now...it is 10 times bigger. The hours, the recruiting, the communication. I personally think Tress might only have a couple of years left in him before he gets worn out by it all. With Pryor going out in 2 years (more than likely) it could be his last run. Who knows?
Tressel has aged because he's gotten 9 years older. He's almost 60. He doesn't look bad for 57. Those are the years that men really seem to show their age as well. Assistants do quite a bit of the work, and being able to delegate helps a ton.
Coaching sure didn't kill Paterno or Bowden. Not coaching seems to be what killed Bear Bryant.
Ranked 13th with 6 losses?
Is the bball program getting more love than football?
If the Buckeye Cagers are getting any love from the pollsters as a result of yesterdays throwndown vs. Minnesota...it's because of the way they not only dominated the gophers, but the endless highlight reel that took place in the Schott at the expense of the boys from Minneapolis / St. Paul
i thought something similar. i was thinking that bc of the villain they were benefiting from the type of hype we abhor the SEC football programs getting. i love me some thad style basketball, but i don't really know if the team warrants the hype of a #13 ranking. i guess they will have the opportunity to earn it though.
Could be because they also played pretty well at WVU also. But then again, played equally poorly at Iowa.
Could also be that after the top 4-5 the rest are pretty good but not really good enough to stand out.
You said it TLB. What a clusterf*** it must be to have to rank BBall teams every week. Fact is, doesn't matter if you're 13th or 33rd, they actually have something called a postseason tourney to sort things out. Also, with upcoming games against Sparty, the lofty ranking number next to theirs makes for higher ratings.
Matt James teammate commits to Irish, James to follow?
http://news.cincinnati.com/app...
OSU's #18 in the Coaches Poll seems more accurate to me. Go Bucks.
Biddle on Bucknuts also saying that USC now is the strong leader for Henderson and that OSU is a long shot. I just want recruiting to be over and done because this has not been a good year. On plus side, Latwan Anderson won't be signing with WVU and OSU may have put an offer back on the table; I think he wants to follow Bryant now.
Why I could never be a coach...I am always too high strung with work; perfectionist about certain things, and I do lose sleep over stuff.
That's wht I was going to say, a lot of people age quite a bit between 48 and 57
Weren't we short ET for 3 of those losses? Think the voters know that?
I'm still hot at 45...So I only have three more years to go?
That sucks.
This is why I don't follow recruiting.......until signing day.
That's good news. I'll be 59 next month, so I'm pretty much done aging.
no doubt dude. shit is exhausting. I hate that I am interested. at least work will be fun/interesting on wednesday
3 years.... if not 3 minutes. haha
I'm not too worried about Henderson. The guy is a stud, but Mike Adams was supposed to be the next Orlando Pace. *coughAlexBarroncough*
With the depth that we have right now I think that Henderson won't be a major loss. In th end I think Latwan comes here. The guy wants to go pro, and which program has produced some of the best corners in the NFL so far? tOSU!
You guys might want to put this on Good Shizzy. It is good. Shizzy. http://blog.blockonation.com/2...
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.co...
This would be sweet.
SB...you suck!!!!!!!!!
Urban doesn't have a defective heart valve. We all have defective heart valves for not being like his.
Please let it happen. Imagine him and Cribbs together.
Will still be ruled by Steeler nation.